CONTENTS.

PART II.

No. 127.

Page

I.—A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India, being Storms in the China

Seas, from 1780 to 1841. By Henry Piddington, Esq. .. ee «- 605

1{.—Observations on the Herat Astrolabe, described in No. 118, of the Journal.

By the Rev. J. S. Pratt, Chaplain to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of

Calcutta. .. 43 ee od ae oe se -- 720

No. 128.

I.—A description of the Coal Field of the Damoodah Valley and the adjacent

Countries of Beerbhoom and Poorooleah, as applicable to the present date,

1842. By J. Homfray, Esq. .. a at sé ote ere eo

I{.—A Monograph of the species of Lynx. By Edward Blyth, Curator to the

Asiatic Society. us “) ae a . 740

I1I.—Selections communicated by the Sudder Board of Boden at Allahabad,

from Correspondence respecting the proposed formation of a Canal for Irriga-

tion to be supplied from the River Jumna, near the Village of Kuttha Put-

thur, in the Deyra Doon. From Capt. P. T. Cautley, to the Secretary of

the Sudder Board of Revenue, North Western Provinces, .. zie ei eity EAL

IV.—Comparison of the Areas of Plane and Spherical Triangles. By Capt.

Shortrede, Ist Assistant, Grand Trigonometrical Survey... emeAra

V.—A Note on Capt. Shortrede’s Remarks in No. CXXIII, (Page 40) of this

Journal. By S.G.T. Heatly Esq. .. os eS yis74

VI.—Descriptive Notice of the Bat described as Taphoais ipnbimente by Gen.

Hardwicke. By Edward Blyth, Curator to the Asiatic Society. .. ce 784

VII.—Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. .. ie yr Ary. 2» 786

No. 129.

I.—Contributions towards a History of the development of the Mineral Resources

of India. By S. G. Tollemache Heatly, Esq. .. ; ae . ii

I1.—Memorandum on the usual Building Materials of the district of Cuttack,

forwarded to the Museum of Economic Geology, with a set of specimens.

By Lieut. Righy, Executive Engineer, Cuttack Division. au 2880

I{I.—Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Tieundubears

F. R. S. Executive Engineer, Tenasserim Division. .. a1, 839

IV —Notes on the Iron of the Kasia Hills, for the Museum of Bech ui Gaesinet

By Lieut. Yule, Engineers. .. .. oe e. oe -. 893

iv Contents.

Page

V —Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes (vorax?) .. oe, ne o 0) 807

VI.—Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for August. .. bie aie -. 863

VII.—Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for September. .. “- -. 87/6

No. 130.

I.—A Monograph of the Indian and Malayan species of Cuculide, or Birds of

the Cuckoo family. By Edward Blyth, Curator of the Asiatic Society. .. 897

II.—Notes, principally Geological, on the Tract between Bellary and Bijapore.

By Capt. Newbold, F. R. S. &c. Madras Army. ae 5 ws saad

II1.—Notes, principally Geological, from Bijapore to Bellary, via Kannighirri.

By Capt. Newbold, F. R. S. &c. Madras Army. a <5 .. 941

1V.—Ancient Inscription found at Aden, Communicated to the Asiatic Society

by the Government of India. Witha plate. .. oe 958

V.—Meteors observed at Allahabad on the 10th of August, 1842. “By Genk

Shortrede, Ist Assistant, Grand Trigonometrical Survey of India. -», 999

V1.—Memorandum on the ‘‘ Bora Chung,”’ of Bootan. By A. Campbell, Esq.,

Superintendent, Darjeeling, .. ae <3 * da, OS

VII.—Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for Deter. oe Be -. 964

No. 13l.

I.—A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India; being the Calcutta Hur-

ricane of 3rd and 4th June 1842. By Henry Piddington, Esq..... SinGiens OFT

II.—A Monograph of the Indian and Malayan species of Cuculide, or Birds

of the Cuckoo family. By Edward Blyth, Curator of the Asiatic Society.—

(Concluded.) .«e. aval Rade nen aaa axisa 11009

1iI.—-The Avatars of Vishnoo. An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran.

By E. C. Ravenshaw, Esq. 2 cis coos aces teeaimsed Ltd?

No. 132.

I,—Specimens offered to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. By Captain Newbold,

F. R. S. &c. Madras Army, Soe welels eoee ore ceccneee Id

I].—Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. By

Lieut. Trant, of the Q. M. G. Dept., Bis aa : eedee sd L1S0

I1{.—Capt. Manson’s Journal of a Visit to Melum and the Oonta Dinos Pass

in Juwahir. Edited by J. H. Batten, Esq. ©. S. for the Journal of the

Asiatic Society. .... iii pire die ose asa R1OZ

1V.—On the Wool of the Bactrian, or two- gamnes Camel (Camelus Bas

trianus,) being a Copy of an unpublished paper forwarded to the Royal

Asiatic Society of London. By Captain Thomas Hutton, cece evee 1182

V.—Public Papers relating to the Nurma or Chanderi Cotton, in reference to

queries by Mr. Piddington, Journal Asiatic Society Vol. X. p. 715; being a

report to Government by Capt. J. Abbott, Assistant Resident Nimaur. .... 1188

VI.—Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for November. .... sidieie adie L198

VII.—Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for December... cece eee 1204

INDEX TO PART II.

Page

Ancient Inscription found at Aden.

Communicated to the Asiatic So-

ciety by the Government of India.

With a plate. By Capt. Haines,.. 998

Areas of Plane and Spherical ‘Tri-

angles. Comparison of the. By

Capt. Shortrede, .... foie

Avatar of Vishnoo. An abstract

Translation of the, from the Pudma

Pooran. By E. ©. Ravenshaw

sq. Broan + sles EPI Wl) 4

Bat described as Tapozous longima-

nus, by Gen. Hardwicke. Des-

criptive Notice of. By Ed. Blyth, 784

Bijapore to Bellary, via Kannighirri

Notes principally Geological, from.

By Capt. Newbold, F. 8. S. &c.. 94!

Bora Chung, of Bootan. Memoran-

dum on the. By A. Campbell, Esq. 963

Building Materials of the district of

Cuttack. Memorandum on, for-

warded to the Museum of Economic

Geology, with a set of specimens.

By Lieut. Righy, .... piaiele TOOD.

Canal for Irrigation. Selections com-

municated by the Sudder Board

of Revenue at Allahabad, from

Correspondence respecting the pro-

posed formation of a, from the

river Jumna, near the Village of

Kuttha Putthur, in the Deyra

Doon. From Capt. P. T. Cautley,. 761

Coal Field of the Damoodah Valley.

A description of the, and the adja-

cent countries of Beerbhoom and

776

on, eaters hs Te sees, SOL

Herat Astrolabe. Observations on

the, described: in No. 118, of the

Journal. By Rev. J. S. Pratt, .. 720

History of the development of the

Mineral Resources ot India. Con-

tributions towards. By S G. Tol-

lemache Heatly, Esq. pees a

Indian and Malayan species of Cu-

Page.

culide. A Monograph of the, or

Birds of the Cuckoo family. By

Edward Blyth, Mees 897-1095

Iron of the Kasia Hills. Notes on

the, for the Museum of Economic

Geology. By Lieut. Yule, .... 853

Law of Storms in India. A Sixth

Memoir on the, being Storms in

the China Seas, from 1780 to 1841.

By H. Piddington, Esq. ........ 605

Law of Storms in India. A Seventh

Memoir on the, being the Calcutta

Hurricane of 3rd and 4th June

1842. By Henry Piddington, Esq. 971

Meteors observed at Allahabad on

the !0th of August, 1842. By Capt.

Shortrede, .. HA A ee

Note on Capt. Shortrede’s Remarks

in No. CXXIII, (page 240) of

ae Journal. By S. G. T. Heatly,

Nurma or Chanderi Cotton in refer-

ence to queries by Mr. Piddington,

By Capt. Abbott, Journal Asiatic

Society Vol. X. p. 716, 188

Proceedings of the Asiatic Socie-

LY sate c's 786,863, 876,964, 1198, 1204

Route from Pakung Yeh in Ava

to Aeng in Arracan. Report on a.

eeer eeee

By Lieut. Trant, teas

Species of Lynx, a Monograph of.

the. By Edward Blyth ........ 740

Specimens offered to the Asiatic

Society of Bengal. By Capt. New-

bold, F. R.S. Sone ---. 1131

Tin of Mergui, Second Report on

the. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. 839

Tract between Bellary and Bijapore.

Notes, principally Geological, on

the. By Capt. Newbold, F. R. S.

&e. LAE nee vee 929

Visit to Melum and the Oonta

Dhoora Pass in Juwahir, Edited

by J. H. Batten, Esq. C.S. Journal

ot a. By Capt. Manson, dace lhor

Wool of the Bactrian, or two humped

Camels, (Camelus Bactrianus.)

By Capt. Thomas Hutton, ......1182

INDEX TO NAMES OF AUTHORS.

PART II.

Page

AssotT, Capt. Nurma or Chanderi

Cotton, in reference to queries by

Mr. Pippineton, Journal Asiatic

Society Vol. X. p. 716, .. .0-- 1188

Asiatic Socigety, Proceedings of

the, .... 786,863.876,964, 1198, 1204

Biytu, Epwarp. Species of Lynx,

a Monograph of the. .... ceee.. 7

——_——_—-——-— Bat described as

Taphozous longimanus, by Gen.

HaRDWICcKE. Deanne Notice

siudinaia saree

——_—__-——_—_—_— Indian and Ma-

layan species of Cuculide. A Mo-

nograph of the, or Birds of the

Cuckoo family. ..... eceee S9/-1095

CAMPBELL, A. Esq. Bora Chung,

of Bootan. Memorandum on the. 963

CautLey, P. T. Capt. Canal for

Irrigation. Selections communi-

cated by the Sudder Board of

Revenue at Allahabad, from Cor-

respondence respecting the pro-

posed formation of a, from the river

Jumna, near the Village of Kuttha

Putthur, in the Deyra Doon. ....

Haines, Capt. Ancient Inscription

found at Aden. Communicated to

the Asiatic Society by the Govern-

ment of India. With a plate,....

Heatty, S. G. T. Ese. A Note

on Capt. SHoRTREDE’s Remarks

in No. CXXIII, (Page 240) of

this Journal. nia eae |

—_—_—_—_—__—_- History of

the developement of the Mineral

Resources of India. Contributions

TO Watdsite enc obec hone 7

Homrray, J. Esq. Coal Field of

the Damoodah Valley. A descrip-

tion of the, and the adjacent coun-

tries of Beerbhoom and Pooroo-

leah, as applicable to the present

date 1842 ait eee

Herron, Tuos, Captain. On Gale-

odes (vorax?) ..«.

the Bactrian, or two humped

Camel, (Camelus Bactrianus.) ..1182

761

958

811

eeesece

Page.

Manson, Capt. Visitto Melum and

the Oonta Dhoora Pass in Juwahir,

Edited by J. H. Batten, Esq.

C.S. Journal of a..... aaieeantlod

NEwso_p, Capt. F. R. S. &c. Tract

between Bellary and_ Bijapore.

Notes, principally Geological, on

the, Sein cla cw eee © sin ° 929

———_—__—__—_-—_—_-_____ Bja-

pore to Bellary, via Kannighirri.

Notes principally Geological, from. 941

—_————_——— Speci-

mens offered to the Asiatic Society

of Bengal.

Pippineton, H. Esq. Law ofStorms

in India. A Sixth Memoir on the,

being Storms in the China Seas,

from. 1780 to 1841.

—_—.

ecos eeee eees

605

Law of

Storms in India. A Seventh Me-

moir on the, being the Calcutta

Hurricane of 3rd and 4th June

LOTT, oe ceed ty csp nen an eee Sch 971

labe. Observations on the, describ-

ed in No. 118, of the Journal..... 720

RavensHaw, E. C. Esq. Avatar of

Vishnoo. An abstract Translation

of the, from the Pudma Pooran...1112

Riguy, Lieut. Building Materials

ot the district of Cuttack. Memo-

randum on, forwarded to the Muse-

um of Economic Geology, with a

set of specimens. eae

SHORTREDE, Capt. Areas of Plane

and Spherical ‘Triangles. Compari-

son of the. once, 416

—________——_— Meteors observ-

ed at Allahabad on the 10th of

August, 1842..... coor sere Gl

TrantT, Lieut. Route from Pakung

Yeh in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan.

Report on a, : 1

TREMENHEERE, G. B. Capt.

of Mergui, Second Report on

the. eon pie ee

Yue, Lieut. Iron of the Kasia

Hills. Notes on the, for the Mu-

seum of Economic Geology. . 853

836

aces sees

839

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

A Sixtu Memoir on the Law of Storms in India, being, Storms 1N

THE Cuina Szas, FROM 1780 To 1841. By Henry Pippineron.

It naturally occurred to me in the course of my investigations on

this subject, that it would be of great interest could we collect toge-

ther as many of the o/d storms of past years as remain upon record ;

and with this view, I addressed the Hon’ble the Court of Directors of

the East India Company, requesting their assistance in obtaining from

their official documents, and from their old officers, such information

as still existed. With their wonted, and well-known liberality in

the cause of science this request was promptly complied with, and I

owe to their kind assistance a mass of documents, comprising numerous

extracts from logs and letters which relate to the China Seas and North-

ern Pacific,* besides other miscellaneous information. It is then, I need

not say, to them that this memoir will owe, in the first place, most of

its information, and I may be allowed to add, that as the best thanks

which I could offer to them, I have endeavoured to use to the best

advantage their valuable materials.

To Captain Chas. Biden of Madras, I am next indebted for a long

series of logs and notices, which he has been most zealous in collect-

ing and forwarding to me. And from Mr. Greenlaw, the Secretary

* The remainder to the Bay of Bengal, Southern Indian Ocean, and Cape of Good

Hope, which will appear in future memoirs.

No. 127, New Szrizs, No. 43. 44

606 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

to the Marine Board, and Captain Clapperton, Acting Master Attendant

at Calcutta, I have, as usual, received all the assistance they could

afford: I must not omit to mention, that amongst several of the

Hon’ble Company’s retired officers who have given valuable notes,

I am specially obliged to Mr. Thos. Packman, for some twenty pages

of extracts and notices which he has been good enough to send me.

I have been careful to note at the head of every storm the sources

from which the documents are derived.

It will perhaps be thought that I have here preserved some records

which afford but scanty proof of the truth of the theory of storms as

applied to the Chinas Seas; but it should be borne in mind that we

have to prove, first, that the great storms are circular ones, or nearly

so; secondly, that they turn from right to left outside; ¢hzrdly, that

they are progressive ; fourthly, the tracks on which they move; and

jithly, the rates at which they move, and any other peculiarities.

Now to shew all this of any one storm, requires a considerable body

of evidence, and such as can rarely be procured without great

trouble and a fortunate combination of circumstances; but we may

prove it little by little, and separately, of several storms; and above

all, we may shew that as far as all available record extends, there

is no contradiction to the theory to be found! and by publishing

faithfully, make the data available for abler hands. With these

views then, I shall I trust be acquitted of accumulating useless details,

and I may add, that provided our data are but authentic, we can as

yet scarcely say what may be, eventually, their relative importance.

TRACK No. I, 1780.

The first storm of which I have obtained any record is the fol-

lowing, from a note of Captain Biden’s :—

An account of the distress of the London East Indiaman, 758 tons,

in a Hurricane on the Coast of China, in July last, taken from

Captain WxBp’s letter to the Directors of the East India Company.

From the Annual Register.—« On our arrival on the coast of China,

off Macao, on July 17th 1780, after my packet was delivered to the

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 607

supercargoes there, a tiffoon came on, which had very near demolished

us.

“ At four in the afternoon our best bower cable parted, and the ship

cast in shore, but by setting all the sail I could, I just weared her

clear of the land ; and as the wind was then E. N. E. we stood out to

the southward under our courses, and at six had the Ladrones

bearing N. E. At eight the wind flew round to S. E. and blew the

hardest gale I ever remember. We were then in twenty fathoms

water, and not being able to make any more way out, our sails all

blowing to pieces, we looked upon our destruction as inevitable, with-

out a particular act of providence; for we were driving on a lee-shore.

At twelve at night the wind flew to the south, its violence still con-

tinuing, and we found the ship shoaling her water, so that every

soul on board was preparing for death. At daylight we were in

twelve fathoms water, with the sea, which was as much mud as water,

breaking entirely over us; we then threw some of our guns overboard,

and cut away the main and mizen masts, and by the time we had

cleared them we were in three fathoms water, the land only about a

quarter of a mile distant. We immediately cut away the fore-yard

and let go the sheet anchor, which, by the mercy of God, brought us

up; and as the ship touched the ground abaft it eased her to the

cable, or I am well assured the Royal George’s anchors and cables

would not have held her. We then instantly let go our spare anchor

with a new cable, which parted as we were veering it out, so that we

had no other left. About nine in the morning the gale abated. In

the evening we hove up our sheet anchor, when we found the cable

stranded. What saved the ship was the having all our guns housed,

her ports in, and top-gallant masts down on deck, before the gale

came on. Our drift in the gale was amazing.

* T imagined it at first only about fifty miles, but to my astonishment

when the gale was over, I found myself as low down as Haynan,

within the westernmost island, about 3 leagues from the continent.

I must have passed in the night quite close to a rock that bore S. by

W. when the ship brought up. The Chinese told me that every

vessel that was that night at sea perished except mine, and that they

had lost all their junks and boats round the whole country, and were

certain not less than 100,000 people had perished in the storm.

608 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

“We had another tiffoon in August, when all the European ships at

Wampoa drove with three anchors a-head. The Chinese junks and

boats then in the river were most of them sunk, and the number of

poor souls that perished in this hurricane is incredible. I repaired

my damages as well as I could at Canton, but I was obliged to come

away with only two cables.”

Captain Biden’s note upon this log, is as follows: “‘ The extraordi-

nary drift of the London from near Macao to the N.E. Coast of Hainan

is worthy of remark. It appears she stood to the southward about four

hours when the gale flew round from E. N. E.to S. E. Allowing her

to have made thirty miles in those four hours; this ship must have

experienced an amazing current to the S. S. W., the distance from the

Grand Ladrone to Hainan, being about 180 miles, and much of the

time the hurricane was from S. E. and S.”—C. B.

It seems most probable, that this was a storm travelling along the

South Coast of China, or from about E. N.. E. to W.S. W., and that

the London crossed its track, and not far from the centre, at 8 a. m.

I have therefore laid it down as one of the probable tracks only,

though from the ship’s position, and the shift of wind being so well

ascertained, we may infer that we are not far from the truth. The

extraordinary drift would be quite incredible, did it not also rest upon

good evidence, and it should be borne in mind by the seaman as at all

events a possibility in like cases. It will be subsequently seen that in

September 1803, the H. C. S. Warley was also driven from off

St. John’s to the Taya Islands, or about the same distance in about

56 hours, and that other instances of this dangerous storm-current

have occurred.

1793.

On the Ist, 2nd, and 8rd of Dec. 1793, the Honorable Company’s

Ships Royal Charlotte, Triton, and Warley, bound to China, by

copies of their logs received from the India House, were driven from

Lat. 20° 9’ N., Long. 119° E.; to Lat. 17° 29' N. Long. 116° 38 E.

or about 220 miles to the Southward and Westward by a heavy

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 609

gale (called a Tyfoon in their logs) which began at North, veered to

N. E. and N. N. E. and moderated again at North, veering when

fine, to N. N. W. It is barely possible that this might have been

a vortex travelling from the N. N. E. to the S. S. W. between the

ships, and the Island of Luzon ; but 1 should be more inclined, at

that season of the year, to consider it as what I have in my former

memoirs styled a monsoon gale, i. e. the monsoon of the season rising

to the height of a severe gale. Of this the reader will judge for

himself. There is nothing in the data worth recording beyond the

drift of the ships, and the steadiness of the wind during the storm,

which was however so severe, that the Royal Charlotte lost her tiller,

and the other ships several sails, &c.

TRACK No. II, 1797.

Narrative from Captain Lynns’s Star Tables.

The Duke of Buccleugh, (burden 1182 tons), sailed from China

(Macao roads), on the 15th June 1797, in company with His Majesty’s

ship Swzft, Captain Hayward, and a fleet of sixteen ships.

Sunday the \8th June.—Moderate winds from S.S. E.to E.S. E.,

E., E.N.E., N.E. and North at noon, with hazy weather throughout.

Latitude observed 21° 58’ N.; longitude per chronometer 116° 05’ E.

Barometer 29° 15’. Thermometer 83°.

Monday, 19th June.—Commenced with increasing northerly wind

and hazy weather; at 4 p.m. the wind increasing rapidly. In first

and second reefs, handed the main-sail, struck the royal masts, and

down top-gallant yards. At 7 pe. m. wind N. E. by N., increasing to

a heavy gale, handed the top-sails. From 9 p. m. till midnight, the

wind veering from N.E. by N. to North, N. W. to West, S. W. and

South, increasing gradually the whole time, when its force was tre-

mendous, and such as no sail, I conceive, could have endured: the

foresail at this time blew out of the bolt-rope to atoms, and the ship

tried under bare poles until day-break, when the wind having veered

to the eastward of South, began to abate. No ship in sight since 3 a. m.

when the Commodore, with whom we had been scudding, and whom

610 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

we knew by his top-light, bore E. S. E. a quarter of a mile, and sud-

denly disappeared. The sea during the height of the gale, (its surface

being such a continued spray), it was impossible to face ; it searched

through the weather ports, although well lined and secured; and in

the working of the ship through the weather seams, to such a degree,

as was incredible. Notwithstanding the force of the wind, the sea

was not near so high as in common gales of wind off the Cape of Good

’ Hope, which I attribute to the partiality of the gale with regard to

its extent, but perhaps to the extreme violence of the wind preventing

the sea from forming a head. Bar. 29° 00’. Ther. 76°.

In this gale (we afterwards learned) the Boddam was totally dis-

masted, lost her bowsprit and rudder, and was towed into Macao

road by the Crescent packet, where at anchor, this ship lost her fore-

mast and bowsprit also. Latitude by account 22° 9’ North, Lon-

gitude 117° 3’ East.

Tuesday, 20th.—Wind from S. by E. to S.E. by S., gradually abating

to a moderate breeze, with fine weather at noon, when the latitude

was observed 22° 27’ N., and longitude by chronometer 117° 26’ E.

For the foregoing I am indebted to Captain Biden, and unfor-

tunately amongst the logs from the India House, those relating to

this storm are omitted, though the logs relating to two of the other

storms experienced by the Buccleugh and fleet in the Northern Pacific

have been sent me, and will appear in a memoir on the storms

of that ocean. The only other record I have is a notice from

memory from Mr. Baynes of Falmouth,* from which it appears, that

the Boddam and Chester suffered severely in it, the former vessel

being dismasted, with also the loss of her rudder. We have then

to consider from this notice alone, what may probably have been

the track of the storm.

Mr. Redfield in quoting this storm, seems to think that the true

storm set in at North. I should scarcely think so from the terms

of the log, and am inclined to take its commencement from the N. E.

by N. wind, at seven p. m. when the ship drifting across the track of the

storm within, a short distance of its centre, will account for its veering,

taking the track to be about an East and West one.

* India House Memoranda.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 611

There is however another and a more probable reason to account

for the slight anomaly, taking the storm to have begun at noon,

and from the North, as Mr. Redfield supposes, which is, that at this

time the Buccleugh was only 50 miles from the coast of China, which

being high, would, as we positively know in the case of the storms

of the Bay of Bengal, occasion variations in the direction of the wind,

and probably influence that of the centre itself. We cannot venture

upon such slender data to mark any thing more than a conjectural

track for this storm on our chart, but we may be satisfied that it

travelled from the Eastward towards the West, and veered according

to the Law of Storms in the Northern hemisphere.

TRACKS No. III. anp 1V.—SepremsBer 20ru to 23rp, 1803.

Documents from the India House and Captain Biden.

On the 20th to 23d of September, 1803, a fleet of the Hon’ble Com-

pany’s ships, consisting of the Warley, Royal George, Bombay Casile,

Alfred, Coutts, Earl Camden, and Ganges, experienced two very

severe tyfoons in the China Seas. Of these ships, the first three, viz.

Warley, Royal George, and Alfred, were close in with the Coast of

China, and some of them were anchored off St. John’s, while the last

four, Coutts, Earl Camden, Bombay Castile and Ganges, were about

latitude 16° N. and thus at least 6° South of the others. We should

have then consequently, as it were, two fleets on opposite sides of a

great storm of 6° of latitude, or say 400 miles if it was one storm, or

if there were two, the two fleets still serve to define their tracks and

limits. I shall subsequently give a full detail of how they do so.

My authorities are the logs of the ships from the East India House,

from Captain Biden, who was a Midshipman in the Royal George, and

the log of that ship, with a private memorandum of Captain Torin’s

of the Coutts. I commence with the logs of the ships off the Coast of

China, reducing them to civil time.

612 A Siath Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

No. 1.—Abridged Log of the Honorable Company's Ship Warurky ;

reduced to civil time.

The Honorable Company’s Ship Warley was on the 21st September,

at noon, in Jat. 21° 17’ N., long. 113° 7’ E. with the land about

St. John’s and the Madarin’s Cap in sight at sunset ; blowing fresh

from N. N. E. to N. by W. at midnight, when she was in twenty-five

fathoms water. ,

22nd September.—From midnight to noon, wind increasing fast,

ship standing in to the N. E. and East with wind as before, and N.

by W. at noon, when she was in thirty fathoms water off St. John’s,

about lat. 21° 10’ N. Jong. 112° 48’ E. By 1] p. m. all the storm staysails

blown away; wind apparently steady from the North and N. N. E.,

though not marked in this log; ship hove to with her head to the

East ward. ;

23rd September.—Storm increasing, top-masts blown away, ship

becoming almost unmanageable ; at a little after noon, when by indiffer-

ent observation the latitude was 21° 15’ N. they let go the best

bower anchor, to try to keep the ship’s head to the sea; the wind is not

marked, but seems to have been about E. by S. at noon.

24th September.—Rolled away the mizen-mast. Saw the Taya

Isiands at 6 a.m. Latitude at noon 20° 15’ N.

With reference to the log of the London at p. 607 it will be seen,

that this is another instance of a ship’s being blown and drifted from

the mouth of Canton river to the Coast of Hainan, in about fifty-

six hours. |

No. 2.— Abridged Log of H. C. 8. Royau Grorce, Captain J. F.

Timins, reduced to civil time.

The Royal George was, at noon on the 22d September, at anchor, |

with the Grand Ladrone bearing N. by E. 2 E. three or four miles, and

the Asses’ Ears E. by N., strong gales from N., with squalls and hazy |

weather, lat. 21° 50' N. p.m. hard gales with squalls and fair

weather. Wind N. N.E. at 5 p. wm. and N. E.at 9 ; midnight, severe

gusts of wind with rain, and a heavy swell from the N. E.

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 613

23rd September.—a. m. very hard gales with severe gusts of wind

and rain, veering away cable.

At 2 a.m. the wind marked E. N. E. At 3, blowing very hard, cut

the cable and hove to (head to the S. E.) under bare poles. vp. m.

wind East, strong gales with heavy squalls Southerly. More moderate

fromodp.m. At5p.m. St. John’s bearing W. N. W. three or four

leagues, in twenty fathom water.

24th September.—At 8 a.m. St. John’s bearing N. W. six or seven

leagues ; Cow Cock N. E. by N., wind E. by S. making sail. The

Alfred at daylight S. by E. five miles.

No. 3.—Abridged Log of H. C. S. AuFrep ; reduced to civil time.

At noon 22nd September, had the Grand Ladrone bearing W. 3 S.

Gap Rock South, and Asses’ Ears due East. Observed that the swell

was rising from the Eastward. Wind marked North. At noon

working in to the anchorage; p. m. increasing breeze and cloudy wea-

ther, with a long swell from the East. At 4 p. m. anchored with

Grand Ladrone bearing S.; Gap Rock S. by E.; Asses’ Ears S. 65° E.

making all snug. At 1] p.m. wind increased to hard gale N. N. E.

At midnight drove.

23rd September.—Gale still freshening, and ship driving at the

rate of 24 knots per hour, cut and stood tosea, hove to at 2 a.m. Wind

at N. E. and at 4 at E. N. E., heavy gale with hard squalls and a

confused sea at noon. At 2 p.m. E. 8. E. At 4 made some sail. At 7

p.m. E.S. E.

24th September.—Royal George at daylight N. by W. Wind

about E. S. E. and moderating.

No. 4.—Abridged Log of the Ean CampEn, Captain Dance ; reduced

to civil time.

Wednesday, 20th September.—Noon lat. 15° 42’ N., longitude 113°

41’, hard gales with squally weather, wind N. N. E. atl p.m. At 3

614 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 127.

N. by E. At 5 N. by W. to midnight ; ship trying to the N. E. by E.

but making little or no way.

21st September.—Constant hard gales, and thick squally weather

continue with a high confused sea. 2 a. m. wind N.N.W. At 3 N. W.

b N. At9, N. W. by W., ll a.m. N. W. hove to under close reefed main

top-sail, lat. 15° 51' N., longitude 115° 27’ E. Bombay Castle in

company, p.m. wind W. N. W. hard squalls, thick weather, and rain

throughout till midnight.

22d September.—1 a.m. Wind West. At Noon S. W. by S. lat.

16° 17' N., longitude 116° 23’ E. p.m. wind S. W. by S. At 5 P.M.

wind South, bore up. At 7 p.m. wind S. W. At midnight S. 8. W.

weather moderating since noon.

23d September.—Monsoon weather ; wind from S. to S. 8. W., ship

going four and five knots to the N. by W. Noon, lat. obs. 17° O1'

North, longitude 114° 4’ E. ; from which time fine weather to China.

No. 5.—Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Bompay Casrxe, Capt. Archi-

bald Hamilton ; reduced to civil time.

In this ship’s log there are no latitudes or longitudes marked, but

as she was for the first part of the storm within a few miles of the

Camden, we may thus take it as corroborative of that vessel’s well-

kept record. The ships seem to have been driven to the Southward,

(they were bound éo China it will be remembered), by the continuance

of a northerly wind, which indeed is not uncommon at this season,

and may be the first struggles of that part of the trade wind which

constitutes the N. E. monsoon, to overcome the South-westerly one ;

and thus, if we admit mere dynamical causes to originate these vortice,

giving the first impulse to them, for by a memorandum in the log,

they were on the 19¢h Sepiember, in latitude 16° 2’. The Camden's

log giving 15° 42’ for the observation of the 26th.

20th September.—pr. mM. Wind N.N. E. strong gale and cloudy to

midnight, ship under close reefed top-sails.

21st September.—3 a.m. N. N. W. Noon N.W. DN. preparing for

bad weather, blowing very hard with violent squalls and heavy head

sea. At 4 p..m. lying to under mizen stay-sail. At 6, wind NW.

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 615

22nd September.—7 a.m. Wind S.W. b W. Noon about 8.W. b W.

hard squalls. p.m. S.W. b W. at half past 3 more moderate. At 5. S.W.

bore up. At 8, Camden N. E. 3 miles ; at 10, 8. W. b 8S. moderating

as with the Camden to S. by E. at 7 a. m. and to midnight.

24th September.—Fine wind. In company with the Camden. At

ll a.m. on 24th, saw the Coutts under jury-masts, and without a

bowsprit.

No. 6.—Abridged Log of the H. C. 8. Ganeces, Captain Moffat,

reduced to civil time.

20th September.—At noon Lat. 16° 59’ N. Long. 114° 53’ E. wind

N.E. by N. Hard gales, severe squalls and thick weather till midnight.

Ship standing to the Eastward under treble-reefed top-sails.

21st September.—At 1 a.m. the wind, from the courses marked was

N.4W.and N.b W. at 3, continuing till noon when veering to N.N.W.

At noon hove towith wind marked N. W.b N. At1 p.m. under storm

stay-sails, the Cowtis bearing E.S.E. Latitude by indifferent observa-

tion and by double altitudes 16° 41’. Longitude per Chron. 116° 31’ E.

p.m. wind N.W. by N. drawing round at times, as appears by the log,

(for the wind is not marked, and this is deduced from her coming up

and falling off,) to W.N.W. By midnight wind increasing to a heavy

storm. At5 p.m. lost sight of the Coutts. Staysails blowing to pieces

between this time and midnight.

22nd September.—At 6 a.m. wind about West, and at 9, W.S.W.

At noon wind about S.W. by W. blowing a violent hurricane, ship lying

to under the storm mizen only, weather so thick with drift and haze

| cannot see a ship’s length a-head. Lat. double altitude 16° 174° lon-

gitude per Chron. 117° 17’, find the drift made by time-keeper from noon

yesterday S. E. by E.3 E. 50 miles. vp. m. wind marked as S. W.

blowing a violent hurricane, ship lying to under storm mizen staysail

and falling off into the trough of a very heavy sea, made sail and bore

away. At 4 p.m. steering N.W. to save the masts. At 4 past 5, the fore

and main staysails blowing to atoms, got tarpaulins and boats’ sails

lashed in the weather fore-rigging to keep the ship off the wind, which

_ however aided very little till 9 p. a. when the storm began to abate 5

616 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

wind not marked, ship running N.W. 27 miles till 8 p.m. then N.N.W.

14 miles till 10, and N. by W. 13 miles till midnight.

23rd September.—Wind more moderate, able to steer the ship with

safety, though rolling very deep. Steering North 663 miles, till noon,

wind not marked at noon, but S. E. at 1 p.m. At noon weather mo-

derate, heavy confused sea, rolling gunwales in, Latitude 18° 58’ N.

longitude by chronometer 117° 45’. Ship having made a course of

N. 2 E. 143 miles since yesterday. pv. m. wind S.E. and E. S. E.

At 10 p. m. a four knot breeze, the weather having cleared up.

Noon 24¢h—Latitude 20° 40’ N., longitude 117° 41’ E.

No. 7.—Abridged Log of the H.C. 8. Courts, Captain Torin,

reduced to civil time.

20th September.—Latitude noted as 16° 57’ N.

21st September.—p. m. when the log commences, wind marked

N. W. by N., hard gales with heavy squalls and a large confused

sea. Atl0 p.m. wind W. N. W. under fore-sail and mizen stay-sail

with head to the North.

22nd September.—At 5 a.m. wind West, hard squalls. At 6, marked

W.S.W. and at 7, S.S.W. In the observations it is said that at 9 a.m.

the wind shifted to the S.W. and moderated until near noon, when it

came on to blow again very hard with heavy squalls and rain. No

observation or account marked in the log. 1 Pp. m. wind S8.S.W. hard

gale increasing to a most violent tyfoon with rain, léghining,* and a

large confused sea. At4 p.m. the wind S.S.W. weather fine, shrouds

giving way, bore away to save the masts, lost fore-topmast; 7 p.m. lost

fore-sail and broached to. At 8, main topmast blew away, at 9, lost the |

main and mizen masts. At 10, wind marked as South, and at 11,

S. by E. Lost the bowsprit. ~

* The only instance in which lightning is marked in any of the logs of this storm, |

and therefore probably the only instance in which it occurred; for seamen rarely

omit noticing it, particularly in heavy weather, to which it gives such an awful

appearance.

1842. ] A Sizth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 617

23rd September.—2 a. . lost the spare and stream anchors. At 3,

the foremast fell into the waist. At daylight moderate ; clearing the

wreck, and by noon kept on her course under a jury mast. Latitude

observed 18° 08’ N. Longitude by Captain Torin’s private journal

117° 14’, Wind S. by W. at 1 p.m. when moderate breezes and fair

weather. Wind 8S. 8. E. at 10 p. m. and till midnight.

24th September.—At 4 past 8, saw two sail to the South, Camden

and Bombay Castle. At noon one ship, ( Camden) two miles astern.

Latitude observed 18° 51’ N. Longitude 116° 52’ E.

To place our deductions from the valuable records of this storm, or

storms, in a clear light, I shall preface them, as in my former memoirs,

with a synoptical table, shewing for each day the relative positions of

the ships, and briefly the weather they experienced.

[No. 127.

A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

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1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the. Law of Storms in India. 621

I now proceed to the deductions to be drawn from the foregoing

documents, but before I do so, I should remark, for the information of

those unacquainted with the fact, that the East India Company’s

China ships were, though merchantmen, vessels of from 12 to 1400

tons, mounting upwards of thirty guns, with crews and officers in pro-

portion, and these last in their day, men of the first acquirements and

talents in their profession. When we find, therefore, that such ships,

well found and managed as they were, suffered so much from the

storm, we must recollect that their logs express pretty nearly what a

good Frigate or sixty-four gun ship of the old times, would have found .

it: Weather in which smaller merchant vessels would have been re-

duced much sooner to bare poles.

It is evident from the inspection of the tables, that one of the

storms was travelling from the South-eastward to the North-westward,

for it began on the 20th with the Camden, Bombay Castle, Ganges,

and Coutts close to the Eastern edge of the Macclesfield bank, six de-

_ grees South of the entrance of Canton river, while near the Coast of

China, the ships were standing in for it with fine weather.

The table of the 20th, it will be seen, gives two directions of the

wind for the Southern storm, N. N. E. for the Camden and Bombay,

and N. E. by N. for the Ganges. Taking these as tangents, and pro-

jecting carefully for the centre of the storm from the ships’ positions,

they will be found to place it about the Island of Mindoro, or

S. E. by E. 3 E. of the ships, distance 380 miles. Perhaps the centre

was not really so far off, as, the angle being so acute, considerable error

may occur, but this is quite evidence enough to show, that the storm

did commence to the E. S. E. of this part of the Fleet. I have not

therefore marked a centre for this day, but carried the Track from

that quarter. !

On the 2Ist, there was stil! fine weather on the Coast of China, but

with the southern division of the fleet, the storm by noon was so heavy

as to bring them under close reefed top-sails with top-gallant masts

and yards down, and all other preparations for bad weather. It should

be noticed that these four ships of the southern division form again two

smaller divisions. The Camden and Bombay Castile together, being

just to the Eastward of the Macclesfield, and the Ganges and Coutts,

also in company with each other, about eighty miles to the E. N. E.

4 N

622 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 127.

of them. The winds marked in these ships’ logs* both place the

centre to the N. E. b E. of them, and as we have no cross bearing

by which to lay down the distance of it, we can only do so by judg-

ing of the force of the wind, and its veering ; which with the ship

farthest to the Eastward, the Ganges, (for we have not the log of

the Coutts for this day, though we know she was in company with

the Ganges) was not quick ; the wind having remained about N. W.

by N. from midnight. Allowing then for the ship’s drift, and for

the increasing violence of the storm on the 22d, I have placed the

centre at noon this day in latitude 17° 36’ N. longitude 118° E.

For the 22d, we find, that to midnight on the 21st, and to 5 a. m.,

on the 22d, and with the Ganges and Coutts, the wind held steady to

the N. W. when it drew round to West and S. W. at noon. The log

of the Bombay Castle shews nearly the same veering, but that of the

Camden, marks the wind at West at | a.m. ; and the Bombay Castle,

from her coming up to N. N. W. at 3 a.m., appears to have had the

wind also not far from West at this time, though both ships’ logs

agree nearly enough at noon ; when the Camden seems to have had it

S. W. by S., and Bombay about S. W., Ganges about S. W. and

Coutts S. S. W. as far as can be judged from their logs. The drift of

these two last vessels is laid down for the twenty-four hours between

noon, 2}st and 22d in the Ganges’ log, which is most carefully kept,t

as S. E. by E. 3 E. fifty miles.

* I may notice here in strong corroboration of many of my remarks in these

memoirs, the difficulty of analysing a storm from the direction of the wind considered

as a tangent line to the supposed circle of it, and the ship’s position as the point at

which the tangent touches the circle. Thus we have, in the logs of the Camden and

Bombay Castle, within three miles of each other, the wind marked as follows : for the

2lst Camden at 2 a.m. N. N. W., Bombay Castle at 3, N. N. W. Camden at

3, N. W. by N. Camden at 9, N. W. by W.; at 1l N. W. Bombay Castle at noon

N. W. by N. and atl p.m. N. W. by N. Camden atl p.m. W. N. W. Bombay |

Castle (hove to) at 6, wind N. W. and so forth. It is clear that these variations arise

partly from carelessness, and partly from errors in judgment in such severe weather. |

I shall perhaps be told here that I am looking for mathematical exactness where none |

can exist. I am, I own, seeking for all the exactness which can be obtained, and I

desire that all our evidence should be fairly brought forward on this most important |

question, that it may be impartially weighed by all as well as by ourselves, and that we

may not be said to have assumed any thing without giving our grounds for so doing.

+ With the exception of the direction of the wind which is very frequently omitted

either in the log, or by the copyist. |

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 623

Now this circumstance of the wind holding steady to the N. W. for

seventeen hours, and then veering rapidly, or within about eight hours,

the remaining eight points, or a point an hour, till it reached the S.W.

is worthy of note ; particularly if we look at the drift of the vessels to

the E. S. E. and N. E., according to their logs, (though in these

there are some slight discrepancies and omissions, and some apparent as-

sumptions,*) and remark the increased violence of the wind before

and after noon on this day, shewing either that the storm had been

really now forming, or stationary, or curving as I have laid it down.

