54. 
Records of (he Geological Survey of India. 
[vot,. VII. 
Dakhin trap—has been almost the only positive link between the rock-areas of the Peninsula 
and of Central Asia. Of the other Indian rock-formations—the Vindhyan series of unknown 
age, and deeply rooted in the fundamental rocks; or the great sandstone formations sup¬ 
posed at present to range from permian to latest jurassic, and holding a comparatively super¬ 
ficial relation to the supporting rooks—no assignable equivalent had been made out in the 
neighbouring Himalayan provinces. 
The press of work elsewhere may be offered to account for this ; for the clue which is 
now promising such interesting revelations has been within reach at any time for the last 
twenty years ; since Dr. Hooker discovered at the base of the Sikkim Himalaya rocks con¬ 
taining plant-fossils characteristic of the coal-measures of Bengal.* 
The illustrious naturalist did not assign any stratigraphieal position for the rock in 
that section; perhaps the only locality where he noticed it, near the Paukabari rest-house, 
did not admit of such a determination. This is indeed most likely the case; for, the passing 
observation made in the same spot by so practised a geologist as Mr. W. T. Blanford left the 
question still in doubt, the suggestions gathered being that the Damudasmay Occur there only 
as fault-rock between the schists of the mountains and the tertiary sandstones at their base ; 
or even that the stones containing the Damuda plants may only occur as blocks in the tertiary 
sandstones. A regular survey of that region is now in progress. Mr. F. K. Mallet took 
up work there early in December; and already important results have been obtained, both 
practical and scientific. A band of Damuda coal-measure rocks has been traced for many 
miles along the base of the mountains, and in places as much as one mile in width, inside 
the fringing bed of tertiary sandstones. Besides the familiar Damuda plants, several 
seams of coal occur, in a condition approaching anthracite in composition—having 79'3 of 
carbon, 7'6 of volatile matter (dry), and 13T of ash—but in a flaky granulated (graphitic) 
state from crushing. The ohief point of interest, however, is that there is no marked strati- 
graphical break between these beds and the slaty and schistose rocks forming the mass of the 
mountains; on the age of which they will thus give very important evidence. Mr. Mallet 
has not yet been able to satisfy himself upon the complicated structural questions involved 
in the section, as to inversion, faulting, &c., but it is hoped that before the close of the season 
some definite view may be made out. Meanwhile this notice is given of so important a 
step in the geology of India. 
While Mr. Mallet was making these observations on the ground, an independent sug¬ 
gestion to the same effect was received from Mr. H. F. Blanford, whom we consider virtually, 
as he formerly was officially, a colleague in the study of Indian geology. Mr. Blanford was 
at Darjeeling on a tour of inspection of the meteorological stations in that part of the 
province. Ever mindful of his first love, and aware, of course, of Dr. Hooker's original 
discovery of Damuda fossils at the base of the mountains, it appeared to him that the fre¬ 
quent bands of graphitic matter in the schistose and gneissic rocks of the higher regions 
might indeed ho the greatly transformed equivalents of the carbonaceous deposits of the Pen¬ 
insula. If this criterion be confirmed by the close study of the stratigraphy, it promises to 
be of very wide application ; for these graphitic bands are as abundant in the Lower Hima¬ 
laya of the north-west as about Darjeeling. The suggestion too fits in well with the little 
we know on both sides of the question: Dr. Oldham has always maintained that the coal- 
measures of India are palaeozoic; and the Krol limestone, the uppermost group of the Lower 
Himalayan rock-series in the north-west, is considered by Dr. Stoliczka to be triassic. 
H. B. M. 
Himalayan Journal, Vol. I, page 403. 
