PART 4.] 
Ball: Coal in the Luni Pat/tun Hills. 
145 
side of the Bay of Bengal, I can well understand how the term ‘ water elephant’ might be 
applied to that animal whose heavy massive head and bulky form, imperfectly perceived 
beneath the water, is suggestive of somewhat elephantine proportions. I offer the suggestion, 
however, merely for what it is worth, and as one certainly more probable than that the ‘ water 
elephant’ can be either a shark or any slender animal or fish, whilst the probability of its 
being the hippopotamus is one involving too serious issues to be adopted on the slender 
grounds alone of verbal applicability. 
Kasaolt, 1 W. THEOBALD. 
July 9 th, 1874. j 
Geological Notes made on a visit to the coal recently discoveeed in the countky 
or the Luni Pathans, south-east coknee of Afghanistan, by V. Ball, m. a., 
Geological Survey of India. 
In the following pages I purpose giving an account of the geological structure of a 
portion of country which, being situated for the most part beyond the British frontier, where 
internal strife and raiding is the normal state of things, is one which, except under such 
special arrangements as were made on the present occasion, could not be visited by a 
geologist. 
For this reason it is important to put on record even the somewhat imperfect observa¬ 
tions which were made during a few days hurried ride through these little known regions. 
Fortunately, the route taken by the expedition from the plains at Saki-Sarwa to the 
most distant point reached in the Chamarlang valley (about fifty miles as the crow flies) was 
more or less at right angles to the strike of the rocks and of the principal hill ranges, and 
thus in each day’s march a section of the rocks was traversed which served to indicate the 
geological structure. The facility with which such rapid observation could be made being 
in a considerable measure due to the poverty of the vegetation* which was nowhere sufficient 
to hide the rocks, and thus the eye was enabled to trace individual beds through all their 
bendings for many miles. This freedom from jungle renders geologising on the north-west 
frontier a very different thing from what it is in the central parts of India and in the 
Himalayas, where, for the most part, the geological structure can only be ascertained by 
systematic plodding up the beds of streams and hill sides, and where a bird’s eye view of the 
relations of the different formations is seldom to be obtained. 
My observations being restricted to a limited portion of the great Suliman range, I do 
not attempt at present any generalisations or even comparisons with the geologically known 
regions to the north and south, but shall confine myself as much as possible to an enumer¬ 
ation of the observations made in this particular locality. So far, then, as reference to pre¬ 
vious notices is concerned, it is limited to the correspondence relating to the discovery of the 
coal, the examination of which was the object of my mission. 
History of the coal .—The first discovery of coal in the neighbourhood of the Suliman 
range, west of Dera Ghazi Khan, was, in the year 1863, reported to the Officiating Deputy 
* I am indebted to Mr. S. Kurss for the identification of a small collection of the most characteristic plants 
which occur in these hills. 
Perhaps the most commoD tree on the hills is a species of olive (Olea ferruginea, Ihjyle—G. Europea Var.). A 
flabeliiform palm Chumccrops Hilchieanum , the fruits of which are much sought after by the Biluchis, occurs on the 
hill slopes and in the valleys. Daphne oleoidee, L., Grcu’ia populijolia awl Dratauea viecoea arc also found on the 
hills. In the valleys, species of Acacia and Tumarix arc llul uncommon, and Ecritim ailorum and Ztzgpfuui jajuha 
occasionally occur. Besides the above, several herbaceous plants, which it is useless to enumerate here, were also 
collected. 