Giving this every consideration I cannot avoid concluding, that the

storm, which had apparently come up from the S. E. by E., under the

lee of the island of Luconia, having arrived opposite the great opening

to the Pacific Ocean curved to the Westward, as I have marked it, in

its progress over to the entrance of the Gulf of Tonkin; influenced

perhaps by the prevalence of a N. E. wind from the Pacific. The cir-

cumstance of its altering its direction so considerably from that

which it had under the lee of the very high land of Luzon, is not

more extraordinary than the curves which, we know, occur in

the Western hemisphere, and some about the Isle of France in our

own. The storm indeed may have been really a Pacific Ocean storm,

forcing its way across Luconia, from the coast of which the ships were

but little more than 200 miles distant? If this was the case, we may

suppose the anomaly easily accounted for. I have then, on these con-

siderations, marked the centre for the 22d, as in latitude 17° 20’,

longitude 115° 16’ E. and bearing N.W. by W. 4 W. from the Ganges

and Coutts, (which had the wind from 8S. W. by S. and 8. S. W.)

and N. W. from the Camden and Bombay, which had the wind

S. W. by W. and 8S. W. by S. We have still the anomaly, that the

Coutis and Ganges, seem, by the expressions used in the logs, to have

had the wind more violent than the Camden and Bombay, but I sus-

pect that these latter ships were really much farther to the S. E. than

their positions shew, for the wind was from W.N. W. and West the

* Such as longitude marked ‘‘by chronometer’ on the noon of the 22d. In weather

like that then prevailing very little dependence can be placed on sights for chrono-

meter or double altitudes, for it is said, ‘‘ at noon blowing a violent hurricane, weather

so thick with the haze and drift cannot see a ship’s length a head. What is meant is

probably the chronometer brought on by dead reckoning, but this should be noticed.

624 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 127,

greater part of the twenty-four hours, and their drift made good in

such weather, could scarcely be better than East at most. I have

however given the evidence as it stands.

For the centre of the 23d we find that the Coutts, bearing up

with the wind at S. S. W. a little after noon on the 22d, was utterly

dismasted by the violence of the hurricane, by 4 a.m. on the 23d,

and that at daylight it was moderating. She steered N. N. W. 4 W.

when she bore up, and ran for 31 miles on this course before she

broached to. The centre of the hurricane bore at noon 22d, as

we have shown, about N. W. by W. 4 W. from her, and it was

certainly travelling to the westward, so that the Coutts, steering

N. N. W. 4 W. and drifting when dismasted between W. S. W.

and W.N. W. was pretty nearly chasing it! and its rate of travelling

does not seem to have been high. The Ganges also bore away,

but two hours later, and she fortunately did not reach so far towards

the centre as the Coutts. The storm, as I have remarked, does not

seem to have moderated till about day-light, on the 23d, with the

Coutts, while it moderates at 9 p. m., on the 22d with the Ganges. I

have taken the centre of this day, the 23rd, to be in about lat. 17° 40’

N., long. 112° E.

The Camden and Bombay Castle also bore up about 3 Pp. m., but

as they were going only four-half and five knots, and had the weather

moderating from that time, they may almost be considered as out of

the storm.

If we now refer back to the table and logs, we shall find that be-

tween noon and midnight of the 22d, the wind on the Coast of China

was setting in for a gale there, which may be fairly said to have

begun at 10 a.m. on the 22d, with the Warley, which ship was

then about on the meridian of St. John’s, in thirty fathoms, or twenty

five miles off shore.

She had the wind at N. by W., and with but little variation |

it continued to hang about thus, or North, (judging from her coming

up and falling off,) till 4 a.m. on the 23d. :

With the Royal George, at anchor under the lee of the Grand

Ladrone, it also may be said to have commenced at the same time.

She marks the wind at North, and the Alfred, at anchor farther in |

amongst the shelter of the Islands, had the swell rising from the |

1842. | A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 625

Eastward, and the wind North increasing to hard gale at N. N. E.

at midnight, when she cut and stood to sea.

With every allowance for the effect of the high land on the

vortex, we cannot I think suppose this storm to be the same, which

was also at noon on the 22d blowing with such fury from S. W. by

W., as to dismast the Coutts, &c. afew hours later; for the centre

of the southern storm by 3 p. mM. must have been bearing S. by E.,

at most, if not South from the Grand Ladrone, which, if the storms

were the same, would make the wind Eas¢ then ; and it was not even

E.N. E. with the Alfred and Royal George, till about 3 a. m.

on the 23d, or 15 hours later! I think this a convincing proof that

there were two storms, and have therefore laid down two Tracks

for them, taking the northern storm to have travelled from the N.

62° E. to the S. 62° W. at about 60 or 70 miles distance from the

coast, which will be found to agree well with the logs of the ships,

though there may be some discrepancy with that of the Warley,

but, first, we can only guess at the wind, from her coming up and

falling off, next she was nearly or quite unmanageable, and lastly

she was half embayed in the gulf between the N. E. point of Hainan

and the coast of China, where the storm must have felt the effect of

the high land on both sides. i

The rate of travelling of these two storms is next to be considered.

We can hardly assign any fixed centre for the Southern storm on the

20th, though we know the direction in which it lay, those of the 2Ist,

22nd, and 28rd, however, are sufficiently ascertained, I think, for us

to suppose that the storm may have travelled about 150 miles between

the 2lst and 22nd, and about 180 miles between the 22nd and 23rd.

We may allow a mean rate of about seven miles per hour, or 168 miles

in the 24 hours, for these two days.

For the Northern storm we can scarcely assign any rate, for the

distance of the centre on the 22nd is quite uncertain, as it is also on the

24th, so that we have no data for it. Taking about the same rate, as

that of the Southern storm, or 168 miles per day, it will however, be

seen, that this is not an improbable one for it.

I trust that those who may have followed me in this, perhaps

somewhat prolix, detail, will remember, that I have given it for the

purpose of showing how I have taken the evidence before us; for

626 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

we have no right to lay down tracks for storms, however well

we may be satisfied that they are not far from the truth, without

also shewing, for the use of others, how we arrive at our conclusions.

Both storms tending as they evidently did to the Southern entrance

of the Gulf of Tonkin, formed there on their South-western qua-

drants one of the “‘ heavy N. W. storms blowing out of the Gulf of

Tonkin,’ of which Horsburgh speaks. There were no Barometers

apparently with any of these ships.

TRACK No. V.—1809.

The True Brrron’s Storm.

Documenis from the India House.

On the 28th and 29th September, 1809, the Hon’ble Company’s

ships True Briton, Scaleby Castle, Cumberland and Neptune, experi-

enced a tremendous tyfoon, between latitudes 20° and 21° North, and

longitudes 113° and 114° Kast, or about 100 miles from the Coast of

China, in which the True Briton foundered, and the other ships

experienced severe damage. I abridge here, first, the logs of the ships,

and then, placing them in the tabular form, shall make a few obser-

vations to explain the deductions from which I have laid down the

Track of the storm.

Abridged Log H. C. S. Cumperuanp, Capt. Wedderburn, reduced

to civil time.

jth September.—At noon in latitude 19° 47’ N., mean longitude

of the fleet 114° 43’ E. Light airs from N. N. E. to West till mid-

night ; the fleet in company. Much lightning to the Westward.

Standing to the Northward ; wind West at midnight.

28th September.—At 9 a.m. wind from N. N. W., fleet standing to

the North Eastward, four and five knots. At noon, latitude by ac-

count of the fleet 20° 51’, longitude of the fleet 114°54’ E. Barometer

29.13. Thermometer 81°, freshening, cloudy and squally. p.m. a very

hard gale from N. N. W.; veering at 9 p.m. to N. N. E. blowing

during the night, “‘ with inconceivable fury ;” the boats, the fore-sail

and other sails blowing away piecemeal at midnight.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 627

29th September.—Weather continuing, lost the small bower anchor,

ship under bare poles at 2 a.m. At104.m.windS.E. At noon

latitude 20° 33’, longitude 114° 54’. Barometer 28.65. Thermometer

81°, p.m. wind E. S. E., at 11, East.

30th September.—Moderating apparently about midnight, but the

log very imperforle kept. 9 a.m. wind S. E. by E. Noon latitude

20° 58’ N., longitude 112° 15.’ Barometer 29.20. Thermometer 79°.

Ist October.—“< No observation,” is the only record given for this

day, by an oversight of the copyist no doubt.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Scauzny Casrix, Captain John Loch,

reduced to civil time.

27th September, 1809.—At noon in latitude 19° 48’, mean longitude

114° 43’. 5 p.M. light airs and calm at midnight.

28th Sepiemler.—a.m. “ the weather with rather a threatening ap-

pearance, though the Barometer has not fallen a great deal.” At

noon it is remarked again: ‘‘ The Barometer fell in the last 12 hours

from 29.85 to 29.50, but after the gale commenced, it fell very fast.”

At noon lat. 20° 55’ long. 114° 54’, wind N. N. W. p.m. N. N. W.

to N.b E.at 10 p.m. From noon the gale freshened with squalls ;

by 2 p.m. a fresh gale, 5 P. m. blowing very hard, and by 9, “‘a

most tremendous hurricane.” At midnight boats and sails blowing

away, wind marked N. E. by N.

29th September.—1 a.m. wind East, at 5 E. S. E., at noon not

marked. Of the Barometer it is said: “‘ The Marine Barometer began

“to fall fast after 4P.m. but before that it was not very low. Towards

* midnight it had fallen to 28.30, where it continued for near 24 hours.

“This was the lowest I ever saw the Barometer. The hardest of the

“gale was about 2 a. mw. Noon lat. account 20° 26’, long. account

114° 37’ E., wind E. S. E.” Violent gale still continuing with a

high sea, but began to moderate towards noon. At 5 P.M. saw a

ship bearing East, with loss of mizen-mast and fore top-mast, which is

supposed to be the Neptune. Wind E. S. E., At midnight hard

squalls, ship lying to; wind S. E. since 9 p. m.

30th September.—Wind S. E. at day-light, and till noon. ‘‘ The

Barometer began to rise after daylight.” Noon, latitude account 20° 21’

628 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

longitude chronometer 111° 34’, shewing a difference of \\1 miles !

Srom the longitude by account.

ls¢ October.—No log given.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Neprune, Captain W. Donaldson,

reduced to civil ti ail

27th September.—Noon latitude 19° 51’ ; in company with the fleet,

winds variable and calm at midnight.

28th September.—At 4 a. M. lightning to the N. W., at 6 W.N. W.,

at noon no observation, but latitude and longitude nearly that of the

other ships being in company. At noon a fresh breeze with thick rainy

weather, increasing at 1 p. m. toa fresh gale N. N. W. At 5, hove to

under storm stay-sails, wind North. At 6, the fleet pretty close, dark

gloomy weather, gale increasing fast, with a heavy cross sea striking

the ship very hard ; at half-past eight, lost the mizen mast, wind about

N. E. at midnight.

29th September.—At 4 a. m. wind East with violent gusts; at 6,

E. S. E. lost fore topmast, got the main yard on deck ; at noon wind

about S. E. by E. Noon no observation. p.m. wind S. E. by E.

Hard gales, thick weather and high sea; all hands at the pumps; at

10 p. m. wind S. E. to midnight.*

30th September.—a. m. wind S. E. at 10 S. E. by S., ship on her

beam ends throughout the storm. Noon no observation. p.m. S. E.

hard gales till midnight, when moderating.

lst October.—8 a. m. wind S. E. wore and made some sail at

daylight; 12 hours log only given. At noon, latitude by indifferent

observation 20° 48’ N.

A letter from J. B. Burnett, Esq. a Midshipman in the Scaleby Cas-

tle at the time of this storm, is also added to the documents from the

India House, as follows. It is dated Monboddo, 6th November, 1841 :—

“The account of that remarkable tyfoon, in which the True Briton

perished, lies before me. I was then a Midshipman in the Scaleby

Castle ; the True Briton, Neptune, and Cumberland in company. At .

* The Neptune’s Barometer is not marked in the extract sent me, but we learn |

from Horsburgh, vol. ii. p. 267, that it fell in this storm from 29.85 to 28,30.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 629

noon of the 28th September, 1809, civil time, we were in lat. 21° N..,

and long. 115° E. nearly, and in 64 fathoms water, running for the

Lema Channel. After noon, the barometer, already low, fell fast, and

the gale came on rapidly, beginning at the N. N. W., and gradually

veering round towards midnight to N. N. E., at which time it attain-

ed its greatest fury, and blew a hurricane. At 4 a.m. it veered round

to East, and ver gradually to E. S. E., and last of all to S. E., at

which point it moderated, after continuing with great violence for

nearly 48 hours. I do not remember whether it was on the full or

change of the moon. The sky was dark and lowering, and the drift

of the sea so thick and heavy, that we could see nothing, and lay like

a log absolutely helpless. The force of the wind may be inferred

from the fact, that the bights of our main top-mast staysail were

blown away from between the turns of the gaskets, and small double

pieces of canvas out of the clues of the topsails, as they hung below

the yards. The 7rue Briton was never more heard of, and the other

ships were all more or less roughly handled.”

I now give the tabular view as before, and then the grounds upon

which I have assigned the track laid down.

A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

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1842.] A Siath Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 631

For the first part of this storm we may speak of the fleet as one

ship, being closely in company. I shall latterly, of course, separate my

remarks, as the ships themselves were separated. It appears from the

logs that from noon to midnight on the 27th, they made a little

Northing with the variable winds, and on the 28th, from midnight to

4 p.m. when they hove to, they were going from two to six knots to

the north, making a difference of latitude of 64 miles in the 24 hours,

but no Easting. This northing was an important circumstance, for the

storm had fairly commenced at daylight on the 28th, when the re-

mark in the Scaleby Castle’s log is, ‘a. m- At this time the weather

had rather a threatening appearance, but the Marine Barometer had

not fallen a great deal.” The wind was at N. N. W. and N. by W. at

9 a.m. with the Cumberland, and it is marked at N. N. W. at noon,

with all three ships. We may thus take the centre of the hurricane

to be bearing E. N. E. from the fleet at this time: we have no means

of ascertaining at what distance.

From about 4 p.m. on the 28th, the ships were lying to on the

larboard tack in a severe gale rising to a hurricane, with the wind

veering from this time, when it was N. N. W. to N. by E. and N.

N. E., and N. E. by N. At midnight N. E., then East and to E.S. E.

by 5 p. m. with some, and finally S. E., by noon on the 30th with

them all. Some variations as to the times of veering occur of course,

for to say nothing, in such weather of log board and of copying inaccu-

racies, the ships were now separated. We may however say, that

in the 44 hours between 4 p. mM. 28th and noon of 30th, the wind

veered from N. N. W. to S. E. or 14 points; or a point in 3 hours. It

_ was then clearly a hurricane passing close to the southward of the fleet,

which was drifting back to the Southward, South-westward, Westward

and North-westward, or round the curve of its North-western and

North-eastern quadrants, and from its extreme fury, their position

With respect to its centre, as above stated, and the fall of the Ba-

rometer to 28.30, where it remained for 24 hours according to the

Scaleby’s log, we may safely suppose that they were at no great dis-

tance from the centre of it, and the unfortunate Zrue Briton being

probably a more leewardly vessel, was carried farther to the South by

632 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

the Northerly part of the gale,* and therefore near to or znéo the

centre.

I have therefore marked for this storm a track from N. 60° E. to-

wards S. 60° W., or about N. E. by E. toS. W. by W. and between the

Pratas Shoal, and the edge of soundings, which will allow the ships to

have been about50miles from the centre of it. The curious circumstance

of the great Westerly drift again occurs in this as in the London and

Warley’s storms, shewing clearly that the storm wave, or storm cur-

rent was carrying the vessels with it with great rapidity. The Scaleby’s

log it will be noted, says 111 miles between noon of the 28th, and

noon of the 30th, or 48 hours. They undoubtedly made every allow-

ance before coming to this conclusion, and their chronometers were

corrected, if any error existed in them, by their arrival in a few days

in China. The impression there evidently was, that the True Briton’

might have been lost by this current carrying her on to the Coast

of Hainan, or amongst the shoals in the strait between Hainan,

and the Coast of China ;t for we learn from Horsburgh, p. 328, vol. ii.

that in April 1810, Captain D. Ross, then surveying the China seas,

was sent down to the Coast of Hainan in search of her. I shall

notice more at length this remarkable current at the conclusion of

these memoirs.

TRACK No. VI.

Tyfoon of 20th to 30th September, 1810.

Documents from the India House.

On the 28th to 30th September, 1810.—The H.C. S. Arniston,

Weaford, Alfred, Winchelsea, Elphinstone, Woodford, and Cuffnells,

bound to China, experienced a severe tyfoon in the China seas. The

following are the abridgements of their logs :-—

* Every seaman is aware how some vessels, in a fleet both Merchantmen and Men

of War, though holding a good wind in average weather, will become much more

leewardly than others, when the force of a storm depresses them beyond a certain

bearing.

t The ships in this storm were all drifted close to these Shoals, as will be noted by

their latitude and longitude on the 30th.

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 633

Log of H. C. 8. Anniston, Captain S. Landon, reduced to civil time.

At noon, 27th September, 1810.—Latitude 17° 43’ N., long. 115° 9’ E.

P. M. moderate breeze E. N. E., and hazy weather, at 3 Pp. M., wind

N. E. At midnight strong breeze from N. N. E. with a heavy swell

from the N. E.

28th September.—lIncreasing from the same quarter, ship by noon

under storm staysails, latitude by account 17° 6’ N., longitude 115° 4’ E.

Pp. M. very threatening sky and blowing very heavy ; high sea rising,

wind N. by W. to North till midnight.

29th September.—After midnight “ wind veering round to the

South.” At3 p.m. wind about N.N.W. by 4 about West, by 5 about

S.S. W., from daylight to noon blowing most violently from South

and S. S. W., with a prodigious high sea running, 6 a.m. wind mark-

ed S. by W. Noon no observation. 1 p.m. wind South, gale mode-

rating and sea falling. At 10 p.m. wind S. E. On the following morn-

ing at daylight bore up and made all sail.

Log of the H. C. S. Wexrorp, Captain W. S. Clarke, reduced to

civil time.

26th September, 1810.—Latitude 17° 13’ N., longitude not given,

Dut nearly that of the fleet with which she was in company. 1 P.M.

wind N. E. by N. Heavy clouds, squalls and rain. 2 p. m. thickening

sky to the East, squally and unsettled from this to sun-set, when it

began to disperse. 8». m. wind N. E. Lightning and thunder to

the Northward, the night fine and moderate.

27th September.—a. m. Easterly wind with hazy weather E. by N.,

at 7 E. N. E., fleet standing to the northward against a heavy head

swell which occasioned them to pitch deep at times. Noon latitude

17° 41'N., longitude (of the fleet) about 115°. 11' E.* p.m. wind E.

N. E. hazy weather, 5 N. E., 7 N. E. by N., blowing fresh with small

rain, preparing for a gale ; heavy head sea.

28th September.—2 a. m. wind N. by E. Squally and increasing.

Noon N by W. latitude 2 alt. 17° 6’ N., longitude 115° 58’ E. Fleet

* The mean of 4 ships not greatly differing. The Chronometer of the Cuffnells is

omitted in the average as being evidently 30 miles too far East ; she was closely in

company.

634 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

much scattered. p. m. wind North. 3 p.m. hove to under storm stay-

sails, 5 wind N. N. W. Hard gale with very hard squalls till mid-

night, when about N. by W.

29th September.—2 a.m. N. W. by N., 4 N. W., by W., 5S. W.

and at noon S. S. W., heavy seas breaking over the ship from day-

light till noon, ‘‘ when it blew a perfect hurricane.” p. m. wind South,

hove to under trysail. Wind about South till midnight, when mode-

rating. 7

30th September-—Bore up and out all reefs at daylight. Noon,

latitude 18° 24’ N.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. AtFrep, Captain Welstead, reduced

to civil time.

26th September, 1810.—Noon, latitude and longitude that of the

fleet. Variable winds from N. E. to N. W. till midnight.

27th September.—To noon letting out reefs. Lat. 17° 45’, long.

of the fleet 115° 12’. Bar. 29.95. Ther. 81°. p. m. N. E. by E. hazy ;

high sea from N. E. |

28th September.—l| a.m. wind N. N. E. At 11 a.m. North, pre-

paring for bad weather. Noon latitude 17° 27’, longitude of the fleet

116° 0’ E. Bar. 29.65. Ther. 82°. p.m. Wind N. N. E., 3 p. mu. hove

to, increasing storm till midnight. Wind veering to the South.

29th September.—a. mM. Severe tyfoon. 5 a.m. wind marked S. W.

and at8S.S. E. Saw a ship (supposed the Elphinstone) bearing

away before the wind. Noon blowing furiously from South. Lat.

account 17° 31’ N. Bar. 29.575. p.m. 8. S. E., strong gale till midnight,

moderating at 7 Pp. M.

30th September.—At daylight made sail with wind at S. W., noon

latitude 18° 30’, longitude 116° 30’. Barometer 29.875.

Se ree

Abridged Log of the H.C. S. WincuEtsea, Captain The Hon'ble

Hugh Lindsay, reduced to civil time.

26th September, 1810.—Latitude 17° 33’ N., longitude 115° 16’ E.

variable winds N. Easterly till midnight.

]

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 635

27th September.—6 a.m. E. N. E. light winds, steering to the North-

ward, latitude 17° 47', N. longitude 115° 14’ E. Barometer 29.92. Ther-

mometer 81°. rp. m. E. N. E. fine weather, but increasing breeze N. E.,

at 5 p.m. N. E. by N., at 9 high sea from the N. E.

28th September.—2 a. u. N. N. E. increasing ; making all prepara-

tions for bad weather. Noon latitude 17° 30’ N., longitude 116°.

Barometer at 8 a. m. 29.80, noon 29.70. Thermometer 80°, 1 Pp. m.

hove to, wind about N. N. W. but not marked, blowing excessive

hard. Barometer 11] p. m. 29.20.

29th September.—4 a.m. West, 6 a. m. S. W. bore up, and ran

363 miles to the N. N. W. and N. by W., hove to again at 10.

Noon blowing excessively hard from South ; latitude account 17° 36' N.

N., longitude by account and D. R. 116° 11'E.* Barometer 10 a. m.

29.23 ? Noon 29.36, 5 p.m. wind S. by E., gale moderating, and sea

much fallen, at 8 S.S. E. 6 p.m. Barometer 29.65. Bore up at

7 P.M. and ran 6 and 7 knots till midnight, steering N. by W.

30th September.—By midnight fair, at noon fine, and had run from

7 Pp. M. on the 29th to noon 30th 119 miles N. by W. and N. by W.2 W.

Latitude observed 19° 54’ N. longitude chronometer 116° 00’ E.

Barometer 6 a. m. 29.80, noon 29.90.

Abridged Log H.C. S. ELPHINSTONE, Captain M. Craig, reduced

to civil time.

27th September, 1810.—Noon, latitude 17° 41’ N. longitude 115° 6’,

Pp. M. fine and variable from E. N. E. to N. N. E. till midnight.

28th September.—5 a. m. N. by E. preparing for bad weather.

Noon latitude 17° 16'N. longitude chronometer 115° 53’ E. p. m. strong

gales N. by E. with hard squalls, 3 p.m. wind N. W. by N. At 5

North, and at 10, N. by W.

29th September.—| a. m. wind N.N.W. at 3 W.N.W. at 5 S.S.W.

at 6 South, at 9S. by W. at 6a. m. bore up under fore staysail to look

for the Commodore, and ran North five miles. At 8 saw two ships to

* The Log worked back from the 30th gives latitude 17° 46’, longitude 115° 35, and

as she was going free most part of the time, it is far more likely to be correct than a

dead reckoning brought forward through the storm

636 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India, [No. 127.

the S. W. lying to, hove to again. At 4 past 9, one bore up across

us, gale much increased since daylight. At 10, bore up again, steering

North 103 miles. At 11, fore staysail blew to pieces, sea prodigiously

high, rapid, and violent, hove to again, several seas breaking over

the ship; set mizen storm stay-sail which blew to pieces, much water

between-decks. Noon, water increasing fast, set the weather clue

of the fore-sail to wear, but it blew to pieces ; latitude by log worked

back from 30th 18° 4’, longitude 115° 22’ N. p.m. “ an inconceiv-

able increase in the fury of the storm and violence of the waves, ship

almost water-logged, apparently settling fast. At half-past one, cut

away the mizen-mast, but the ship not wearing, yard arms in the

water, and being deadly water logged, cut away the main-mast

at 1 before 2, when she paid off, though she heeled gunwales in; hove

the starboard upper guns overboard. All hands at the pumps, steer-

ing N. E. At 10. m. wind S. by E.

30th September.—At 5 a.m. steered North for an hour, but hauled

up again to N. E., moderating gradually. Noon latitude 19° 05’ N.,

longitude chronometer 116° 26’ E.

No farther logs are given, but the ship had afterwards fine weather

like the rest of the fleet.*

Abridged Log of the Hon’ble Company's Ship Wooprorp, Captain

John Martin, reduced to civil time.

26th September, 1810.—Latitude 17° 30'N., winds light and vari-

able from N. b E. and N. N. E., at midnight very black to the N. N. E.

27th September.—A great head sea N. E., out all reefs, noon lati-

tude 17° 40’ N. Barometer 29.80. Thermometer 82°. p. m. wind E. by

N. and N. E., at 8 p.m. fresh breeze increasing.

28th September.—Increasing from midnight, at noon hard gale,

three ships only to the N. b E. in sight. No observation. Barometer

29.20. Thermometer 82°. p. m. wind North and N. b W. very hard

gale to midnight. At 2 a.m. wind veered to W., at 4 to S. W., set

mizen topsail and foresail, and bore up, steering North, but at 6 it —

* The Barometer is not marked in the extract sent, but we learn from Horsburgh, _

Vol, ii. p. 267, that it fell in this storm from 29°85 to 28°30.

1842. | A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 637

eame on to blow with such dreadful violence from S. S. W. that

they were taken in, and the ship scudded* under storm fore staysail.

At 11 hove to under the trysail. Excessive hurricane of wind, with

very thick rain and heavy sea. This ship ran from a little before

5 toll a.m. 272 miles to about the N. W.b W. Noon Barometer

29.20. p.m. wind South, blowing a hurricane, at 9 p. m. South, and

moderating at midnight.

29th September.—At 5 a.m. wind South, bore up and ran 293 miles

to the North, and at noon, saw four ships of the fleet from the mast-

head bearing S. E. At noon latitude 18° 37’ N. longitude chron. 115°

51’ E. Barometer 29.70. Thermometer 80°.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Currneiis, Captain Welbank,

reduced to civil time.

27th September, 1810.—Latitude 17° 46’ long. of the fleet 115° 12'+

p. M. the winds and the weather as with other ships E.N.E. and N.E.

28th September.—Making all snug, noon increasing gale, latitude

account 17° 12’ N., longitude 116° 0’. E, p.m. wind North, and

N.N.W. towards midnight and moderating.

29th September.—The sea log says ‘“ middle part,” (which is here

from 8 p.m. 28th to 4 a. m., 29th) the wind moderated, and drew

gradually round to the N. W., S. W. and 8S. S. W., when it increased

to a hurricane with a high sea from the West, thick spoon-drift ; wind

marked S. W. at 3 a. m., and S.S. W.atll. lp.m. S.S. W. and

at 9 also S. S. W.; at 7 bore up, wind South, and ran 29 miles to the

N. b W.; three ships in sight, Weaford, Alfred, and Arniston. Noon

latitude 18° 30’ N., longitude 116° 42’ (properly 116° 12.)

This fleet generally was so close together that it does not seem

necessary to give any tabular view of the winds and weather at noon.

I shall therefore only state here the views which induce me to lay

down the track in the direction which I consider that of the storm.

We find that before noon on the 28th, these fine ships were sending

down top-gallant yards and masts, so that we may fairly say the storm

had then commenced. With two ships at 1 p. m. the wind is marked

* This is written /ay to in the extract, but is evidently an error.

t See note at p. 633.

638 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

at North, with three at N. by E. and with one at N.N.E., but as they

were dispersed over perhaps eight miles of distance this might occur.

We shall not be far wrong if we take the wind to have been N. b E.

for this time for the whole fleet, which it will be observed also, was

upon the larboard tack standing or rather drifting to the Eastward

and Southward. The centre of the storm at this time would then bear

about E. b S. of them.

By 12 on the following day the wind which had veered rapidly to

the N. W., West, and S. W., shewing that the centre had passed close

to the Northward of them, was

With the Cuffnells, .. “i .. Saas

“ Woodford, .. oye .- South,

om Elphinstone, (about) ..- South,

ae Winchelsea, .. ag -- South,

» Alfred, ~~ ve oo) Sein Ee.

F Wexford, .. Ks -- South,

bp Arniston, .. ne -- South,

but as they were now much dispersed, we may take South to have

been the limit of the change within the 24 hours, or 17 points, 2. €.

from N. b E. to S.

The projection of this, with due allowance for the drift, which

was round the S. Western and S. Eastern quadrants of the storm

circle, and without forgetting that with the ships which were farthest

to the Northward the wind was at 8 p.m. S.S. E., will give about a

track from the E.b N. to W. b S. for the storm, and I have so

marked it.

The distressed state of the Elphinstone, which was at one time as

near foundering as possible, and the extreme violence of the wind

recorded in her log, was evidently owing to her having, by bearing up,

ran and drifted more to the North-west than she appears to have

done by the mere log. The Winchelsea also bore up, ag did the

Woodford, but neither of them had the wind so violent as the

Elphinstone. This is accounted for by working back their logs, which

though always, (and particularly with the E/phinstone in this case),

an imperfect record, is still the only authentic one. From this it ap-

pears that both the Winchelsea and Elphinstone had an observation,

and sights for chronometer on the 30th, and the logs worked back to

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 639

noon of the 29th place the Elphinstone, then, at least 22 miles to

the N. W. of the Winchelsea ; which was of course 22 miles nearer

to the centre of the storm, and it is at this time that her log

speaks of the “ most inconceivable increase in the fury of the storm.”

If then, judging from some of my former memoirs, in which by means

of two or more shore or ship observations we can in some degree judge

of the violence of the wind at given distances from the centre,

we can make any estimate of the actual measured distance of the

Winchelsea from the centre, and call it at most 40 miles? the 22

miles farther to the N. W. of the Elphinstone’s probable position

would then place her exceedingly close to it. We do not know

in what ratio to the distances from the centre the violence of the

wind augments, but it is evident, here, that the short distance was

of such import, that it nearly involved the loss of the ship! I need

not say how important this lesson is to the seaman, teaching him not

to allow himself to be tempted by a fair wind into bearing up too

soon, when it is not of actual necessity that he should do so.

TRACK No. VII.

Tyfoon of H. M. S. TuEeBan ann FLEET, 8th and 9th Sept., 1812.

Documents from the India House.

8th and 9th September.—His Majesty’s Ship Theban, with the

H.C. Ships Marquis of Huntly, Cirencester, Elphinstone, Bombay and

Alnwick Castle, bound to China, experienced a severe tyfoon in the

China seas, in which the Theban and Cirencester were left with only

their foremasts standing. The other ships escaped without damage.*

The H. C. S. Glatton was at the same time about three degrees to

the Southward of them, and had only a heavy or strong gale. Her

log, from which some instructive inferences may be drawn, is subse-

quently given. |

The following are the abridged logs of the fleet :—

* Horsburgh says of this storm in a note Vol. II. p. 267, that Captain Craig of the

Elphinstone, warned by his Barometer, prepared for a tyfoon, and sustained no injury.

This was also the case with others of the ships, as we shallsee. The Cirencester was

fully prepared, but lost her masts from the chain plates giving way.

[No. 127.

A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

640

Abridged Log of H. M. S. Tuesan.

7th Sept.—Noon latitude 16° 6’ N. long. of the fleet 114° 16’ E.

8th September.—4 a.m. wind W. by N.; under storm-sail. At l

Pp. Mm. wind West, strong gales with heavy rain. Split the fore-sail. At 8,

heavy gales, W. S. W., at 9, lost the main-mast, at 10h. 15m. the

mizen-mast, at llh. 15m. the fore-top-mast. Lat. at noon 16° 23’ N.

long. 116° 51’. E. Midnight the wind S. W. blowing very hard.

Noon

9th September.—l| a.m. wind marked W. by S. heavy gales.

strong breezes, S. S.W., Elphinséone in sight ; by midnight fair weather.

The logs of the fleet will be better and more briefly exhibited

in the following table, than by abridgements, as they were all near

each other :—

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1842. ] A Sivth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 643

The following remarks are from the log of the Bombay, Captain

Montgomerie Hamilton, they give a very good epitome of the storm :—

“9th September, 1812, Nautical time.—Throughout hard gales at

S. and W. with squalls and rain; towards noon more moderate. From

S a.m. on the 8th of this month to about 5 on this day, experienced

very blowing weather. From having the fresh S. W. monsoon on

the 6th, the wind drew round to the Eastward with squalls, at

times, drawing round to the Northward on the 8th, when it gradually

freshened up with a regular fall of the Barometer, the wind coming

round to the West, and blowing most severely from the W. N. W.

and W. S. W. breaking up from the W. S. W. to S. W. blowing

extremely hard, with furious gusts and hard rain throughout. The

peculiar indications of this weather coming on were a gradual fall of

the Barometer, which fell one-tenth below 29.00* the weather feeling

hot and close, hotter than at an equal height of the Thermometer

at this time, which was 81 degrees. When the wind was to the East-

ward, it was light with a clear horizon and dusky flying clouds. The

wind drawing to the Northward, the horse fliest made their appear-

ance. Had no extraordinary swell previous to its coming on.”

We have now to abridge the log of H. C. Ship Glatton, which as I

have stated, was about three degrees to the Southward of the fleet,

but nearly on the same meridian.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Guartron, Captain Jas. Halliburton,

reduced to civil time.

6th September.—The Glatton was in latitude 10° 28’ N. longi-

tude 111° 12’ E. :

7th September.—a. m. log for this day is not given, but working

back from that of the 8th she was at noon in latitude 12° 00'N.,

longitude 112° 15’ E. vp. m. winds from N. N. W. variable and

squally till midnight.

Sth September.—F rom midnight strong squalls, bent storm stay-sails.

4 a.m. wind 8S. W., 7, W. by S. Noon blowing fresh, lat. 13° 18’ N.,

long. 114° 32’. E. Bar. 29.48. Ther. 81°. p.m. strong gales West,

* So in MSS., but probably an error, as 29.15 is the lowest registered depression in

the log.

t Horsburgh.

644 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

steering North, 5, 6, and 7 knots, heavy confused sea. 11 Pp. m. hard

squalls and sharp lightning.

9th September.—2 vp. m. W.S. W. going 5 and 6 knots to the N.N.

W. and N. by W. till noon, when in latitude 15° 30’ N., long. 114° 46’

K. Bar. 29.30. Ther. 844. p.m. wind W. S. W. moderate, but heavy

confused sea.

10th September.—Till noon the heavy confused sea continues, lati-

tude 17° 51’ N., longitude 113° 52’ E. Barometer 29.50. Ther. 84.

We have now to consider the probable track of this storm. It is

clear from its mode of veering, that it was one passing to the North-

ward of the fleet, and we may perhaps suppose its centre to have

been at one time, from the great depression of the Barometer, not

more than 40 or 50 miles distant. Its track is next to be consi-

dered.

We have not the Theban’s log for the 7th, but as towards evening,

say 6 p.m. of that day, the Indiamen had all sent down top-gallant

yards, and struck the masts, we may fairly take the gale to have

began by this time from N. N. W., and we find very clearly from

Captain Hamilton’s remark in the Bombay's log, which I have just

quoted, that it was “ breaking up” between W. S. W. and S. W., that

is about S. W. by W. ‘The drift of the fleet was about E. S. E. or

E. by 8. Projecting this, it gives about a W. half N. course for the

centre of the storm, which I have taken. It could I think be hardly

more than W. by N. and certainly was not due West. .

The Glatton was too far to the South, and too nearly on the same

meridian, to afford us any assistance in estimating the track of the

storm, though it is clear it was of no great extent, since it barely

reached her. Her crossing the ‘ confused sea,” which the centre of the

tyfoon left behind it is curious; and an exact confirmation of what

occurred to the London Thetis, in the Golconda’s storm of September

1840, as will be subsequently noticed.*

The barometrical observations made on the Weaford, for which

I am indebted to Mr. Packman’s notes, are of much interest. It

would seem from them, (and they are so fully corroborated by those

of the other ships which have noted the state of theirs in their logs,

* See Fourth Memoir on the Law of Storms, Jour. As. Soc. vol. x. p. 909.

1842.) A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 645

that we may accord them full confidence,) that the total depression

was as follows:—

miller.

6th Sept.—Noon, 82

Jth Sept.—Noon, 84

6 P. M. 83

Midnight, 82

8th Sept.—8 a.m. 82

Noon, 80

6 Pp. M. 80

Midnight, 79

9th Sept—8 a.m. 79

Noon, 50

8 Pp. M. 80

Bar.

29.60

29.50

29.45

29.40

29.30

29.20

29.15

29.20

29.35

29.60

Wind westerly squalls & rain,

Easterly, squally, unsettled,

latterly N. E.

N. E. & Northerly.

N. Westerly heavy gusts.

Gale N. Westward.

From this it appears, that from noon on the 6th, to 6 p. m. on the 7th,

when we have taken the gale to begin, the depression was 0.05 only

in 30 hours, though it had fallen 0.10 in the 24 hours between noon

of the 6th and 7th. We then find it from 6 p. m. of the 7th to 6 p.m.

of the 8th, or in 24 hours, falling 0.30. It is useful to notice these

variations, because they afford a valuable lesson to those who will

take the trouble to reflect on them.

gave her, by a fall of 0.18, full notice of the passage of the storm.

I shall refer to these subjects more at length in a separate memoir.

The Glatton’s Barometer also

TRACK No. VIII.—Tyfoon of 28th and 29th October 1819.

Document from the East India House.

By Capt. Probyn, H.C. S. Minerva.

The H. C. Ship Warren Hastings on October 25th 1819, was in

latitude 18° 56’ N., longitude 119° 6’ E., when a fresh gale commenced

| 26th October.—Noon latitude 19° 42’ N., longitude 118° 21’ E., in-

| creasing gale from N. and N. E.

| 27th October.—Lat. 19° 58' N., long. 118° 2' E., strong gale N. E.

4aQ

646 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

28th October.—Lat. 19° 52' long. 118° 2’ E., strong gale N. N. E. to

N. N. W. with drizzling rain and a high sea.

29th October.—Lat. 19° 50’ N. long. 118° 51’ E., severe gale N. W.

with rain.

30th October.—Lat. 20° 9' N., long. 118° 59’ E., gale increasing in

violent gusts to a tyfoon, and shifting round from N. N. W. to South

Westward, and S. E., with thick weather and a high confused sea.

31st October.—Lat. 20° 21’ N. long. 118° 29’ E., gale moderating

from N. E. The thick weather prevented any observation for five

days. The wind shifted during the height of the tyfoon, the duration

of which did not exceed twelve hours.

This single document, is the only one I have relative to this storm,

still, with the assistance of the ship’s positions, as the centre evidently

passed over, or close to her, it enables us to ascertain its track on that

day at least, the 30th, with tolerable certainty, to have been from the

E. by S. to the W. by N. coming in, as it undoubtedly did, from the

Pacific Ocean. How much of the N. E. gale of the preceding days

was part of the tyfoon, and how much the setting in of the N. E.

monsoon, we cannot in the absence of any Barometrical observations

pronounce. With the N. E. monsoon, the Barometer would have pro-

bably risen, while with the storm it would have sunk. It does not

seem to have been of excessive violence.

I have marked its track, as shewn by the shift, to the E. by N., and

crossing the ship’s position at noon on the 20th. |

—_—_-—___—

TRACK No. IX.—Lorp CastieReacnu’s T'yfoon.

From the Calcutta Journal of February, 1821.

The following brief though distinct notice of a small tyfoon, (for

from its violence and change it certainly was entitled to be called

one,) is remarkable and useful, as shewing in how low a latitude”

these may be encountered in the N. E. monsoon. I have not met

with any farther notice of it, and mark its track as an East and West

one, from the change stated in the account. The longitude of the |

ship is not given, but it is not of consequence, for in that latitude

owing to the shoals and the coast of Cochin China, ships are mostly

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 647

about the meridian of 109° E. We shall subsequently notice other in-

stances of the N. E. monsoon tyfoons about this latitude.

“ The Lord Castlereagh left Whampoa on the 24th November, 1820,

and on the 29th, in about latitude 12° N. about 9 a. m., she encounter-

ed a heavy gale of wind, which soon increased to a severe tyfoon from

the North. She was kept before the wind till about half-past 9,

when she broached to. The mizen-mast was then cut away, and she

scudded again. At noon she again broached to, when the crew could

do nothing. The wind abated a little about 1 p. m., but in half an

hour veered to the Southward, and soon increased to all its former

violence ; so that the vessel became unmanageable and a mere wreck,

with every sail blown from the gaskets, the crew could not keep the

deck. At 5, the gale began to abate, and between 11 and 12, the

weather became moderate.—Calcutta Journal, February, 1821.

TRACK No. X.

Tyfoon of the \9th October, 1821.

Documents from the East India House.

18th and \9th October, 1821.—The H. C. Ships General Kydd and

General Harris, bound to China, and in company with each other,

experienced a severe tyfoon in about latitude 18° N., long. 112° 30' E.,

or upon the meridian, and a little to the Northward of the Paracels.

The following are their logs :—

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Genera Kypp, Captain Alexander

Nairne, reduced to civil time.

15th October.—Noon latitude 19° 28’ N. Hainan Head, bearing

N. 11 W. to S. 76 W.

17th* October.—By noon latitude 17° 59'N. A smart breeze from

N. E. p.m. wind N. E. by N. standing eight knots to the E. S. E.,

creasing to a gale with hard gusts before midnight. Wind about

wee ON. E.

18th Oct.—a. . increasing to noon, (wind about N. N. E.) making,

all snug for bad weather. No observation. p. m. increasing from NbE.

* Log of the 16th is not given.

648 A Sivth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

ship under storm stay-sails, all of which with several of the other sails

were blown away from the yards before midnight. Strong tyfoon

with violent gusts, a tremendous sea and incessant rain, sea making

a clear breach over the ship. Under bare poles from half-past 7 P. m.

and wind veering to about N. E. by midnight.

