98 
Records of Lite Geological Surrey of India, 
[VOL. VIII. 
short section between the limestone and the gneiss. In crossing the range northwards, schists 
are frequently observed with the gneiss, always intensely crushed ; hut the general strike 
of the Nepal rocks is maintained. At Chitrali Powah, some height above the north base of the 
range, the gneiss is permanently replaced by 1 schists, which here have a decided southerly 
underlie towards the gneiss. The valley of the Tadi and that of the Trisal-ganga between 
Debighat and the Nyakot sango are in these rocks, variously inclined at high angles, but 
with an east-north-easterly strike. 
There seems to he scarcely any specific resemblance between the Nepal section and that 
in Sikkim, beyond the undoubted equivalence of the tertiary sandstones at the foot of the 
range. The slightly carbonaceous band at the base of the section in the Rapti valley cannot 
be directly identified with the coal-measure zone to the east, the associated rocks being 
quite unlike the Damuda sandstone, in which the crushed coal occurs at the base of the 
Darjiling section. Bearing in mind the great distance (more than 200 miles) between the 
two, it is, of course, quite possible that true equivalence may exist, but from simple petro- 
grapkical comparisons, the carbonaceous schists of the Rapti would be more like the similar 
rock in Mr. Mallet’s Daling series, over the coal band. The chief discrepancy occurs, how¬ 
ever, in the ascending sections: in one case we find massive limestone, in the other massive 
gneiss. It would be idle to speculate upon the possible reconcilement of those features 
from such very scanty evidence. One may only notice that although the degree of meta- 
rnorphism has increased from Nepal to Sikkim (if, indeed, the prevalence of gneiss does require 
this assumption), the degree of disturbance is far less marked in the latter area, judging from 
published descriptions. 
It is truly vexatious to think that the settlement of questions of such wide scientific 
interest should be held in abeyance to gratify antiquated and barbarous official prejudices 
or customs. I met with the greatest civility from the few country-people with whom I 
chanced to come in contact. The obstructiveness is enfirely on the part of those in power, 
who think their own dignity enhanced by exclusiveness. The officials at Katmandu were 
most auxious to obtain from me some useful information regarding a sulphur mine recently 
discovered at the base of Gosain Than mountain, in the upper valley of the Trisal-ganga, 
or rather in the main branch of that river that does not flow from the sacred lake ; but 
nothing could persuade them to allow mo to visit the locality. Their state of enlightenment 
in such matters may be judged from the fact that they imported from England a number of 
Davy lamps to counteract the effects of the noxious gases or vapours pervading the mine, 
but which I could not make out from their description to be of the nature of fire-damp. 
For much formal courtesy received I would ofEer my thanks to Sir Jung Bakadoor. 
To the foregoing sketch of the older rock formations I would add a few words regard¬ 
ing more recent deposits. I have said that the Nepal valley contains some 125 square miles 
of alluvial land, but in precise language I am not prepared to say to what extent those 
deposits are alluvial or lacustrine. They are, on the whole, analogous to the Karewah deposits 
of Kashmir, as partially described by Major Godwin-Austen ; but there is here no present 
lake, however small, to suggest a formerly more extensive water basin. The sacred myths, 
of course, record that the valley was once a lake, and even account in the usual miraculous 
way for its mode of origin; so far as I could observe, however, the oldest temples were 
founded during the existing phase of the surface, which is one of arrested erosion of a 
once continuous deposit. The feature all over the valley is flat uplands separated by broad flat 
valleys, locally called Tdnr and Khola, and corresponding exactly to the Bhongar and Khadir 
of the upper gangetic plains. There is much artificial terracing where the upland flats pass 
into the rain-wash slopes from the mountains ; but I observed only one regular river terrace, 
