PRAT 4 .] 
Medlicott: Note on the Geology of Nepal. 
101 
1,500 feet. Proceeding np the valley I did not notice any such blocks up to Nimbuatanr, 
where the bottom of the valley is quite choked with an accumulation of similar blocks. 
These I took to be a later moraine deposit. Above this they become gradually concealed, as 
it seems, beneath lighter detritus, over which the stream runs for some way, and which 
passes into a great fan-deposit stretching across the valley from a lateral gorge on the east 
just below Bimphedi. Here the main branch of the stream runs upon rock at a much 
lower level, passing by a steeply cut channel along the west side of the valley. No great 
blocks appear in or upon this diluvial fan. 
The case was not a little complicated at first by the fact that, along the whole valley 
of the Rapti ana up to the crest of the Chessa-garhi ridge in which it rises, no gneissic rock 
was observed in place. The first rock of this kind crossed on the road is some way down 
the northern side of the ridge. The strike of the rocks, however, would take this gneiss 
into the ridge east of the road well within the head-waters of the Rapti; and from this 
source, it must be presumed, all the aforesaid erratics were derived. The highest point of 
the watershed of the Rapti must be under 7,000 feet. 
It would hardly have occurred to me to question the glacial origin of those immense 
boulders had I succeeded in finding any confirmatory evidence of glacial conditions in the 
higher mountain region. If the Rapti valley were ever occupied by ice, the whole country 
to the north must have been in a similar state. Yet I have to record that throughout the 
rest of my trip I failed to find any symptom of such conditions. Thinking that the valley 
deposits of Nepal would be younger than the glacial period, and might cover its most 
characteristic remains, I searched for such at the deepest point of erosion, about Katwaldar, 
but without success. I was more surprised, and should have been so independently of the 
suggestion in the Rapti, to find no signs of glacial action in the Trisal-ganga valley at 
Nyakot. This is one of the great rivers, draining from the Grosain Than, a peak of over 
26,000 feet in elevation, and it must now be fed by immense glaciers : yet in a length of 
sis miles, from Nyakot to Debi ghat, I could find nothing to suggest glacial action. It is 
true the same excuse would apply here as in Nepal; this portion of the Trisal-ganga valley 
is occupied by deposits, well stratified and with peaty layers very similar to those about 
Katmandu, the river only touching rock at a few points; still it were marvellous that no 
trace should be seen of such a glacier as must have lain here had the ice ever advanced 
to Etoundah. 
Despite all this want of confirmation, I cannot declare finally against the glacial origin 
of the Etoundah erratics. I know that torrents can do wonders in the way of moving large 
masses. But it does not appear that the Rapti can now stir such blocks as these, much 
less pile them together as they are at Etoundah. The great block noticed in the Churiaghati 
pass may be a straggler from the Etoundah rocks, though I could not see any like it on the 
northern slope of the range. 
I trust that these crude notes will be of some service in guiding future visitors to Nepal 
Even incorrect suggestions may lead to observations that would otherwise have remained 
unnoticed. 
H. B. MEDLICOTT. 
August 1875. 