19¢h October.—a. mM, heavy tyfoon, sea breaking over the gunwale,

and boats washingaway. Atnoon it still continued in severe gusts and

tremendous sea. No observation. Wind about E. S. E. p.m. 8S. E. by E.

At 5, gusts not so frequent and hard. Wind about S. E. by S.

20th October.—Moderating fast at 4 a.m. By 9 made sail, wind

S. E. by E. Noon latitude 18° 21’ N. longitude 112° 40’ E. Baro-

meter in the height of the tyfoon at 28.65, but only this single -

notice of it.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Genera Harris, Captain Welstead,

reduced to civil time.

15th. October.—Latitude 19° 30' N. High land of Hainan N. N. W.

Taya Islands N. by E. Log of the 16th not given.

17th October.—At noon in company with the General Kydd, latitude

observed 18° N., longitude 112° 30’ E. Bar. 30.00. Ther. 85°. Standing —

S. E. by S. with a 5 knot breeze from N. E., vp. m. to midnight —

squally. Barometer at 9 p. m. 29.90.

18th October.—Increasing wind, about N. N. E. and N. E. by N.

Noon hard gale and making all snug. No observation. Bar. 9, a. Mm. —

29.70. p.m. Wind marked North, and at 7 p.m. N. E., hard gale with |

violent squalls throughout, losing sails, boats, &c.

19th October.—The same weather 10 a. mM. Wind East. Cut away |

the main-yard which was adrift. Noon no observation. Bar. 28.75. |

Ther. 82°. At 24a. M. wind S. E. by EK. ] p. M. shipping seas so heavily

to leeward and over all, that it was necessary to heave the lee quarter

deck guns and carriages overboard to make a passage for the sea ; bulk. |

heads of cuddy washed away. 5 p.m. wore under bare poles. Wind

about S. E. by E. to midnight.

20th October.—7 a.m. moderated from the same quarter or about

S.E. The log remarks, ‘‘ During this tempest we have experienced a

1842.) A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 649

most extraordinary, and providential current in favour to the N. E.

Barometer in the height of the tyfoon 28.75.” Ther. 82°. Lat. observ-

ed 18°21’ N., longitude by chronometer 112° 43’ E.

If we take this storm to have begun about North, and to have

ended at S. E. with the drift as made good by the observations, it

will upon projection give a track about from N. 74° E. to S. 74° W.

for the centre, which may probably have passed within about 40 or 50

miles of the ships. The singular anomaly of a N. E. current is

very remarkable.

TRACK No. XI.

H. C. S. Macquezn’s Tyfoon of 14th and 15th September, 1822.

Document from the India House.

Log reduced to civil time.

The H. C. 8. Macqueen bound to China was on the 12th Septem-

ber, in latitude 17° 35’, longitude not given, and on the 14th Septem-

ber at noon in latitude 20° 25’ N., longitude 114° 50’ E. Squally, thick

cloudy weather, and second reefs in the topsails. Wind at 1l a.m. N.

W. but variable. p. m. swell from the North. 3 Pp. M. increasing fast from

N.W.and N. W. b W. and preparing for bad weather. At 6, increas-

ing to atyfoon, and storm stay-sails blown away. Midnight a tyfoon

about South.

15th September.—Moderating towards day-light, when the ship

bore up with-the wind at S. E., latitude at noon 20° 53’ N. In ad-

dition to the log, there is also a memorandum by Captain Bax, who

was second officer on board the Macqueen, but he states the wind to

have veered by the East to S. E. which would make the centre

pass to the South of the vessel, whereas by the log it evidently pass-

ed to the Northward of her position, and I have preferred the log as a

written record, the memorandum of Capt. Bax being apparently from

memory. There is no wind marked in the log except N. W. at

1 yp. M., but from the coming up and falling off of the ship, it is clear

that the wind veered as I have stated. I have, however, in conse-

quence of this discrepancy, marked the track as doubtful, meaning

650 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

thereby, that its yoszfzon is so, though its direction is well enough ascer-

tained, z. e. both log and memorandum agree that the storm began

at N. W. and ended at S. E. This, with allowance for the ship’s

drift, will give a track about from S. 57° E. to N. 57° W.

Capt. Bax’s memorandum adds, The “ above-mentioned tyfoon came

on exactly as described by Horsburgh, commencing the strongest to the

Northward, and veering round to East and S. E.

‘For two days previous, it had been nearly calm, and numerous

horse-flies covered the rigging, which Horsburgh mentions as the usual

forerunners of such storms. ‘The Barometer fell very low, and gave

due notice, and the ship was prepared by its warning, but I have not

a memorandum of the fall of the Barometer.”

TRACK No. XIL.

H. C. S. Castite Huntuey’s Tyfoon of 25th to 27th Sept. 1826.

Document from the India House.

The H.C. 8. Castle Huntley, bound to China, experienced a severe

tyfoon in September, 1826. The following is an abridgment of her

log, reduced to civil time :—

24th September.—Noon, latitude 14° 17' N., longitude 114° 10’ E.

P. M. moderate and variable. Winds between N. and N. N. W. with

squally weather and lightning to the Eastward towards midnight.

25th September.—a. M. squalls increasing from N. N. E., and at

10 a. M. under close reefs and reefed fore-sail, with a heavy breeze from

N. E. At noon down top-gallant-yards, Latitude, indifferent observation,

14° 30' N., longitude 114° 30' E. Barometer 29.55. Thermometer 84°.

p. M. fresh gale N. E., 5 pv. m. hove to under storm stay-sails, heavy

puffs N. E. at 7 p.m. Midnight N. E., violent squalls with thick

rainy weather.

26th Sept—At 1 a. mM. Wind N. E., 7 a.m. N. E. At noon about

E. N. E. No observation. Barometer 29.00 and falling. No appearance

of the weather moderating. | p.m. wind E. by S. a heavy gale, and

by 6e.m. 8. E. by E. About 1 p.m. Barometer began to rise, though

the gale was by no means abated till midnight. 11 p.m. wind marked

S. E. by E.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 651

2]th September.—5 a.m. Wind E. by S., Noon S. E. by E. again.

At 6, saw the Triton Sand-bank, bearing about E. S. E., distant 10

miles ; 7, made sail. At 10, by the bearings, latitude 15° 50’ N., longi-

tude 111° 12’ N. Noon Bar. 29.53. Ther. 83°. p. m. fresh breeze from S.

E.and fine. At 1 30 p.m. Discovery Shoal from N. to E. A northerly

current of 47 miles for the last 24 hours.

To this log is appended the following important note: “ Mr. Wise,

“ formerly an officer of the Castle Huntley, remarks, that when this

“* tyfoon ‘commenced, the ship was to the East of the Macclesfield

“« Shoal, and drifted during it upwards of 300 miles* under bare poles,

“having sighted the westernmost of the Paracels before the gale

** terminated.”

There can be no doubt that this was a storm passing to the South

of the ship ; and as the gale veered from N. E. to S. E. b E., while the

drift of the ship was from noon the 25th to 10 a. M. on the 27th N.

674° W. 210 miles, this when projected gives the centre of the storm

a track of from S. 77° E. to N. 77° W., which is probably not far

from the truth. The Barometer falling only to 29.00, though the

tyfoon was severe, shews that the distance of 70 miles from the cen-

tre which this projection allows when it was nearest to the ship, is not

excessive.

The projection will also furnish us with an approximation to the

rate of travelling of the centre of this storm. The drift from noon

25th to 10 a. mM. on the 27th, is as I have said 210 miles, and the

centre, (the wind being N. E.) at the first epoch, bore S. E. from the

ship, and at the latter S. W. by S. Assuming that at about noon on

the 26th the centre bore due South, (wind being between E. N. E.

at 10, and E. by S. at 1 p. m.) we have thus three lines of bearing for

it, and taking the distance of it to be as I have before stated, it will be

found that it must have travelled about 180 miles, or 72 miles per

hour in each of the 24 hours.

The extraordinary drift is a phenomena of the highest importance

to navigation, and it is evidently analogous to those experienced on the

South Coast of China, both probably occasioned by the “ storm wave.”

* Notz.—Soin MSS. The measured drift is 210 miles between Noon 25th and

104. Mm, 27th. Mr. Wise’s calculation seems made from an earlier hour on the 25th.

652 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

I shall not forget to notice this subject at the conclusion of the present

memoir.

—E—S

1827.

The object of the present memoir being not only to present details

of well-ascertained storms, but also to record such imperfect knowledge

as may reach us of other tempests in the China Seas, in the hope, that —

these notices may one day elicit others, I make no apology for inserting

two notices from the valuable memoranda sent me by Mr. Packman,

through the Honorable the Court of Directors.

H. C. S. Scauesy Castie, China Sea off Palawan.

27th October 1827.—After having had for the three or four previous

days, strong breezes from the N. W. to S. W., with squalls and rain,

and continual thick weather, so that we could get no sights for latitude,

either by day or night, it came on to blow a fresh gale in the latter

part of the 26th, continuing to the 27th, and moderating on the follow-

ing days with fine weather, when we obtained sights and ascertained

our exact position ; we were then at anchor amongst the Paraguas, off

the Coast of Palawan ; we had moderate Westerly winds for the next

three or four days, as we stood to the Northward. Lat. about 9° 00’

N., long. 118° 00’ E.

2nd and 3rd November.—H.C. 8. Scaleby Castle.—Variable light

airs. Latitude observed 13° 56’ N., longitude per Chron. 119° 20' E.

4th November.—Moderate breezes from the N. W. in the first and

middle parts, latterly fresh from the Northward with hazy weather.

Latitude observed 14° 22’ N., longitude 119° 27’ E. Blowing a fresh

gale from the Northward in the first and middle parts, latterly mo-

derating with fine weather throughout, and on the following day

moderate Northerly breezes and cloudy weather. Lat. observed 14° 12’,

longitude per Chron. 119° 19’.

The foregoing two storms do not furnish us with any fair data from

which to deduce a track, but the first may have been the Southern

half of a storm passing a couple of degrees to the Northward of the

ship’s position.

1842. ] A Sizth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 653

in the chart, and the second seems very probably to have been also a

storm travelling towards the ship, but from which she escaped by run-

ning to the Northward so quickly.

1828.

Extract from the Log of the H. C. S. Marquis or CaMpEN, lowards

China, reduced to civil time.

Document from Captain Wylie.

2d Oct. 1828.—At noon in latitude 19° 9’ N., longitude 116° 26°

E., cloudy weather ; increasing breeze from the N. KE. with squalls of

rain at times. Ship standing to the North and N. N. E.. p.M., and to

midnight variable light airs, and calms with heavy rain.

3d October.—At half past 12, breeze increasing to a gale at N. E.,

hove to under main stay-sail, hard squalls and heavy rain. No obser-

vation. The gale still continuing ; 3, wore ship, wind about N. E.

At midnight wind decreasing.

Ath October.—a. M..moderating and veering to the Eastward. At

noon latitude 17° 17’, longitude 115° 13’.

Again on the ‘jth October.—The Marquis Camden was at noon

in latitude 19° 7’ N., longitude 115° 43’ E., blowing hard in heavy

squalls and rain; increasing Pp. M. toa gale at N. E., with a head sea

reducing her to close reefed top-sails.

8th October.—By noon the wind had veered to N. W., heavy rain

and high sea continuing, wind being about N. by E. at | a. m., and

North or N. by W. at 7. It is marked at N. W. at 11. Latitude about

18° 10’, longitude 116° 40’ at noon. Pp. mM. a gale from N. W. ship strik-

ing topgallant-masts.

9th October.—From midnight gale continuing, but at daylight mo-

derating a little. Noon latitude 18° 47’, longitude 117° 52’. E. p.m.

gale from N. W. continuing with a heavy sea throughout.

10th October.—Wind gradually veering back to N. E. at noon, when

in latitude 19° 21' N. and latitude 118° 22' E. and continuing so, with

squally unsettled weather, till the 13th, when the land was made.

There are no Barometrical observations with this log, and it is there-

fore very uncertain if these storms were rotatory ones, or, though so

early in the season, the effect of the monsoon’s setting in heavily,

654 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

which by the weather they had to the Coast of China, I should incline

to believe it was. The veering of the wind from N. E. to N. W. at

first inclines us to believe, that it may be part ofa circular storm, but

as it never came farther to the Westward than N. W., I am upon the

whole inclined to believe, that the whole was the conflict of the two

monsoons, rather than the effect of rotatory storms, and I have not

therefore marked even a conjectural track for these. | We shall see in

1837, Track No. XXV. in the log of the Avze/, another instance of this

sort of vibration of a heavy monsoon between N. W. and N. E. at its

first setting in.

TRACKS No. XIII. ann XIV.

Tyfoon of 8th and 9th August, 1829.

Documents from the India House, and from Colonel Retd’s Work.

9th August, 1829.—A strong tyfoon, though of short duration,

was experienced at the entrance of Canton river, by which the H. C.

Ship Bridgewater was driven on Lintin Sand and dismasted. The

Herefordshire also at anchor, in company with her, fortunately rode

out the storm in safety. Three other ships, the Charles Grant, Lady

Melville, and Buckinghamshire, also bound to China, were about on

the meridian of Canton, and in latitudes from 16° to 19° N. They

also experienced bad weather on the 8th and 9th ; but, as I shall sub-

sequently shew, this was certainly not the same storm, though Col.

Reid, to whom an incorrect copy of the Charles Grant’s log had been

given, supposes it might have been so.

Abridged Log of the H. C.S. BripcewarteEr, Captain T. Manderson,

civil time. From Col. Reid’s Work, p. 277, of 2d edition.

9th August, 1829.—At anchor with Lintin Peak N. 4 W. Peak of

Lantoa S. E. West Point of Tungcoa N. EbE. 3 E. Wind, first part

variable from Northward and squally. 2 a.m wind Northerly, and :

Barometer falling fast. at 8 a. M. Barometer 26.30, and on the decline.

At 9, wind marked Easterly blowing hard, and veering to the East; let

go a second anchor at 10, wind E. S. E. Violent gusts, parted the small _

bower, let go the sheet, riding with two cables out upon each anchor. |

Noon, Barometer 29.17, with very thick weather, tyfoon increasing, —

1842.} A Sicth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 655

bent the small bower to the spare anchor ; preparing to strike yards and

top-masts. Having driven into four fathoms water on the edge of Lintin

shoal, after consulting the officers, cut away the masts, brought up in

_ three and half fathoms in soft mud. vp. M. wind decreasing, midnigh®

moderate.

10th August.—\ a. M. wind marked S. E. with passing squalls and

rain.

Abridged Log of the H.C. S. Hererorpsuire, Captain Hope,

civil time.

From the India House.

Sunday, 9th August, 1829.—At anchor, Lintin Peak N. N. W. the

Bridgewater in company, first part a fresh breeze from the North,

increasing in the middle part to a most severe gale, with tremend-

ous heavy gusts. At 3 p.m. gale abating very fast. At 11 a. M.,

observed the Bridgewater driving at times till 1 vp. wm. At half past 2,

saw her with all her masts gone, sent our boat on board of her, and

found she had three and half fathoms water alongside. Throughout

the gale cloudy weather, with heavy rain. |

Extract of a letter from Mr. E. Ford, then Chief Officer of the

HEREFORDSHIRE.

From the India House.

8th August, 1829.—Anchored in the Chinese waters, Lintin bearing

N. N. W., weather remarkably close and sultry. In the night, a fresh

breeze sprung up from the North, which drew round to East, increas-

ing towards noon, (on the 9th), to a most severe gale, with tremendous

heavy gusts, so much so, that the Bridgewater was driven on shore.

At 3 p. M. gale abating. At 6, moderate and fine weather.

Barque InNorE tn Macao Roads, civil time.

Sunday, 9th August, 1829.—Had dark squally appearance from

the N.E. At 2... hard squalls. At 4, making preparations for a

tyfoon. At 11, being fouled by a Portuguese brig, slipped to run into

the harbour, but at noon grounded. p.™. clearing up. Midnight, wind

East, with cloudy weather. |

656 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Lavy Mretviuxie, Captain R. Clifford,

bound to China, reduced to civil time.

From the India House.

8th August.—At noon latitude 17° 30' N., longitude 114° 2’ E.

p.M. wind N. W. by W., freshening to a strong gale at midnight, when

it was at W. by S.

Sth August.—6 a. M. struck top-gallant-masts. At 10 a. Mm. wind

S. S. W. more moderate. Noon latitude account 19° 14’ N., longi-

tude 114° 15’, p. m. S.S. W. fresh breeze. At 5, S. by E.; a heavy

swell throughout.

Abridged Log of the H. C. S. Cuaries Grant, civil tame.

From Col. Revd.

In the communications from the East India House, I am referred

to Col. Reid’s work for this log. As remarked p. 654, Col. Reid has

been apparently misled by the log of the Charles Grant having been

sent to him as if kept in civil time, whereas it was really kept, like

that of the Lady Melville, now before me, in nautical time; for the

latitudes, as will be seen agree within 5’ (one ship being probably

that distance ahead of the other at noon,) and if the a. M. and Pp. M. in

the first column of the log printed in Col. Reid’s works be changed, the

winds will then agree, as recorded by the Lady Melville’s log just

given.

8th August, 1829.—Light airs S. by W. to N. W. by W. Noon

Jatitude 17° 85’ N. Barometer 29.55. Thermometer 85°. Lady Melville

in company, Pp. M. wind N. W., and at 11 p.m. N. W. by W., freshen-

ing to midnight, when the fore and mizen top-sails were handed.

9th August.—l| a. M. wind marked West. 4 a.m. W. by S. Noon

no observation. Bar. 29.40. Ther. 63°. Nothing further recorded.

Abridged Log of the . C. S. Buckincuamsuire, Capt. Glasspoole,

bound to China, reduced to civil time.

From the India House.

8th August, 1829.—Noon latitude by account 16° 4’ N., longitude

113° 37’ E. Wind at 4 a. m. West, 5 and 6 knot breeze. rp. M.,

1842. | A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 657

W. N. W.* 5 p. m. W. by N. moderate, but threatening. At 9,

wind West, at 10 W. by S., Midnight W. S. W. increasing ; ship

going 74 knots to the North.

9th August.—a. M. fresh gale with squalls and rain, and much light-

ning to the S. E., wind not marked. 6 a. m. under bare poles with

hard gusts and heavy rain. 7, set the main-top-sail. 8 a. m. wind

S. W. by W. At 10, set fore and mizen-top-sails. 11, wind S. W. by W.

At noon S. S. W., latitude observed 18° 25’ N., longitude 114° 4’ E.

I have before observed, that these logs appear to me to relate rather

to two storms, and I now proceed to shew why I think they do so, but to

afford my readers the same means of judging which I have had, I

give here the log of the Lady Melville, and a comparative table of the

winds and weather experienced by all the five ships.

Log of the H. C. S. Lavy Metvitzz, Capt. R. Clifford, bound to China,

nautical time.

From the Records of the East India Company.

i. | Courses. | K. | F. Winds, &c. Sunday, 9th August, 1829.

1 -»bE.3E.| 6] .. |N.W.bW. a= .-|N.B.—On the 8th Aug. at noon,

A : lat. 17930! N., long. 114° 2! BK,

3 N.bE. 6 | .. {Fresh breeze down|First part increasing breeze, mid-

royal yards, in Istreef| dle strong gale, more moderate

2 topsails. oe --| toward latter part.

ae Mae del, >O, 1) ) 4

G\.. .« Breit iit

7|N.bE.2E.| 5] 4

8 |.. aeOl} o4t 1Cloudys.. . a -.|6 a.m. the ship pitching heavily,

sprung jib boom,split main top-

4 f sail, furled it and fore topsail.

10 N.bE 4 | 4 |Freshening, close reefed

topsails, down top gal-

| lant yards, W.bs. ..

i N.bW. by)

HD, e ee e a

ae 2

. | ee 2

> aie A)

ee as wel OD

Miss. =. Hy)

6 os 9)

7 North 3 | .. {Struck top gallant masts,

in flying jib-boom. ..

8 N.bE. 4

9 ee ee 2

10 N.bW 2{.. |S.S. W. set foresail &

fore & mizen topsails

3 reefs. se oe

ies =. ..| 4

SIDE cel i. wid'| FC) earners oe ae .-|Lat. account 19° 14’ N.

— Long. account 114° 15’ E.

109 Bar. 29-40. Ther. 83°.

* MSS.—N. W. which is evidently wrong, the courses being marked N.1E.,

N. by E., and North to midnight.

658 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

lal Courses. 1 IE OR Winds, &c. Monday, 16th August, 1829.

1 N.bW. 7| 4(\S.S.W. Hazy... .|First and middle parts a fresh

breeze, latter more moderate,

With squalls, rain, and heavy

swell throughout.

7A RR Seer eo i

3 ee ee ee 7

Mere sapeia ee A

Dee jee 7 | .. |S.bE. up top gallant

deed fed pee

WNENHCHOMNID

COND VRP

11 |.

12 |.

masts and yards, out

3d reefs, cloudy.

sc 6) 4

sisth fonts ©

ee 6; 4

ae oe tee

es of 7 | .. |Crossed royal yards.

pst. nen MNOn | Mee

as 6| 4

ae | 7] 4

eh ees S ee /Squally and rain.

eee ial ee, ree

; 7 | oe (Out reeistt. 73 ..|Saw the land from the mast head,

bearing N.N.W

setae On

soueoste OF aerh SE:

ee ee 6 4

Obes : 4 | Variable, squally & rain.

e 7

Comparative Table of the Winds in the Tyfoons of 8th and 9th Aug. 1829.

Date |Bridgewater and} Lady Charles Buckinghamshire.

Civil Herefordshire. | Melville. | Grant.

Time. Lintin.

(RACAL Wet tr ete .| Wes

Noon 17 30° N ve 35 Ni 16° ra N. 113° 37’ E.

are } D2 eo. Meadnees

1 P.M. .. Ss aiNONW oD Willerel uate

8th Aug Tegbonite. N.W. N.W

10th Aug.

isa Series ess Mmm aah EMI

“4

Tile: D1 ee io NTN ee

(|Midnight, ../W.bS. 2.|.. .. ..|W.S.W. increasing.

AWE Bel cies Veto iatle ol WW EBs his

2 Northerly. se}s* ce eslee jo»: es

Beet Was Sty ds Nae aa

Gr... Te es ; | |Struck top.|. ee

(gee masts.|-. .|Bare poles.

10E.S E. Tyfoon, '$.S.W.

made sail.}.. ««

3AM. samebeaes (a ee

“|S.bE.

ee ee

'l a.m. S.B. ae

Lean we 5 aleem nce etyaaet els ..|S.W.bS. moderating.

al Le we ee «ee (S.S.W. 18°25 N. 114-4 E.

ee ee 0/5. W.bW. making sail again.

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 659

First, we will take the Lintin records. From these it is clear,

that the storm there may be called one lasting about 6 hours only,

7. e. from 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon of the 9th, and

during this time, as remarked by Col. Reid, being from N. E.

to East, E. S. E., and S. E. We may thus take it to be at

noon on the 9th at its full fury at E. S. E. when the centre must

have borne about S. S. W. from the Bridgewater and Hereford-

shire, and by 3 p. M. it was at S. E., when the centre was of

course bearing S. W. from them, and they were then nearly out of its

influence ; for it is stated, that the boat of the Herefordshire was sent

on board of the Bridgewater at 3 past 2 p.m. Now the bad weather

from the N. W., West, and S. W., which was experienced by the other

three ships, 7. e. Charles Grant, Lady Melville, and Buckingham-

shire, began with those ships before midnight, between the 8th and

Oth; and at 1 a.m. on the 9th, when it should be noted that the

wind was at least West, and to the Southward of West with some of

them. The centre then at midnight, between 8th and 9th, should have

borne North from them, and as the wind was about S. 8. W. by 10 a.M.,

the centre bore W. N. W. from them at that time, and they were all

not far from the meridian of Lintin. The Lady Melville indeed was

making sail again at this time. Yet it was at 9 a. M. that the storm

was commencing with the Bridgewater, say from the E. by S., which

would give the centre bearing S. by W. from her, and from its violence

and fall of the Barometer, much nearer to her than to the ships at

sea ; and at 10, when, as we have noted, they were making sail with a

S. S. W. wind, it was blowing a tyfoon at E.S.E.at Lintin. No

projection will reconcile this, and no allowances from the anomalies

produced by the land, wili account for the discrepancies in time, I

think. We know that the ships at sea had nothing to alter the fair

course of the storm, but as will be seen by the chart, the high land on

the Eastern shore of the river, and that of the large island of Lantao,

may have greatly influenced the direction of the wind.

Again, if the storm experienced by the ships at sea had occurred

later than that at the anchorage, we might suppose it to have been, as

in the instances of the Arzel and Marquis Camden, a disturbance or

vibration of the usual monsoon, (this being the height of it,) occasioned

by the storm to the Northward ; but it does not seem so probable that

660 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

this disturbance preceded the tyfoon, not at least by so great an interval

of time as from ten to twelve hours.*

Upon the whole, then, I should be inclined to suppose, that there

were two storms, of which the centre of that of the ships at sea, bore

North from the Charles Grant and Lady Melville, at 1 a. m. on

the 9th, and as it was not severe, and not felt at Lintin, it was pro-

bably of small extent. I have then marked a conjectural track for

it in No. XIV., from S. 78° E. to the N. 78° W., and those who

study the subject, will agree with, or dissent from my views as they

please. I have laid down the Lintin storm as coming from East, the

height of it appearing to have been about noon, when the centre would

have borne S. S. W. from the ships ; but this is almost conjectural, for

amongst high rocky islands like those at the entrance of Canton river,

the wind may have been modified in many ways. The storm of the

ships at sea I have laid down as passing from the E. S. E. to the

W. N. W., though from the absence of any registry of the Barometer,

except at noon, we cannot say when the storm fairly began or ended ;

but with due allowance for the run of the ships in the interim,

I think it may be taken as far to the Southward as this.

The WatERtoo’s Storm.

Document from the East India House—Mr. Packman.

26th August, 1829.—The H. C. S. Waterloo appears also to have

been within the range of one of those E. S. Easterly storms, about a

degree farther to the Southward, than the ships in the former article.

The following is the memorandum sent me, but I have not marked a

conjectural track from it, as no other document has been obtained

relative to this storm, which indeed we could scarcely notice as one,

but for the remarkable fall of the Barometer.

H. C. S. Watreruxoo, in the China Sea.

26th August, 1829.—A brisk monsoon in the first and middle parts

with squalls and rain, in the latter variable from the N. W., and

* Even supposing the storm to have come from the N. #. still it cannot be recon-

ciled, as to distances from the centre and intensity, with the times, so that all things

considered, two separate storms is the most probable supposition.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 661

cloudy weather. Lat. observation 14° 15’ N., long. per Chron. 113° 29’

E. Thermometer 83°. Barometer 29.75.

27th August—Variable wind, but mostly from the N. W. with

squally weather and rain throughout. Lat. 15° 21’, long. 114° Ol’ E.

Thermometer 814°. Barometer 29.64. 3

28th August.—Variable winds from the North and N.E. with squally

weather and heavy rain and lightning from the Eastward in the mid-

dle part. Latitude observation 15° 36’ N., longitude per Chron. 114°

50' E. Thermometer 83°. Barometer 29.50.

29th August.—Variable N. W. winds in the first part, veering

round to the S. W. and South in the middle and latter, and increas-

ing to a fresh gale with frequent squalls and rain; following days

strong and pleasant breezes from the S. Eastward till our arrival at

China. Latitude observation 16° 29’ N., longitude per Chron. 115° 06

EK. Thermometer 82°. Barometer 29.25.

TRACK No. XV.

Tyfoons of September, 1831.

Documents from Mr. Redfield and the India House.

The year 1831 seems to have been one in which several tyfoons

were experienced in the China seas. We have records, though im-

perfect, of one in September, and of two in the month of October. The

following is Mr. Redfield’s abridgment from the Canton papers of the

notices then published. I have but one memorandum of this storm

from the India House, with, however, a very useful note appended to

it by Captain J. K. Forbes, of the H. C. S. Thames.

Canton Tyfoon of September 23d, 1831.

The American ship Galen, from the Sandwich Islands, bound to

Canton, encountered bad weather off the Bashee Island on the 21st of

September, and on the 23d, near the Lema Islands, lost her mizen

mast, fore and main-top-masts, &c.

The British barque Agnes from Singapore, also lost her fore-mast

on the 23d, and was obliged to cut away the remaining masts. She

662 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 127. —

was at anchor on the 27th, about nine miles Southward of the Grand

Ladrone.

H.C. Ship Hertfordshire and Danish ship Norden, arrived on the

25th [from the Southward] and experienced no bad weather; the

latter reports that on the 24th, a very violent swell was running down

from the North-eastward, but the barometer indicated no change, and

neither of these vessels were aware of the tempest till their arrival at —

Macao.

At Canton early in the morning of the 23d September, commenced

a hard northerly gale, which continued without intermission for

twenty-four hours. The tide rose to a great height, and much damage

was sustained ; an official return to the authorities at Canton states,

that after it was past, one thousand four hundred and five dead bodies

were picked up along the coast. The gale was far more severely felt

at Macao and Kumsing-moon, where it is described as having been

truly dreadful.—Canion Papers.

We may fairly deduce this to have been a storm of small extent,

running down the South Coast of China, about parallel to our Track

No. I, which course I have therefore assigned it as a conjectural one,

marking it No. XV.

At Whampoa, on the 23d September, 1831.—A severe tyfoon was

experienced in China, in which several vessels were lost, and great

mischief done on shore. At Whampoa, where it was severely felt, the

wind, says Captain Forbes, H.C.S. Thames, drew round from N. to E.

and S. E., but was not of such violence as to be called a hurricane

there.

Captain Forbes adds here a valuable note as follows :—

NotrE.—I would here beg leave to mention a circumstance, which may be useful in

a practical point of view onsuch occasions. I left the H.C.S. Thames, (which I then.

commanded, ) at Whampoa, on Sunday evening the 18th September 1831, to proceed

to Macao in the ship’s launch, arriving there next day. Before leaving the ship, I

happened to look into Horsburgh’s Directory, page 10, of the ‘‘ Introduction and gene-

ral remarks upon winds, &c. article ‘ Change of the Moon’,”’ and said to be written by an

ingenious Frenchman. By the rate there laid down as to the chances of hurricanes,

I found that there was a great chance of one at the time it actually occurred at Macao,

(on the 23d September, ) so I ordered two large anchors and cables to be put into the

launch, instead of those in common use. By this, I unquestionably saved my boat,

and probably her crew, besides another ship’s launch which broke adrift, and was

2 uaa

saved by holding on by the Thames’.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 663

Storm of 5th and 6th October, 1831.

Notes from the East India House.

*5th October.—H. C. Ship Farquharson, Captain Campbell, lying

at Whampoa, had a strong gale from the Westward* with severe gusts.

Weather too severe for a craft to lie alongside.

6th October, 1831.—H. C. 8. Lowther Castle, at anchor in Wham-

poa reach. A severe gale commencing at North, veering round to the

Kast, and then moderating, with incessant hard rain throughout. Baro-

meter fell to 29.17.

TRACKS No. XVI, XVII, anp XVIII.

Mantua, Panama’s and Fort Wiiut1aM's Tyfoon of 23d, 24th, and

25th October, 1831.

Documents from Col. Reid, Capt. Biden, and the Voyage of La Place.

Between sun-set of the 23d, and sun-rise of the 24th October, 1831,

a tremendous tyfoon was experienced at Manilla, in which almost all

the ships at Cavite, and those lying at the bar, before Manilla, were

driven on shore. The American ship Panama, and the English ship

Fort Wiliam, also experienced severe storms in the China seas, about

the same time. I have first given their different logs, reduced to civil

time where necessary, and then a table from which I should deduce,

that the Manilla storm, and that of the Panama, were undoubtedly

one storm, but that of the Fort William a different one.

Log of H. M. Frigate Crocop1ie, Captain R. Bancroft, in Manilla

Bay. Abridged from Col. Reid’s Work, p. 284, 2d edition.

Civil time.

23d October, 1831.—Sun-set, increasing breeze and cloudy, veering

more Northward from the N. E., at which quarter it had previously

been. At 7, veered to 75 fathoms. At 8: 30, down top-gallant-masts,

and let go the best bower. At midnight very severe hurricane, with

heavy rain and high sea, bent the sheet-cable over all, not being able

to get it out of the hause hole.

* This date and the wind at West, are so in the MSS. before me, but both are

contradicted by the next extract, a memorandum from the Lowther Castle’s log, in

which the wind, at all events, is probably right.

664 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

24th October.—a. M. wind marked N. by W., tyfoon very heavy,

with incessant rain and high sea. At lh. 40m. its extreme rage abated,

and shifted to the N. E., the sea became less violent, and the ship rode

more easily, but very heavy squalls. No Barometrical observations

are given.

Tyfoon of 27th October, 1831,* at Manilla.

Abridged from the Notes to the Voyage of La Favorite, Capt.

La Place, Vol. I. p. 552.

27th October, 1831.—One of these hurricanes ravaged the Colony in

a frightful manner. It began at midnight, and lasted four hours.

The wind began at N. N. W., and ended at E.N. E. When at North

the tyfoon blew with a fury, which no inhabitant had ever seen

equalled. The air “seemed on fire.” All the vessels at anchor before

Manilla and at Cavite went on shore, and were mostly lost. The

English Frigate Crocodile only, with excellent chain cables, and in

about the same anchorage as the Favorife, held on, and sustained but

trifling damages. The destruction on shore was frightful.

At the Laguna, (thirty miles East of Manilla,) the hurricane was

still more severe, though sheltered by high mountains to the North.

M. La Place remarks also, and this is a fact well known at Manilla,

the evident relation which the volcanoes have with the hurricanes.

Scarcely one occurs in which some volcanic phenomena are not ob-

served, and these are sometimes very violent.

Log of the Ship Fort Wiuutam, reduced to Civil time.

From Captain Biden.

The ship Fort William, Captain Neish, bound from China to Manilla,

arrived at Singapore on the 12th instant, under jury masts, having

been totally dismasted in the passage, probably by the Manilla tyfoon.

We have been favoured with the following abstract of the log of that

ship, which details the particulars :—

* There is a difference of dates here, but there is no doubt the storms are the

same.

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 665

Abstract from the Log of the Ship Fort Wi.utam.

“ Sunday, 23d October, 1831.—Our Canton Pilot left the ship,

when we hauled to the Eastward, being bound to Manilla.”

Monday, 24th Oct.—At 8 a. m. passed between the Asses’ Ears and

the Lema. Strong breezes and cloudy weather from the N. N. E.,

double-reefed the top-sails and reefed the main-sail. At noon, strong

breezes and increasing sea. No land in sight.

p. M. Blowing strong, and sea still increasing ; sent down the top-

gallant-yards and masts, wind N. E.; steering E. S. E. At ll

p. mM. hard squalls and high sea; clued up the top-sails to close reef

them. Midnight, weather getting worse, furied the top-sails, and

struck top-gallant-masts.

25th October.—At 4 a. M., a sea struck, and carried away the star-

board quarter cutter. Daylight blowing a perfect hurricane ; furled the

mainsail. Noon, hard gales and thick drizzling rain. No observation.

p. M. Blowing a dreadful gale, with violent squalls; the sea still

increasing. At6&p.m.the main-mast went over the starboard side,

about 14 feet above the deck, and the mizen-mast immediately fol-

lowed, falling nearly right aft on the poop, the top just clearing the

stern, carrying away with it the larboard quarter cutter, stern boats,

davit, &c. &c.; cut away all the wreck with every possible despatch,

and soon got clear of it. During the night the gale still continued,

and the ship labouring excessively, expected the fore-mast to go every

moment.

26th October.—At 4: 30 a. m., the fore-top-mast went, and at 8, per-

ceived the fore-mast badly sprung under the fore-castle. Several of

the chain-plates and shrouds gave way, the fore-mast immediately

went over the larboard bow, sprung the cat-head, and carried away

the head rails, bumkin, &c. &c., and struck the ship a violent blow

under the water, which shook her, as if she had struck a rock. Cut

away every thing, and got clear of all the wreck without, (we hope),

seriously injuring the hull, and she made no water, and now being

obliged to choke the rudder amidships, for which we had been under

very great apprehension during the whole gale. Noon, gale abating,

and sea still very high. No observation. Ship labouring so excessively,

that we dare not cast loose the booms to prepare jury-masts.

666 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

27th October.—Fine weather ; latitude observation 18° 25’ N., lon-

gitude 114° 31’ E,

28th and 29th Oct.—Ship again under command of her helm, and

found that we could just weather the Paracels and Bombay Shoal,

with a steady Easterly wind ; resolved to make the best of our way to

Singapore.

November 2d.—Passed in sight of Pulo Sapata.

Saturday, 12th Nov.—Arrived safe at Singapore.

Storm raged in lat. from 21° to 18° N., and from long. 114° to 116° E.

During the whole of the tyfoon, the Marine Barometer never fell

below 29.60.”

The following is the account of the Panama’s part of the storm, as

given by Mr. Redfield :—

“ Extract from the private Journal of Wm. F. Griswold, Esq. Mas-

ter of the ship Panama, on a voyage to Canton, October, 1831.

October 23d, (Nautical time,) lat. 9° 17' N., lon. 117° 16° E£.,

wind came out at southward and continued until 10 p. m., then died

away and commenced from the Northward with a heavy head sea.

Forenoon, breeze from N. W. and clear weather. Latitude 9° 45’ N.,

longitude 117° 25' E.

October 24th.—Pleasant breezes from N. W., and hazy steady

weather. A sea rolling from the Northward. I suppose there has

been a gale in the China sea, which has not yet reached us. Evening,

wind rapidly increasing and Barometer falling from 29.75 to 29.40.

Midnight reefed top-sails.—9 a.m. double reefed do.—barometer 29.20.

Ends with tremendous gale from the westward and heavy sea—baro-

meter 29.10. Lat. 11° 15’ N., long. 118° 20' #.

October 251h.—Heavy gale W. S. W.—barometer 29.05 Gale haul-

ing to the southward. Evening more moderate. Madea little sail.

Wind at 7 p.m. from south-westward; 11 p.m. from southward.

In the morning at 5 o’clock the wind came out at S. E. (barometer

at 29.10) and blew a perfect hurricane. Hove to under mizen stay-

sail ; barometer at 1 p. m. 29.05, 4 p. m. 29.00, 7 a. m. 29.10, 8 a. m.

29.20. I believe this fall of the Barometer to be, in this latitude,

very remarkable.

This gale was on the 24th and 25th October, civil time, and from

its peculiar features and double fall of the barometer, there appears

something like the falling in of two hurricanes on the same track.

It was, doubtless, in whole or in part, the same hurricane that visited

Manilla on the night of the 23d of October, and which is noticed by

Coj. Reid. The irregularities of the storm may have been caused by

its passage over the Philippine Islands, the Panama being then off the

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 667

Strait of Mindoro, and about 210 miles from Manilla. I have deem-

ed it not improbable, that this storm was the same that visited the

Bay of Bengal on the 3ist of the same month, and was so destructive

at Balasore, and on the neighbouring coast. ‘The course from the

Panama’s position to Balasore is about N. 73° W., and the distance,

say 1920 miles, which would give a rate of progression of 113 nauti-

cal miles per hour: which coincides with other storms which have

formerly been examined. It is important to ascertain if this storm

crossed the Burman empire, immediately previous to its appearance

in the Bay of Bengal.”

Comparative Table of the Winds and Weather in the Manilla Tyfoon of

23rd October, 1831.

H. M. Fr. Crocodile r

Date. |& Fr. Frigate Favorite, Ship Panama. Ship Fort William.

Manilla.

23rd Oct. |By midnight a Tyfoon!Noon 9:17 N. 117:16 E.)Left the land, strong

1831. from the North, veer-| five pM. pleasant breeze| breezes N.N.E. and

ing from N.bW. and| N. W. & heavy Nor-| cloudy weather.

N.N.W.toN.E. .. therly swell. Evening

increasing, Barometer

29°40 from 29°70.

i — — — —————————————— — — -

24th Oct. |a.m. N.bW. ending at/9 a.m. Bar. 29°20. Noon|Noon no land in sight.

1831. 1 (Al Sa we -.| tremendous gale from] p.m. blowing strong

West. Bar. 29:10. Lat.| from N.E. Midnight

11-51 N. Long. 118-20; gale N. #.

KE. p.m. W.S. wind.

Bar. 29°00. 7 p.m. S.

Westward ll p.m. &e.

———— | J Le.

2oth Oct. |.. He .j0 4.M. wind S.E. Bar.|Daylight a hurricane.

1831. 29:10. Hurricane |p.m.| p.m. dismasted. Noon

Bar. 29:05, 4 p.m.29:00,| 26th abating. 27th,

7 A.M. 29°10. 8 a.mM.| 18.25 N. 114-31 E.

DO Fave: sy via

If we carefully consider the foregoing Table, we shall I think agree

with Mr. Redfield in thinking, that the Manilla storm and the first

of those of the Panama were undoubtedly the same, and that it was

travelling up from the E. S. E. through the Straits of Mindoro upon

about a W. N. W. course. The Panama’s second storm, which it

will be noted was from the S. E., may have been the N. E. quadrant

of another storm crossing Palawan, or it may have been an irregularity

caused by the junction of the Fort Wilham’s and the Manilla storm.

* a.m, in Mr, Redfield’s pamphlet, p.m. is I suppose meant.

