GEOLOGY. 
37 
decomposition of the slates, hut principally, in all probability, a subaerial deposit, like the 
loess. In some places this clay covering 1 is thin, and on a sharp incline parts of it are often 
carried away, so that some of the slopes have a rather rugged appearance. Looking north 
from the pass, I saw what was evidently limestone on one of the hills; it was probably the 
same as the carboniferous limestone seen south-west of Sanju, but there was no possibility 
of getting near the hill. In a north by east direction I saw red thin-bedded sandstones 
capping one or two hills, the beds apparently dipping to north-east. This red rock was very 
probably identical with the cretaceous red sandstone north-west of Sanju, thus remarkably 
indicating that this portion of the hills is a continuation of the Kuenluen. 
Erom the pass to Chehil Gombaz the rocks are palaeozoic carbonaceous slates, very vari¬ 
able in strike and dip. Near the pass the strike is indistinct: in the valley north of Chehil 
Gombaz, it is nearly east and west, the beds being vertical and much contorted. 
March 26 th, Pasrobdt (across the Tor at pass). —The whole way nothing but the same 
carbonaceous slates and shales, and partly sandstone, were seen. They were dipping at a very 
high angle to north by east or north-east by east. In some places they were interbedded 
with crystalline limestone, and with white quartzite, in strata of about 40 to 50 feet in 
thickness. At the junction of the two streams, the Pasrobat and the Tongitar, and much 
higher up, I noticed old diluvial gravel, in some places up to the thickness of 300 feet, 
the boulders mostly consisting of crystalline gneissic rock: some of the boulders are of 
huge dimensions, and all are well-rounded. These boulder deposits must have been formed 
by enormous rivers and large quantities of snow. The gneiss is either fine-grained, with 
biotite mica, sometimes almost schistose, or it is porphyritic with rosy quartz, white felspar 
and a greenish mica. There is little schorl to be observed in any of the pieces. 
March 27th , Tdrbdshi, about eight miles in a western direction. —The carbonaceous slates 
and sandstone continued for about a mile from camp, seeming, however, more micaceous. 
Then they gradually changed into dark carbonaceous mica schists with garnets; this again 
gradually into light-coloured mica schist, with more white quartz and less garnets, and this 
after about two and a half miles from camp into gneiss. All the strata were dipping at about 
50° to north-east and north-east by east. In many places gravels conceal the rocks to a 
height of 150 feet above the river. On the greater heights dark-coloured schistose rocks are 
seen; they are mostly hornblendic. 
March 28th, Balghun. —A march of about 20 miles across the Chichiklik plain and. 
the Kokmainak pass. All the rocks around are gneiss, which gets gradually schistose, but it 
is cleaved in all directions and breaks up easily; the irregular cleavage entirely obliterates the 
bedding. 
March 29th and 30th, Balghun to Chushman, and thence to TashJcurgdn fSariholJ. —Two 
marches of rather more than 20 miles altogether. The rocks are all metamorphic schists, rarely 
micaceous, but chiefly chloritic, quartzose, and hornblendic. North-west of the camp the dip 
is west by north; previously it was east by south. On the western side of the valley are thick 
gravel deposits, the boulders mostly of gneiss and syenite. 
April 2nd, Kanshubar, 16 miles. —The whole way nothing but gneiss, in different varia¬ 
tions, was to be observed. At first where we entered the Tongitar (valley), the fine-grained 
pale-whitish gneiss was interstratified with dark gneiss and syenitic gneiss, full of schorl; 
further on, syenitic gneiss prevailed, then bands of beautiful reddish gneiss occurred in it, 
with reddish-brown quartz, reddish glassy felspar in large crystals, and bits of schorl. 
Eurther on, the gneiss became more ordinary, both coarse and fine grained. 
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