OF THE TENASSERIM PROVINCES. 
394 
rarely exceeding 250 feet, and are the nearest in position to 
the coast. A range of this formation passes through the 
Tavoy promontory in a due N. and S. course. The general 
character of this granite is that of a coarse grained rock 
with a predominance of felspar,, which renders it more sus¬ 
ceptible of the atmospheric influence than those of finer 
texture and less felspathic, hence the surface appears in all 
stages of decomposition, the more exposed parts having the 
appearance of a clay matrix containing coarse laminfe of 
mica and large angular crystals of quartz. The soil torrned 
by the wasting of this rock is highly fertile, owing doubtless 
to the potash of the felspar; it is generally applied to the 
cultivation of the upland rice, the crops of which it produces 
in the greatest luxuriance. 
Granite and quartz veins permeate the whole system of the 
primary order of rocks on the coast, and appear to take the 
place of the order of trap rocks, beyond the greenstone type of 
which latter, a paucity exists. One form of these granite veins 
©ccurs near Mergui enclosed in a low sandstone hill; it is of a 
pure white color, in a high state of decomposition and forms 
the matrix of the peroxide of tin, which is found io aggre¬ 
gated crystals imbedded in the mass. Captain Tremenheere, in 
his report upon this locality, has pointed out the practicability 
of working this deposit advantageously, if the undertaking 
were conducted on the most approved method, with Euro¬ 
pean skill to direct it; this subject however shall meet further 
notice when treating of the metalliferous deposits of these 
provinces. 
From the prominent features of the geological conformation 
as described in the mountain limestone and old red sandstone, 
it is a matter of surprise that the carboniferous system enclo¬ 
sed by those formations in this locality, has hitherto proved 
so unproductive. Sections of the secondary strata, composing 
beds of a soft blue clay with ironstone nodules, and the shales 
of the coal basins accompanied by a coarse calcareous con¬ 
glomerate, are visible in the banks of the river Attaran, 
which has its course in the valley formed by the sandstone 
and limestone hill ranges, but up to the present period no 
coal has been discovered in this vicinity. This may in some 
measure be owing to the horizontal position of the strata in 
question, which is unfavourable to the outcrop of the mineral 
at the surface; but, judging from local disturbances, this 
horizontalism cannot be preserved for any considerable dis¬ 
tance, and a minute investigation would doubtless discover 
at more favorable angle of inclination of the strata, which, 
J)Dd 