668 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127. |

For, as to the Fort William’s storm, she may be said to have been

driven in it‘on about a S. by E. course, from latitude 25° to latitude :

19°. and to have been dismasted about latitude 20°, with the wind at

N. E., while the Panama, which vessel could not have been in more

than 13° 30’, or at most 14° N. had her second storm at S. E., being |

then at least seven degrees to the S. E. by S. of the Fort Walliam. :

If the storms were the same, the Panama should have had the wind ©

S. Westerly, for a S. Easterly wind would require her to have been

nearly on the same parallel as the Fort William. If the storm had |

been one also travelling up from the S. E. by S., or S. S. E. towards |

the Fort William, it might, it is true, have been, as it was, a tremendous —

gale at N. E., but at its close it would have veered or shifted to N. W. |

or S. W., according as the centre passed to the East or West of her :

position. Nothing of this sort occurred, and it is therefore clear, that |

the Fort Willtam’s was a separate storm at N. E. and veering to the |

Eastward, sufficiently to enable the ship to bear up for Singapore |

when disabled: whether it was a circular storm, or only the monsoon |

setting in late with a heavy gale, we cannot, in the absence of the |

Barometrical observations, decide. |

We have unfortunately no records from any ship which might have |

been at this time in the intervening space between the Panama and |

have found that the coalition of the two storms might produce a |

third with a curved track, like our Nos. III. and XXIII.

It is at all events some corroboration of them to find, that the forces |

which mzght produce such curved tracks have occurred. |

storm, and one No. XVIII., (also conjectural, because it may have been |

the monsoon, and our data are imperfect), for the Fort William’s storm. |

TRACK No. XIX.—Tyroons or 1832. |

Documents from Mr. Redfield, Captain Biden, &c. |

There appears to have been also during this year two severe tyfoons

in the China seas in this year, the one in August, and the other in}

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 669

October. The following is from the Chinese Repository of August,

1832 :—

Tyfoon, 3d August, 1832.

2d.—Evening, wind from Northward. Thermometer 92° and Baro-

meter beginning to fall from 29.60 or 70, but not much wind during

the night.

At daylight of the 3d, wind fresh. Barometer fell till it reached 28.10,

(with some 27.90). In 1809, (True Briton’s storm,) it fell to 28.30

only. This storm was far more severe, and was much longer from

the North. A Dutch vessel sunk between Lintin and Macao. The

Spartan driven to sea, saved about 40 of her crew. The tyfoon ap-

pears to have extended fully 200 miles from N. to 8.

Mr. Redfield has collected the following notices of this storm :—

Canton Tyfoon of August 3d, 1832,

At Macao the wind set in from the north, and reached its greatest

height about | p. m.; continuing with the same violence till 5 p. m.,

when it veered suddenly to the southward, but with diminished

strength. When the fury of the gale was exhausted, the quicksilver

rose at the rate of three-tenths per half hour. Barometer, August 2d,

8 a. m. 29.68 ;—8 p. m. 29.34;—Aug. 3d, 8 a. m. 29.34 ;—5 p. m.

27.88. Other land barometers differently adjusted, fell to 27.96

and 28.05.

At Cap-shuy-moon the gale began at N. and N. W., between

which points it blew with tremendous violence ; shifting, towards the

conclusion to S. E., whence it blew more moderately. The Barometer,

in the early part, fell to 28.20.

The American ship Don Quixote left on the day before the tyfoon ;

and returned on the 5th with loss of mainmast.

_ Since the tyfoon, the British brig John Biggar, from Manilla, has

come in dismasted. The Spanish brig Veloz, also from Manilla, has

arrived with loss of mainmast.

A letter from the commander of the Dutch ship Fair Armenian,

which foundered about thirty miles westward of the Grand Ladrone,

says:—‘‘ On the evening of the 2d instant, we made the Grand

Ladrone, and on the morning of the 3d, it came on a tyfoon blowing

off the land; this about noon increased to a tremendous height and

dismasted us; unshipped and broke our rudder, and carried away a

great part of the bulwarks. The gale was at its height about 4 or 5

p-m., and after dark gradually moderated.”

670 A Sivth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

The Edmonston, Caledonia, Esperanca and Italy have come in

without damage. The Caledonza on the 3d, when in latitude 17° N.,

longitude 113° 50’ E., experienced a strong gale from W. veering to

S. W.and S., with a heavy and confused sea. The barometer fell

fo 28.59. The Edmonston, on the same day, when within seventy

miles off the land, felt the same weather, which brought her under

bare poles for four hours.

At the Bocca Tigris, the weight of the tyfoon, which in Canton and

Whampoa ranged from N. to N. E., was felt about 4 or 5 p. m.; the

barometer standing at 29.10. About 6 p. m. the quicksilver rose, and

the gale began to abate.

At Canton, August, 3d. Blowing hard at N. and N. E., with vio-—

lent gusts; barometer 29.15; and for the most part rain. August 4th.

First part blowing hard, wind S. E. barometer 29.70 ;—middle and

latter parts strong breezes and fine weather.—Canton papers of

August, 1852.

Extract from the Journal of an American Shipmaster, bound to

Canton. ‘‘ August 2d, 1832, (nautical time,) latitude 18° 34’ N.,

longitude 114° E.; barometer 29.56. First part light and baffling

winds from E. to N. E. and N. and hazy :—middle part the same :—

At4da.m. calm, barometer 29.59 :—At 4-30 a. m. a breeze sprung up

from W. N. W.;—made all sail by the wind. Latter part and end,

strong W. N. W. wind and rough head sea. Took in the royals,

flying-jib, and fore and mizen-top-gallant sails. Bar. at noon 29.40.

The weather, however, looks very fine, and the breeze is steady at

W.N. W. latitude 19° 54' N., longitude 130° 50' E.

August 3d commences with a strong steady breeze at W. N. W.

and hazy weather, barometer falling fast. At 2 p.m. down to 28.98,

but not the least unfavorable appearance in the clouds, sea, or wea-

ther. [The ship was at this time running into the path of the gale,

from its southern side.] I must acknowledge that the rapid fall of

the mercury, within the last ten hours, has alarmed me not a little,

and we are now preparing for the worst of weather.—At 4 p. m. baro-

meter 29.25 and the wind freshening ; single reefed topsails. The old |

tars who have seen sail carried on this ship through thick and thin in

the stormy regions of the southern ocean, now look at each other with —

amazement at such preparation for apparently nothing. ‘Towards

evening the weather begins to look unfavorable; the sun went down

in a body of clouds, deeply tinged with red; not the rich and varie-

gated tints that give rise to pleasurable sensations to all who look”

upon them, but the fierce, glaring, angry red that creates distress in

the bosom, particularly of a mariner. After sunset the moon (at the —

2d quarter) could be seen at intervals through the clouds that are |

driving from the N. E. at the rate of twenty knots, and the lightning

shooting up from every point of the compass. At 8 p. m. barometer

29.15. Took in all sail, but the close reefed fore and main top-sails |

and fore-top-mast staysail; the wind still steady at W. N. W. Sound- |

ed in 45 fathoms, the Grand Ladrone bearing N, N. W. 38 miles.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 671

At 10 p. m. the wind suddenly shifted to W. N. W. LN. N. W.?] an

a squall.—Heavy rain and distant thunder until 5 a. m.:—Had‘con-

tinued shifts of rind all round the compass.— At 7 a.m. a steady gale

very severe, from about N. W. and constant rain:—hove to under the

reefed main-top-sail :—Az¢ 8 a. m. barometer 29. !!—Latter part and

end, the real genuine, unadulterated Chinese T'yfoon; a steady roar

and constant rain ; took in the main-top-sail.

August 4th. (e.m. of 3d.) The first quarter of this day extremely

severe gale and thick weather.—A/¢ 2.30 p. m. barometer 28.88 ;

shortly after which it began to rise:—at 6 p.m. 29.05 ;—at 8 p. m.

29,08, and moderating.—During the night, hard gale from N. W. to

W.S. W. and torrents of rain.— At 4 a.m. wind S. W to S. S. W. and

hazy :—made sail and by 5 a. m. had royals and studding sails set.

During the day passed a number of wrecks, and when we arrived,

(Sth,) found that the hurricane had been very severe, and caused im-

mense destruction.”—New York Journal of Commerce.

I have given these logs as they stand in Mr. Redfield’s pamphlet,

but I should be inclined to think, that the Caledonia’s storm might be

nothing more than a monsoon gale, of which we have so many exam-

ples, and which like those of the Bay of Bengal, may be more liable to

happen when a circular storm is travelling across in the leeward part

of the Bay or sea.

The ‘‘ American ship master” whose name is not given, seems to

me, when he experienced his shift of wind at 10 p. m. of the 3d, to

have been just on the limit between the Macao tyfoon and the mon-

soon gale of the Caledonia, for it was certainly not the centre, which

at 5 p.m. was at Macao, and if it had travelled to the Southward to

reach the American ship, would have left that place with a gale from

the N. E., or S. E., or East, whereas by taking the Macao tyfoon to

have extended to about this latitude only, which gives it a semi-dia-

meter of 75, and consequently a diameter of 150 miles, and the Cale-

donia’s storm as a moonson gale, the steady breeze at W. N. W. &c.,

which the American ship had in latitude 20°, (or half way between the

Caledonia and Macao,) until he ran into the Southward, half of the

storm is clearly accounted for.

On these grounds, then, I have marked for this tyfoon, an East and

West track, No. XIX. though it should be borne in mind, that it

might really have been a point, or even more to the North or South

of East and West, but we have no data, from which to say positively

that it was so.

672 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

TRACK No. XX.

The Morratt’s Tyfoon,

The October tyfoon was experienced by the H. C. Chartered ship

Moffatt, Captain Cromarty. The following is from a Singapore paper,

and sent me by Captain Biden. I have here and there abridged those

parts which are not essential to our research, and reduced the whole to

civil time :—

Singapore, Thursday, 8th November, 1832.

The Company’s Chartered ship Moffatt, Captain Cromarty, bound

for China, put in here the day before yesterday, having lost her main

and mizen-masts, and fore-top-mast, and having suffered many other

injuries during a violent and protracted hurricane, which she encoun-

tered in the China seas within a very few degrees of her destination.

_ We have been favoured by the Captain with the perusal of the log-

book kept during the period of the tempest, from which we are at

liberty to give the following details of the various disasters which the

ship sustained. The hurricane lasted five days :—

Monday, 22d October. Course E. by S.

*‘ Wind N. E. by N. hard gales, vessel going under close-reefed top-

sails. Furled fore and mizen-top-sails and courses, set the storm

mizen and main-try-sails. At 11 p.m., heavy hurricane ; split the

main-try-sail, and furled the main-top-sail. At 1 a. m., increasing

hurricane, with much sea, the ship labouring very much, carried ~

away the main-top-mast. At 2, a heavy sea struck the ship, and

carried away the starboard quarter boat; the wreck of the main-

top-mast in swinging about stove the cutter, and injured the long

boat severely. At 5, a dreadful hurricane; the mizen-mast went

by the board. At 9, the main-stay gave way, replaced it with much

danger and difficulty. At1l, the hurricane continued, the ship

Jabouring very much, and the sea making a continual break over her.

P.M., wind veering from N. to East, hurricane still continuing, making

every effort to get the wreck of the main-top-mast on deck ; the reefed

mainsail got adrift, and blew to pieces. 4 Pp. m., ship labouring very

much. The sea washing over the ship’s deck incessantly. At 8, ship —

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 673

Jurching very heavily, the main-mast went by the board. When the

main-mast fell, one of the top-sail,sheets got entangled with the waste

anchor, and brought it right on deck.

23d October.—At 1 a.m., hurricane abating a little. At 5, hurricane

still abating, but a dreadful sea, and the ship rolling very heavily.

Carried away the fore-top-mast. At 11 and 12, weather moderating,

set the foresail to endeavour to steady the ship, people employed in

clearing the wreck. Lat. per observation 17° 9’ N., long. 118° 30’ E.

p.M., wind from N.E. to E., employed clearing the wreck. At 7 P.M.,

hard gales with heavy rain, ship rolling very much, and shipping a

great deal of water over all. One pump constantly going. <At 10,

severe hurricane, which continued until next morning.

24th October.—F rom the continued heavy rolling of the ship, almost

every thing, both in between decks and hold got adrift, and it was

almost impossible to stand on the deck. vp. m., wind from N. E. to N.

Hurricane continued throughout the day; the ship labouring very

much, and requiring to be pumped every hour.

25th October.—Hurricane continued, pumping every hour; ship-

ping great quantities of water over all. Noon latitude 14° 20’ N.,

longitude 109° 53’ E. At5-v.m., finding the ship to have driven a

long way to the Southward and Westward from the commencement of

the hurricane, and also considering the disabled state of the ship, and

impracticability in its present state of effecting a passage against a

strong N. E. monsoon, bore up for Singapore.” No mention is made

of the barometer in this ship’s log.

The Dutch ship Esperange of Batavia, from China, is the only

arrival since the gale.”

As the Moffatt was bound to China, she of course stood to the

N. W. as long as she could on the 22d with the N. E. by N. gale,

and was then driven back when lying to and disabled, so as to be at

noon on 23d in latitude 17° 9‘ N., when the storm again increased

and drove her to latitude 14° 20’, just clearing the Paracels; but

from the winds veering from N. to East on the 23d, and then mo-

derating before another storm set in, we should at first be inclined to

take this for two storms, but it seems more probable, that it was one

from: the N. E. of very slow progress ; and that the ship ran into it

again by setting her fore-sail, and then drifted with it for a time ; for had

674 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

the storm passed her she would have had fine weather, and the wind

probably from the S. E. We cannot say also if it was not, though so

very violent, a monsoon gale, which the season might well admit of,

and the want of Barometrical observations tends to perplex our judg-

ment the more. I have therefore marked only a conjectural track

from the N. EK. for this storm.

1833.

TRACK No. XXI. Storms of the Brigs Bex and Virainia.

Documents from Capt. Biden, and Capt. Willie.

We have records of two considerable storms in the China sea, in

this year, of which one at least was a true tyfoon, I think. The first

was a storm occurring in August, in which the brig Bee was lost, the

brig Virginia bound up the China sea, narrowly escaping it; and the

second was a storm experienced by the H. C. S. Lowther Castle, of

which a memorandum was obtained for me from her commander,

by the Hon’ble the Court of Directors. I give here the documents,

with the usual abridgments.

Exiract from the Log of Mr. Willie, Mate of the Brig Vireinta,

bound to China, reduced to civil time.

26th August, 1833.—Light 3 and 4 knot breezes S. W. to S. E.,

steering N. E. and N.E.bN. At noon latitude 15° 44’ N. pv. m.

breeze decreasing to a calm at midnight.

27th August.—5 a.m. light breeze, N. N. W., all sail set. At day-

light a bank of heavy black clouds in the E. S. E. At 8 moderate,

breeze North and cloudy. Till noon veering between N. N. W. and

North. At noon, fresh breeze N. W. and N. Latitude observation

16° 10’ N., longitude account* 114° 26’ E. p.m. increasing from

N. W.bN., and at 7 p.m. N.N. W. At 8-30 squally and rain, pre-

paring for bad weather. At midnight fresh gale at N. W., with

heavy squalls and rain at times.

* No longitudes are given in the Log, I have therefore, as the vessel’s true position

is of importance, worked it back from the Grand Ladrone.

| 1842.) A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. — 675

28th August.—At daylight wind about N. W., thick stormy weather

allround, with a heavy confused sea. At 9 a.m. increasing to a hard

_ gale about N. W.., at noon no observation. Latitude by account 16° 56’

_N. longitude account 115° 26’ E. p.m. throughout hard gale with

squalls and rain, veering from W. N. W. at 1 a.m., to West at 4, and

S. W. at 7, wind about S. W.bS. at midnight.

29th August.—l1 a. m. wind S. S. W., 4 a. m. South; daylight dark

gloomy weather, scudding under bare poles with a heavy sea. Noon

continued gale with thick cloudy weather. No observation. Latitude

by account 18° 36’ N. longitude 115° 10’ E. vp. m. wind Southerly

throughout, weather moderating, squalls less frequent. Heavy con-

_ fused sea.

30th August.—a. mM. moderate, noon latitude observed 20° 8’, long.

| account 114° 17’. Ran N.bW. 862 miles to—

3ls¢ August—When at 8 a.m. Grand Ladrone bore North 6’ or 7’

distant.

Loss of the Brig BEE.

Copy of a Letter, dated Canton, September 2\st, 1833.

I am truly sorry to announce to you the total loss of the good

_ brig ‘‘ Bee” and all her cargo, on the morning of 30th August, 1833,

she having foundered with us, after a series of heavy gales and one

tyfoon near the South Coast of China, in about latitude 21° 30’ North,

longitude 112° 50’ East, about 15 miles off the Island of Huilingshan.

_ All hands saved, except one man, who was drowned at the time she

filled with water.

On the morning of the 28th August, we left the Capsing-moon,

bound to New South Wales, in fine trim, and, I can safely say, every

thing comfortable on board. We had hardly gone 20 miles, when it

‘came on to blow very hard from the N. E., which obliged us to run

to sea, and gain an offing before night, which we did, and at 6 Pp. m.

hove to, a tremendous sea running at the time. We most fortu-

nately rode out this gale very comfortably without any damage, and

Next morning, 29th August, it began to moderate a little, and the

_ wind hauled round to the Southward, which was a very good wind

676 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

for me, as I intended to go out by the Bashee Passage. I therefore |

made sail under close-reefed top-sails and courses, steering East about

six miles per hour till noon, when we observed, in latitude 21° 7’ N.,

and estimated longitude 113° 20’ E., a very heavy sea running, but

the brig going along nobly. About 1 p.m. a tremendous gust of wind

came on from the S. W., which laid the brig on her beam ends; I for-

tunately got the fore-top-sail, fore-sail and main.sail in before it

struck us, but the main-top-sail was shivered to pieces ; it then blew a

perfect tyfoon, with a sea which I cannot describe striking us in all

quarters ; the bulwarks were very soon washed away on both sides,

and a number of articles washed off the decks ; some of the tremendous

seas striking us under the counter and abaft, I began to be afraid

that if it continued long, some of these seas would stave the counter in,

or start some of the butt-ends abaft. Still the good old brig, although

lying half the deck in the water, and the awful seas breaking over

her, made very little water indeed. The Barometer was now 28.50.

About 6 p. m. still blowing I may say a hurricane, and the sea in

pyramids about us, I found the brig making more water, but nothing

to be alarmed at. At midnight the same kind of weather, and found

she was making more water. Immediately set to both pumps, and

continued till 4 a. m., the brig gaining on us fast. At 4 a.m., found

there was four feet water in the hold; immediately made what pos-

sible sail we could, for the purpose of running back to Macao or in

with the Coast, as I expected we could not be far from it, supposing,

from the sudden leak that the brig must be stove or have started a

butt. I got the fore-top-sail on her and fore-sail, steering N. E.,

when she had gone about five miles, both pumps going, she came up

in the wind against the helm, fell over her side, and filled with water

immediately ; we had hardly time to save ourselves by laying hold of

the main rigging. Mr. Hays, the Chief Officer, and some of the men,

were cutting the lashing of the long boat and of the other boats at the

time ; most providentially for him he got hold, but one poor fellow

missed his, and we never saw him more. About 6 A. m., it cleared up

a little, and we saw the land bearing W. N. W. of us, found that the

wreck was driving fast towards the shore, all the people in the main

rigging and chains, the sea making a clear breach over us; we all

stripped of our clothing to a shirt or frock, in case we might be wash-

1842.] A Si«th Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 677

ed away, so as to be lighter in swimming, and there we hung in

a most miserable state from 6 to about ll a. m., when we were driven

into the surf by the sea and current. Having the fore-top-sail set,

and fore-sail hanging down, it assisted us greatly in getting sooner in

shore, and most miraculously and providentially, we were driven into

a very small sandy Bay, on each side of which were tremendous preci-

pices of rocks, where if we had gone, all hands would have been dashed

to pieces, and none left to tell the tale; but the mercy of God is great,

and I am truly thankful for the saving of our lives. When we got

into the surf, it was running so very high, and carrying every thing

before it, that those of the people who could swim well, got hold of

some boxes and spars, and took to the water for their lives. The brig

very soon went all to pieces in the tremendous surf, and every body

was washed hither and thither; most fortunately they all got on

shore safe, but bruised.” After being plundered and suffering much,

the Captain and Crew reached Canton.

Captain Biden adds to this Log, the following Remarks

I was at Macao during the hurricane in which the Bee was wreck-

ed, it raged with great violence accompanied with incessant rain, the

sea broke over the Praya Grande, and doors and windows on the

ground floor of the houses on the Praya Grande were in many in-

stances burst open with the violence of the wind and sea together.

The shipping in the Cum-sing-moon and Cap-sing-moon rode out the

tremendous gale with yards and topmasts struck and with two anchors

a-head. Several ships at Whampoa Reach dragged their anchors, and

although the Chinese were as usual well prepared, by hauling their

-Doats into every islet and creek between Macao and Canton, much

: loss and damage was sustained on the river.

We will now consider the track, which I have assigned to this storm.

The data for it are complicated by two circumstances, the first that we

donot know, with the Vzrgenza, when the S. Westerly monsoon replaced

the S, Westerly gale, (which she found as of course on the S. E. qua-

drant of the storm,) and with the Bee that a storm coming, as this un-

| doubtedly did from the S. Eastward, and impinging upon the high

| South Coast of China at so direct an angle as it must have done, must

have been subject, at short distances from the Coast, (and the Bee was

only 42 miles from the nearest point at noon on the 9th,) to great

irregularities ; of which we have abundant instances.

. 4u

678 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127. |

At noon on the 27th, the Virginza was just on the S. E. edge |

of the Macclesfield Shoal, and the “ bank of heavy clouds in the

E. S. E. was, I have no doubt, the outer barrier of the storm, travel-_

ling up from the S. E. between her and the Coast of Luconia.* To :

noon the next day, 28th, she made a course of 75 miles to the N.—

Eastward, and thus neared the track of the storm, but as the wind

held to the N. N. W., she could only, fortunately for her, make this —

distance ; but we find that the gale was veering rapidly with her, or

6 points in 7 hours, while she was hove to; or from noon on the 28th

till 9 p. m. when the wind was so far to the South, that she could

scud ; a proof, that it was travelling up with great rapidity, and pro-.

bably passing near her position. It had, moreover, I am inclined

to think, not arrived at its full violence at that time. We find that

as it ought to do, it began with the Bee from the N. Eastward when |

just outside, and that it veered to S. W., when she was laid on her

beam ends. There is the anomaly of the wind being South jirst,

and then becoming N. W. but as I have said we cannot account for

these anomalies when so near the land.t Upon the whole then, I

think we shall not be far wrong if we assign, as tolerably ascertained,

a course from S. 40° E. to the N. 40° W. for this storm.

We should not forget that it is posszble there may have been two

storms, one from the E. N. E. and another from the S. E., which may

have united’ near the Bee’s position, and have caused the temporary

moderating and Southerly wind which tempted her to make sail, the

burst from the S. W. being the combined effect of both ; butefor- this

assumption, we have no sort of authority.

TRACK No. XXII.

LowrHEerR Casrie’s Storm.

Memorandum of the LowrHeR Casruxr’s Storm from the India

House.

12th October, 1833.—H. C. S. Lowther Castle proceeding up the

China sea. Latitude 16° 30’ N., longitude 117° 53’ E. Noon, Baro-

meter 29.72, Thermometer 83°.

* See Col. Reid and various logs in my memoirs for instances of these banks of

clouds. |

+ I have omitted to notice another source of uncertainty as to the Bee’s position —

before noon of the 29th. I mean the heavy current to the Westward, which we know |

prevails at times on the South Coast of China in these storms.

1842.] A Sixth Memeir on the Law of Storms in India. 679

Experienced a very severe gale commencing at N. W., and veering

round to the E., and then abating in violence. It blew so hard while

it lasted, that it brought us under a close reefed storm mizen try-sail,

being compelled to take in the storm main and mizen stay-sail. The

Barometer fell during the gale to 29.42 at 8. p.m. Shortly after which

the gale moderated, and the Barometer gradually rose to 29.69. At

noon on the 13th October, Thermometer 84°.

The Lowther Castle’s storm, though apparently of small extent

and’of short duration, is a very remarkable one, both for the fall

of the Barometer and the peculiar veering of the wind from N. W.

to East, which, with allowance for drift, will give a track of about

from N. 12° EK. to the S. 12° W., which is much nearer the meridian

than any we have yet found coming from the N. E. The memoran-

dum is scanty enough, but I have thought it proper, on account of

its probably peculiar nature, to mark a conjectural track for it, as

serving to warn the seaman at this season of the year, that such small

storms may arise. It seems certain enough, that we have rotatory

storms of all sizes, and the only question in my mind is, If the very

small ones obey the same laws as the large ones, at sea and on

shore ? or if not, where the difference begins? what is the law

for the smaller ones? and what the cause of the difference? These

questions I propose to investigate on a future day, and to do more than

to advert to them here, would be somewhat foreign to our present

subject.*

1835.

TRACK No. XXIII.

The Troueuton’s Tyfoon, July 1835.

Two severe Tyfoons occurred in the China seas in this year, during

the height of the N. W. Monsoon, being those of the Troughton and

the well-known one of the Raleigh ; as the first occurring, I give that

of the Troughton.

* As an analogous instance of a small storm of great violence, but in travelling

about from SbE. to NbW. see Second Memoir on the Law of Storms, Jour. As. Soc.,

840, vol. ix. The Cashmere Merchant’s Storm.

680 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

The Chinese Repository for July 1835, Vol. V. p. 151, gives the

following account of this storm, in which this unfortunate vesse] was —

disabled, being afterwards plundered by the Chinese fishermen and —

Ladrones :— :

“8th July, 1835.—The English bark Troughton, Captain James

** Thompson, from London, and last from Singapore, arrived this day

“in distress. It appears that on the 3d July, in latitude 20° 21' N

* Jongitude 112° 53’ E., she experienced a very heavy gale from the N.

« E., which was succeeded by a more violent wind from the S. W. The —

‘* wind blew to pieces the double reefed main top-sail, and from the

* Jabouring of the ship in the cross sea the main mast gave way, carry-

“‘ ing with it the fore and mizen masts, the waves breaking completely

“over the deck. During the three following days, the crew were

“‘ worn out by pumping, and working at the rigging of the jury

““masts. By this time she was near the Mandarin’s Cap, when

‘she was plundered.” Details of this and of the sufferings of the crew

are given at length, but these do not belong to our subject.

This unfortunately meagre record (for our purpose) allows us to do

no more than to assign a conjectural track for this tyfoon, for from

the changes of the wind it evidently was one. I have, therefore, with

allowance for her drift, given it one conjecturally from the S.E.bS.

to the N.W.DN., as it would clearly have been one from S. E. to N. W.

had the vessel remained stationary while the N. E. storm lasted; and ~

I have made the line of track to pass 60 miles to the S. W. of the

latitude and longitude given on the 3d, as the ship must have drifted

to, at least, that distance to the S. W. into the path of the storm, so

as to have had the centre passing over her.

a eee

TRACK No. XXIV.

The Rauxieu’s Tyfoon, August 1835.

I was at first inclined to omit the details of this storm as appearing

almost a useless repetition, but my object being to collect here ail the

details of ai/ the storms in the China seas of which any record exists,

it would have been imperfectly fulfilled, had I not inserted the results

of the valuable labours of Mr. Redfield and Col. Reid, relative to

this remarkable storm. The following, then, is copied from Mr. Red-

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 681

field’s Pamphlet, and I need not say, that the track is that laid down

by him :—

The facts which have been chiefly relied on for establishing a South-

western course for this gale, are contained in the report of H. M. S.

Rareicu, which was overset and disabled in this gale, in the China sea,

when under bare poles, which report I have as follows :—

“ H. M. Brig Raleigh, August 1, 18835.—Working out of Macao Roads at

noon S. E., end of Formosa N. 85° E., 340 miles. Fine weather all day.

August 3d at noon, 8. end of Formosa N. 823° E., 252 miles. Fine weather

all day. August 4th, 10h. 20m. a. m. close reefed top-sails and courses,

12h. 30m. Pp. m. barometer fell from noon 15.100: took in main-sail and fore-

sail—at 9h. 30m. got all snug, vessel going through the water between

three and four knots ; barometer 29.40, fallinfe ; at 7h. 30m. wind veered

to N. N. E. and tyfoon commenced ; at 8 p. m. barometer 29.36 falling ;

8h. 30m. tyfoon increasing ; 10 p. m. close reefed fore try-sail and set it,

tyfoon veered to N. E. with a heavy sea; at midnight tyfoon increas-

ing ; barometer 29.04, falling.

“ August 5th, 3 a.m. tyfoon veered round to E. S. E. still increasing in

violence ; 6H. 30m. barometer 28.25; 8 a. m. tyfoon increasing; Qh.

30m. a. m. if possible blowing heavier, ship went over; in this awful

situation ship lay for about 20 minutes; 9h. 50m. lower masts went by

_ the board and ship righted with seven feet water in her hold ; barometer

did not fall lower ; at noon tyfoon moderated a little; at 6 Pp. m. tyfoon

more moderate, with a heavy sea; midnight, strong gusts of wind with

heavy sea from South.’ —-Abridged from Canton Register of March 14, 1837.

See also the log of the Raleigh, as it appears in Col. Reid’s work, which

contains a sketch, shewing the position of the Raleigh as given in the log,

and illustrating the direction of the wind. Col. Reid has also given the

position of a schooner, which encountered the tyfoon in latitude 18° 2! N.,

longitude 15° 50’ E., of which I had previously received no account. I will

now submit such evidence as I possess, in addition to the account furnish-

ed by the Raleigh ; adding also a sketch and figure, illustrating the course

and progress of the tyfoon, and which was prepared and stereotyped

some months since in reference to furnishing an account of this hurricane.

At Macao, where the tyfoon was experienced on the 5th and 6th, many

houses were greatly damaged ; also many lives were lost in the inner

harbour, and some vessels driven on shore. The direction and changes of

the wind at Macao are not stated ; but we are favored with the following

valuable table of the state of the barometer during the period of the

storm :—

682 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

5th August. H. M. ~ Barometer.) 4. M. Barometer.

H. M. Barometer.| 0 45 a. mM. 28.30 6 45 a.m. | 29.12

Ta. MT 29.47 1 20 ,, (lowest) 28.05 yg yee 29.20

2 30 P.M. 29.28 P25 E, 28.08 Sloe 29.21

Binet, 29.20 | 1 45,, 98/200" SaaS 29.23

i ae 29.12 | 1 55,, 28.30 | 9 30 _,, 29.27

Ca ae 29.08 | 2 0,, 28.37 |10 25 ,, 29.30

10 20 ,, 28.95 | 2 25,, 98,56 ,\hM Walia. 29.34

Te ee 98.90 | 2 45,, 98.68 |2 0 ,, 29.42

Pg. 28.85 aah HO Me 28.75 |and continued rising to

lady S010 45 28.75 3 40,, 28.83 (29.65, at which point it

0 PS ae 28.65 4 10,, 28.90 jusually stands during fine

6th August. 4 45,, 28.97 |weather.”—Canton Regis-

ab ay MM 28.50 D. RON 29.02 |ter, August 15.

oo", 28.40 6° "0" 29.08

This table affords in itself good evidence of the passage of the centre

of the vortex near to Macao.

At Canton (60 miles North of Macao,) the tyfoon began on the evening

of the 5th, after three or four days of very hot weather, with Northerly

winds, and continued throughout the night and the next day. Its violence

was greatest about 2 o’clock on the morning of the 6th. The following

is an account of the state of the Barometer and Winds at Canton.

This relates to ‘ fine weather” of the S. W. monsoon; the mean of the

Barometer for July and August being at Canton 0.40 inch lower than for

December and January in the N, E. monsoon. This Barometer at Macao

appears to stand about 0.15 or 0.20 inch lower in its adjustment than

that used at Canton for the reports in the Canton Register, the mean of

which for five years is 30.027. Many if not most of the common ship

Barometers stand too low in their adjustment.

4th August.

9 a.m. Barometer 29.79 N. W. fine weather.

4 P.M. “5 20.70 N. by W. moderate breeze.

5th August.

9 a.m Ht 29.62 Wind N. and N. W., fair weather.

4 eM Pi 29.54 ,, unsettled rain and fresh breeze.

12 p.m A 29.37 ,, N. blowing hard and in heavy gusts.

6th August.

5 A.M. Ms 29.34 Wind N. E. blowing hard with heavy rain.

9 » Me ” 29.51 9 S. E. 9 9

Ia. We Ms Os 29.58 ,, blowing hard, moderating.

5 P.M 7 29500" 3: eal,

1] Pp. M. 2080». SS) 3

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India, | 683

7th August.

8 a.m. Barometer 29.94. Wind S.E. cloudy. Compiled from the Canton Register.

On Wednesday the 5th instant, a tyfoon swept over the city of Canton.

It began in the evening and continued throughout the night and the next

day, blowing its best about 2 o’clock in the morning. The damage done

by the tyfoon at Canton is small, but not so at Kumsingmoon, Macao, and

elsewhere on the coast.—Canton Paper.

The American ship Levant, Captain Dumaresq, which arrived on the

7th of August, the day after the gale, came in with royals set, from Gasper

Island, in fourteen days, having had light winds ali the way up the China

sea, and did not feel the tyfoon. This important fact is stated in the Can-

_ ton Register of August 11.

Extract from a private letter from on board the ship Lady Hayes, which

left Macao roads a day or two before the storm, and returned to Kumsing-

moon after the gale.

“ Karly in the morning of the 5th, we observed indications of bad

weather. At 10 a.m. the wind freshened a little from the same quarter,

it had been for the last twenty-four hours, viz. North, so we thought it

best to turn her head back again to look for shelter, fancying ourselves

to be about thirty-five miles off the land. We carried a press of sail until

noon, when we found we had too great a distance to run before we could

get into shelter, and expecting it would get so thick that we could not see

our way ; so we turned her head to sea, and clapped on as much sail as

she could stagger under, steering S. E. by E. The wind being then at

North, we were desirous of getting as far off the land as possible, expect-

ing the wind round to the Eastward, there being a most tremendous swell

from that quarter. At 4 p.m. it was blowing in severe gusts, and shipping

a good deal of water, and the ship becoming unmanageable. About 8h.

30m. the wind began to veer to the west, but continued to blow as hard as ever,

till midnight, when it drew round to South, and moderated a little. It

continued to blow hard from that quarter until noon of the 6th, when

it moderated fast, and we began bending other sails in room of those that

were split. When the gale commenced, which we consider it did at 1 P. m. on

the 5th, we were about twenty miles East of the Lema; where we were when

it ended, it is hard to say as we saw nothing till the morning of the 7th, when

we made Mondego Island. We hardly think we could have had the gale so

heavy as those inside, and what is most extraordinary, the wind with

them veered to the Eastward round to South; but with us it veered to

the Westward ; for had it veered to Eastward, we should most likely have

been driven on shore among the Islands, as we could not have been more

than fifty miles off the land (?) at 8 pe. m. on the 6th.— Abridged from the

Canton Register of August 18.

On the reduced chart, which is given herewith, the tracks of the Lady

Hayes and the Levant are laid down by estimate from the printed accounts.

684 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

The small dotted circle B., surrounded by the storm arrows, is supposed

to indicate the position of the centre of the storm at the time the Raleigh

was overset; and the position of the latter should be marked somewhat

nearer this circle, according to the latitude and longitude of the Raleigh on

the 5th, which Col. Reid has given in her long. The course of the

storm appears to have been N. 72° W., and its centre is supposed to have

been opposite the Raleigh, about 8h. 20m. a.m. on the 5th; but this cannot

be ascertained with precision, as the indications of the Barometer do not

appear to have been closely watched and recorded during this terrific

period of the storm.

Having shewn the rotatory character of these tempests, I consider the

depression of the Barometer which attends them, as being due to the

rotative action; and the point of greatest depression as indicating the

true centre or axis of the storm. From the evidence now before us, we

arrive at the following facts :—

1. That the Raleigh met a gale which set in with the wind at N., veering

round by the E. to E. S. and South.

2. That at the harbours and roads “ inside,” (Macao, Kum-sing-moon, &c.)

as well as at Canton, the gale occurred at a later period; and the wind

also set in at North, and veered to E. and S. £., in a manner similar to that

reported by the Raleigh. ,

3. That with the ship Zady Hayes, off the islands near Macao, the wind

also set in at North; but the ship steering S. E. by E. under a press of

sail (and doubtless falling off with the heavy sea from Eastward) and

wind, towards the middle of the gale, began to veer towards the West,

whence it drew round to South towards the close of the gale.

4. That the violence of the wind was apparently greater with the

Raleigh, than with the Lady Hayes.

5. That the gale was experienced by an English Schooner, August 5th,

in latitude 18° 2! N., longitude, 15° 50’ E. ; but the Levant arriving on the

7th in her course through the China sea, did not encounter the gale.

6. That the fall and rise of the Barometer at Macao and with the

Raleigh, and the strength and changes of wind with the latter, were such

as are often exhibited near the centre of a hurricane; and that the minimum

depression of the Barometer occurred about seventeen hours later at Macao

than with the Raleigh.

These facts seem to establish the following conclusions :—

1. That the tyfoon advanced in a Westerly direction.

2. Negatively—that it did not pass through the China sea, from N. E.

to S. W., nor on the opposite of this course.

3. That it was a progressive whirlwind storm, turning to the left, round its

axis of rotation.

4. That its centre of rotation passed to the Northward of the Lady

Hayes, and to the Southward of the Raleigh and of Canton, and the an-

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 685

chorages near Macao; and nearly on the line A. B. C. as marked on our

chart.

5. That the rate of its progress was about seventeen nautical miles per hour.

6. That the extent or diameter of the violent part of the gale, as deduced

from its duration and rate of progress, was about four hundred nautical

miles, or equal to six or seven degrees of latitude.

7. That the latter induction agrees with the geographical evidence,

which has been obtained of the visitation of the storm.

The progress of the tyfoon being taken at 17 miles per hour, it follows

that the excess of velocity of the wind at E. with the Raleigh, over that of

the wind at W. with the Lady Hayes, supposing the rotation to have been

in a circle, would be more than thirty miles an hour ; allowing nothing,

however, for difference of retardation of the surface wind, and not taking

into the account the additional retardation which the West wind of the

Lady Hayes must have been subject to, in its recurving course over the

land. If a circle be drawn on the chart around each of the points B. and

C., with a radius equal to 3 or 33 degrees of latitude, these circles will

comprise, somewhat nearly, the field of action of the storm at the two

periods of 9 a. m. of the Sth, and 2 a. m. on the 6th of August.

The progressive velocity and course of this tyfoon is nearly the same as

that of the Trinidad hurricane of June, 1831; and the rate of progression

also corresponds nearly to that of the Antigua hurricane of August 12th,

1835. See Tracks Nos. I. and V. on my chart of the courses of hurricanes

in the April No. of the Nautical Magazine, 1836.

This examination of the case before us, appears to shew, that the direc-

tion of rotation, and the course of progression of this tyfoon, which cross-

ing the China sea, agrees with those of the hurricanes of the West Indies ;

and that its course was not controlled, or materially influenced, by the ex-

isting South-west monsoon.”

1836.

I have only the following notices of a storm in this year, from the

Chinese Repository :—

About 29th July and Ist August, 1636, a severe gale was experi-

enced on the South Coast of China, which was very destructive to the

shipping in the China seas. The bark Susanna of Macao, and the

Admiral Buyskes, a Spanish ship, were lost with a part of their crews.

Apprehensions were felt for two or three other ships, the Hormasjee

Bomanjee, Hamoody, and Margaret Graham.

The Repository of September says, in reference to this: The Hor-

masjee Bomanjee, Hamoody, and Margaret Graham, are given up

686 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

as lost. On the 3lst July, at 10 a.m., the Alexander, Captain Wilson, — )

from Macao to Singapore, was wrecked in latitude 10° 28’, longi- |

tude 111° 27’ E. No lives lost, but no property saved. The Ha-

moody is said to have reached Manilla.*

TRACK No. XXV.

Tyfoons of the AntEL and Vansirtart, 16th to 22d Nov. 1837.

I have been favoured by Capt. Burt, with the Log of the AriBL,

of which the following is an abstract reduced to civil time.

15th November, 1837.—The Barque Ariel, bound to China, was

at noon in latitude 15° 1’ N., longitude per chronometer 116° 15’

E. with fresh gales from N. N. E., hazy weather and heavy sea on;

having increased to this from a steady breeze at midnight of the 14th,

vessel standing to the EbS. going 7 and 8 knots. p. m. wind marked

N. E. and to 10 p. m. standing to the East ; gale increasing rapidly to

midnight. At 10, wore tothe Northward.

16th November.—Wind N.E. to noon ; heavy cross sea running. very

high. At 8, wore to the East, lost mizen-topmast. Noon hard gales N.,

mountainous sea, latitude observation 15° 8’ N., longitude 116° 45’.

Wind about N.N.E., p. m. wind N.N.E. to midnight.

17th November.—Gale still increasing and “‘ every appearance of a

dreadful tyfoon. Barometer still high at 30.10, and Sympiesometer as

usual. Daylight wind hauled to the North in a tremendous squall ;

10, blowing awfully hard, and sea beyond description. Noon tyfoon

blowing dreadfully, wind N. W. and sea like pyramids all round,

could not look to windward, for the wind, rain, and sea blowing on

board ; the ship frequently lurching half the main rigging, and often-

times the bowsprit under water. Barometer fell to 29.80. p. m. wind

West, a most dreadful tyfoon blowing, ship in a most perilous situ-

ation. At 2, wind N. W., and then for two hours till 4 p. m. I

really cannot describe the scene; the ship rising with difficulty to

several of the lurches got all ready to cut away the masts. At 4

* These are too vague to mark any track from, but they may serve as memoranda.

I shall be glad to receive the logs of any vessels which may have experienced this

storm.

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 687

p. m., the ship lay over so much, that half the lower yards were in

the water, saw that she was settling down and upon her beam ends,

the water being up to her main hatch. Cut away the main-mast,

which carried away the mizen-mast and fore-top-mast with it. Ship

righted, three feet water in the hold, sea breaking over us in all quar-

ters. <At* p. m. the Barometer began to rise, and was at 29.90 ;

and at 6 p.m. at 30.10; during the whole of the night it still blew

tremendously, wind veering from N. W. to W. S. W. and South,

with constant rain.

