96 
Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
[vol. VIII. 
Although this Chessa-garhi range lias a nearly east-west direction, parallel to the strike 
of the rocks to the south of it, it is formed, at least at this point, of rocks having a widely 
different direction. Even at Bimphcdi, at the south base of the ridge, the strata strike to 
north 35°' west. They are again thin quartzites, greatly folded and shattered, hut maintain¬ 
ing a dominant high underlie to north-east-by-eafit. A little below the crest of the ridge on 
the northern descent, the quartzose schists are associated with strong bauds of prophyritic 
gneiss, which is the dominant rock towards the base. The strike would take it into the 
ridge well within the basiu of the Eapti. At the north base of the range the Pinouni 
river flows from the north against this mass of gneiss, and turns away to the east. Just 
above the bond of the river there is a cliff-section showing the crushed condition of the 
gneissic strata, contrasting well with the steady high underlie of the sharply bedded quartzites 
through which the river cuts its way obliquely. The general strike in both rocks is the 
same; and the whole feature suggests that the gneiss has been formed, and perhaps faulted 
up, along a broken anticlinal axis of flexure. It is near this line of disturbance that the 
copper mines of this locality occur. I was, of course, unable to visit and inspect them; but 
by a curious coincidence I passed at this very place a number of coolies laden with foreign 
copper for Katmandu, which suggests that the native resources in this metal cannot be very 
great. Here, and at several other places where I saw abundant refuse of old copper smelt¬ 
ings, the work seems to be now abandoned. 
From the Sango bridge at Tamba Khoneh, along the Pinouni nearly due north to 
Marku, and then up the Chitlong valley to the north-east, there is an ascending section 
(obliquely) through the sharply bedded quartzites underlying steeply to east-35°-north. 
Wherever their composition is more earthy, foliation is well marked; but I did not see any 
gneissic band. Towards the head of the Chitlong valley the strike of the rocks becomes 
more easterly, up to the Cheudragiri ridge, where it is east-15°-south; and the rocks are 
freely calcareous. 
The Cheudragiri ridge overlooks the Nepal valley, which is enclosed, except on the north, 
by rocks of the same description as those found here. There is, however, nothing like a 
circular arrangement of the ridges or of the rocks; the strike of both is most constant, 
between 15° and 25° to south-of-east; and the form of the valley is consequently most 
irregular—a number of longitudinal valleys, united in a central area by the suppression of the 
ridges, which are in some cases mere spurs running a short distance into the open; others, 
again, as that of Kirthipur, are nearly continuous across the valley: sometimes, as at Pash- 
pati, the rock appears isolated in the alluvial deposits. The south-west corner of the valley 
divides the Cheudragiri from the Phulchok range, on the same strike. Here at Katwaldar, 
the Baghmati leaves the valley through rocky gorge across vertical quartzites. It is a 
moderately sized torrent, the watershed being confined to the ridges immediately surrounding 
the valley, which is only about sixteen miles long from west-north-west to east-south-east, and 
about twelve miles transversely, from Katawldar to the base of the Sheopuri range on we 
north. The alluvial area may be about 125 square miles. The elevation of Katmandu is given 
as 4,500 feet. Phulchok on the south-east is the highest summit of the surrounding hills, 
rising to 9,720 feet. 
Excluding the Sheopuri range on the north, all the ridges skirting or abutting into the 
Nepal valley are formed of steeply folded repetitions of one set of rocks, in which, as already 
noticed, a calcareous ingredient is very general. It often appears as limestone, in some force 
and of various degrees of purity. The summit of Phulchok is of thick white crystallin' 
limestones. Strong beds are also found on Cheudragiri and Nagarjan, both of which are 
synclinal ridges. The pure rock would thus seem to occur chiefly near the top ot the series, but 
