PART 3.] 
Theohald: The Kttmaun Lukes, 
167 
being composed of ‘ soft sbtiles, ’ it would be very bard to find such soft shales 
in any of the barriers I have examined. This is a plain issue. Are the barriers 
mainly composed of soft shales, or is that material mainly conspicuous in them 
by its absence? 
Now, Mr. Ball himself tells us nothing about “soft shales ” in the body of hi.s 
paper, lie therein describes the hills surrounding the lakes as consisting of 
“shales,” “quartzites,” “limestones,” “ argillaceous schists, ” “ massive lime¬ 
stones,” “highly indurated, but slightly calcareous mudstones,” “white and 
purple quartzites,” “greenstone,” “trap,” and.eveu “ granite and gneiss ” (pos^ 
siblyj as members of the rock series of the district, but not a word of “soft shales ” 
till we come to his ‘conclusions,’ wherein they are described as swathing his “rigid 
lines of trap,” and by.the “abundant supply of material” they have afforded, 
actually choking up the valleys, and thereby originating the lakes. In a word, 
Mr. Ball concludes that the Kumaun lakes have no conneetion whatever with 
former glaeiers, but are due to landslips operating on soft shale, and the (to mo) 
somewhat obscure influence of “ rigid lines of trap.” My own reason for re¬ 
garding these lakes as glacial I shall now proceed to state. 
The lakes of Kumaun may be divided into two groups,* viz., those which lie 
in the dir-ect coui'se of an old glacier, and which may or may not occupy an ice-cut 
basin, and those formed by the occlusion of a valley by the projection across it of 
the material of a ‘ moraine. ’ 
Class 1 embraces Bhim Tal, Malwa Tal, Naini Tal, the lowest of the Siith 
Tal group, and an unnamed lake above Khm-pa Tal. 
Glass II embraces Naukatchia Tal, Khurpa Tal, Suria Tal, and the U 2 )per 
lakes of the Sath Tal group. 
The origin of all is, however, identical, and putting aside all considerations of 
rock basins, which I have no immediate means of verifying, is due to the obstruc¬ 
tion of local drainage, caused by the debris of old moraines on the retrocession of 
the glaciers at the termination of a glacial ep)och. 
The three jjrinoipal lakes of Kumaun, Naini Tal, Bhim Tal, and Malwa Tal 
are situated in three se 2 )arate, but jjarallel and adjacent drainage areas, the axis 
of each of which has a general south-east and north-west trend. The tract of 
country comprising this area is bounded on the north by so much of the hill 
range as extends from the vicinity of Gragan peak (7,865 feet) on the east to the 
Deoputhar 2 Jcak (7,989 feet) on the west. Naini Tal lies a little below a horse-.shoe 
shaped ml de sac, between the Deoputhar and Chini peaks, and is not only the 
largest (slightly) of the three, but the nearest to the culminating i-idge, and whose 
basin may be said to display more obviously than the others the action of ice 
in its shap)e and character. 
Its effluent waters give rise to the Balia river, which after a short south-east¬ 
erly course, joins the Gola river a little below Banibagh. Bhim Tal receives the 
drainage of the heights north of Bhuwali, from which it bears exactly south-easti 
while 7 miles beyond it in the same direction is situated Naukatchia Till 
For a map tlaj reader is referred to Mr. ISull's paper (/. e.). 