18th November.—At day-light still blowing hard, and an awful

sea running. At 10, wind hauled to S. E., when it began to moderate.

Noon, strong gales from the S. E. and sea running, but every ap-

pearance of the gale breaking up. Set storm-fore-staysail and hauled

up to North, supposing we were well to the West of the Scarborough

Shoal, in the neighbourhood of which we must have been all

night.

“ During this awful tyfoon, the Barometer gave no indication of

its approach, for we were under bare poles a long time before it fell,

it being all the time at 30.10, then it fell to 29.80, and again it rose to

30.10—15—25 to 35, still gale blowing as hard as ever, and at noon it

was at 30.90.” No observation. p. m. strong gales from S. E., hauling

to East. At 3 p. m. gale again increasing with threatening appearance

all round. 3h. 10m. saw the breakers on the Scarborough Shoal, one or

two miles off, bearing N. W. by N. to E. N. E., sea breaking moun-

tains high upon it; bore up to the W. S. W. to clear it. 6 Pp. m. severe

gales from the N. N. E. with dreadful weather, sea washing over

us in all quarters. At 10, hove to, vessel being very uneasy, and

at times severely struck by the sea. Midnight very severe gales from

the Northward, with continued rain and an awful sea.

19¢h November.—Day-light the same severe gales and dreadful

weather with constant rain, and so thick, we could not see the length

of the ship. Wind N. N. W. and tremendous sea. Noon moderating,

and wind hauling to the N. N. E. From noon 18th, Barometer rose

from 30.35 to 31.30. p.m. wind marked N. E. Strong gales, con-

stant rain and awful sea, which we were shipping all over us. After

* Blank in MSS.

688 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

consultation with the officers, bore up for Singapore at 3 P. M., run-

ning West till midnight.

20th November.—Midnight gale increasing again, and heavy seas

breaking fore and aft, hove to again till daylight, when severe gales

from N. N. W., bore up and scudded under the storm staysail. Noon

more moderate, but blowing hard with an awful sea. p.m. strong

gales from N. E. with heavy rain, sea falling a little. Midnight

more moderate.

21st November.—Noon fresh breezes from N. E. to midnight, with

dark squally weather, but decreasing wind and sea.

22d November.—Decreasing to light breezes from E. N. E. and

fine ; a long, heavy, turbulent sea on. Noon, light Easterly winds and

a heavy sea. Latitude 12° 38' N., longitude 112° 5’ E.

Memorandum of the Vansirrart’s Storms off the Coast of Luconia,

17th to 22d November 1837, by Capt. Macqueen, then commanding

her.

From the East India House.

“17th November, 1837.—In latitude 15° 55’ N., longitude 119°

30’ E., my ship, the Vansittart, encountered a severe gale of wind,

commencing at sunset with tremendous gusts from the N. W. with

lightning and rain. About midnight it blew a perfect hurricane,

the wind gradually veering round to the S. W., which caused a very

heavy sea. Next morning the weather moderated with the wind

at S. E.; made sail, and at noon on the 18th, sighted Cape Bolinao.

At 6 p.m. on the 19th, the gale recommenced with increased fury

from the N. E. and continued with little intermission for the four

following days.”

I should observe here, that I have copied this memorandum literally,

for reasons which will hereafter appear.

In considering the foregoing storms, I shall first commence

with those of the Ariel, (for as I shall afterwards shew, they are

different from those of the Vansittart,) and of course with that first

in date.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 689

The Ariel’s position is fortunately well ascertained on the 16th

by observation, and on the 18th by working back her run from

3h. 10m. pv. m. when she sighted the Scarborough Shoal. Her drift

made good, then, during this 48 hours is 8. 75° E. 62 miles, which agrees

as nearly as possible with what appears from careful projection to have

been, up to this time, the track of the storm, 2. e. about on a line S. 75°

E. toN. 75° W. Another instance in addition to those before quoted of

ships being sometimes drifted round the quadrant of a storm, so as to

arrive, at the conclusion of it, at a point in the first storm circle,

opposite to that at which it commenced with them. The Ardel ap-

pears also from the terrific violence of the wind, the pyramidal sea, and

the rapid veering of the wind from North at day-light of the 17th to

about South, at midnight of the same day, or 16 points in 18 hours,

to have been drifting close past the centre.

From this time, however, it appears, that the storm must have curved

away tothe W.S.W. and 8.W.., so as to bring the ship upon its North

Eastern quadrant, and the wind consequently to S.E., at which it re-

mained from 10 a.m. on the 18th till 3 p. m., when the sight of the

breakers on the Scarborough obliged them to bear up. By 6p. m.,

they had again severe gales from the N.N.E., the wind having hauled

round by the East. I consider that this was the beginning of a second

storm, but that it was, as will be shewn in the log of the Vanstittart,

a storm occasioned by the N. E. monsoon setting in with the force

of a gale, and not a rotatory one, for the ship though suffering very

severe weather, had the winds constantly between N. N. W. and N.

E. only, till they obtained fine weather, though running to the West-

ward. Had this second gale been a circular storm, it must have

overtaken and passed them when hove to, when it would have veered

either by the East or West, but this vibrating of the winds, as above,

is like that of a strong monsoon gale, disturbed on its course by the Van-

sittart’s and Ariel’s storms, and we have I consider, no data whatso-

ever from which to consider it a circular storm; I have thus not

marked it on the chart.

We now come to consider the Vansittart’s storms. These it is evi-

dent could not be the same as the Arvel’s, for the ships were at least

170 miles apart, the Vansitiart, bearing N. E. by E. 4 E. from the

Ariel at noon on the 16th, when this last had an awful tyfoon at

690 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

N. W. with its centre close to her; that of the Vansitiart beginning

only at sunset on the 17th—the memorandum which I have exactly

copied evidently relating to civil time,* though it is not said so.

The Vansittart’s second storm is, I think, also clearly a monsoon gale,

as there is no account of its veering or changing. I have therefore

marked her first storm, conjecturally only, parallel to our track No. V.

as passing Cape Bolinao, and travelling to the W. S. W.

The singular phenomenon of the Barometer’s giving no warning,

remaining so high, and. falling so little in such a terrific tempest, is

most remarkable. Our first care is of course to ascertain, that it re-

ally occurred, before reasoning about it. I wrote to Captain Burt, who

was then Chief Officer of the Arzel, requesting to know if there was

any reason to mistrust the Barometer in any way? if they had com-

pared it on arriving at Macao? &c. His answer is as follows :—

‘‘We had no reason to mistrust the Barometer, as it had always

indicated any change in the weather correctly. I am not aware whe-

ther Captain Warden compared it with any other in Singapore or

not; he was then in command of the Avzel. It is not the same glass

we have at present. It was on board the ship 18 months after the

tyfoon, and we always found it true.”

There seems then little doubt that the anomaly did really occur ;

the question then is, ‘‘ To what can it be attributed ?”

If, as I have shewn, we suppose the two storms approaching the same

point, the Vansittart’s from the N. E., and the Ariel’s from the E.S.E.,

with a heavy N. E. monsoon behind the former, blowing through the

whole extent of the trade wind across the Northern Pacific, and un-

checked, except partially by the N.W, point of Luconia, we shall have

three causes, all tending to augment the atmospheric column not far to

the Westward of where the Ariel was on the 16th. I can see no other

more simple or more probable explanation. It is however an anomaly

to be carefully borne in mind by the seaman, and by all who in-

vestigate the Law of Storms, and the more so, that even the Sym-

piesometer also gave no indication of the approaching mischief. !

* If we were to call it nautical time, ‘sunset of the 17th’? would be sunset of the

16th civil time, but there is still a discrepancy wholly irreconcilable, for the Ariel

had then had her tyfoon blowing for at least 6 or 9 hours from the N. N. E. The

high land of Luzon cannot have occasioned all this anomaly.

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 691

1838.

For this year the only notice I have obtained of, apparently, a

severe storm, is the following from the Chinese Repository of Sep-

tember 1838.

The bark Claremont having sprung a Jeak, foundered near the

Ladrones on the 24th September. She encountered a gale on the 22d

in lat. 19° 2’ N. and long. 114° 50’ E. As this gale is not noticed as

having occurred in China, it was probably either of small extent if

the Claremont suffered from its Southern quadrant, or one passing

to the Southward of this latitude if she had the Northern quadrant

of it. We cannot even conjecture its track from this notice, but as

before observed, the date is always a record worth preserving.

1839.

The Sunpa’s Storm.

The British bark Sunda, by an account printed in the Canton press,

saw on the 7th October, 1839, at 6 p. m. the land of Tyloo, N. E.bN.

distant about 35 miles, weather very unsettled, and Barometer falling

fast. All preparations for bad weather were made, and at 9 o'clock,

the wind suddenly veered from N. N. W. to N. E.bE. and blew a

strong gale, when many of the sails were blown from the yards. At

3 a.M. of the 8th, it blew a hurricane accompanied with a tremendous

sea. At&a.m., it abated a little, but the sea more violent, and tossing

in all directions; from this time the wind continued to abate, but it

still blew a strong gale with a heavy sea till the 10th, when it became

moderate, the wind from the N. E. Vessel very much disabled by the

loss of her top-masts and sails. On the 11th, it was fine, at 4 a.m.

saw the Taya Islands W. S. W., distant 8 miles, when she bore up

and anchored under the lee of one of them, but in the evening it again

came on to blow from the E. N. E., when the cable parted, and she

was wrecked. The crew were kindly treated and sent to Canton by

the Chinese authorities.

I am inclined to consider this storm as only a violent monsoon

gale, for there seems to have been no veering of the wind which

could authorise us to consider it a rotatory storm. We have many

cases in which the monsoon does sometimes set in with a gale rising

almost to the force of a hurricane, and the season was sufficiently

advanced for an early monsoon to begin. In Mr. Redfield’s table of

692 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

the changes of the monsoons, compiled from the Canton Register, it

appears that in 1831] the change took place between the Ist and 14th

October, and in 1830, from the 5th to the 12th October. This valu-

able document comes down only I regret to say to 1835, and I have

not been able to find any source from which to continue it, or at least

to ascertain the setting in of the monsoon for this year.

TRACKS No. XXVI anp XXVII.

The Tunris and Gouiconpa’s Tyfoons.

In No. CXIX of the Journal of the Asiatic Society, 1 published

as my Fourth Memoir on the Law of Storms, accompanied by a chart, a

detailed investigation of these two storms, in one or both of which,

(for she might very possibly have been caught at their junction,)

the unfortunate Golconda, with the head-quarters of the 37th Madras

Native Infantry, and 300 troops on board, appears to have foundered.

In this it is clearly shewn, from the logs of the Ships Thetis of

London and Thetis of Calcutta, which were almost in company with

the Golconda, that they fell in, about the Macclesfield Bank, with two

storms, one of which travelled from the S. 78° E. to the N. 78° W.

passing about 100 miles to the North of the Macclesfield, and the

other travelled from S. 10° E. to about the North 10° W.* Of the

three Ships, the one, the Thetis of London, to all appearance perfectly

aware of his position, with an excellent Simpiesometer and Barometer

on board, the first oscillating for twenty-four hours before the gale!

hove to at the right time and place to avoid running across the track

of the storm, and received no injury. The second, the Thetis of

Calcutta, with less warning, having no Simpiesometer on board, and

being tempted by a fair S. West wind, ran on till she was in great

danger, and finally lost her mainmast, had three feet water in her

hold and was in great danger of foundering from her pumps being

crushed by the fall of the mast.

The third, the unfortunate Golconda, which was but a short dis-

tance ahead, was in all probability lost by running into the centre of

one of the storms.

I subjoin as an epitome of the evidence upon which this conclusion

* This and the Lowther Castle’s Storm p. 679, are the first Storms I have met

with, the track of which was so near the Meridian.

693

A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

dence, so as to have no shadow of doubt that there ust have been two

storms, and that their tracks cannot have been far from where I

itself, in- which I have endeavoured scrupulously to discuss the evi-

have laid them down.

is founded, the comparative table from the legs of the two Thetis’,

and must refer those who are desirous of further details to the memoir

1842.]

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1840.

The Oneipa’s T'yfoon.

October 1840, from the Singapore Free Press.

The following notice of a tyfoon in the China seas was elicited by

the public notice of the Indian Government, of October 1839, pub-

lished at my solicitation, requesting information from all persons on the

subject of storms. It is, unfortunately, the only account we have of

this storm, and though a good one, wants so many of the data from

which to lay down its track, that all we can do is to notice it as a

heavy tyfoon from about East or E. S. E. in about latitude 18° 40’

to 19° North, and about on the meridian of the Paracels.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SINGAPORE FREE PRESS.

Dear Sir,—Noticing in your paper a request on the part of the

British Government for information relative to storms, it seems in-

cumbent upon me, visiting this port to repair damages sustained

in one, to make a few observations, which though they may not

be sufficiently close to aid the cause of science much, may be of

interest to the general reader, or seaman, to whom I shall more

particularly address them. I sailed from Canton on the 13th of

October, and lost sight of the land about 5 p.m. Through the night

and the next day the wind was N. E. and steady, and the general as-

pect of the weather was that which we see on sounding, or when the

atmosphere is lit up by the reflection from ‘ green water,’ as termed.

At 9 p.m. I noticed the mercury to have fallen 20 parts of an inch

from its usual standard at Canton for October, but apprehended no

change, as it is liable to fall on approaching a lower latitude, and

the weather continued good, wind having hauled about N. N. E. At

11 p. m. the barometer was 29.70, with more wind and a small swell

from the Northward. At 3 a.m. it had fallen more, and appearances

were changing in the thin misty clouds that were hurrying over and

as fast collecting again. At 4 a.m. the mercury stood 29.50; and to

be on the safe side, I double-reefed the topsails, furled the main

sail and jib, and sent the royal-yards down, expecting an ‘ Kas-

terly Gale.” At 5 a.m. the barometer had fallen lower, and the gale

696 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

coming on thick and fast, without any indications to windward of

more settled weather, I was forced to expect a hurricane against

my previous opinions, supported as they were by the season, and

the absence of those earlier indications, save the swell, that are usually

considered a prelude to these tempests. Supposing in that even, that

the wind would haul to the West as it then had to the North, brought

the ship to three points, or S. W. by W., put preventers upon the

yards, determined to carry sail at every hazard, and run from the gale

as the rotary theory would seem to intimate,—but there was more to

be feared from the North Paracel Shoal, inside, or to the West of

which, I suppose we were. The top-gallant-yards were coming down

between this and 7 o’clock, when it was full late to reduce sail ;

and the mizen-top-sail being in and the others upon the cap, I knew

no end more conducive to our safety, than to carry on and let them

blow away, which they soon did in a yaw to windward, leaving the fore-

top-mast-stay-sail to veer under, which brought us round ina lurch that

put at rest all further exertion to secure anything to leeward, or do much

elsewhere, for the air was full of foam and spray. At 10 o'clock I found

the wind had shifted within the last 20 minutes to W. 8. W. and blew

much harder than before, carrying the ship well over, or as near on

her beam-ends, as is generally understood by that term when applied

to ships laying in violent tempest that have not entirely capsized. I

had not seen the barometer since last noted, for the passage to it was lum-

bered up, and I was more intent upon the compass, and thinking of

the shoal, to leeward ; but the Mate, who succeeded better, said it

was 28.56’. One of the lee cabin dead-lights at this time burst open,

and I believe the ship might have been lost from that cause alone, had

no one been present, or the hinges have gone; for that side was under

water. At 11 o’clock the mercury was up, but it was doubtful when

it had moderated. At 12 p. m. it certainly had, and at 2 p. M. we

were looking about us again. (We found the jibboom and appendages

carried away, and a whole suit of sails from ‘top to bottom,’ for those

that were furled had blown from the gaskets, and those sent down

could not be secured to leeward and were lost—other spars, bulwarks,

&e. were gone.) At noon of the next day, after sailing through the

night and forenoon 14 to 2 knots West against the swell, I found we

were twenty miles North of the North Paracel Shoal, and on its meri-

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 697

dian, which shewed that the S. W. current I had expected, and which

is usually provided against in this vicinity, did not exist, and gave

cause for the smoothness of the water that favoured us during the

gale. We found the ship strained and badly chafed about the upper

works and rigging, and not in a fit condition to enter the Indian ocean.

This ship is considered one of the best built of American vessels,

and probably any other; it may therefore not be improbable that

more serious accidents have happened to others less favoured, if any

were within the range of its influence

Whatever opinion may be entertained about the generation and

motions of winds—it is not a new thing that deep gulphs, narrow pas-

sages, high Jands, and extensive shoals, exercise a great influence over

them; and the spot in consideration may be indebted to its known

propensity for gales to that cause alone, as also the gulph of Mexico

and California on the opposite side, and other deep indentations of

coast.

Yours, &e.

GrorGE BarRRELL,

Masier of the American ship Oneida, lately from China.

Singapore, Nov. 2, 1840.

TRACK No. XXVIII.

MaciciENNE and Sr. Paut’s Tyfoon.

The following are the only notices I have been able to procure of

this remarkable storm :—

30th November, 1840.

MaGiciENNE and St. Paut’s Storm.

The Arzel left Macao roads on the 30th November, having had fine

weather with N. E. breezes on the 29th. At noon 30th, latitude account

20° 46’ N., longitude 113°, fine 7 knot breeze N. E.

Loss of the French Frigate Macictenne.

During the week some indistinct rumours had reached this place

(Singapore) regarding the loss of the Magictenne, which have received

unfortunate confirmation by the arrival of the [deréa from Manilla ;

698 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 127.

and the following brief particulars have been handed us by a gentle-

man, who has derived them from an authentic source.

On the 27th Nov., which was just a month after her departure

from this port for Manilla, the Magicienne encountered a very strong

gale in the Palawan Passage, which by the 29th had increased

to a tyfoon, in which she lost her masts, and received so much

damage in her rudder that she became unmanageable, and about

2 a.m. on the same day, she was carried by a strong current on

to the Bombay Shoal,* to the N. N. W. of Palawan; and in this

state borne on by a terrible sea, was dashed on the reef, where she

instantly went to pieces. The crew immediately betook themselves to

the construction of rafts, to reach a safe shore; but fortunately on

the third day, the whole ship’s company were picked up by two

English vessels, the Mysore and Clifford, and the French vessel

Favorite, on board of whichthey were conveyed in safety to Manila,

where they arrived on the 15th instant. The French Corvette

Danaide, \eft Manila on the 3d instant, for the scene of this disaster,

with the intention, as was supposed, of recovering every thing that

could be saved from the wreck, and had not returned by the 26th.—

Singapore Free Press, 31st Dec. 1840.

The American Ship Sr. Pauu.

The following account of a severe gale, which the American ship

St. Paul encountered in the China sea, on her way from Manilla

to this port, where she arrived in the course of the week, has been

handed us for publication :—

“The American ship S¢. Paul, G. Pevice, commander, sailed from

Manilla on the 26th November, having fine weather and the wind

at from E. to N. N. E. until the 29th, sea account; the wind then

freshened into a strong gale at N. E. Latitude 12° N. longitude

112° 23’ E. On the 30th at 4 p. m. brought the ship under close

reefed top-sails until 6, when she came to the wind, having lost her

sails. The sea and wind continued to increase, and at half-past

6 p. M. the sea was making a complete breach over her, washed

away the quarter boat, and so strained the ship as to cause a leak

under her starboard quarter. At 7 p. M. the top-masts went by the

* Lat, 9° 261 N. long. 116° 54’ E,

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 699

board, being blown away—ship lying with lee rail under water until

1 a. m.; wind blowing a hurricane from N. E. Both pumps at work,

the men obliged to be lashed to keep them agoing. The weather

moderated at 1 a. m. for a short time, when the wind shifted to the

N. W. and blew with still greater fury, and from thence suddenly

shifted to S. W. at 3 a. m., blowing a complete hurricane, heavier

than at any time before. At6 a. m. the wind hauled round to S.,

and then to S. S. E., and it began to moderate at 8 a. m. During the

gale the barometer ranged as follows :—

‘A tendon of; the 29th, (sea‘account,)...0. 00. ce ee 29.70

PePeetee JOT 2 ke, 25) JORIS, IS oe et ei, 29160

eee ek bro. CU a nse Ah vee BE GL 29.40

Nr era. Bea. Net Seas 20). BIO. LO UO, Bu 29.40

Bee ee. 2 oa ORY, Che ok EA, deer as ye, 28.40

MEM ooh raha Nia aaa Salas aise ailohave Vo! enter © a's 3 Gade elanld’s B's 28.30

MN aaa sued 0 b8s-. RUE OEM ARPS SR cee we oe 28.20

Cr pS Se Me eae right ee 8 | re he 29.55

| Singapore Free Press, Dec. 24.

We may from these accounts deduce, I think fairly enough, that

La Magicienne was dismasted in the N. W. quadrant of a storm of

which the centre did not pass far from the Bombay Shoal. The

frigate was probably drifted upon the shoal by a N. W. current occa-

sioned by S. Westerly wind in the S. E. quadrant of the storm, or by

a N. Westerly current, created by the S. E. wind in its N. Easterly

quadrant, according as she was to the S. E. or the N. W. of the shoal.

The last is the most probable, because the usual track lies within

the shoal.

We may take the centre then, in the absence of better data, to have

passed over the Bombay Shoal, and about noon on the 29th, and we

find that at 3 a.m. on the 50th, civil time, it had passed the Sz. Pawt,

which ship might then be about in latitude 11° N., longitude 111° E.

This gives a track of N. 75° W. andS. 75° E., and a distance of

360 milesin the 15 hours, or 24 miles per hour. This rate of travelling

is also higher than any we have yet obtained for either the China

Seas or Bay of Bengal, but it is not an excessive one compared with

those of the Western hemisphere, and if we admit the two ships to

have experienced the same storm, which is quite as probable as that

700 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

there were two of them, we cannot be very far wrong as to this part

of our estimate.

Another remark to be made, and it is one of much importance, is,

that throughout this long period of years, this is the only instance

in which we find a storm in so low a latitude as that of 11° N. the

Castlereagh’s Track, No. TX, being in about 12° N. The curves

of those of the Ariel and Moffatt, if their storms reached so far,

are only conjectural here, and reach the Coast of Cochin China

in 12°, while the Castle Huniley’s storm, Track No. XII, and the

Calcutta Thetis’ cross the usual route in 13°. We may then, as this

space is as much crossed as any other part of the sea, infer, that when

storms do occur so low as the latitudes of 10° or 11° N., they are of

extreme violence, and perhaps (at least in this instance) also, they

travel with great rapidity.

1841.

TRACK No. XXIX.

Hong Kong Tyfoon of 2\st July, 1841.

In this year we have three remarkable tyfoons. Two in July,

of which the centre passed close to Hong Kong, where great damage

was done to the fleet lying there, and one which seems to have raged in

about lat. 14° 20’ in November. Of this last I grieve to say, our records

are very imperfect, though I personally applied again and again to

parties, who could have afforded me such as would have enabled

me to lay down a certain track for the storm.

The Hasumy’s Hurricane at Hong Kong, July 1841.

21st July, 1841, civil téme.

First part thick cloudy weather, with an increasing breeze from the

N. W. and squally, glass falling; 4 a. mw. hard gusts from Northward,

made all snug, increasing with tremendous gusts, let go the sheet and

veered to 60 fathoms on the bowers, a barque astern in the way.

1] a. m. the tyfoon at its height, Barometer 28.90, Symp. 28.65, .

1842.] A Sizth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 701

wind veering to the Eastward. The spray and mist of the sea only

allowing us to see the mast-heads of the ships nearest to us, and com-

pletely concealing the hulls. Tyfoon drawing to the South and mode-

rating, (time not mentioned,) several vessels dismasted and on shore ;

great mischief done at the town, James Lang and Prince George lost.

Tyfoon of 2\st July.

The following Table is copied from the Canton Register That for

the storm of the 26th, from the same source, I have given afterwards,

to avoid confounding the documents relative to the two Storms :—

Wednesday the 21st.

8 0 a.m. 29.42 N. W. showery and fresh.

930 ,, 29.382 N. W. Fresh wind.

0 29.25 N. Rainy.

0 ,, 29.15 N. Rainy and squally.

12 0 ,, 29.03 N. E. Strong wind.

0 p.m. 23.96 N. E. Gusts.

0 28.92 E. N. E. Hard gusts

O% 5,0) 28.94 EB.

330 ,, 29.04 E.

4 0 ,, 29.10 E. Misty.

5 0 ,, 29.21 S. E. Rain and gusts.

6 0 ,, 29.27 S. Hard pufis.

7 0 ,, 29.84 S. Rain moderating.

8 0 ,, 29.388 S. Rain moderating.

9 0 ,, 29.45 S. Rain and high breeze.

10 0. ,, 29.53 S. Rain and high breeze.

ll Oo ,, 29.54 S. Rain.

12 0 ,, 26.54 S. Fresh breeze.

The wind from the North in the first tyfoon was remarkable for its

strength and duration. The effect upon vegetation in Macao was

very destructive, every thing appearing as if it had been scorched ;

702 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

the air was filled with salt spray. Fortunately, the greater part of the — |

rice crop in this vicinity had been harvested.

Captain Fraser, of the Good Success, in a letter dated 24th July,

says, that on Thursday 22d, blowing strong from the S. S. E. they

picked up a Portuguese, from whom they learned that he had belonged

to the Rose, from the East Coast to Macao, which had foundered

about three days before, at noon. Grand Ladrone, bearing N. 3 E. 29

miles, hove to and saved the crew of a junk. In the late severe

weather we had not a tyfoon, being well to the Southward, but a

heavy gale from S. W. with a tremendous sea.

The Louisa Cutter, bound to Hong Kong from Macao, left on

20th July, and at 10 p.m. the wind freshened till after midnight.

On the 2lst at daylight, it was blowing a gale from N. W. to N. N. W.

By 3 p.m. the wind had veered to E. and S. E., and she was

totally wrecked on the islands on the Western shore of the river. The

Commodore and H. B. M. Commissioner, Mr. Elliott, who were pas-

sengers, narrowly escaped with their lives.

The ship Ruby on 15th July, 1841, was lying in Shih-poo har-

bour, on the East Coast of China, latitude 29° 2’ N., longitude 121° 40’

E. and had.on that day at daylight Barometer falling. At 10, wind —

veering from N. E. to N. W. with heavy rain and a strong swell

setting into the harbour. Made preparations for bad weather. Noon

Barometer still falling, having sunk since the preceding evening from

29.80 to 29.20. p.m. weather finer, and at midnight quite fine and |

glass rising.

Abstract of the Log of the Brig Kirry, Captain Willie, lying in

Hong Kong Harbour, civil time.

20th July, 1841.—Latterly light breezes, dark cloudy weather, and

threatening appearance.

21st July.—Begins with the same. At lh. 30m. strong gusts of

wind from the Northward, with lightning in the West. Prepared

for a tyfoon, wind N. N. Easterly, Barometer having fallen from 29.60

to 29.40. At 6h. 30m., heavy gusts from N. N. E. with rain, a tyfoon

evidently approaching. Let go the best bower and veered to 90 fathoms.

At 10 a. m., Barometer 29.10, blowing a furious hurricane from the

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 703

N. E. Let go sheet anchor, wind veering to the S. E. (time not no-

ticed.) At 6 p.m. moderated to a gale from S. E., Barometer rising,

and at midnight 29.40.

22d July.—From 1 to 6 gale moderate, but still in heavy gusts,

at noon fine.

For this track I take the storm to have really veered from N. W.

to S. E., as it did with the Lowzsa in the more open part of the river,

and at Macao we find that the wind was at N. W., when the Ba-

rometer had already sunk to 29.32, which is far below the usual

average at this season. At Hong Kong also it seems fairly enough to

have begun at N. W., though in an enclosed anchorage with much

high land to the N. E. of it, and beyond that on the continent of

China, we must not look with any great nicety as to the exact

point from which the wind may blow, particularly in the first part

of a storm. A shift from N. W. to S. E. gives about a N. E. and

S. W. track to the storm.

The bearing and distance of Shih-poo, where the Ruby was lying, from

Macao, is about N. 40 or N. 42 E. 688 miles, and we see that a storm

was probably passing from the N. E. to S. W., at 50 or 100 miles dis-

tance from her anchorage, at noon on the 15th. From noon 15th to noon

2st are six days, which time, if these storms were the same, it took to

force its way over the high lands intervening between Shih-poo and

Macao, which would give it 112 miles in 24 hours, or 43 miles per

hour.

This is assuming it to have pursued a nearly straight course. If the

mountain ranges forced it to take a curved track round the Coast,

the rate of travelling would then be higher. We have, I think evi-

dence enough, (see Third and Fifth Memoirs, Journal of the Asiatic

Society, Vol. 1X. p. 1049, and Vol. X. No. 121 1842, p. 20,) to shew

that considerable retardation does occur, when storms meet with high

land on their inland course, and thus there is no improbability in

supposing the Ruby’s Barometer to have been announcing to them the

passage of the Macao storm.”

* I mention here a practical result, to which I may advert in another Memoir.

If China was a country under European dominion, a telegraph might, when these

storms strike the Eastern Coast, warn those on the Southern, that they were coming, and

in India we might often attain the same advantage. Our children may see this done.

704 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

TRACK No. XXX. Hong Kong Tyfoon of the 26th July, 1841.

Log of the Ship Hasumy, lying at Hong Kong, 26th July 1841,

civil time.

2a. mM. Wind freshening from N. N. E. with sudden gusts, and

threatening appearance, made al] snug and veered away. 9 A. M.

Tyfoon with fearful gusts, wind shifting rapidly to E. and S. E., fu-

rious gusts from S. E. with sudden lulls, time not marked. Baro-

meter 28.40. Symp. 28.20. Glasses rising rapidly. In the evening,

the wind moderated with heavy rain, wind S. W., possibly the Mon-

soon. It is a singular circumstance in this Tyfoon, and shewing

the small extent of the vortex, that a ship at anchor in the Lantao

Passage, had the tyfoon commencing at North, and shifting round to

the Westward, while with us at Hong Kong, at about 15 miles to

the Eastward, the wind shifted by way of East. The vortex must

then have been very close to us, and its effects could not have been

felt any distance from the land, as a ship came in from the Southward

the following day with her royal yards across.

Extract from the Log of the Brig Kirry, Capt. Wallie, lying in

Hong Kong Harbour, civil time.

25th July, 1841.—Latter part dull cloudy weather, 6 h. 30 m.

threatening appearance in the S. E., 7h. heavy gusts, at midnight

calm and fresh breezes N. E. and North.

26th July.—Begins with fresh breezes from the Northward with

lightning in the N.N. W. At Lh. sudden strong gusts of wind vary-

ing from N. N. E. toN.N. W. At2h. 30m. a. m. a strong tyfoon from

N., attended with furious gusts of wind and constant heavy rain. At 3, —

veered away and made all snug. 6 a. m. wind shifted toN. E. At

8 a. m., wind E. S. E. Barometer 28.605. 9 a.m. wind S. E. At 10,

South, tyfoon still blowing furiously with constant heavy rain. Noon,

wind varying from S. E. to S. Barometer 28.605. 3 Pp. m. more

moderate, but heavy gusts at times. The same to midnight, gusts from

S. and S. E.

27th July.—Moderating from midnight.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 705

The following is the Barometrical Table at Macao, which, by the

way, does not begin soon enough, for, if possible, the fall should always

be watched from the usual average till it again returns to the same

point. There are many very interesting questions connected with

the more or less gradual or sudden falls and rises of those instruments,

which observers can much contribute to solve by attending to this

remark :—

Barometrical Register at Macao, Monday, the 26th July, 1841.

« 7 30 a.m. 29.17 N. W. Rain.

9 0 , 28.94 N. W. Heavy rain.

10 O ,, 26.94 W. High wind.

~ 10 40 29.00 S. W. Rain and high wind.

11 O ,, 29.08 S. W. Ditto.

0 25 p. m. 29.25 8. W. Ditto.

1 0 ,, 29.33 S.5. W. Moderating.

2 0 , 29.37 S. Gusts.

3-0 ,, 29.40 S. Less wind.

4 0 ,, 29.44 S. Heavy rain.

5 Q ., 29:49 S. Ditto.

6 0 ,, 29.53 8. Ditto from wind.

7 O ,, 29.58 8S. High breeze.

en O12 3 41129.58S4 Rain.

9 0 ,, 29.64 S. Ditto.

10 O ,, 29.68 S. Ditto.

1! O ,, 29.70 S. Fresh breeze.

12 0 ,, 29.70 S. Ditto.

The above Table shews, that the wind on the 2d day veered from N.

round to W. and S. W., but at Whampoa and Hong Kong, we have been

told it veered from N. round to E. 8. E. and S. W., this would indicate, ac-

cording to the theory of Redfield, that the vortex passed between Macao

and Hong Kong.

That the centre was at one time between Hong Kong and the

Lantao Passage, there can be no doubt ; as also, that this small tyfoon,

for it appears to have been of limited extent, was one coming up from

the S. E.bE., or about from the Grand Lema to the centre of Lantao

706 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

Island, its right hand quadrants, close to the centre, taking Hong

Kong, while the left hand ones at different distances struck the

ship in the Lantao Passage and the town of Macao. I have therefore

given it that track, as one tolerably well ascertained for the only part

of its course of which we have any notice, and marked it as No. XXX

upon our chart.

ArpasEER’s Tyfoon of November, 1841.

For this tyfoon, I have only, I regret to say, the following Documents :—

Abridged Log of the Barque ArreL, Captain J. Burt, reduced

to civil time.

The Aviel left Macao roads at noon, 16th November, 1841, with

moderate North breezes and fine weather. p.m. to midnight wind

North to 3 p. m., and N. E.bDN., afterwards stood to S. and S. S. W.,

6 and 7 knots, with fresh breezes and cloudy at midnight.

17th November.—4 a.m. strong breeze and thick weather, noon

fresh gale, (about N. N. E.), and thick weather with a cross sea, lati-

tude account 19° 31’ N., longitude 111° 51’ E. vp. m. strong breeze

N. N. E. and thick rainy weather, 8 strong gales, increasing to severe

gale at midnight when under bare poles.

18th November.—3 a.m. wind marked North. 2h. 30m. gale mo-

derating. Day-light moderate, noon latitude observation 16° 09’ N.,

longitude 110° 09’ E. In the last two days a current of 70 miles to

the S. W.bS.

Macao, 29th July, 1842.—The late arrivals report the occurrence

of excessively heavy weather in the China Sea in the middle of

November; the Water Witch encountered very hard gales for suc-

cessive days, which nearly exhausted the crew; and the following

extract of a letter from Capt. McIntyre, of the Avdaseer, will inform

our readers of the narrow escape which that vessel had from

foundering :—

‘ Left Singapore, Nov. 2, 1841; calm, anchored ; noon on the 3d pass-

ed Pedra Branca ; entered Palawan Passage on the 8th ; wind shifted

to the Eastward, determined to try the China Sea; passed Pulo

Supato on the 11th with a S. W. gale; 13th, wind shifted to the

rae

i ae 3 Soe

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 707

Northward ; prepared for a gale; 14thand 15th, fine Northerly winds

and clear weather. At midnight on the 16th, being then in latitude

14° 30’, longitude 114° 40’, the Barometer fell from 30 to 29. Sent

down top-gallant yards, close-reefed and furled the top-sails, reefed

and furled the main-sail. At 3 a. m., blowing a hurricane from the

Northward ; furled the fore-sail; spanker blown away ; sea making a

breach over all; 8 a.m., clouds rolling on, and the wind like the

noise of thunder, sea confused and running mountains high; hove

the ship to under bare poles; 9 a.m. thrown on our beam-ends,

ship settling fast; and put the helm up, which she refused ; little

after 9, cut away the masts, and ship righted, sea at the time

nearly swallowing us up; but the ship did not make an inch of

water. Now under jury masts, and hope to make Manilla, as wind

has been from the Westward for three days. Cabin filled with water ;

letters, chronometers, sextants, &c., all destroyed ; cargo all right.’

Ardaseer, at Sea, latitude 14° 50’, longitude 117° 15’.

Sincapore, 10th December.

Another Tyfoon.—On Tuesday afternoon the Clipper A7daseer,

which left this port for China on the 2d ult. returned into the roads

under jury-masts, having on the 16th November experienced a

severe tyfoon in the China seas, in latitude 14° 36’ North and longi-

tude 14° 40’ East ; during which she was compelled, as a last resort, to

cut away all her masts. At 2 in the morning, the Barometer gave in-

dications of the approaching tempest by falling from 30 to 29 inches,

when thus forewarned, the hatches were battened down and every pre-

paration made to meet the gale. In afew hours more, it was blowing

a perfect hurricane, with the sea rising in pyramids in every di-

rection, and making a clean breach over the vessel ; which was now

nearly on her beam ends, with both of her quarter boats carried away.

They now attempted to heave over the guns, but could only succeed in

getting one of them overboard, while they had to beat out the lee port

to give a passage to the heavy body of water on the decks, tried to

put the vessel before the wind, but she refused to answer her helm.

At about half past 8 a. m., an awful gust accompanied by a tremendous

sea threw the ship on her beam ends, the sea coming up to the coats

of the masts, and the lee bulwarks, and part of the forecastle being

708 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No, 127. ?

under water. The dead lights were beaten in, partly by the violence

of the sea, so that the deck and cabins were covered with water, and

she seemed to be going bodily down. With the utmost difficulty,

owing to the fury of the blast, and the frightful sea that was breaking

over her, the masts were at last cut away, and it appeared that no-

thing but their fortunately all going nearly at the same time could in

so critical a moment have saved the vessel. Being now clear of her

masts she gradually righted, and fortunately for all on board, kept

quite tight during the strength of the gale. Captain McIntyre having |

rigged jury-masts, now endeavoured to make Manilla as the nearest

port, continuing in that direction until the 23d November, when

finding it impracticable to make head against the monsoon in the

state to which the ship’s rigging had been reduced, he bore up for this

port.—Free Press, Dec. 9.

It appears from these documents that the A7zel was bringing with

her a heavy monsoon gale, or it may have been ran into the outskirts ©

of the Ardaseer’s tyfoon, since her position at noon on the 17th was

about 330 miles N. E.b.N. of that of the Avrdaseer on the \6th, and in.

the 24 hours, the storm might have easily travelled a great part of

this distance, though it seems to have been spent, or that the Avvel.

ran so rapidly to the South, making 23 degrees of Southing, between

the 17th and 18th, that she escaped it altogether. I am, however,

more inclined to think, it was not the storm which she felt, for she

would in that case have had the wind more Easterly of North if it

passed to the South, and more Westerly of North if it passed to the

North of her. Could we have obtained any intermediate logs, we

might perhaps have found here some evidence of one of these storms,

confounding itself with the regular monsoon.

With respect to the track of the Ardaseer’s tyfoon, we cannot even

make a conjectural one from these accounts. All that we can be sure |

of, is, that its centre must have been very near to her when she had

drifted into, say latitude 14° 20’ or 14° 10’, which in this longitude is _

not far from our Track No. XI., but here our present knowledge of

this storm, which was experienced by at least three, if not four, vessels

belonging to the port of Calcutta, ceases.

The iron steamer Medusa on the 13th and 14th November, encoun-

tered a severe gale from the N. E. off the Grand Ladrone, which drove

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 709

her down to Hainan North Bay, but this does not appear to have been

any thing more than a monsoon gale. Her consort, the Ariadne, was

compelled to bear up when near Manilla for want of fuel, and I

believe experienced some bad weather, but her log has not reached me.

The following is also a notice of a storm from the Singapore Free

Press.

fae oer

SINGAPORE.

On the evening of Sunday last, the signal was hoisted for a Steamer to

the Eastward, and from the direction indicated, and the accounts that

had been previously received of them, it was supposed to be one of

the iron Steamers, either the Aréadne or Medusa, that started from

this together for China on the 22d of last October. This conjecture

proved correct, the steamer turning out to be the Medusa, Captain

Hewett, which had been compelled to put back to this port from

want of fuel; and the following are the particulars that have been

communicated to us of the voyage. On the 2d November, when

about 120 miles from Manilla, the Arzadne signalised that they had

burnt out all their fuel, upon which Captain Hewett, who was the

senior officer, hung out the signal for her to return to Singapore ; and

his own vessel having still sufficient fuel to carry him on to Manilla,

he continued his course for that port, which he reached on the 3d

Nov., but with scarce an ounce of fuel remaining. Having taken in

here about 30 tons of wretched coal, and as much wood as she could

stow away, even to filling the cabins with it, the Medusa got under

steam again on the 9th, and on the 13th, was off the Great Ladrone,

when they encountered a gale from the North East, and having again

burnt out ail their fuel, they were compelled to bear away on the

following day. Here their compasses shifted two points to the West-

ward, and at daylight they found themselves in Hainan North Bay,

in the midst of breakers and seas running mountains high ; to escape

from this dangerous situation they had recourse to breaking up the

ship’s bulwarks and every piece of available timber on board, and thus

provided a sufficiency of fuel for two hours steaming, by which they

escaped the perils that surrounded them, after they had nearly given

710 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 127.

up all hopes. For five days they had no observation, but managed to

run down into Camaraigne Bay, where they procured wood and

water, but the former too green to burn. In a day or two afterwards

they got amplitudes, and were enabled to rectify the error in the com-

passes, when they prosecuted the remainder of their voyage here in

safety.

Captain Hewett of course expected to find that his consort had

reached this port long before his own vessel—but she having neither

arrived here, nor been otherwise heard of, apprehensions begin to be

entertained of her ultimate safety.

The Medusa is now under orders to proceed to Maulmain, for

which she will set out in the course of a few days.—Jdzd.

The foregoing are all the records which I have hitherto obtained.

