PAttT 4.] 
McMahon : The Simla Himalayas. 
213 
carbonate of magnesia. Dip east. These rocks seem in the line of strike of the conglo¬ 
merate at Thiog, and I think they must be the Blaini rocks. I may here mention that 
north-west of Thiog and 1,600 feet in vertical height below the Dak Bungalow, I found a 
block of the Blaini conglomerate of Thiog type (whether in situ or not I cannot say) in the 
bank of the stream close to a thin-bedded limestone dipping north-north-east. In the bed 
and bank of the stream little below this is an intrusion of trap of the Mandi type. 
In the opposite direction from Thiog, vis., near Sanj (Tikera of the map) there is also 
evidence of the Blaini group. Sanj is as nearly as possible 3,000 feet below the Thiog 
Dak Bungalow. On the crest of the hill overhanging, and a few hundred feet in vertical 
height above Sanj, is limestone. Below the latter are the Simla slates. On the road from 
Sanj to Fagu, as long as the road clings to the flank of the spur running down from Thiog 
to the Giri, I saw numerous blocks of the Blaini conglomerate on the hill side, indicating its 
presence somewhere above. Further on, on the next spur, there are numerous outcrops of 
limestone resembling the Blaini. On the ascent up to Fagu, the dip is about north-east. 
These outcrops correspond with the horizon of the outcrop of the conglomerate on the opposite 
or east side of Giri valley. 
Now a word or two about the Shali. This great limestone series extends from the 
Shali to the Fagu and Thiog ridge. On one occasion I followed the line of the Nowle Gad* 
River from the two Daoti villages up to Thiog, and I found massive limestone cliffs of the 
Krol type on both sides of the valley, extending, as far as I could judge, right up to the 
Fagu-Thiog ridge. Along my actual route limestone beds cropped out continually all the 
way up to Thiog. Following the Hindustan and Tibet road from Fagu, these limestones 
crop out over the road about 1J miles, from the Fagu Bungalow, and the outcrop is from this 
point pretty continuous for about 2 miles. In one place the limestone forms a cliff on the 
crest of the ridge. It is greatly crumpled, and seems to have been subject to enormous 
lateral pressure. Thin-bedded slaty limestones appear again in the roadside-cutting a quarter 
of a mile beyond the Thiog Dale Bungalow, and show well where the old Mattiana road 
branches off. They crop out frequently on the road up to the fort, and that structure is 
built on them. From this point they cut down in the direction of the Shali and are seen on 
the sides of the Hindustan and Tibet road a little beyond the 19th milestone. These rocks 
may be seen forming cliffs below on spurs extending towards the Shali. On the eastern side 
of the Thiog Fort, they crop out for some distance (about a mile) along the ridge running 
down to the Giri and form cliffs under Janti Devi, a temple which crowns a point on this 
spur. I did not encounter them after this on my way down to the Giri. 
Proceeding from the Shali in a direct line to Simla, the limestone extends across the 
Nouti, and crops up for a considerable distance on the spur, up which the road to Mashobraf 
winds, and then they suddenly give place to the Simla slates. I explored the ravine running 
down from Mahasu, between the two Daoti villages to the Nouti until stopped by impassable 
cliffs. The average dip is 20° to 23° south nearly all the way down. When the Nouti is 
neared there are indications of intense crushing, and then the rocks turn sharp down to a 
northerly dip, and from this point to the Nouti they continue to dip at a high angle. In 
the descending sections at first are the Simla slates ; then comes SO or 100 feet of pale 
blue or greenish limestone ; under this are dark schistose slates with strings of quartz in them 
(a very common feature in the Infra-Krol schists), and then the black “crush rock.” Thin- 
bedded blue limestones follow; the dip then gets flat; there is evidence of great crushing, 
and then the black carbonaceous rock re-appears with white calcite irregular veins in it. This 
* Probably a misprint for Nouti, the name by which I found the river known on the spot. Gad seems to be the 
corruption of Gar, the vernacular word for river, 
t Mashobra is the bazaar on the neck of the spur that runs north-west from the Mahasu spur to the Satlej, 