I now proceed to offer a few deductions, practical and speculative, from

them ; the practical ones not as rules, but rather as hints for forming a

judgment, and both as suggestions for those who may desire to aid

in future researches in this important branch of science.

I commence with a tabular view of the tracks laid down in the Chart.

711

A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

1842.]

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1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 713

It appears from this table that—

1. If we class the storms according to the monsoons in which they

occur, we shall find first as to the ¢¢ames of their occurrence.

N. E. Monsoon , Tyfoons seem to occur in Octoberand November*

October to May. only.

S. W. Monsoon ee occur in all the months from June to

May to October. October.

There is thus, we may say, but little chance of a violent storm from

December to the end of May, as far as our present knowledge extends,

and the disturbing force of the S. W. Monsoon against the regular

N. E. trade seems to be a great cause, if not the cause, of these tempests.

It is true that the N. E. Monsoon, (which is really the trade wind,) is

considered to be fully established in November, at the surface of the

earth, but we may suppose that there may be still some disturbing forces

from the remains of the influences of the S. W. Monsoon acting in the

higher regions. This sort of vzbrating of some of the November storms,

( Vansitiart’s and others,) to which I have alluded, may be noticed as

affording some countenance to this view of the subject.

Considering these tables as to the probable tracks of the storms in

the different months, we have the following results :—

Average of Tracks.

June... No. XI. From East to West. From East.

Aah an N. 68° E. to S. 68° W.

July...) ° SXUL — 8. 34° E. to N.34°W. F Nn Ce

| » XXIX. ——N. 45° E. toS.45°W.( SE bE.

ee) S568 Eto IN. 30° LW.

No. XIII. East to West.

LV. 222 258.73" . to, Nw 7o° Ww. Dison between

August.“ || XIX. East to West. » ast and

XXL ——S. 40° E. toN. 40° WA 8. 40° E.

» XXIX. —— S. 78° E. to N. 72° W.

Movil... \—-4,S2S.iR. and. EB: to} W.,)’ Prom. between

Sept. ae ip ___.N. 77° E..to S.77°-W. > N..60° E.

a er ____ N. 60° E. to S. 60° w.4 and S. 10° E.

* At Manilla they are said never to occur after the 30th November, the feast of St.

Andrew, the patron saint of that city, which is celebrated with much pomp.

714 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

Average of Tracks.

kts MR From N. 78° E. to S. 78° W. }

OV Ee Vodice S84 B. to NB

BET! sist, B7° Eto NIBP alee

Sept. < ,, XIL S. 77° E. toN.77°W. + N. 60° E.

XV. ——N. 68° E.to S. 68° W, | 2nd 8. 10° E.

, XXVI —— 8S. 10° Ev toN 10°

b oT eae. 678°! tony ee ey

(No. VIII. ——S. 79° E.toN.79° W.)

| st Ry ___ N. 74° E. toS.74° W.

OX VE LLe 8) 68° Wai to N68? Ve ge eae

October.< ,, XVII. —— S. 45° E. to N. 45° W. »N. 12’ E. and

, XVIL ——N.74° E.toS.74¢w. | 5: 45° E.

Opi || aN, abe ae ease

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No. IX. East to West.

Noy , XXV. ——S.E. &toN.E.&S.W. os

5» XXVIII. S) 75° E.to N73? Woe “

We must recollect in considering this, and all the other results

which this Memoir offers, that we are very far from possessing all the

data for the period of time over which it extends ; as, up to the opening

of the trade with China and the establishment of opium-clippers from

Calcutta and Bombay to that country, the China Sea was in certain

months rarely navigated by English ships, and of those few (Indian

country ships, Americans and others,) which did navigate at those times,

we have not a single record ; all this should be duly borne in mind, and

that the most we can expect are approximate results only from imperfect

data. Another consideration also should not be overlooked, which is,

that the tracks of the storms seem to be influenced by the quarter

in which they arise, and that a ship off the Coast of Luconia, or in

the S. E. part of the China Sea, in the angle formed by the Philippines

and Palawan, may have more chances of a storm coming up from the

Southward of East, than one between the Macclesfield Shoal and

the Grand Ladrone. This consideration also should not be forgotten.

In my introductory notice I have remarked, that when we cannot

prove the theory wholly by the evidence deduced from one storm, we

may prove it in parts by the careful analysis of separate storms. I

1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 715

now proceed to shew how far we have, as it appears to me, done

this.

I should state here, that I have as carefully looked for contradictions

as for confirmations of the usual Jaw, and for tracks of storms from the

Westward as well as from the Eastward ; but in no instance have I been

able to find data which would admit of this supposition, while all are,

as it seems to me, easily and simply accounted for by assuming the

rotation from left to right in the Northern hemisphere and tracks

from some point to the Eastward of the meridian. - Of the progression

again, though we have not in the confined space and track which the

China Sea affords, such direct evidence of it as we have in the Bay of

Bengal, yet we have some, as in the case of the Magicienne and S¢.

Paul, and the Raleigh which are direct enough, and we have again

and again, which is perhaps of more importance, the increasing

strength, varying direction, sudden changes, contrary shifts, and de-

creasing violence of the storms, which are exactly what should occur

with a progressive whirlwind. The Ralezgh’s storm, so ably ana-

lysed by Mr. Redfield, and the Manilla and Panama’s first storm are

clear instances of well-ascertained progression, and the use of the

hurricane card will shew that in every instance in which the direct

evidence of ships in different positions is wanting, the indirect evidence

which this demonstration furnishes, is almost equal to it, for it can be

accounted for in no other way.

A third kind of proof may be deduced from those cases, (as that of

the Elphinstone,) in which vessels, by bearing up, have evidently

chased and ran into the more violent parts of their storms again, while

others by lying to a little longer, have allowed it to leave them.

A fourth kind of proof is also worthy of notice. It will be seen by

the log of the Glatton, p. 644, which ship was on the southern verge of

H.M.S. Theban’s Storm Track, No. VII., and was standing on, so as

to cross the wake of it a few hours after the Theban and other vessels

had been dismasted, that she crossed the ‘‘ confused sea” which the

passage of the vortex had left. This is always described as creating

the awful “‘ pyramidal” sea, a state of the elements of which no man

who has not witnessed it can form any conception, and no doubt this

confused sea is the remains of it. The same occurred, and most re-

markably, to the London Thetis, as described in Captain Cass’ very

716 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127.

able report in my Fourth Memoir.* This ship hove to very carefully

on the southern verge of her storm, which was beyond question a

rotatory one, and when it had passed her she bore up, and in crossing

the track of the centre, she had the sea heavier than during the gale!

Those who have remarked the effect of a whirlwind crossing a river or

a lake, or that of a water spout passing near a ship, will recognise the

value of this kind of proof. See also Col. Reid’s Work, 2d edition, pp.

474 and 475.

Of the rates at which the storms travel we have very little evidence. —

In all the instances in which there appears to be any ground for a fair

inference I have given it. From 7 to 24 miles per hour, appear to

be at present the limits.

As to the circular, or nearly circular form of the vortices, we have

I think, abundant evidence. I have again and again, from the logs,

projected with every allowance the courses and drifts of the ships, and

nothing but the circular theory would account for the winds. Where

shifts of wind have taken place, as also where ships have been at

a distance, or on opposite sides of a storm, the same rule holds good.

The Jaw for the rotation in one direction, will also I think, be found

always to have held good, and that the supposition of the rotation in a

contrary course would wholly contradict our data.

One or two other peculiarities remain to be noticed, and the first

of these is the occurrence of what may be called double storms, or two

storms at the same time travelling on tracks converging towards

each other. The Golconda’s (two Thetis’ Storm Tracks, No. XXVI.

and XX VII.) are a remakable instance of this, and it is a contingency

which should not be forgotten by the careful mariner in forming his

judgment.

The next is the remarkable abatement in the violence of the weather

which appears often to take place a few hours after the storm has com-

menced, but without any change of the wind or rise of the barometer,

and only lasting an hour or two, when it comes on to blow again from

the same quarter harder than ever. Old seamen are usually aware

of this treacherous peculiarity, but it is one which may sometimes |

deeeive, and thus deserves to be noticed. |

* See also the Table at p. 694, 23d September, at midnight.

1842. ] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 717

A third phenomenon is the very remarkable and dangerous one of

a terrific tempest like that of the Arde, without any corresponding

depression of the Barometer or Simpiesometer. It is possible, however,

that if this last instrument was not very carefully watched, it might

have been oscillating, though not upon the whole falling, before the

storm came on. Still the possibility of such a circumstance should

warn the seaman to neglect no precaution.

My last practical remark refers to the highly serious danger arising

from the current, or ‘“ storm wave,” which seems to prevail in some of

these tempests as far South as the Paracels, setting generally, it would

‘appear, to the Westward, though in the case of the General Harris

and General Kyd to the N. E. The logs of the London, p. 607,

Warley, p. 612, Scaleby Castle, p. 628 and 632, and Castle Huniley, p.

651, afford ample proofs of this dangerous current ; and I may mention in

corroboration, that I have, in original documents and replies to a num-

ber of circulars addressed by me to the gentlemen of the H. C. Pilot

service, at the mouth of the Hooghly, indubitable proof, that a current

of the same kind running from two to five knots an hour, sets over the

tails of the reefs to the Westward, in the Easterly and North-easterly

hurricanes, at the head of the Bay of Bengal ;* besides much evidence

to shew, that the devastating inundations which occur along the Coast

from the Megna to Coringa, are often caused by a true storm-wave

breaking in suddenly, and sweeping every thing before it.

From the imperfect accounts which reach us from China, we may

also I think gather, that something of the same kind occurs there.

Before I conclude, 1 must allude, as a question for research only, to

another remarkable feature in these tracks, and indeed all the storm

tracks we have yet traced out ; whichis this: If we look at the chart,

we shall see that almost the whole of the storms seem to come in groups

from certain quarters, and these quarters are those in which active or

half-extinct volcanoes are situated.

_ Considering our chart in this view of the subject, we shall. observe

that, to commence from the Northward, six tracks, Nos. XX1X to XX

‘appear to come from the North-eastward, or from the direction of the

* These will be published as soon as I can complete my Memoir on the Storms of

the Sand Heads, and that on the (old) Storms of the Bay of Bengal.

2) B

718 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127. —

great volcanic centre of the Japanese Archipelago. Between these we

have two tracks, Nos. II and XIX, which may be supposed, if they

originated at so great a distance, to have come from the active volcanoes

at the North extremity of the Marianas, as may also Nos. XVIII —

and X.

We have then two groups from Nos. VIII to XXVII, which all

pass over, if they donot arise from, active or half-extinct volcanoes ;

the North extremity of Luzon having the volcano of Camiguin and

another yet active, and a chain of active or half-extinct ones extend

through the almost unknown centre of that island.

We have next a group of three storms, No. XVI to XXI, which ap-

pear to issue from the Straits of Mindoro, the Eastern extremity of which

has the great volcano of Albay, and to the South of it the half-extinct or

active ones of Samar, Leyte and Mindanao ; and lastly, we have a group —

of three tracks which originate at, or cross, the Island of Palawan, ©

which having itself active voleanoes, has also to the South-eastward of |

it Mindanao and the Siao and Sangir chain of active volcanos.

It may be objected here that since the storms all come from between

N. N. E. and S. S. E., and the whole sea is bounded to the Eastward

by a volcanic chain at different distances, the storms must necessarily

come from some part of it. Allowing alldue weight to this objection, —

the coincidences I have shewn between the quarters or centres from ;

which the storms seem to proceed, or at which they seem to originate, i

is worthy of attention, and I am not writing now to prove any thing,

but to suggest points of enquiry for future observers.

I have already, p. 664 alluded to the well known fact at Manilla, that

no hurricane* occurs without some volcanic action more or less violent

being observed, and as the whole of the chain of the Philippines, from

Mindanao to the Northern extreme is full of active, or partially active |

centres, far more so even than Java, there seems good ground for sup-

posing some connection ; but whether the volcanoes be the cause, or

they are agitated by the effect of the atmospheric disturbance, we

are as yet ignorant.

In the Bay of Bengal if the tracks of most of our storms be prolong-

* The Hurricanes are there distinguished from the monsoon gales by the term

Bagio, an Indian (Tagaloc) word, signifying a turning gale, as hurricane does in re

West Indies.

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1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 719

ed to the S. E., they will all be seen as it were to start from near the

yet active volcanic centre of Barren Island ! and some of the old storms

which I have traced, certainly do the same. Again, if we look at

Mr. Redfield’s chart of the West India hurricanes, we shall find

them also mostly beginning about the volcanic Leeward Islands. The

neighbourhood of Bourbon and Mauritius, and the Timor Sea, where

hurricanes seem very prevalent, are all instances of this sort of relation,

whatever it may be, if it really exists.

CONCLUSION.

Authors are not allowed to speak of the merits of their works, but

I know of no rule which prevents them from pointing out their faults.

I would notice here then, that one fault at least of this Memoir is z7-

completeness of information. For this I am not responsible, * for I have

assuredly spared no pains to render it as complete as possible; but the

seaman and the man of science, and every friend to humanity, will I

hope not fail to see and to point out, from what has been here accom-

plished with imperfect data, how much more might be done by more

accurate and detailed accounts, and the continued publication of them.

It cannot be too often repeated, and therefore I again repeat it here,

that we are yet in the infancy of our researches ; that valuable as are the

practical uses to which they have been turned, we know not yet to

what greater results they may lead us; and that, moreover, no one can

know what the value of any apparently insignificant instance or fact

relative to storms may be, which he may have it in his power to com-

municate.

* To cite one instance (forthose acquainted with the Hydrographical History of the

China Seas, must think it strange that I have not referret more frequently to the logs

of the H. C. Survey Vessels, which for at least ten or twelve years were employed

there.) I must state that though three or four applications were made to a party

who must be in possession of the logs of one of these vessels, not even a reply was ever

received !

720

Observations on the Herat Astrolabe, described in No. 118, of the Journal.

By the Rev. J. S. Prarr, Chaplain to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop

of Calcutta.

I feel ashamed that I should have kept the brass Astrolabe you lent

me so long, without having more to say upon it than I have. But,

I am sorry to tell you, that incessant occupation has prevented my

giving any time to its examination since the first day that I brought it

home. On that day I measured some of the arcs, and tried to discover

the use of the curves drawn upon the smooth face, but could not ascertain

their use. In fact, it would require a long and close examination

and measurement of these instruments, and an intimate acquaintance

with the Hindoo and Arabic methods of calculation and observation,

which I have no time to acquire, I regret to say—to lead one

to indulge any hope of discovering the use and method of handling

these Astrolabes. The difficulties that stand in the way of discover-

ing the method of using these instruments, and the object for which

they were constructed, seem to be the following :—

1. Anignorance, an entire ignorance of the object in view; though it

seems most probable, that the object was to calculate the dates of festivals.

2. The want of a complete knowledge of the principles upon which

the instruments were constructed.

3. An ignorance of the extent to which the numerical constants used

in the application of their principles were erroneous.

4. The imperfection of workmanship in the instrument itself.

Perhaps I may presume to say, that the author of the communication

to the Asiatic Society’s Journal, No. CXVIII, entitled “‘ A description of

a Persian Astrolabe,” meaning, I believe, the one I now return to

you, does not attempt to give an explanation of the use of the curve

lines, which intersect the circular arcs concentric with the instrument

itself. Indeed, these lines are wroagly drawn in the diagram. It seems

most probable, that they serve some important office in the calcula-

tions and observations for which the instrument was designed ; and

1842. | Observations on the Herat Astrolabe. 721

should therefore be carefully examined, and their law of position dis-

covered, to serve as a clue to their use.

Perhaps I may be allowed to say, that from what I have seen

or read of the Astronomy of the Hindoos, and also of the Arabs,

my own mind has been brought to the conviction, that their knowledge

has been very much over-rated. Their knowledge appears to have

shewn itself chiefly in the calculation of eclipses ; and the phenomena of

eclipses being striking and capable of observation by persons of all des-

criptions, the powers of calculation which have led to their prediction,

have excited admiration, and raised the fame of the calculators. But the

calculation of eclipses is not so very profound a branch of Astronomy,

at least when carried only to the degree of accuracy shewn in Hindoo

calculations, as to entitle the Hindoo astronomers to any great fame,

except as being attentive observers and moderate geometers. But as to

any physical laws, they seem to have been profoundly ignorant, and

therefore could not have been mathematical or ‘ physical” astronomers.

Ancient observations are of great value in Physical Astronomy; for

instance, the mere fact of an eclipse having been seen by the Chaldeans

on a certain day, and at a certain hour in the year zB. c. 720, has

led modern astronomers to the demonstrable conclusion, that the

length of the mean day has not changed by a hundred and fifteenth

part of a second of time within the last twenty-five centuries. This

physical fact, of great importance in all theories regarding terrestrial

heat, and therefore in the researches of Physical Geology, could not

have been demonstrated without the observed fact of the Chaldean

astronomers. But this observation, (though important in its historical

consequences,) does not argue any great power and knowledge in

the observers. All facts of observation are in a similar way valuable,

but do not necessarily prove that the observers are profound philo-

sophers. In this way, by confounding the value of observations with

the powers necessary for conducting and recording them, it occurs

to me, that the Hindoo and Arabian astronomers have received, in

general estimation, far too high a name.

Bishop’s Palace, Calcutta, August 11th, 1842.

722 Observations on the Herat Astrolabe. [No. 127.

P.S.—I might as well add, that the object of my making these

remarks on the degree of importance to be attached to Arabic and

Hindoo astronomy is to shew, that researches in this branch of science

will be interesting to the astronomical historian or antiquary, rather than

to the astronomer.

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

A Description of the Coal Field of the Damoodah Valley, and the

adjacent Countries of Beerbhoom and Poorooleah, as applicable to

the present date 1842. By J. Homrray, Esa.

The coal field of the Damoodah vailey, and its adjacent river the Adji,

commences at about the parallel of latitude 23° 16’, and continues

uninterruptedly upwards to nearly the whole length of the Damoodah

river, until near to its source, which lies in the hills near Ramghur.

Along both of its banks lies the mineral coal field, commencing near to

the junction of the Singharun Nullah, which falls into the Damoo-

dah river near to the Serampore Indigo Factory. This point at which,

however, none of the mineral is found, is the lowest end of a line

stretching (nearly direct) across the country to the Adji river, at

a place called Seedpoora Ghaut, where also is the extreme limit of the

field at the lowest end on that river. This then forms the boundary on

the south side, its northern is stated as above; the western limits are

the igneous and granitic hills with their subdivisions, which lie at

a distance, generally of four or six miles from the right, or western

bank of the Damoodah, and continue their course to the high lands in

the Ramghur district, and crossing through a portion of Chota

Nagpore which abuts against the Damoodah and the Barracar rivers,

the eastern limits. The North-east, are the range of high hills

flanking the Damoodah and the Barracar rivers. Descending this last

river to near to Dabystan, it crosses that river, next to where the

No. 128. New Seriss, No. 44. 5c is

724 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128.

schistose formation of hills commences, and which run across to

Monghyr and the Gurruckpore districts. Bending round with these

hills, it crosses over to the Adji river, and thence skirting the foot of

the igneous hills, which continue towards Rajmahal, the mineral

decreases as the distance increases, or as it recedes beyond the Adji ri-

ver, a small portion, however, alone of this country, east of the Adji,

can be called a continuous coal field, and where it descends to a village

called Kosta, on the east bank of the Adji, it ceases; and the mineral

and its concomitant sand-stone are lost. Eruptions of granite, gness

and basalt distinctly mark its limit, until it reaches the very extraordi-

nary mass of gness rocks at the town of Debrazpore, beyond which

easterly, there are occasional traces of sand-stones and bituminous

shales ; and in more than one or two localities immediately beneath

the hills, and within the dense forests, traces of very inferior coal

are found ; and at one locality on the Bermany Nullah, which lies east

of Soory or Beerbhoom, about 24 miles, coal is found in quantity, but

of a quality so nearly approaching to bituminous shale, as to be unfit

for steam purposes. Other localities there are, but the quality of coal

remains to be tested; but they are all of them of the same worthless

nature as that at Bermany Nullah. I mention this, just to draw

attention to a parcel of trashy nonsense, put forth in some publication ;

something which would induce people to believe, that the Sylhet and

Burdwan coal field, (as it is there called) have some, or had some

connexion, which by a marvellous occurrence has been disjoined,

and that Sylhet and Chirra Poonjee are now journeying towards the

moon. There is no more similarity between the coal and its concomi-

tant rocks in the Damoodah and that of the Sylhet and Garrows,

than between chalk and cheese. None but the most profoundly igno-

_ rant of the matter, would entertain a doubt of it. The whole is a mere

literary phantasmagoria, got up ad captandum, and put forth in a

manner calculated to mislead the unwary. I may be told, that our

operations are as yet in their infancy ; but I cannot see a trace which

long and great experience in such matters would warrant me, or even

any unpractised miner, although not educated in the school of mo-

dern mineralogists, of snail-hunters and saxo-florists, to arrive at any

other conclusion, but that the two great deposits are wholly different.

The Damoodah and Adji country is, throughout that portion where

1842. ] of the Damoodah Valley. 725

the mineral districts lie, one continued line of country which has

been subjected to the greatest convulsions of nature, and the immense

chains of hills of igneous origin, which are visible throughout, are

corroborative of it. The connexion between these hills at distant points,

crossing the coal field, is proved by the line of the great basaltic

dykes, which protruding through the sandstone up to the surface of

the ground, are traceable from one point to another; whilst we have

proofs of the changes, which have been wrought upon the materials

by these mighty protrusions. It is not very often that the occurrences

of the intersection of basaltic dykes is observed. There are, however,

within this field, a vast number of these dykes which cross one another,

and of course they must have occurred at different ages, as vygll be

seen hereafter, and doubtless the changes in the subterranean minerals

have been affected by it. The most remarkable one which causes

these changes in the coal field is, one called the Salmah dyke, and

one nearly parallel to it at Bharah. These are distinctly traceable for

about 30 miles, and have produced a thorough change in the minerals

which are deposited on either side of it. The upheave is evidently to the

N. E., but to what exact amount I cannot say; but I conjecture from

many circumstances which when examined closely into, leads me to

think that the dislocation is of some hundreds of feet. The quality of

the coal is also changed, and that portion of the coal field hitherto

opened upon, and whose mineral has been largely consumed, lead me

to believe, that the coal on the south-western, or lower side of this

dyke, is much superior to that on the North-eastern. ‘There are

other large dykes and faults of magnitude which are already dis-

covered, and from which there are many alterations discernible, in-

dependent of lesser faults and interruptions such as impede the pro-

gress of the miner. At some distance up the Damoodah river on the

South-west bank, is the great hill of Pachete, from which innu-

merable dykes issue; and all around its base, and between it and the

river, a space of about four miles, the country although abounding in

coal, is full of these dislocations. It is*nearly opposite to the centre

of this hill, which is about seven miles in length, that the Barracar river

unites with the Damoodah. The, Baracar rises in the same range

of hills as the Damoodah, and continues its course through the

hill for some miles, until it is turned by the mighty Parsonath hill

726 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128.

towards a more easterly direction, and then thrown towards the

schistose hills of the Monghyr range, continuing a rocky stream

until it bursts through the schistose rocks near to the Panraw hill,

and between it and Dabystan, where it enters the coal field, and

continues onward until it abuts against the base of the Pachete hill.

The Barraear river has on its northern bank innumerable faults, and

all running parallel with it, and as I said before, they are traceable from

the Pachete hill and 7uwn towards the Panraw hill. To the North-

west of these dykes, which lie generally at a distance of about one to

two miles from the Barracar river, no coal is discovered. The eruption

of greenstone dykes, which I have not only discovered on the surface

of the ground, but by sinking pits I have come down upon them at

considerable depths, and found them dipping at a sharp angle, com-

pletely cutting off all the minerals, and a change in the nature of the

rocks which accompany it, takes place. Within the space of country,

between the rivers Barracar, Adji and Damoodah, and a line of country

generally four to six miles in breadth, to the South and West of this

last river, is the coal field ; and glancing at a map, it will be seen it is

of great extent, and with little exception, may be taken to be full of

coal and iron-stone. The veins, however, are not all of them of such

thickness, or of such a quality as will warrant any profitable operations

for working the mineral. In some situations the best veins lie at great

depths, whilst at others, they are comparatively shallow, and are found

to a great extent upon the crop of the vein. Much of the coal hitherto

worked and brought to Calcutta, is from such openings, and it is well

known, that it is necessary to ensure obtaining good coal that the

vein be found and worked from beneath some superstratum ; and if

that be of sand-stone or shale, so much more likely is the mineral to

prove of good quality, and lessliable to perish with the weather ; wast-

ing its tar as well as crumbling and mouldering to dust, and turning

grey coloured so soon as the natural tar has been evaporated.

I shall first place an account of the works now opened, and at which

coal is obtained and despatched for sale to Calcutta, commencing at

the lowest end, where the Benares new road having passed over the

alluvial plain near Burdwan, commences a slight ascent nearer to the

jungle of Furreedpore. This jungle, which is of some extent, is upon a

red konkary soil, and reaching the dawk bungalow of Kyrasole, which

ee ne ee Se ee

a Se

ee ee

1842.] of the Damoodah Valley. 127,

is near to the centre of this jungle ; there a reddish sand-stone conglome-

rate is perceived ; thence commences a gradual descent until we reach the

Singharun Nullah, before alluded to. This is the first point of the

coal field on the south limit. The distance from this point on the

Benares road to the junction of the Singharun with the Damoodah is

about five miles, and to cross the country northward to the Adji at

Seedparah Ghaut is about seven miles, so that the breadth of land be- |

tween the two rivers of Damoodah and Barracar may be taken on an

average of twelve miles. The streams are nearly parallel until the point

where the Barracar enters the Damoodah ; probably the same causes

which were exerted to turn that river to the east have operated to do

the same by the Adji, which similarly bends easterly at nearly the

same parallel of latitude. Into the Damoodah, or southern river, we

trace the following minor streams, proceeding upwards and commenc-

ing with the Singharun, which small nullah drains the lands all the

way up to Hidgelgurreah hill, situated about three miles from the Adji.

In this nullah coal is found to crop out at a distance from the Benares

road about one and a half mile, and the basset edge of coal veins are

traceable along its bank for about three to four miles. Advantage has

been taken of that circumstance to open collieries upon it, and to

drain the mine-water into this nullah. There have been workings up-

on this vein of coal, which varies from seven to nine feet in thickness,

ever since 1832, but success has not attended the operations, as the

object of despatching the coal by the way of the Adji river down to

the river Hooghly has proved both dangerous and expensive, and the

coal obtained therefrom, probably owing to its proximity to the surface,

has been of inferior quality. Late openings have been made with a view

of conveying it to the Damoodah, which is five miles distant, to which

it has to be carted at considerable cost ; whilst to the Adji, that dis-

tance is from the nearest of those openings six miles, and others seven

miles. The line in which this vein of coal is found, continues from the

first opening alluded to across the country and to the Hidgelgurreah hill,

and thence across the river Adji into the Beerbhoom district. Although

even near to the Adji, it is not discovered of so great a thickness, the

vein having evidently “‘ thinned out” towards the village of Beercol-

tee. The first opening or lowest down the stream is that by Messrs.

Erskine, being the one now whose coal is conveyed by carts to the

728 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128.

Damoodah. A mile and a half higher up, are the openings of Mr. Rogers

and Mr. Blake. This last gentleman commenced in 1832, with a _

view of conveying its produce down the Adji ; but hitherto the greatest

extent has not exceeded a few thousand maunds, such is the ungovern-

able nature of that stream and the shallowness of water, and dangerous

rocky bottom, that all efforts to overget it prove unavailing. There is

but one way of turning the Adji to any account, which is by convey-

ing the coal in carts lower down the river, about 25 to 30 miles, and

where the river navigation is less dangerous, although even from that

point it is much inferior to its equally ungovernable brother the Da-

moodah. The vein of coal is but one along this line, and when one

reaches to the Hidgelgurreah hill, and between it and the Adji, the

iron-stone measures are found cropping out ; these I shall! hereafter no-

tice. The next nullah above the Singharun, and on the same bank,

is the Nooneah. This is the most considerable of all those minor

streams at its confluence with the Damoodah, where are situated the

collieries of Messrs. Carr, Tagore, and Co.; and Messrs. Gilmore and

Homfray, both of which adjoin each other, and are at a distance of

only a few hundred yards from the main river. The popular name

of Raneegunge, is derived from the proprietary rights of one of them

having been vested in the Jate Ranee of Burdwan, and which also

gave rise to the equally fallacious term of Burdwan coal. These

collieries have their pits sunk down to the main vein of coal, gene-

rally to a depth of ninety feet, the vein varying from seven and a half to

eight and half feet in thickness; the covering immediately over the

vein is dark shale, and over which is a soft friable sand-stone, and

which enables the vein to be excavated in openings of generally

four yards in width; the working underground being conducted

on the pillar and stall system, and with so excellent a roof over

the coal it allows full three-quarters of vein to be excavated, the prin-

cipal loss or waste of coal being attributable to its nature, being a free

burning or non-binding coal. The small, or dust, which is produced

in its working being of no value, is left in the hollows of the work.

Fortunately, there is no appearance of fire-damp in this vein of coal,

and the whole system of working has enabled them hitherto to be kept

extremely well ventilated. This vein of coal is perceptible for seven

or eight miles up this nullah, and is found cropping out in very

1842. ] of the Damoodah Valley. 729

many places in that distance, until it is found where the Benares

road crosses this stream, and within two miles of the Assensole

dawk bungalow.

Although there are no great impediments to the present works by

faults, still they exist around and within these collieries to some extent,

and it is evident from the view any scientific person would take of it,

that but for such dykes, this noble vein would discover itself in many

other places; but no where between these collieries, and those of Sin-

gharun is there any visible traces, though beyond a doubt the vein lies

beneath the whole extent of ground between these nullahs. Higher up

this nullah about one mile, and near to the village of Damooleah, the

coal is also worked ; it was originally opened and worked by Mr. Jessop

and its produce carted to the Damoodah ; its proprietary right is now

vested in, and exercised by, Messrs. Carr, Tagore and Co. Higher up

the nullah, and near to the Benares road, there is another opening by

the same proprietors, called Moishla or Damarah, the produce of which

is carted about two and a half miles to the Damoodah. Between this

locality and the Damoodah near to Cheluad, a pit has been sunk 100

feet, and has passed through two small veins of coal similar to those

found on the opposite, or south-western bank of the river at Salmah,

where a pit was commenced to be sunk by me in 1831, and after a

cessation of two years, has been continued until the present time, June

1842. It has reached a depth of above 210 feet, and has passed through

seven different veins of coal, and one of iron-stone. None of these veins,

however, are of a description that would warrant mining operations

thereon, varying in thickness from 16 inches to three feet only, and are

of an inferior quality. Iam still sinking, with a view to attain a vein

of about seven feet thickness, and of excellent known quality. The

strata which have been passed through in this pit, are the usual ones of

sand-stone and shale, but differing from any others that I have met

with in this country, and approaching closely to those in the English

coal fields. The grain of the rock assimilates, and the characters which

usually distinguish fruitful mineralogical strata are all present, whilst

those met with in the sand-stone of the other collieries, are very unlike

the usual ones accompanying coal in England, although the shales

are similar, and contain the usual floriform and herbaceous impressions

of vegetables ; these are also here found both in the shales and in the

730 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128.

sand-stones. This pit is within a hundred yards of the great Salmah

basaltic dyke, and at a distance of 600 yards lower down the river is

the accompanying dyke at Bharah. ‘They run to the south-westward

nearly, but not quite parallel. One of these is traceable to the neigh-

bourhood of Telindah, where is an abrupt conical hill, an offshoot of those

hills which constitute the western boundary of the coal field all the way

up to Pachete and towards Ramghur. The other dyke is traceable to

the same range of hills near to the village of Rampore. The distance

from Salmah and Bharah is about six miles.

Near to my pit, these dykes, which are each of them ae twelve

yards in breadth, cross the Damoodah river diagonally, and after

continuing their course nearly a mile along its bank, they gradu-

ally tend towards each other, and the Bhara dyke intersects and

crosses that of Salmah, at a place called Juggernat Ghaut. The

Salmah one continues in full breadth across the country, through

the village of Damarah, and several others towards the Adji, and is

traceable for the distance of very many miles. The Bharah dyke,

where a point intersects that of Salmah, continues its course through

the country, but in a different direction, running towards Herahpore,

and near to which it also meets another basaltic dyke of lesser

magnitude, which I trace from Majeet, and they seem to have united,

for I lose all trace of it thereafter. The dyke then turns a little more

eastward, and continuing onwards, crosses the Benares road between

Gopalpore and Neamutpore, and continues on towards Dabystan and

to the schistose hills in that neighbourhood. It is these two main dykes

which have caused the alteration in the strata, since the veins which

are found on one side have not found corresponding ones on the other.

Proceeding up the Damoodah on the south-west bank near to Berooee,

there is a nullah called Tentooleah which falls into it, and which takes

its rise in the igneous hills at the back or western side of the Pa-

chete hill. This nullah skirts the base of the Beharrynauth hill; it is ex-

tremely rapid and rocky. Within this nullah the various small veins

of coal met with in the pit at Salmah are here visible, and when close

to the base of the Beharrynauth hill, a fault throws up the strata,

bringing to view a vein of coal of about seven feet thickness and ex-

cellent quality. There are I believe not less than nine different veins

which lie above this, and two rich veins of iron-stone. To attain this

1842. ] of the Damoodah Valley. 731

vein of coal, my pit at Salmah is sinking. The proximity of the hill

is such, that the strata around these are in much confusion, and at its

base at the upthrow fault, the whole of the coal measures and their

concomitant sand-stone are cut off at once; the country becomes imme-

diately changed from a barren rocky surface to that of a fair cultiva-

table soil. A line tolerably direct from Beharrynauth hill towards

that of Pachete defines the limits of the mineral field on the south-west,

about six miles higher up the Damoodah.

Another similar nullah, sometimes called Alroosah, and some-

times Soonaree, runs much in the same direction towards Mo-

relliah village, and in this nullah the same veins are disco-

vered as in the Tentooleah; and are cut off by a similar upthrow

fault, probably a continuation of that at Beharrynauth, bringing

the same seven feet vein of coal within sight. About two miles above

this, and upon the north-eastern bank, is a small nullah called Salin-

chy ; here the strata are seen to be much troubled, and rising at a

great angle. Here is situated the Chinacoory colliery, a vein of seven

feet, which to me appears to be the same as that above alluded to, and is

largely worked by Messrs. Carr, Tagore and Co. ; this undertaking was

originally begun by Mr. Betts. The vein of coal lies beneath a hard

sand-stone rock, and admits of being worked similarly to the other

collieries by the manner of stall and pillar, admitting thereby of a large

produce being obtained. Around this place of Chinacoory, the strata are

extremely deranged, and openings made in different places shew satis-

factorily, that the dislocations extend to a depth sufficient to embarrass

regular and continuous workings, without the aid of different pits to

suit the different distortions. To the westward of this colliery, the

vein is thrown up, and lost for a great distance. There is also here a

basalt dyke, which runs thence towards the Adji. There is coal

also discovered and worked as outposts, or detached workings by the

same firm in several places, nearly opposite to Chinacoory on the western

bank. Proceeding about three miles higher, and on the same side as

Chinacoory, a small vein of coal is found at a place called Dheesher-

ghur, and worked by Messrs. Carr, Tagore and Co. The land hence to

the union of the Barracar river, seems to contain this vein near its

surface. I cannot determine whether it be the same as Chinacoory, as

the numerous faults and dislocations hereabouts have materially alter-

5 D

732 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128. !

ed the strata, as is frequently the case from such causes, and reduced

its thickness to about three feet. There is no information to be derived

from the difference of the strata of rocks which accompany it, and usu-

ally serve to guide us and assist our judgment in such difficulties. We

are now arrived opposite to the great Pachete Hill, and find ourselves

in the country of dislocations and troublous faults and dykes. Here on

the south-east bank of the Damoodah, as I before have stated, disloca-

tions occur in every direction beneath that great hill, and between it

and the river. Coal, which in my present state of survey I take to con-

sist of two veins, is discovered all the way up to Gautcole, the open vein

of it is seen in numerous places, and it is all of good quality. At Gaut-—

cole, the river navigation ceases for boats ; it is impeded by rapids, and

of such fierceness, as to preclude a hope of effecting any passage for

boats higher up this river. It is convenient, therefore, to confine my

description of the minerals to those which are discovered below this

place, although the same continuous field of coal, though much more

contracted in breadth, extending but a short distance to either side of

the Damoodah, continues all the way to Ramghur, and to the hills

separating it from Palamow, and it seems probable, that the coal fields

in that district are coeval with the one of the Damoodah valley ;

but it is remarkable that the quality of the coal, as it approaches to

the hills of evident igneous origin in that country, has been subjected

to a change for the worse, and upon which I formerly reported in my

survey of that country for coal by order of Government. The Da-

moodah, as I have before stated, has a range of conical hills running

parallel with it at a distance generally of four or five miles from its

south-western bank all the way to Beharrynauth hill, thence they

keep at a greater distance, and stretch by the picturesque village of

Baroo, which is the residence of numerous priests with temples rais-

ed, some on and some cut from the sides of these conical hills, which

stretch away hence to near Rogonatpore. On the south-west of these

hills, which I take it are protrusions through the sand-stone formation,

and further towards Chota Nagpore, the coal formation is again met

with, and it has been a matter of some doubt to me, whether it is not

connected with that of the Coyle river and the Palamow coal field ; and —

that the great disjunction of the three coal fields of Damoodah, Coyle,

and Palamow is clearly defined by the range of hills before described,

1842. ] of the Damoodah Valley. 733

running parallel with the river up to Ramghur. Coal is found in many

situations in Chota Nagpore, though the veins are deficient in thickness.

It remains to be seen, if others of more encouraging quality and suf-

ficiently thick to be worked will be discovered in that wild country.

I think it possible, that a previous connection has existed between the

coal field of Palamow, Damoodah, and those countries beyond Chota

Nagpore, towards the northern part of Cuttack to the sites described

by Captain Kittoe, and which are traceable through a great extent

of country thence towards the Coyle, and also through Chota Nagpore.

The concomitant rocks and shales found in all these countries are ex-

tremely similar ; nor is there wanting some peculiar veins of iron stone

and fire clay, which point towards common and probably coeval forma-

‘tion. The country is so extensive, that years must elapse ere these con-

jectures can possibly be supported by unerring proofs. But it seems to

me indisputable it is not a matter of very much interest as regards

Chota Nagpore, as its distance, and the impracticable nature of the

country, precludes a hope of finding any demand for its produce of

coal.

Returning to Gautcole, and on the north-east bank of the river, we

find continuous dislocations, the dykes now appearing to be of green-

stone, and the country becomes covered with loose gravelly quartz

pebbles and conglomerates. Coming downwards to the rocky island

at the junction of the Barracar river, we enter it. This being a sub-

division of the Agency of the South-west Frontier, or Chota Nagpore,

is subject to the jurisdiction of the Poorooleah Agency. Soon after

entering the Barracar, great dislocations are visible, and by the agency

of some one of them, a fine vein of coal is brought to the surface

of the ground, and upon which I have now two collieries at work.

Similar dislocations have again thrown down the vein, and its extreme

limit is but a few hundred biggahs. The nature of the mineral differs

from any that is found in that part of the country, or within the

Damoodah. The coal is of that description called bending, though

not very strongly so; still it produces an excellent coke, such as

is not obtainable from the coals found lower down the Damoodah.

It has been found to be the very best description of coal used for steam

engines, and far exceeding in value for that purpose any other of

the country coals now brought to Calcutta. About four miles up the

734 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128.

Barracar on the west bank, and a little above the Benares road

ferry, another vein of coal, about nine feet in thickness, is thrown up,

and is now worked ; but its quality is extremely low in the scale of fuel ;

and at about eight miles further from Barracar, and on the western

bank, the sandstone formation is abruptly superseded by the schistose

rocks and hills about Panraw, where the Benares road crosses the

Barracar at the ferry of Bagooneah; and all around there, the

ironstone measures rise out of the river, and are seen basseting out

for some miles; the veins of iron are three, of a thickness two to

three inches, and very poor in metal. These ironstone measures lie over

the vein of coal, which is found on the opposite bank at Bermoory,

as well as at a place called Ramnaghur, about three miles higher

up, and it is traceable all the way across the country to the Adji-

river, thence across it towards the Beerbhoom hills, and down that river

at various places near Jamalpore, Cherooleah, and Hedgelgureah, until —

the formation is wholly lost near Seedparah Ghaut. Nearly in a line

from Begooneah, at which ferry are the great Jeyne temples towards —

Cherooleah, and at a distance from Mamutpore, on the Benares —

road of about four miles, is situated the village of Hattoreah Aytoorah.

At this place the vein of coal crops out, as also does in many other

smaller veins, and here was undoubtedly situated the first colliery ever

opened in India by the agency of European superintendence. The —

remains of old crop workings are still visible near to the village,

which were carried on by Mr. Heatly in 1774, or thereabouts, —

and it was from this place the coals denominated in those days

Ramghur coals, were obtained ; the whole of this country being at that

time subjected to the rule of the Rajah of Ramghur; and it is

an historical fact, that Mr. Heatly, at that time being politically

employed by Government, captured the Rajah, and probably ob-

tained a knowledge of the existence of coal through some atten-

dant cireumstances, and for working which, he was said to have ob-

tained Government permission. It seems the coal was twice or thrice

worked, and consumed in the arsenal of Fort William ; the reeords of

Government attest the fact, and the reasons assigned for discontinu-

ance of operations were, that the coal did not answer the purposes for

which it was required, the work was abandoned, and seems to have

lain idle ever since. The line of one of the great dykes passes close

1842. | of the Damoodah Valley. 735

to this place, and to its agency probably the out-burst of the vein may

be attributed. |

From the description of this great coal field it will be seen, that

there is no want of the mineral to be apprehended, and that the pre-

sent collieries are fully capable of producing therefrom any quantity

of coal that can be required ; but it is not the difficulty of raising, and

the production of coal that impedes supply. First, the necessary

charge for European superintendence, which is required to conduct

money operations, adds an extraordinary heavy charge upon the cost

of production. Then comes the capability of river transport, and the

difficulty of obtaining such a ghaut on the river as will admit boats

to lie ready laden to start off with the mountain torrents. The

rivers Barracar, Damocdah, and Adji, all rising in the hills, are navi-

gable only for boats to descend for about ten weeks, and then only at

such times as the rain in the hills affords sufficient water to produce

a flood in the river ; the rapid descent of the river beds seldom allow-

ing a flood sufficient to float a laden boat to remain three days, but

more usually two days, for unless a boat starts with the first or begin-

ning of the torrent, it will be difficult for it to reach its destination at

Omptah, where the coal depots are situated, before the water shall

have fallen to a depth insufficient to bear the laden boat; but empty

boats can proceed up the river at all times during the ten weeks. It

is therefore necessary for a colliery to have on the river’s margin such

a ghaut, as where a pond of deep water is situated, and where laden

boats can remain till the torrents admit of their departure. Such

ghauts are extremely rare, and within the whole distance described

on the Damoodah, there are not more than four or five such, where

thirty laden boatscan remain. Itis with the greatest difficulty that the

present collieries can manage to keep their extensive number of boats

ready laden. This will be easily conceived, when it is recollected, that

from the Nooneah Khal, where the collieries of Messrs. Carr, Tagore

and Co. and those of myself are situated, if a flood succeeds after a period

of ten days’ absence of it, that a:line of coal boats then departing ex-

tends frequently six miles in length, and is perhaps one of the prettiest

sights that a stranger can witness. The channel of the river wherein

alone the boats pass down, is extremely tortuous, very narrow, and

constantly changing from the effects of the sudden rise and violence

736 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128.

of the torrent. Very many boats of the finest description in Bengal are

lost by falling foul of each other; and once upset, these boats are

usually dashed to pieces on the rocky sides of the river, or else sink

with their load to an irrecoverable depth in the quicksands. —

In order to be able to load these boats with rapidity, it is next

of consequence to have the coals ready at the ghaut; this imposes the

necessity of keeping the colliery at work throughout the year; the

coals therefore are seldom sufficiently fresh when they are sent to

Calcutta, for it is only those worked during the ten weeks’ time that —

can be strictly so called. The consequence is, that the coal being

subject to exposure for so many months to the heat of a tropical

sun, has its innate tar and coal-oil greatly evaporated. This is the

cause of its apparent inferiority to that imported from England, which

is usually put on board ship within a day or two of its exit from the

coal pit, and arrives at Calcutta without ever having been subjected

to exposure. The coal of the district when fresh, will bear a favour-

able comparison with the average of coals imported from England,

and that from Barracar is a very little superior to it ever imported.

The great drawback to a cheaper supply of coals to the Calcutta

market is attributable mainly to the two great causes of loss in

weight by this exposure to the weather, for it is not only the nine and

half months at the river ghaut, but there must afterwards be a

twelve months stock at Calcutta to supply the market with, until

the river again becomes navigable. These two periods will be found to

be an average of éwenty months to be subject to exposure ; and the next

is, that there is an interest of money on the outlay for the same period of

time. I doubt much if any remedy at the present rate of demand

for coals can be applied. Neither rail-roads nor canals with the present

annual demand for a quantity of about 40,000 tons, (although the pre-

sent collieries could treble their produce directly,) could compete with

the comparatively cheap transport by the ungovernable river naviga-

tion, which bad as it is, still permits the coals to be conveyed to Calcutta

at an average charge of seven shillings per ton. Although the general

price for first class Steam coals is now rated at six annas per maund,

or about twenty shillings per ton, whilst there arises a great deal of

breakage into small and dust, which abstracts from its quality their

price about one-fifth, so that the first class Steam coal may net to the

1842. ] of the Damoodah Valley. 737

vendor twenty shillings per ton, still the average will not exceed sixteen,

and although he has a heavy delivery charge to sustain, the miner

at this price is supposed to be amply paid for his undertaking.

Again, supposing the plan of a rail-road or a canal to be entertained,

to what place should it direct its highest point, so that branches may

be formed to the various collieries now open, and others which would

doubtless follow? The most expensive part of the undertaking would

lie within the line of the mineral field wherein the collieries are now

working, which we may take at twenty miles in length. Any un-

dertaking of this nature must be conducted to the extreme point,

those most favoured at the lowest point would otherwise possess a

virtual monopoly of supply. It is a just source of complaint, that at

the present day the right of passage, or way-leave, to the river

can be so exercised as to- prevent the minerals from reaching

the line of navigation of the river, which is an open, free, and

untaxed road to the market of Calcutta; but any petty landhold-

er possessing a biggah of ghaut land on the river’s margin, may

prevent the interior of the country for miles from pouring its re-

sources to the capital, by what seems to me impolitic, withholding of a

regulation to open these ghauts to public use. There is scarcely a

canal or rail-road act in England but has some clause to oblige

persons possessing lands applicable to such purposes, to accept a com-

pensation for its use, settled usually by a jury of assessors. Why should

not the rule for what is required for public purposes in that country,

be applied to this? The present demand for about 50,000 tons by the

removal of such obstacles as these, and many others of a similar nature,

may be extended to double or treble that quantity in a year’s time,

if there was a demand for it, as the costs of the coal at the present

day is much enhanced by these sorts of demand, which tell grievously

in the accounts of a small concern. ‘These observations apply to the

_ whole of the river-ghauts.

The iron worked within this mineral field is generally the produce

of the thin veins which crop out on the surface of the ground, and is

smelted now in but a very few locations ; but the whole country has in

different places been subjected to the workers of iron. Scarcely a

spot of five miles square within this field but the scorie of iron are

found in great quantities; and it would seem, that as the country

738 A Description of the Coal Field [No. 128.

became subject to the cultivator, the iron smelter retreated further

into the hills and forests. At present, the only place where iron smelt-

ing is carried on within this field is near to Gautcole, and beneath that

range of hills, and towards Soosnah on the south-west side, and be-

neath the Beerbhoom Hills on the north-east; but no where east

of the Barracar, and between the Damoodah and Adji.

Having thus described the country, I may mention, that in the

Damoodah coal field, not a trace of limestone has ever been found, nor

in either that of Chota Nagpore or Cuttack ; and its absence throughout

this and the neighbouring coal field of Palamow will convince any

one, how different are the formations of this field from that in Sylhet,

the Garrows, and Assam, where the noble limestone rock is found to

accompany the coal throughout the whole of those countries. I cannot

claim any honour, as others have done in the publication alluded to,

for a discovery of coal as it is called, ten miles within the delta of the

alluvial formation, and in the midst of the paddy fields; but I hope

that what I have above stated, may prove instructive to such as think

it worth while to inquire into the resources of the country. There is

an account in the ‘‘ Gleanings of Science,” of the coal and colliery of

Raneegunge, by Mr. Jones, and I should not have mentioned it, but it

is erroneous in the extreme; and at the time he wrote it, I am certain

it was based on very limited survey. It cannot be relied on at all,

not even the section of the vein at Raneegunge, which is there made

out to be seventeen feet, istead of half that thickness from the sur-

face of the ground. We procure lime konkar, and this is the only cal-

careous production known hereabouts. Limestone, in the way of profit,

would be far more coveted than coal ; but we have it not. Fire clay of

fair quality is found beneath the coal of some veins, but not univer-

sally. When properly selected, I have seen excellent fire bricks made

therefrom, and have seen them used successfully in Messrs. Jessop’s

foundery. A porcelain clay is also found extensively near to the

hills on the south-west of the Damoodah, but the admixture of

foreign matter unsuits it for fine ware. I had some coarse pottery

made from it in England, but they failed to produce fine ware. It is

evidently decomposed rocks, and I take it, assimilates to that of China.

In its native state, and by careful ablution, it might get rid of the

impurities, but it is unadapted for pottery.

Damoorah Gallen

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1842.] of the Damoodah Valley. 739

The hills around the south-west extremity, and near to the Su-

banreeka, contain a very poor description of copper, which is stealthi-

ly worked by the natives. The ore is very poor in metal, so also

in the Beerbhoom district, and not very distant from where the coal

is found in the Braning ruin. At a place called Doomka, there is lead

found in several places, but that is also poor in metal. It probably is

an outlier of the same plumbose formations as is found near to Deoghur,

although twenty-five to thirty miles distant.

Tale is found in many places in the neighbouring hills, but the

plates are not very large.

One might suppose, that where sandstone is found throughout this

country, that some good paving stones might be obtained, but with the

exception of two places, I have never met with any sandstone which

separates in beds. At Cherooleah, on the Adji, large quantities were

formerly raised, but were principally hewn from large boulders of

sandstone and loose outlying rocks; the grain is very coarse, and the

stone soft. It however answers well for common purposes, but is unfit

to be applied to fine work.

Notr.—Aytura, Chinacoory, and Damoully, (Mr. Homfray’s Damooleah) were

three of the six mines opened by Mr. Heatly in 1774. The scattered position of

these over the country, shew that the field had been explored with some attention

at that early period, and its most capable spots determined with judgment. Chi-

rooleah also lies within the limits applied for and granted to Mr. H. So little appears

to have been done since, as far as regards the examination of the great coal field

of these districts, that though the early discoverers speak uniformly of Beerbhoom

coal, and Pachete coal, and even Mr. Jones, ‘‘ saw nothing to indicate the existence

of coal in the Burdwan district,’’ the publications of the Coal Committee invariably

term this the Burdwan field, an error that might lure some sanguine capitalist into

speculations like those of the Bexhill Colliery on the Hastings’ Sand, chronicled

by Sir John Herschel, (Disc. Nat. Phil. p. 45). The silence of the same authorities

has compelled me to support a narrative of the early history of coal, (placed in Mr.

Torrens’ hands) by rather tedious quotations from public papers, as its authenticity

might otherwise be called into question, since the Committee having easy access to

Government records, and this being their special province, appear to be unacquainted

with the facts.

S: G. T. o.

740

A Monograph of the species of Lynx. By Epwarp Buiyts, Curator

to the Asiatic Society.

As the Lynxes are a group of Cats pre-eminently attached to frigid

and mountainous regions, it is remarkable that none has hitherto been

observed on the Himalaya, where the widely diffused Felis Chaus of

Guldenstadt (vel F. Kutas, Pearson, F. affinis, Gray, and Lynchus

erythrotis, Hodgson,) appears to be their only representative, this

being rather a Lynx-like Cat than a true Lynx, though one of an

unbroken series of gradations passing from the domestic Cat group

into the present form, and which series is finally connected by F.

Caracal with the typical or northern Lynxes—the Caracal according

with the latter in wanting the small foremost upper false molar-tooth

which exists in all other known Cats, while it is deficient in the facial

ruff and mouchetures so characteristic of the animals under consider-

ation.

That more than one species of this minor group inhabits the wooded

Elboorz chain stretching eastward from the southern extremity of the

Caspian, there is every reason to consider probable; and ‘the Lynx’’*

is included by Capt. Thos. Hutton in his enumeration of some of

the mammalia of Afghanistan, (Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. 1, 558,) in

which country ‘“ a large wild Cat, with a tendency to the Lyncean

tuft on the ears,” (most probably the Chaus), is noticed by Dr. Griffith to

be met with about Olipore (Journ. As. Soc. X, 978). Mr. Hodgson has

obtained a species in Tibet (Lb¢d. XI, 276), which, from the dimen-

sions ascribed to one of his specimens, would seem to be F.. cervaria ;¢ an

animal chiefly found to the eastward of the Ural range, and rarely on the

Caucasus, but which is known in Persia (according to M. Menetries) by

the appellation Vaarchach. As I have had good opportunities of making

myself acquainted with the various species of this group, and it appears

to me that descriptions of them in this Journal will be of utility in

enabling observers to discriminate any they may meet with, I shall pro-

* In orig. ‘‘three Lynx,’’ a typographical error which, from the context, I read

as above.

t Since writing the above, having seen Mr. Hodgson’s coloured drawing of the

animal in question, I can pronounce it to be F. cervaria.

1842. ] ; A Monograph of the Species of Lynz. 741

ceed to offer an account of each of them, drawn up from personal exami-

nation of specimens in every instance.

The Lynxes may be characterised as merely short-tailed Cats, of

middle size, with a tuft of lengthened hair at the tip of each ear,

and wherein the small foremost upper false molar-tooth, which appears:

to be constantly present throughout the rest of the genus, is regularly

deficient in the adult, if not in the young also. The Caracal excepted,

they have a ruff of lengthened fur bordering the sides of the visage,

beneath which is a pointed tuft pendent on each side of the throat,

denominated their mouchetures. In general, they are light-made ani-

mals, with contracted flanks, and rather high on the limbs, and the fur of

most of them is in winter long and very dense, having deciduary whitish

tips, which more or less conceal the under-colour, but are gradually shed

at the approach of summer, when the ground-tint has always a rufous cast

(more or less bright, according to the species), and is variously spotted

with black, the markings inclining to form oblique streaks on the flanks :

the pendent mouchetures are white, with a black line near their outer

border, beyond which the edge is of the hue of the body ; the ears have

the usual dark marks at the base and tip (common to most of the

genus), and which shew very conspicuously in winter, from contrasting

with the nearly uniform hoariness of the fur generally,—as does also

a black tip to the short tail, which latter is more or less ringed above

this, and has a very truncate appearance. |

These typical Lynxes are solitary in habit, and frequent mountain-

forests, where, however, they seek their prey chiefly on the ground; but

climb trees with facility, to which they usually resort on apprehension

of danger. ‘They are timorous animals, but very destructive to lambs

and calves, fawns, and specially to feathered game and hares; but they

seldom attack larger animals, and only, perhaps, when urged and rendered

desperate by famine. They commonly reside in some rocky cavern

or burrow of their own excavation; where the female produces two

or three kittens in the spring. Their voice much resembles that of the

domestic Cat, only uttered in a fuller and deeper tone: and it may

be remarked that the talons of these animals, though slender, are

highly formidable, bemg adapted rather for prehension, or seizing their

prey, than for tearmg away the skin of it, which latter seems to be

the chief purpose to which the Lion and Tiger apply these weapons,

742 A Monograph of the Species of Lyne. [No. 128.

after disabling their victim by a single blow of the tremendous paw,

with the talons not exserted.*

As many as four species occur in Europe.

The Great Lynx (F. cervaria, Lin.; F. borealis, Thunberg, bit not

of Temminck). This is by much the largest and most powerful of the

group, with teeth—the canines at least—fully equal to those of a

Leopard, and a comparatively robust frame, appearing more so from

the length and fulness of its beautiful fur, which is highly valued by

the dealers in peltry. Its length approaches to three feet and a half,

and height of the back upwards of two feet: the ears are rather small,

only one inch and three-quarters long, and but slightly tufted; and

the facial ruff is very conspicuous, the mouchetures hardly appearing

below it, though nearly three inches in length. The upper canines are

exserted an inch and a half from the gums, and are very stout in pro-

portion. Fur excessively soft and dense, most delicately fine in texture,

and two inches long, in winter, upon the back ; of a lively rufo-fulvous, or

bright rust-colour, underneath (or i summer), and tipped with glisten-

ing ashy-white in winter, imparting a fine lustre, besides which is a

slight tinge of carneous more or less perceptible: it is marked with

distantly placed irregular black spots, sometimes rather large, and more

or less lengthened obliquely on the sides; three rows of these appear

conspicuously along the croup; and the limbs have smaller spots, and are

but little marked on their inner surface. The most esteemed skins have

the spots small, and a lustrous greyish-white surface, with a distinct

blush. The young, according to M. Temminck, are covered with brown

spots in addition to the black ones.

This species isthe Siberian Lynx of the furriers, and would appear to

be principally found in Northern Asia, from whence the skins are mostly

* So far as I have observed, a Lynx’s claw is always keenly pointed, whereas in

wild-shot specimens of the other great Feles alluded to, the talons are often very much

split and broken away at the extremity, evidencing the roughest usage, but may be

peeled away underneath with facility till they become sharp enough for any purpose. 3

The fact is, they continue growing, but, like a rodent’s tusk, are of much softer sub-

stance behind or underneath than in front ; and as soon as the point is broken away, a

horizontal split commences, and the antes lamina soon shreds off: the point, being

harder, is apt to grow inconveniently long; and hence a common practice of all the

genus, which the house Cat is too fond of performing upon the legs of chairs and other

furniture, the Jaguar always resorting to a particular individual tree of the forest for

the same purpose, and the Puma (as noticed by Mr. Darwin) making deep scores in

the bare hard soil of Patagonia.

1842. ] A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. 743

brought to Moscow. On the Caucasus, it seems to be rare ;* and

it doubtless extends northward along the forests of the Ural, being

likewise found, though as a rarity, in Scandinavia, where it is designa-

ted Kat-lo (or Cat Lynx). I suspect it to be the Tibetan species of

Mr. Hodgson.t Pontoppidan, in his ‘ Natural History of Norway,’

by some inadvertence, asserts that this Kat-goupe “is scarcely half the

size of the next, or Warg-goupe.” Of its particular habits I have met

with no information.

The Rep Lynx (F. Lynx, Temminck, but not of Linneus and

Nilsson; F. virgata, Nilsson). This is the ordinary European species,

which alone is found in the central parts, though now very sparingly,

extending from Scandinavia to Naples, and to the Pyrenees, whence

it may be suspected to have wandered into Spain, though it is

not known to have occurred in that country. It is a long limb-

ed animal, appearing so more particularly im summer, when its

coat is short; the pupils of its eyes close vertically; and the facial

ruff is moderately full, with the mouchetures appearing conspicuously

below it. A fine living male stood nearly two feet high at the croup,

with a length of about three feet to the tail, the latter about six inches

more ; ears fully three inches, with tufts an inch and a half, and the

mouchetures an inch and three quarters. The fur is short in summer,

but in winter is much longer, with pure white tips almost concealing

the bright rufous under-colour: the latter is darker along the middle

of the back, paler on the sides, and the under-parts and imside of

the limbs are white; the body-markings are obscure, and in some

individuals not a little resemble, when sufficiently brought out, those

of the Ocelot (f. pardalis) ; forming dusky spots on the limbs only,

and faint ocellated streaks descending obliquely backwards on the sides,

the inferior border of which ocellations is much more strongly marked

(as in various other species), and in some specimens almost solely

discernible. The tail is rufous above, whitish underneath, and rather

largely tipped with black: the borders of the eyes are white, with a

black line proceeding obliquely backward and downward from their

* It is, however, the only species that was noticed on the Caucasus by M. Menetries,

who obtained the spoils of one at Bakan, which he was positively assured was killed

in that country.

t See Note to p. 18.

744 A Monograph of the Species of Lyne. [No. 128.

outer corner; the upper lip is spotted, and the under one margined,

with black; and the facial markings resemble those of the other

streaked species of Felis: irides greenish-hazel. The young resemble

the adults. |

This Lynx is the commonest species of the forests of Scandinavia,

and the only one which is occasionally met with in the southern parts

of that country during severe winter weather. It is there termed

Warg-lo (or “* Wolf Lynx’) ; that is, in Sweden, being the Warg-goupe

of Norway. In former times it appears to have been very generally

diffused over Central Europe, and it is still sparingly found in the

wilder mountain forests of Germany, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland,

(where M. Schinz mentions that it is extremely rare), and according

to M. Temminck in Italy as far as Naples, and very accidentally

France. Baron Cuvier notices its occurrence on the Pyrenees. In

Russia it is more numerous; and M. Guldenstadt states that it is

common upon the Caucasus,* whence it probably spreads eastward

and northward into Central Asia. An interesting notice of this animal

occurs in Major Lloyd’s ‘ Field Sports of the North of Europe’ (II. 139,

et seq). ‘This author does not appear to have been acquainted with

more than this one species, observed both in summer and winter dress,

which he rightly refers to the same animal; and concerning it, he men-

tions that ‘“‘ they are to be found in some abundance in all the more

deeply wooded districts of Scandinavia. ‘They are usually to be met

with singly, or at most in pairs, unless it be, perhaps, that the mother is

followed by her cubs. ‘They generally confine themselves to the

wildest recesses of the forests, and are rarely to be seen in the vicinity

of inhabited places.

“The period of gestation with these animals is from eight to nine

weeks, and the female brings forth about the beginning of May: this is

either in the cavity of a rock, or in other sheltered situations. It is

said that the mother [like the rest of the genus] gives her whelps

living animals, the better to initiate them in the art of killing their

victims.

* I follow Temminck in referring Guldenstadt’s F. Lynx to this species, although

the evidence is not very conclusive. Guldenstadt defines it as ‘* capite et corpore

albidé ruf6 maculaté, caud& obsoleté annulata, apice nigré;’’ which applies almost as

well to F. cervaria. It is probable, however, that the present species is intended.

1842.] A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. 745

«« The Lynx is a most destructive beast. He kills the young of Elk,

Deer, Roe-buck, Hares, &c., and also the Capercaili, Black-cock, and

other birds common to the northern forests. He likewise destroys the

smaller domestic animals, such as Sheep, Goats, Calves, &c. When he

gets among a flock of Sheep or Goats, it is said that, if he be un-

molested, he slaughters the whole of them. He has been known to

attack and kill even a Horse.* The Lynx, it is asserted, never touches

carrion or putrid flesh,” nor, indeed, do any of the genus, unless very

severely pressed by hunger, when even a Tiger has been seen to make

a meal off a putrid carcass.

«<The Lynx is little dangerous to the human race. I never heard of

his attacking a person, unless molested in the first instance. If he be

wounded, he will sometimes turn upon his antagonist [much smaller

species, as the British Wild Cat, will do the same]; indeed, more

than one instance has come to my knowledge, when, thus circum-

stanced, he has severely lacerated his assailant. It is not difficult to

kill him with a good Dog, for, if closely pursued, the animal usually

takes refuge in a tree, which he ascends with the agility of a Cat. In

that situation, it is, of course, easy for the sportsman to destroy him.

If the Dogs take the Lynx by surprise, and he is unable to shelter

himself either in a tree, or in the cleft of a rock, it is said that he

throws himself on his back, and defends himself desperately with his

claws. He is, however, as much afraid of a bite in the foot as a Lion.”

It must be to this species, also, that Pontoppidan’s notice mainly

refers, when speaking of the Scandinavian Lynxes, he writes — “‘ These

animals go out like the Wolf, except that they do not appear so publicly

in the open flat country, but keep more to the woods, and lurk in holes

of the earth, which they dig for themselves deep and winding; but they

are driven out with fire and smoke. In the day-time they lie hid, and

steal upon their prey, which they watch for, crouched up like Cats, at

the entrance of their holes. They are very nice in their food, and of a

Sheep or Goat do not eat more than the head or udder; by which

circumstance one knows what animal has been there. Though they

always kill, they eat little in the increasing moon [?], but in the

decrease are more ravenous, and will hide or bury the carcasses like a

* This was probably F. cervaria; but it will be remembered that the Norwegian

Hlrses are remarkably diminutive.—E. B.

746 A Monograph of the Species of Lynz. [No. 128.

Bear. The wild Cat is their worst enemy, for its almost constant

employment is to look out for them in their holes, and steal their prey

from them. They are very cunning in undoing a sheep-fold, where

they help themselves very nobly. When attacked by a Dog, they throw

themselves immediately on the back, in the manner of a Cat, and turn

up the fore legs, to be the better able to defend themselves ; the Dog on

this lays hold, but the Lynx (Goupe) then makes use of his sharp claws —

so effectually, that he flays his enemy alive.”’*

The specimens of the Red Lynx which I have seen, in captivity, have

all been more or less tame, especially a fine male which was living in

the Zoological Society’s Garden at the time I left London; this was

perfectly gentle and familiar, as much so as any domestic Cat; it

courted notice in the same manner as that animal, by purring and

arching up the back, and raising its short tail, which at other times

was ordinarily carried closely appressed, as in the Caracal: the latter

animal I have also repeatedly seen quite tame; but not so the Bay and

Pardine Lynxes, which were shy and mistrustful, for ever growling and —

spitting at persons who approached them, and (the individuals) seem-

* “Tt happened lately,’? continues this author, ‘‘ that a Goupe making his way

into a sheep-fold, was discovered by a sly old he-Goat, who perceived his subterrane-

ous track, watched him narrowly, and as soon as he had come forth, before the body

could be got out, butted him, and gave him such home-pushes, that he laid him

dead in the grave of his own making.’’-—Nat. Hist. of Norway, II. 21.

Here it may be remarked, that the existence of the European Wild Cat in Scandi-

navia has been denied by later authorities, though Pontopiddan further states, (at

p- 8,) that ‘“‘we have Cats both tame and wild; the latter are very large, and their

skins bear a good price; they live by watching birds upon the trees, and then

seizing them with a sudden spring.’’ This is quite the habit of the British Wild

Cat, which usually lies dozing or watching for prey upon a low pine-branch of its own

colour, where it cannot easily be discerned. M. Nilsson (as cited by Major Lloyd)

states, however, that the true Wild -Cat does not inhabit Scandinavia, though a stray

domestic Cat may now and then be met with in the forest. The F. Catus of Linneus

is clearly the domestic species; and the Faunas of Bilberg and Retzius throw no dis-

tinct light upon the subject, failing to’ distinguish the two species apart; which is also

the case in Miiller’s Prodromus, where reference is, however, made to Von Aphelin’s

Work, (II. 299,) which I have had no opportunity of consulting. M. Ménétries notices

that the European Wild Catis not rare in the Cisalpine forests of Caucasus, where the

Russians style it Kowka, or Wild Cat; a name which, according to Pallas [following

Guldenstadt], is bestowed on F. Chaus. It descends in winter to the Steppes. Tem-

minck asserts that, in Hungary, Russia, and the Asiatic countries, this animal

attains a larger size, and yields a more esteemed fur, than in Western Europe;

though I incline to doubt whether the largest British specimens are anywhere

surpassed,

1842. ] A Monograph of the Species of Lynz. 747

ingly altogether untameable; so likewise are a couple of kittens of F.

Chaus which are now more than half grown, and which I have possess-

ed from the time they could scarcely crawl, and have uniformly tried

to subdue their savage disposition, but wholly without success. They

will allow me to touch them, but never suddenly or abruptly, nor do

they ever fail to greet me with a spiteful hiss, and when I venture to

smooth their fur, they throw back their ears as if frightened, and re-

sume their growling and spitting the moment I take my hand off; and

so it has been with them from the very first, when they could not have

had their eyes open many days. Lieut. Tickell tells me, that he also

has found the Chaus thus utterly untameable.

The Parpine Lynx (F. Pardina, Oken and Temminck). If the pre-

ceding species does not extend its range into the Spanish peninsula,

its place is there supplied by another, remarkable for the beauty of its

spotting, and the length of its pendent mouchetures, which is not

known to occur out of that country. The Pardine Lynx is inferior in

size to the ordinary Red species, but measures upwards of two feet and

a half to the tail, the latter six inches more; and height of the back

about a foot and a half, or rather more. ‘The ears are two inches

and a half long, or with their tufts three inches and three-quarters ;

and mouchetures two inches and a quarter. ‘The fur is short and soft,

three-quarters of an inch long upon’the back, and of a vinous-ful-

yous colour, paler on the under-parts, and very handsomely spotted

with black; the markings inclining to form linked ocellations on the

sides, which are of a deeper colour within than the general ground-

tint, as usual in all ocellated markings. On the limbs are round spots,

which become smaller and tend to group into ocellations above them.

The tip of the lower and margin of the upper lip are black, above

which the latter is spotted; and the back of the ear is grey in the

centre, broadly surrounded with black ; the margins of the eyes being

white as usual. The mouchetures, also, are conspicuously white, finely

set off by the black line near their outside ; but there is no other white

except on the throat. I doubt whether the fur is ever much tipped with

whitish in winter, though there is probably some appearance of it.

The ground colour of the young is paler, with the spots less intense.

To the continental furriers, this species is known, according to

M. Temminck, as the Lynx of Portugal. Col. Sykes obtained two

5 F

748 A Monograph of the Species of Lynz. [No. 128.

skins (of an adult and young) at Seville, where they cost him thirty

reals, about six shillings and three pence. ‘‘ In Andalusia, whence the

specimens came, the animal is called Gato Clavo (Clavo meaning the

pupil of the eye), illustrative of the spotted character of the fur. Some

peasants in Andalusia make short jackets of the skins. The animal

inhabits the Sierra Morena.”* M. Temminck suspected that it might

also be found in Sardinia, and perhaps Sicily ; while the Lynx of

Italy and Naples is known to be the Red one. He further conjectured

that it may inhabit Turkey and the Levantine countries. No notice

of it occurs, however, in Sr. Cetti’s work on the quadrupeds of Sardinia,

where the only wild Feline appears to be a feral race of the Domestic Cat,

with generally black fur, as noticed by Azuni, and which is numerous

in all the wooded districts of that island. ‘The specimen here des-

cribed is a fully adult male, received when young by the Zoological

Society from some part of Spain, and which lived till it attained complete

maturity in their establishment. The anterior false molar proved to be

wanting in its upper jaw, as in all the allied species here described.

The Arctic Lynx (f. Borealis, ‘Temminck, but not of Thunberg; -

F., Lynz, Linneus and Nilsson; F'. Canadensis, Geoffroy). This fourth

European Lynx appears to be common to the wooded districts of

the extreme north of both continents. It is readily distinguished —

by the indistinctness of its markings generally, including those of

the limbs, though on the belly there are spots which, in some indi-

viduals, are tolerably distinct; and particularly by the shagginess of

its paws, the fur covering which is remarkably long and dense, re-

calling to mind the feet of some of the Arctic birds, as the great Snowy

Owl and certain Ptarmigan. This animal bears even a further re-

semblance to the Owls, in the manner in which the hair of its face meets

to form a mesial ridge between the eyes, which is very strongly —

marked; whereas in other Cats, although some trace of this may —

generally be found, it certainly requires to be looked for, to be ob-

served. Its length is about two feet and three-quarters from nose to —

base of tail, the tail with hair only four inches more; height of the back i

* Proc. Zool. Soc., 1838, p. 113. From the same mountain range, a Mungoose :

( Herpestes Widdringtonii, Gray), allied to the Egyptian H. Ichneumon, has recent-

ly been described by Mr. Gray, in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for

March 1842, p. 50, certainly a very unexpected addition to the Mammalia of Europe.

1842. ] A Monograph of the Species of Lynz. 749

somewhat exceeding a foot and a half. The ears are two inches long,

with copious tufts that sometimes attain to two inches, and the ruff and

mouchetures are considerably developed, the latter measuring three

inches in length. ‘The coat generally of this species is in winter long

and very dense, measuring, at that season, an inch and three-quarters

upon the back: in summer it is of a yellowish-buff colour, greyish, or

mixed with white, having black tips along the middle of the back; and

in winter, (or when in season, as the furriers style it,) it is silvered over

with hoary tips, the black extremity of its very short and particular-

ly truncate tail, and the black tips and long pencil-tufts of the

ears, contrasting in a striking manner with the almost uniform hoari-

ness of the fur generally; its paws have a wide spread, and look

immense ; their aspect being quite different from that of any of the

others. The facial markings of this species are scarcely, even when

at all, perceptible, and of numerous heaps of the skins which I have

examined, it was very seldom that any trace of spots could be dis-

cerned, even upon the limbs: the fur of the under-parts, however,

- which is longer, has some distantly placed rather large black spots

upon a white ground, resembling those of the next species, and which

are more or less brought out in different individuals.

This Arctic species, according to M. Nilsson, is the F. Lynx of

Linneeus, as indeed was indicated by the words ‘“‘ manus amplissime,”

though the expression “ corpore rufescente maculata” certainly applies

much better to the F. Lynx of Temminck, which, as being now

generally known by that appellation, I prefer still to style so, perceiving

no advantage in altering the established denominations with M. Nilsson.

M. Temminck united the Scandinavian and Hudson’s Bay animals,

after comparison of a vast number of skins ; and M. Nilsson’s coloured

figure of a Swedish specimen might pass equally for that of an Ameri-

can one; it may, nevertheless, surprise, that this species is not ge-

nerally included in the catalogues of observed mammalia, which are

appended to the narratives of the different Polar expeditions; but the

reason appears to be, that it is everywhere rare near the sea-coast,

keeping to the wooded districts of the interior ; Captain Back being the

only navigator who notices it.

The Arctic Lynx is confined to the northernmost forests of

Scandinavia, where it is known as the Ris/o, or Raf-lo (“ Fox Lynx’’) ;

750 A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. [No. 128. —

and it appears to extend throughout the corresponding latitudes —

of the whole eastern continent, spreading perhaps to the southward in ©

Siberia, and along the forests of the Ural. It is doubtless the species —

common in Kamtschatka, and it takes a wide range on the western _

coast of North America, as the Zoological Society possess a specimen ~

from California. In the United States, it appears to be only known —

as a very rare straggler; and the only recorded instance which I ;

know of its occurrence within the northern territory of the Union ~

is published in Silliman’s ‘ Journal’ for 1837, p. 194, where a specimen :

is mentioned to have been tracked and shot, at Southington, Connecticut. —

Its weight was thirty-two lbs. and length nearly three feet; the tail {

about four inches. ‘‘ Though not entirely agreeing with Dr. Richardson’s

description”, remarks the writer, “‘it was probably F. borealis”. There —

is no other known species which it could have been. Hearne remarks, that —

“it is very rare to the North of Churchill [on the barren-grounds ?], —

but is there exactly the same as those found to the South-west. They

never approach near the settlement of Hudson’s Bay, and are very ©

destructive to Rabbits [small American Hares], seldom leaving a place ~

which is frequented by them till they have killed nearly all.”—< It is :

the only species of the genus,” remarks Dr. Richardson, ‘‘ which ex- —

tends north of the Great Lakes, and eastward of the Rocky Mountains. 4

It is rare on the sea-coast, and does not frequent the barren-grounds, §

but it is not uncommon in the wooded districts of the interior, smce from

7,000 to 9,000 skins are annually procured by the Hudson’s Bay q

Company. It is found on the Mackenzie River, as far north as —

latitude 66°. The early French writers on Canada, who ascribed to ,

it the habit of dropping from trees on the backs of Deer [which 2

Brickell and Catesby likewise assert of the Bay Lynx, being further *

rendered probable by the known sanguivorous propensity of the ordinary — |

European species,] gave it the name of Loup Cervier; but the French }

Canadians now term it indifferently le Chat or le Pechoo”.

Dr. Richardson further relates, combining the descriptions of Hearne —

and Dr. Godman with his personal observation, that this Lynx “is a :

timid creature, incapable of attacking any of the larger quadrupeds,

but well armed for the capture of the American Hare, on which it ‘i

chiefly preys. Its large paws, slender loins, and long but thick hind

legs, give it an awkward clumsy appearance. It makes a poor fight —

1842. ] A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. 751

when it is surprised by a hunter in a tree, for though it spits like

a Cat, and sets its hair up, it is easily destroyed by a blow on the

back with a slender stick, and it never attacks a man. Its gait is

by bounds, with the back a little arched, and lighting on all the feet

at once. It swims well, and will cross the arm of a lake two miles

wide; but it is not swift on land. It breeds once in the year, and has

two young at a litter. The natives eat its flesh, which is white and

tender, but rather flavourless, much resembling that of the American

Hare.” The latter accords with the statement of Dr. Shaw respecting

the flesh of the Lion, which this author compares to veal; and it is

borne out by the personal experience of Mr. Darwin, in the instance

of the Puma, which is commonly eaten by the Guachos of South

America. Buffon, therefore, may have been writing from supposed

analogy when he asserted that the flesh of the common European Lynx,

“ike that of other carnivorous animals,” is not good to eat.*

* It is indeed a question, to what extent the excessive repugnance with which

the idea of eating the flesh of Carnivora is usually entertained, be not mere educa-

tional prejudice, as an immense host of authorities might be cited to testify. Mr.

Darwin, as above noticed, in his extremely interesting ‘ Journal’ (p. 135), relates,

*“At supper, from something that was said, I was suddenly horrified at thinking

I was eating one of the favorite dishes of the country, a half-formed calf, long before

its proper time of birth. [This reminds one of an esteemed dainty of the ancient

Romans; namely, a gravid uterus suillus!| It turned out to be Puma; the meat is

very white, and remarkably like veal in taste. Dr. Shaw was laughed at for saying

that the flesh of the Lion is in great esteem, having no small affinity for veal, whether

in colour, taste, or flavour ; such, certainly,”’ continues Mr. Darwin, ‘is the case with

Puma. The Guachos differ in opinion, whether the Jaguar is good eating; but are

unanimous in saying that Cat is excellent.”

Similar testimony in favour of Dog’s flesh might be adduced, and not only as

regards the meat of such as are reared exclusively on vegetable diet, but of those

which take their chance and find their own subsistence as they may. Mr. Townshend

(in his recent ‘ Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains’ of North America)

states, that he has often eaten and relished it, and has no other objection to this diet

than the sentimental one of repulsiveness, at having so faithful a servitor and friend

of man heartlessly butchered to appease his appetite. In Norway, { may remark

en pussant, a breed is reared solely for the sake of their fur, which has evoked a

similar remark from De Capel Broke and other tourists in that country. Capt. Lyon

mentions, of the Arctic Fox, that ‘the flesh, which was very fat, had so good an

appearance, that many trials were made of it. All were horrified at the idea of eating

Foxes, but very many soon got the better of their delicacy. Not being myself very

nice, 1 soon made the experiment; and found the flesh much resembling that of kid,

and I afterwards frequently made a supper of it.’”,—Private Journal, p. 90.

Of the quality of Viverride meat, I do not remember to have seen or heard of any

remark, nor do I suspect it would be otherwisa than rank and unpalatable: but of the

Plantigrada, or Bears, Raccoons, and their allies, and of the Badger tribe, all of

752 A Monograph of the Species of Lyne. [No. 128.

The Bay Lynx (F. rufa, Guldenstadt; F. maculosa, Vigors and

Horsfield, Zoological Journal; Mississipi Lynx of Buffon, and “ Wild

Cat” of the United States of North America). Size averaging that of

the Pardine Lynx, or smaller than the last species, with much shorter

fur, and a very full facial ruff, the mouchetures not appearing below it.

From nose to base of tail, it measures about two feet and a half, the tail

five inches, and height of the back about sixteen inches; ears an inch

which are vegetable-feeders to a considerable extent (as indeed are also most Viver-

ride), abundance of favourable testimony might be collected. Vide Major Lloyd’s

‘Field Sports of the North of Europe,’ II, 46, and the Hon’ble C. A. Murray’s

‘Travels in the Western Regions of North America,’ II, 59. Even of the fetid Skunk

of the latter continent, we are informed, in Carver’s Travels (p. 402), that ‘ Ku-

ropeans who have fed on them, after the receptacles of the odorous fluid had been

carefully extracted, have found them very sweet and good.’’ If this animal be seized

and lifted by the tail, it cannot squirt its fluid, and, like other creatures with a sensi-

tive nozzle, it is easily killed by a blow on the snout. Formerly it was customary to

eat the Otter, on lenten days, for a fish !

With regard to Bear’s meat, it should, however, be mentioned, that the flesh of the

great Polar Bear appears to have sometimes proved decidedly unwholesome; yet in

the Appendix to Capt. Parry’s 4th Voyage, it is stated to be “‘ free from any disagree-

able taste; it proved a valuable and timely addition to our stock of provisions, and

served materially to restore the strength of the party.’’ Hence it may be suspected

that the effects resulting from the use of this aliment, noticed in the narrative of one of

Capt. Ross’s Voyages, are attributable to some particular food the animal had been eat-

ing, or even, possibly, to some adventitious circumstance affecting the tone of the

digestive operations in the men.

Among the Insectivora, Cuv., the respectable editor of the ‘ Literary Gazette’ gives

his personal testimony that the flesh of the Hedge-hog is excellent; and there is a no-

tice, in the ‘ Magazine of Natural History’, of a Mole-catcher ae was in the habit of |

eating the Moles he caught, and said that ‘‘if folks generally knew how good they

were, but few would fall to his share.”’ To cite an instance from among the Edentata,

Cuv., the Armadilloes are exceedingly foul feeders; yet all who have partaken of a

it agree that one, ‘‘ roasted in its own shell,’’ is most delicate-eating.

In the feathered class, I remember that M. Audubon declares, that he has never eaten

the flesh of Cormorant, nor, so long as he can help it, will he ever do so, or words to

that effect; but M. Schomburgk has assured me that he has frequently eaten of

the Cormorant of Guiana, which is really very good, after having been (like other

water-fowl) skinned previously to dressing: and very lately a gentleman informed me

that he had repeatedly partaken of Anhinga (Plotus), a genus closely allied to

that of the Cormorants. Indeed, some London readers must not be too sure that they

have not themselves feasted off a plump Cormorant; for I have been credibly informed

of an instance of a man carrying a row of these birds upon a pole through the streets,

and seeking to vend them to the Londoners by the familiar cry of ‘‘ wild Ducks, wild

Ducks, oh!’? Of the egg of the Cormorant, the same friend has assured me, that

he was much surprised to find how good they were; and there is reason to suspect that

any eggs of birds described as otherwise, were none of the freshest when tasted.

It is said that a Buzzard, and particylarly a Pern, or Honey Buzzard, is esteemed

an excellent dish in some parts of France.

1842.] A Monograph of the Species of Lynz. 753

and three-quarters long, or, with their tufts, half an inch more; and

mouchetures, which barely acuminate below the considerably developed

ruff, an inch and three-quarters at most. The fur is seldom more

than an inch long upon the back, or at most an inch and one-eighth ;

and is of a grey-brown colour, more or less tinged with rufous,

much as in a rusty tabby Cat, or as in the Chaus ; and marked all over

with small round dark spots, indistinct on the back, and, in some, all

over the body, but always well-defined on the limbs, and more or less

so above them; enlarging and becoming deeper-coloured downwards,

People should really be more particular than they are in eating fish, lobsters, &c.,

to be consistent in following out their notion that the flesh of all carnivorous animals is

unfit for the table. Many English gourmands would sicken at the idea of a dish of

Snails, which in Hungary, more especially, is esteemed a delicate and is a very

frequent viand, so much so that not a few of the peasantry even pay their rents with

them (vide Mr. Paget’s recent ‘Travels in Hungary and Transylvania’); but a

Hungarian lady would be fully as much horrified at the thought of swallowing an

Oyster, and would, at least, have this advantage over the British epicure, that Snails

are vegetable-feeders. One can fancy a civic bon vivant commiserating the barbarism

of the Persian Princes, who not long ago visited the British metropolis, and testified

their abhorrence at the custom of eating Turtle! But that we civilized and enlightened

Carnivora are altogether free from irrational and totally unfounded misapprehension

on the subject of eating the flesh of creatures of prey is, the reader will perhaps begin

to think, a little questionable, if he do not go so far as to imagine that a hint might be

profitably taken on this subject, as on some others, from the philosophically omnivor-

ous Chinese. At all events, those who are disposed to rail at others for their fastidious-

ness about eating pork, may ponder awhile upon the reasonableness of their own aver-

sion to partake of various other kinds of flesh, and hesitate before condemning as

‘‘unclean’’ and improper food, what they only presume to be such as a mere matter

of course, stigmatizing, by the appellation ‘‘carrion,’’ what, in truth, they might have

eaten with great relish, had the tide of conventional prejudice happened to flow in the

opposite, direction.

A-pro-po’s to the foregoing remarks, I have just chanced to meet with a notice in

Ellis’s ‘Your through Hawaii’ (p. 349), which is worthy of being here transcribed.

It is well known that the Polynesian natives generally, as well as the Chinese, each

rear a particular breed of Dogs for the table, though mainly on vegetable diet: and

the canivorous propensity is retained by the Chinese in this country ; at least I lately

saw a well-dressed China-man bargaining for a Corsac Fox in one of the Calcutta

bazars, and doubt not that he was prompted thereto by his palate. ‘‘ Numbers of

Dogs, of rather a small size, and something like a terrier,’’ writes Mr. Ellis, ‘‘are

raised every year as an article of food [in Hawaii, olim Owhyhee]. They are mostly

fed on vegetables; and we have sometimes seen them kept in yards, with small houses

to sleep in. A part of the rent of every tenant who occupies land, is paid in Dogs

for his jandlord’s table. Though often invited by the natives to join them in partak-

ing of the baked dog, we were never induced to taste of one. The natives, however,

Say it is sweeter than the flesh of the pig, and much more palatable than that of goats

or kids, which some refuse to touch, and few care to eat.”—Chacun a son gotit. De

gustibus, &c. &e.

754 A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. [No. 128..@

and often uniting, more or less, to form transverse streaks on the limbs,

similar to those visible on their inner aspect. The belly is clad with

longer hair, which is white, with rather large black spots; the summit

of the back, and across the shoulders, are darker ; the facial markings are

more or less brought out, different individuals varying a good deal in

this respect; the ears have the basal dark mark distinct, which is not

generally the case with the last species ; and the tail is obscurely ringed

to near the end, where there is a distinct black ring, and beyond it a

lateral black spot, which joins that on the other side above, leaving the

extreme tip white: the under-surface of the paws and tarsus are con-

spicuously brown-black (as in F. chaus), which is also the case, but in

a less degree, in F’, pardina; and the irides are pale bluish, the pupils .

of the eyes closing circularly (?)._ The young (as figured by F. Cuvier

by the appellation of ‘‘ Chat 4 ventre tacheté,”) are clouded with much

larger spots, of a darker colour than the general ground-tint.

The Bay Lynx appears to be pretty generally diffused in suitable

districts throughout the United States, as more especially in the forests

of the Alleghanies and other mountain ranges ; extending southward into

the Floridas and Mexico. It is also found in California, and about the

Columbia river, but it does not occur in the parallel of Labrador. Like

the rest, it chiefly inhabits the less frequented parts of the forest, where,

in the season, it ‘‘ makes night hideous” with its loud caterwaulings.

It is very destructive to the fawns of the Virginian Deer, young Pigs,

Hares, &c. and especially to feathered game, including the wild Turkey

in the south. Brickell and Catesby assign to it the habit of dropping

from trees upon the backs of Deer, and sucking the blood of its victim.

When urged by hunger, it has been often known to follow the footsteps

of a hunter, who happened to be carrying the bleeding carcass of a

Deer, and become at length so excited, by sniffing and licking at the

drops of blood on the ground, as to spring up at the dead animal, and

sometimes lacerate the bearer with its talons; but the next moment it

will be off and up the next tree, and pursue its course along the forest-

boughs with such celerity, like a Puma or Leopard, that, if not shot

down at once,—and a wound that does not disable it may exasperate the

creature to attack with fury,—it has every chance of escape. When

angry, it erects the facial ruff, which helps to impart a savage aspect to

the animal.

1842. ] A Monogragh of the Species of Lynx. 755

The above are the only described species of Lynx—putting aside the

Caracal—in which, I confess, that I have any confidence, though several

others have been indicated by M. Raffinesque as inhabitants of North

America, which, at most, I suspect, were varieties of the two last.*

According to Dr. Richardson, the late Mr. Douglas was of opinion

“that there are more than one undescribed animal of this genus in-

habiting the countries bordering on the Columbia. The skins pro-

cured in that quarter are generally carried to the Chinese market,

without passing into the hands of European furriers.” The following

passage, however, from a paper on the fur trade, published in Silliman’s

‘American Journal of Science,’ (XXV, 311,) will excite surprise and

doubt that any animal so conspicuous should still remain unknown

to naturalists. ‘‘ The fur-countries, from the Pacific Coast to the Rocky

Mountains, are now occupied, (exclusive of private combinations and in-

dividual trappers and traders,) by the Russians, on the north-west,

from Behring’s Strait to Queen Charlotte’s Island, in north latitude 53

degrees, and by the Hudson’s Bay Company thence, south of the Co-

lumbia River; from which Ashley’s Company, and that under Capt.

Bonneville, take the remainder of the region to the Coast of California.

Indeed the whole compass, from the Mississipi to the Pacific Ocean,

is tracked in every direction. ‘The mountains and forests, from the

Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, are threaded, through every maze,

by the hunter. Every river and tributary stream, from the Columbia

to the Rio del Norte, and from the Mackenzie to the Colorado of

the West, from their head springs to their junction, are searched and

trapped for Beaver.

*“« Almost all the American furs, which do not belong to the Hudson’s

Bay Company, find their way to New York, and are either distributed

thence for home consumption, or sent to foreign markets. The Hud-

* It is well known that the morbid eagerness of this eccentric Siculo-American

naturalist to distinguish himself as the discriminator of overlooked species of animals

and plants amounted, latterly, to decided mania, insomuch that the conductors of

different American scientific works to which he sent his papers were compelled, at

length, to refrain from giving publication to his frequent and voluminous contribu-

tions. Not even the German ornithologist, Brehm, went the length which M. Raf-

finesque ultimately did in regarding every trivial variation as indicative of specific

distinctness. See a biographical memoir of M. Raffinesque in one of the American

scientific periodicals (I do not now remember which), appended to the announcement

of his demise.—E. B.

— -—--_-

756 A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. [No. 128. |

son’s Bay Company ship their furs from their factory at York Fort, and |

from Moose River on Hudson’s Bay; their collection from Grand River, |

&c., they ship for Canada; and the collection from Columbia River goes

to London.” This wholesale destruction of the fur-bearing animals, —

and alleged destination of their spoils, seem hardly reconcilable with the

opinion that any large species could still remain unknown to European —

naturalists; and if additional species of the present group existed, especial-

ly about the Columbia River, there is certainly no accounting for the total

absence of their reliques from among the prodigious multitudes of Lynx —

skins, from nearly all parts of North America westward of the Rocky

Mountains, which find their way to London, and have been diligently ©

examined by myself and others in the store-rooms where (together with

other kinds of peltry) they are exhibited previously to each half-yearly —

sale by the Hudson’s Bay Company. From what enquiries I have been —

able to make of persons who have traversed the western territory of {

North America, the two well-known species already described appear to '

be generally recognised as the ‘‘ Wild Cat” and the “ Mountain Cat” or 4

“‘ Catamountain” ; and to these, I think, most of the notices of authors _

may be satisfactorily referred, making some allowance for vagueness —

in descriptions from memory, or which, perhaps, in some instances, |

have been given at second-hand. In Brickell’s ‘ History of Carolina’

(a. D. 1787, p. 107), a rude figure is published of the “‘ Mountain Cat,”

though, at the same time, the least bad one in the plate, representing a —

streaked animal, but which cannot be intended for the Bay Lynx, q

or common American “ wild Cat,” as this is separately described by.

him. It is possible, however, that the Arctic or mountain species is

intended, having been designed, perhaps, from mere hear-say. Carver, —

also, in his Travels (p. 445), mentions the ‘Cat of the mountain,” in ad- ~

dition to the “ wild Cat,” as being “much larger than a [domestic ?] —

orange cast, becoming lighter on the belly. The whole skin is beauti- a

fully marked with black spots of different figures, of which those on the —

Lynx, and “ Cat of the mountain” to the Bay Lynx. Professor Nuttall, —

in his “ Travels in the Arkansas Territory’ (p. 118), notices “ wild Cats —

1842. | A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. dot

of two colours, both striped and spotted,” but gives no further descrip-

tion; and Messrs. Lewis and Clarke assert, that—‘‘The Tiger-cat

inhabits the borders of the plains, and the woody country in

the neighbourhood of the Pacific. It is of a size larger than the

wild Cat [Bay Lynx] of the United States, and much the same in form,

agility, and ferocity ; but its hair is long and fine, far exceeding that of

the animal mentioned. ‘The colour of the back, neck, and sides, is of a

reddish brown, irregularly varied with spots of dark brown, the tail

is about two inches long, and nearly white, except the extremity, which

is black: it terminates abruptly, as if it had been amputated. The belly is

white, beautifully variegated with small black spots. The legs are of the

same colour as the sides, and the back is marked transversely [!] with

black stripes: the ears are black on the outer side, covered with fine

short hair, except at the upper part, which is furnished with a pen-

cil of hairs, fine, straight, and black, three-quarters of an inch long”*.

To me this somewhat elaborate description appears very much as if

it had been drawn up from recollection only, the tail being represented

as but two inches long, and the back as marked transversely, which is at

variance with every other species of Cat known. The country, too,

where the animal is stated to inhabit, has now been pretty well examin-

ed, and is known to yield the Arctic species, which I cannot bring

myself to doubt was that intended by the travellers. M. Raffinesque,

however, who never allowed an opportunity to pass of coining a name,

whether or not he had seen a specimen, or so much as a portion of

one, or even a drawing that could be depended on, has imposed the

name of fasciata upon the sole authority of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke’s

description. ‘The same author has indicated, as the Golden Lynx (Lynx

auratus, Raffinesque), an animal mentioned by Leray (‘ Voyage au

Missouri,’ p. 190), who met with it, according to Dr. Harlan, on the

border of the Yellow-stone River, near the 44th degree of north latitude,

and 32d of western longitude from the meridian of Washington. The

animal is described as “one half larger than the domestic Cat, the tail

two inches long, and ears penicillated ; colour, a clear brilliant yellow,

spotted with black and white”. The reputed Catamount is M. Raffines-

que’s Lynx montanus, to which Dr. Harlan is disposed to refer the

Mississipi Lynx of Buffon, which is clearly the Bay Lynx, and some-

* Narrative of Expedition, ILI, 28.

758 A Monograph of the Species of Lyne. [No. 128.

thing else is noticed by him as Lynx Floridanus. I have not been able to

consult M. Raffinesque’s paper on these animals, which was published

in the ‘ American Monthly Magazine’ for 1817, p. 46; and only know

it from the references of Dr. Harlan and others. Should there really be

any additional species to those admitted here, no doubt M. Audubon’s

forthcoming work on the Mammals of North America will include them ;

but I repeat the expression of my strong suspicion, that none of the

foregoing indications will ever be confirmed.

With respect to the Lynxes of Scandivania, a notice occurs in

Sir Arthur de Capel Broke’s ‘Travels in Sweden,’ &c. (pp. 147 et

seq.), which in parts is somewhat obscure. “The forests in the pro-

vince of Drontheim,” it is remarked, ‘“‘ abound with different species

of wild animals, as Bears, Wolves, Lynxes, Foxes, Martens, Cats,* &c.

The Lynx of the north is not rare in this part of Norway. In

the Norwegian language it is called Goupe, and in the north of Swe-

den it is generally termed Wargilue. From the skins of this animal

that were shewn to me in different parts of Norway and Lapland,

three of which differed very materially in colour, it seems that

there are, at least, as many species or varieties. Of one of these

M. Knudtzon had several. The largest measured five feet in length,

not including the tail, which did not exceed an inch and a haif. The

colour of them all was grey, with a yellowish tinge, beautifully marked

with dark spots, and the ears were tufted. The general price they

brought at Drontheim was about five specie dollars, or one pound

sterlng. This seems to be peculiar to Norway, as I never observed it

_ during my subsequent travels. [It would appear to be F. cervaria, —

but much stretched, and the tail imperfect.] Of the two others, which

I met with in Lapland and Sweden, one that I saw at Urnea measured,

from the muzzle to the beginning of the tail, five feet eleven inches [!],

and the tail was hardly two inches and a half. The appearance of the

skin in every respect so much resembled that of the Leopard, that I

should have suspected it to have belonged to that animal, had it not

been for its tufted ears, and the length and superior thickness of the

fur. [I presume this to have been an excessively stretched skin of

F’. cervaria killed in summer, when the pale tips to the fur had disap-

peared.] The third species, which I met with in Swedish Lapland,

* Vide Note to p. 24.

1842. ] A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. 759

differed very materially from the other two, being of an uniform red-

dish-brown colour [summer aspect of J’. borealis]. In length it exceed-

ed five feet [!]. This, which I imagine to be the same as the North

American Lynx, and the animal most commonly known by the term

Lynx, I have seen alive in the collections of this country, though of a

much smaller size.’ Sir Arthur proceeds to remark on the magnitude

of the skins noticed; and if my presumed identifications of them are

correct, he does not appear to have been acquainted with the ordinary

species of the northern forests, or veritable Warg-lo (Wargilue) of the

Swedes.

~The Caracat (F. Caracal, Auct). This well-known species ap-

pears to bear that affinity to the Domestic Cat, which the preceding do

to the European Wild Cat; and like its analogue, is distinguished by

having a tapering tail, in addition to its facile capability for domestica-

tion: individuals, however, vary in this respect, as observable in all

the higher animals. Length about two feet and a half, the tail nine or

ten inches additional; ears three inches, or with tufts three-quarters of

an inch more; and height of the back sixteen or eighteen inches. Gene-

ral colour bright fulvous-brown, silvered over with whitish tips in win-

ter, and paler on the under-parts, with some spots generally obscure, but

sometimes tolerably distinct, on the belly, flanks, and inside of limbs ;

ears black without, terminating below in a pomt considerably beyond

the ear; no black spot on the border of the upper lip, but one where

the moustaches grow, and another above each eye, and there is a line

down each side of the nose ; extreme tail-tip black.

This animal is common to all Africa, from Barbary to the Cape of

Good Hope, where it is not unfrequent; also to a considerable portion

of western and even central Asia, being termed Tsogde in Little Tibet,

and Ech in Ladakh, as I was informed by Mr. Vigne, who shewed me

an excellent drawing of a trained one he saw in the former country :

but if it exist, according to the current statement, in India, it must be

only or chiefly in the western parts, not improbably in the same districts

as the Lion: for though its range is asserted in the Dict. Class. d’Hist.

Nat. to extend from Barbary to Bengal, and Mr. Ogilby mentions it

as met with in most parts of India,* while various other authorities

* ¢Mammalogy of the Himalaya,’ p. 10.

760 A Monograph of the Species of Lynx. [No. 128. |

might be cited to the same effect, yet it is neither included in Col.

Sykes’s list of the Mammalia of the Deccan, nor in the elaborate Cata-

logue of those of the Southern Mahratta country by Mr. Elliot, neither

can I learn of any trace of it in Bengal; Mr. Hodgson omits it in his —

list of Nepalese Mammalia (J. A. S., X, 908), and, proceeding eastward,

Dr. Griffith among those of Assam. It is even likely that, like the

Cherrug Falcon, trained individuals may be occasionally brought from

beyond the Indus, and that such have erroneously induced the state-

ment that they were indigenous to the provinces where seen. It is

said to mhabit Arabia, as well as Persia, and it is not unfrequently

designated the Persian Lynz, being trained, especially in that country,

to creep and spring upon game, in the manner of the Cheetah. This

animal is the Karrah Kulak of Persia, Gat el Khalleh of Barbary, and

bears the name of Seer-gosch in India. M. Temminck states, that the

wild Caracals hunt in packs of several individuals, pursuing and attack-

ing game in the manner of wild Dogs; but this, I should say, much

requires confirmation; as does particularly its claim to be considered

as indigenous to India.*

There is a Felis aurata,'Temminck, (not Lynx auratus of Raffinesque,)

which appears to need further establishment as distinct from the Caracal.

It is described as rather smaller than that species, with tail half the

length of the body, a brown band along the median line of the tail, but

the extreme point black. Ears short, rounded, not penicillated ; the

coat very short and lustrous. All the upper-parts are very bright

rufous-bay and spotless, with indistinct streaks of a somewhat deeper

tint on the flanks; lower parts reddish-white, marked with large and

small spots of maronne-brown ; ears perfectly black without, and red-

dish within ; limbs golden. Length three feet four inches, of which the

tail is twelve inches and a quarter. Described from a skin purchased

in London, locality unknown.

* Since writing the above, | have been assured of one having been killed near Jubul-

pore, in central India.—E B.

761

Selections communicated by the Suddur Board of Revenue at Allahabad,

From Correspondence respecting the proposed formation of a Canal for

Irrigation to be supplied from the River Jumna, near the Village of

Kuttha Putthur, in the Deyra Doon. From Captain P. T. Cautiey,

to the Secretary of the Suddur Board of Revenue, North Western

Provinces, Dooab Canal Office, Camp Hurdwar, 29th April, 1841.

Srr,—In the Revenue Survey of the Deyra Doon completed by

Captain Brown, that officer notes ‘‘ that the lands north of the Sutwala

Row in general, may be irrigated from the Jumna, by a Canal cut from

Domayut, but the excavations would be expensive.”’

2. During the late cold season, I took the opportunity of examining

the country, which would be benefited by such a work as Capt. Brown

refers to, and as I was on the spot, this examination naturally led to a

further inquiry into the practicability or not of getting water out of the

Jumna upon the high land; the results, which for the satisfaction of

Government I have put into form, will be found in the sheet of Plans

and Sections which accompany this letter, fig. 1, bemg a map on a

scale of four inches to a mile of the ground over which the Canal will

take its course; fig. 2, a map on a quarter of the scale, of the country

bounded on the north by the hills and forests of Umbarree and Puthi-

poor; south by the Asun river; east by the Sutwala Row; and west by

the Jumna river. The rest of the figures are longitudinal and cross

sections, with plans, &c. of works in masonry which will be res to

maintain a regular flow of water.

3. In fig. 2, the course of the Canal is indicated by a blue dotted

line, and it will be observed, that as the mountain drainage crosses it at

right angles at two points, the whole tract to be irrigated is divided

into three distinct portions, stretching from the Canal to the Asun

river, the slope of country being in every way favourable to the irriga-

tor.

4, The return of village lands which accompanies this letter shews, that

about 17,000 acres of cultivable land will be benefited by this Canal ;

the country is open with little forest, and only requires a Canal to

bring it under cultivation. The want of water* at present prevents the

* Captain Cautley in a subsequent letter explains, that he here alludes to drinking

water; and adds,

762 Proposed formation of a Canal for Irrigation __[No. 128.

establishment of villages at a distance from the Asun and Jumna rivers,

and the want of population depending on this circumstance will, I ima-

gine, until a Canal is made, interfere altogether with the improvement

of this portion of the Doon.

5. The amount of my estimate (Rs. 90,807: 0: 0) which depends

-entirely on the difficulties of the first three and a half miles of the

course of the Canal is high, but the return of water, rent, mills, etc.

when the water-course is doing its proper work, would render such an

outlay admissible.

Thus :—

17,000 Acres, or 27,200 Puk. Begas, @ 5 Rs. As. Pie.

annas per Bega, x: je sl 8500 O O

Mills, corn, sugar, sawing, etc. .. ‘ois 1500 O O

———

Total, 10,000 0 O

Deduct Repairs and Establishment. .. » AE OOO= OO

Balance net profit, " ™ “ 7000 O O

or equal to 72 per cent.

6. For a detail of the work I must refer you to Pi 1/4, 5, 6,7, 8;

9, 10, the latter being the longitudinal section, the capital letters

noted on each referring to particular points; the position, elevation, or

depression of which will be easily recognized.

7. It was found impracticable to establish a head at Domayut, the

steppes into to the river from the high land being not only exceedingly

high, but the relative level of the Jumna’s water being low, full advan-

tage was not attainable so far dowa the river; the head which I have

established is immediately under the village of Kuttha Puttha, and at

the highest point that the mountains would admit of; the head is favor-

ably situated for a supply of water, and as the depth of digging at that

‘In a note from the manager of the Hopeton Grant, dated 25th inst. he observes

with reference to the land which would be benefited by the Kuthur Puthur Canal,

‘the whole of the lands which you noted as to be commanded by his Canal are still

lying waste. Some attempts that I made to cultivate in the outskirts are likely to

prove abortive, for the Prithipoor well is almost dry, and the people in that neigh-

bourhood have to drive their cattle to the Jumna for water; they cannot stand out

against want of water.’ This is characteristic of all the tract coming under the influence

of the proposed Canal; the Puthipoor well is, I believe, the only one in existence in

its neighbourhood. Water therefore is not only necessary for irrigation, but for the

common purposes of life, and consequently, for the concentration of people for agri-

cultural purposes.””—Vide his letter of 26th May, 1842.

1842.] to be supplied from the River Jumna. 763

point will be thirty-six inches, the expenses necessary for spurs and

bunds will be trifling.

8. From the head to a point at a distance of 4,755 feet, the course

of the canal is passed by two rows or mountain streams, one of minor

importance having a dam with two openings of ten feet each, the other

with a dam of ten openings, as represented at fig. 13. The quantity

of boulders, or river stone, in this part of the country will render the

execution not only easy, but will enable them to be completed at a

very moderate expense. These dams will be precisely the same as

those in use of the Doab Canal, with sleeper planks, etc. etc.

9. The second division of the work may be considered as that from

the letters A to N, or 18,916 feet ; on this line the course of the Canal

creeps along the slopes and scarps of the high banks, descending to the

Jumna ; and the level of the Canal bed, which is proposed to be twenty-

four inches per mile, strikes out on the surface of the country at the

latter figure. Four mountain streams will be passed by aqueducts, two of

them having a span of fifty-one, of forty-five, and the other of twenty-

five feet. Care and attention is all that is required to surmount the

difficulties of excavation on this line; neither the original labor, nor

the chance of after-accident is equal to that which I anticipated on the first

mile of the Beejapoor water-course. The soil is full of large shingle or

boulders, and the excavation which has been estimated for, is ample to

render the work fully efficient. Portions of the line where the Canal

comes in contact with high banks is proposed to be constructed of

masonry, as represented on the section in fig. 15. ‘The masonry chan-

nel will lead to and from the masonry aqueducts, as well as from the

dam of ten openings, which I have described as constituting part of the

work of the first division, and immediately south of this dam, grooves

for sleeper planks will be made in the main channel, so as to keep it

clear of water during floods. As the breadth of main channel and

that of dam-openings correspond, the same sized plank will do for both.

10. The third division, from the letter N to the Seetla or Sutwala

Row, or a distance of 21,834 feet, is plain digging. Six lines of drain-

age are crossed : two by aqueducts of twenty-five feet span each ; four

by dam or outlet, one of which has ten openings of ten feet each; and

three outlets of ten feet each. The slope of the Canal bed is still

continued on a descent of twenty-four inches per miles the extra

764 Proposed formation of a Canal for Irrigation [No. 128.

slope being overcome by four falls in masonry : one of four and half feet,

two of eight feet, and one of twelve feet, which latter will deliver the _

tail-water into the Sutwala Row, and ultimately into the Asun and

Jumna rivers.

11. The facility with which boulders will be procured, and the cheap-

ness of the very best lime, ought, I should think, to enable the persons,

who superintend the construction of these works, to do them efficiently

on the estimate now submitted.

12. I need hardly advert to the power for machinery which is intro-

duced into the Doon by the construction of these masonry falls. On

the Beejapoor water-course, there are 115 descents averaging four feet

each. On the Kuttha Puttha Canal, the four proposed falls will place

on the high lands means for machinery of every description. It may be

long before these means are taken advantage of, but with the growing

interest taken in this valley, the annual arrival of new settlers, the cer-

tainty that a new generation of Europeans is now springing up, who

must look to a livelihood from this country, I see in perspective not

only a valley rich in its fields and harvests, but one that will be the

centre of an active and manufacturing population.

13. The quantity of water required by the Kuttha Puttha Canal is

eighty cubic feet a second. When not used for irrigation, the escape

ultimately finds its way back to the Jumna, through the course of the

Sutwala and Asun rivers.

14. I am prepared for a question that may be put as to the propriety

of going to the expense of this work for using, (advantageously though

it may be,) eighty cubic feet of water, when the demand for the Delhi

and Doab Canals absorbs during years of drought the whole volume of

the Jumna river, and when this eighty feet, now proposed to be turnedil

to account in the Doon, at an expense of 90,000 rupees, would be used

in the Doab without incurrmg any expense at all. In the right that

Government has very properly assumed over the waters in the Doon,

I merely see the intention of regulating the supply and establishing a

supervision, so that the water taken from any river may be applied to

the greatest advantage. The inhabitants of the Deyra Doon, who on

the west side possess the Asun river rising in their own country, and

pouring a supply of water into the Jumna, equal to 600 cubic feet a se-

cond, may well be permitted to relieve the Jumna of one-eighth of that

1842. ] to be supplied from the River Jumna. 765

amount; their claim to such a small proportion is infinitely greater

than that of others, and as the necessity for water not only for irrigati-

on, but even for drinking, is as great on this tract of the Doon as it is

on any portion of the districts under the influence of the Delhi and

Doab Canals, this claim to a portion of the Jumna may be fairly con-

ceded.

15. In the case of the Beejapoor water-course, which was proposed

to be opened by a private individual, a precedent, and a very judicious

one, appears to have been established of preventing a work of this

nature, which must ultimately be of service to all, from becoming the

private property of one person. Government in the case alluded to, pro-

posed being at the expense of the work, so as to admit of the benefits

being equally distributed, both amongst the Native and European

farmers. The same argument would apply to the Kuttha Puttha Canal ;

the expenses of outlay on this work, however, are beyond the means of

the holders of the land coming under its influence. This fine tract of

cultivable land, therefore, must lie waste unless Government gives its

aid in the first instance. I believe, that I have shewn that there are no

natural obstacles to the undertaking, and should the return for outlay

come up to the estimate which I have made of it, the sanction to carry-

ing the work into effect would, in giving fair interest for the capital ex-

pended, be the means of fertilizing a large tract of the valley which

otherwise must lie waste and uncultivated.

I have the honour to be, &c.

(Signed) P. T. Cautury, Capt.

Superintendent Doab Canal.

‘To H. M. Exuiorr, Esa.

Secretary, Revenue Board, Allahabad.

766 Proposed formation of a Canal for Irrigation [No. 128.

No. 38.

Estimate for the Kuttha Puttha Canal in the Deyra Doon, for the

Irrigation of the tract of Country bounded by the Jumna, Asun, and

Seetla Rivers, Doab Canal Office, 14th April, 1841.

Measurement. 3

ane. ml ee |) ee

Description, 1 Oia 2 D. | No. anes

Kuttha Puttha Dam No.1.

Floorings, -. .| 29) area} 114 |x 1,= 3806

Piers, centre aad ae As 3| area 66 |x 3}= 594

Tail Wing! Wallsynr oder F2atr Sea USCS. RZ ree

HRONE, GILtOss 0.6 puis Mee DG pared: 48 |x 2= 672

Total Cubic feet,..| .. re mu eb ie joo2

Domayut Row Drainage

No. 2.

Floorings, .. ..| 147] area 114 |X 1) = 16758

Piers, centre and sent mS al x 66 | XT e278

Tail Wings, SOS ITD BLESS SUT SCMNS ClO Dita ane

Hront .dittow crew sot: 7| area AS | >¢, Dee G72

Total Cubic feet,..| .. Bhs He ap a 20358

Aqueduct No. 3 Nulla.

Pier 85) Hadi ----| LEX 10}% 17 1x 21 — 5440

Arch, .. ~ «| 16)K 601K 321K 1] = 3360

Wing Walls, os eoeel 40% 3|x10/X 41 = 4800

Flooring, ce te Pee | LDOP Se SP Se 1G" SCN a= eee

Parapets;)). ot Se ae LSOl x Casey 4 Se a ae

Cordon, :.):. 68 {CRW LO! heuT x. <1: | 6, 2a

Abutments to Piers, seed MOL DES GOL SC. 4) SEO

Total Cubic feet,..| .. ey ee i ad 25975

Aqueduct No. 4.

Nulla same as above, Si ws . a Ri 25975

sere No. 5 Nulla.

Piers, . ei Rene 2! 16) XK). 8p C13 || Ka 2) = S328

BCH oy escuk tect ee ae 16).X%.52 | <8) | SOL e496

Wing Walls, .500 hse} 851% 1 8nloe Onl oe 44254200

Flooring, on pee yew fp LBONSS VB h5e 1G USC Taian ie

Parapets, 2) J ween PSOE Bilis 4 C92 om

Cordon, . ad -- |: 1380)x 141% 4 1-2 aa

Abutments to Piers, , ee 8ix. l ix 24 1x.4| = 768

Total Cubic feet,..| .. | .. Hep 4A iw 20477 |

ee | ee ef cree | ee | Ge

Carried over Total Cubic. feet.! .. in hs -. | 9810R

1842,] to be supplied from the River Jumna. 767

Measurement. he

| Oct, ie

Description. 4p UB. | D. | No. a8

Brought over Cubic feet..| .. ag glk ae on wie 98107

Aqueduct No. 6 Nulla.

Piers +... Coe DG IG A XLS VX QV =. 2496

Arch, : Ar aetle DORR SOL Gel fe she ie | 1440

Wing Walls, Be LO PCE OSS Rey Mp SCE GL SR ee eg

Miemesyes 5s. eee | BOX. 3 XK) 16, X | T= 3840

Parapets, Be el here | OO pK). a |. Ae hk pou pl PaO)

I ca) cee | COX LK OL LX 2h 200

monuments, .. ..--.. 6) 4, DK OO Xx 4 =. 576

Total Cubic feet, ..| .. oe By ane a 12056

Aqueduct No. 7,

same as above, ‘ah a, ie ae ut 122219

Outlet No. 8 Drainage.

eo. 8. .-| 16) area 114 }x% 1} = 1824

+. Piers,. . eters 3| area 66,1 Zc... 396

Tail Wing Walls, Pie cea) 2a XS OLS PO.) 36h ae ie oO

Front ditto, Si ae eae 7| area 48 |x 2}— 672

Total Cubic feet,..| .. sa hs a ay 3642

Outlet No. 9 Drainage,

Same as above, .. ..|.. ahs hy te ie. 3642

Aqueduct No. 10, same

as at No. 4, i rv bs me i Ae 12056

Dam No. 11, same as Do-

mayut Row Drainage, .| .. ie ue se ie 20358

Outlet No. 12 Drainage,

same as No. 6, ws a “f af Be 3642

Masonry Water Channel

Area Section 26 x 10560} .. oe me =s ee 274560

Total Cubic feetof Masonry, | .. | .. |.. | .. — |4gonig9

Earth Work.

On the first 23,671 feet in length the Canal either

crosses the Steppes or traverses the Bank, dipping

into the valley of the Jumna. The superficial soil is

clay and sand, that under it shingle ; where the Canal

traverses the Banks, the excavation will be done with-

out Cooli labor, by throwing the shingle and earth

over the sides.

Ist Portion, $49) eS) 5G 20... arneBegB00

2d Portion, 16240 x 25 x 20 .. .. 8120000

3d Portion, 21834 ~ 20 x 6 ... .. 2620080

nO SR RR RE SR URE etn ee te

Total Excavation, .. 12969380

768 Proposed formation of a Canal for Irrigation [No. 128. _

Masonry 440119 Cubic feet. :

Of which 40,119 Cubic feet, @ 16 Rs. per 100, .. 6419 O 7

7] 100,000 ditto, @ 12 Rs. per 100, .. 12000 0 O

cP 300,000 ditto, @ 8 Rs. per 100, .. 24000 O O

Earth Work 12969380 Cubic feet.

Of which 10,349,300 Cubic feet, @ 3 Rs. per 1000, .. 31047 14 5

os 2,620,080 ditto, @ 2} Rs. per 1000, ... 6550 3 29

4 Falls with Bridges attached, 150 Rs. each,.. .. 600 0 O-

2 Bridges Villages, @ 60 Rs. each, .. se Me 180 0 O

2 Mills, @ 500 Rs. each, rs » 2 i000 0. Of

100 Planks for Dams 103 feet x 1 feet x 22 oa with :

iron straps, &c. complete, @ 3 Rs. each, .. “ 300 0 OF

Total Co’s. Rs... 82097 2 2

Add for Contingencies, .. - e fe Jo OOS ES TG

Dees

Grand Total, Co’s. Rs... 90307 0 O

Assignment required on the Saharunpoor Treasury.

(Signed) ‘P. T. Cauttey,

Superintendent, Doab Canal.

; Kutta PuttHur CANAL

Deyrra Duoon

all

Seale of Melee

-«

= if” Sia

Bh ee Papal — : : > eA _ Cross Dection atthe Head

pee ee 33. Figs Fig6 :

«3 Fig 10 Longitudinal Section : Pe d

aaie ¢

wes

ig 10 Continued

770 Proposed formation of a Canal for Irrigation [No. 128.

No. 33.

To G. F. Franco, Esa.

Commissioner, Division of Meerut.

Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter,

No. 35, dated 12th July 1841, with its enclosure, and map as per

margin,* relative to a Canal proposed to be cut from the river Jumna

* Y ? a e

in atl as oe at; Kutta puther, for the purpose of supplying

Doab Canal Office, water for drinking and irrigation to a portion of

Camp Hurdwar, 29th cs ¥ ‘

April 1841. the Dhoon, where it is indispensibly required to

Estimate No. 38 dated P és

the same office, 14th Secure the settlement of villages, increase of

cae 8 ete Village population, and cultivation of some of the

Lands, extracted from finest and richest lands in the western division of

Capt. Brown’s Survey, :

dated the same date. the Dhoon, and calling on me for a report on

the same.

The delay which has occurred in sending my reply, was caused by the

uncertainty which existed regarding the quantity of water which would

be contracted for by Grantees and Mookuddums falling under its

influence, in consequence of the principal grant being in progress of

transfer ; this arrangement having been brought to a satisfactory conclu-

sion, and the present holders having the means at command of carrying

into full effect the intentions of Government in opening the Canal,

I have much pleasure in reporting, that I have consulted the wishes

of all those whose lands come under the influence of the Canal under con-

sideration, and the desire to have it completed, as soon as possible, is uni-

versal, and all are ready to engage for as much water as will irrigate all

the lands fallig under its influence, which after examination and

comparing with Captain Brown’s survey, does not appear to be over-

estimated by Captain Cautley when he reports it to comprise 10,700

acres. A great portion of this land is now waste, overgrown with fine

grass, and uninhabited, principally from want of water; these obstacles

being removed, there is not a doubt, but villages will spring up and the

population will increase.

The full amount of the receipts calculated on by Captain Cautley,

may not be realized the first or second year, but they will in-

crease, and lands at present waste will soon become productive, and ul-

timately yield a considerable revenue to Government, which has not

1842.] to be supplied from the River Jumna. 771

been taken into consideration in Captain Cautley’s estimate. Under

this impression, I cannot too strongly urge my recommendation. of the

undertaking being commenced on as soon as circumstances will permit.

I have detained the documents stated in the margin, for the purpose

of taking a copy of them for registry in my office; when that has been

effected, I shall have the honour of returning them.

I have the honor, &c.

(Signed) F. Youne, Lieut. Col.

Political Agent.

Deyrau Doon,

Political Agent’s Office,

the 30th October, 1841.

The Commissioner of the Meerut Division, in submitting the Po-

litical Agent’s report, with his letter No. 433 of the 24th December

1841, observes, Par. 2: “I consider that one lac of Rupees would

“be well laid out in the construction of this work, and that it would

‘yield a sure and early return. The grantees in the Doon are en-

“‘terprising, and will avail themselves immediately of the means of

“irrigation afforded, by bringing under tillage the arable land now

“lying waste for want of water. Colonel Young’s reference to those

“‘who would benefit by the proposed Canal is very satisfactory, and

“TI know that the grantees are most desirous that the work should be

No. 118.

Canal Office, West of the Jumna, Kurnaul, July 7, 1841.

° To H. M. Extiort, Esa.

Secretary, Sudder Board of Revenue,

Allahabad.

Sir,—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter

No. 63 of the 22nd ultimo, enclosing copy of Captain Cautley’s report

on a proposed water-course from the Jumna in the Deyra Dhoon, on

_ which you do me the favor to ask my opinion.

2. The simplicity of the work proposed, and the known skill and

| experience of Captain Cautley, leaving no doubt as to the correctness

_ of the estimates, the practicability of the work, or its exact suitable-

772 Proposed formation of a Canal for Irrigation [No. 128.

ness to the purposes for which it is intended, I suppose that my

opinion is merely required on the question mooted in the 14th paragraph

of Captain Cautley’s report, regarding the expediency of diverting

any part of the Jumna water from the supply of the existing Canals.

3. The supply of water in the Dehli Canal has during some months

of three several years; (viz. 1836-37, 1837-38, and 1840-41,) fallen

considerably short of the demand, and many villages situated near

-the ends of the Canal branches in the Dehli, Rohtuk, and Hansie

districts, have, from this cause, and from the greater consumption

of water by those above them, been temporarily deprived of the full

means of irrigation they once possessed, nor has the loss been confined

to the villages so situated, as it has necessitated vexatious restrictions

on the irrigation throughout the whole line of Canals.

4. Under these circumstances, I consider it my duty (both to Go-

vernment, whose revenue settlements have been made with reference

to present means of irrigation, and to the Zemindars, whom I have

induced and assisted to dig water-courses,) to deprecate any avoidable

diminution of the Jumna water. |

5. I am willing to admit that the Doon may probably benefit more

from the Kutha Puttur Canal, than the Dehli territory would lose

by the abstraction of eighty cubic feet of water per second, and that

the whole of the eighty feet so abstracted might not be a dead loss,

as some surplus might return via the Satwala and Asun to the Jumna,

and a proportion even of that used in irrigation, might, by percolation —

of the soil, find its way into the natural drains of the country, and

eventually return to the parent stream. A deduction may also be

claimed for waste by absorption and evaporation, during the transit

of the said eighty feet from the Dhoon to the irrigating districts of

the Dehli territory. But with respect to the first concession, I sub-

mit that the Dehli territory has a prescriptive right to as much of its

present means of irrigation as can be maintained, and though I cannot

exactly estimate the effects of the latter, I believe that they would be

found inconsiderable, and at all events, it is undeniable that some loss

would occur, and whether that loss be small or great, the principle

remains unaltered.

6. It may be argued, that the loss of the Dehli territory merely re-

sults in that of Government, who have the power of compensation by re-

1842. ] to be supplied from the River Jumna. 773

mission of revenue, and that the real question, therefore is, whether

the moral and political advantages anticipated from the colonization

of the Dhoon are likely to overbalance the partial deterioration of the

Dehli territory as a source of revenue, and the proportionate loss of

the original outlay on the Dehli Canal. But I consider that the discus-

sion of such questions will not be expected from me, who am merely

called upon to state (ex parte) in what degree the contemplated measure

would affect the particular interests intrusted to me by Government.

7. In conclusion, I beg to acknowledge the courtesy of the Sudder

Board of Revenue, in having allowed me an opportunity of bringing

forward the above statement.

And have the honor, &c.

(Signed) W. E. Baxer,

Superintendent of Canals, West of India.

Extract Pars. 2 to 4 of letter No. 2603, dated 8th February 1842,

from Captain F. Abbott, Officiating Superintending Engineer, North-

west Provinces.

2. “I much regret that I did not receive the plans of the Kutha

Puther water-course, as I could not in consequence, examine the pro-

posed site. I have, however, been over portion of the ground to be

watered by this project, and have visited the Jumna, near the proposed

head.

3. ‘Captain P. T. Cautley proposes, I believe, to draw off seventy-

five cubic feet per second from the Jumna, for the supply of the Kutha

Puther water-course. Of this a portion would return to the Jumna in

the shape of tail-water, and a small portion by percolation. I am there-

fore of opinion, that the diminution of the river’s volume, at the heads

of the Doab and Dehli Canals, would be imperceptible. It must, how-

ever, be noticed, that the whole loss, instead of being divided between

the two, would fall exclusively upon the latter, as the Doab Canal has

the command of head.

4. “Tt would appear adviseable, on general principles, to make this

small sacrifice upon the Dehli Canals, with the view of fertilizing so

large a portion of valuable land as that contemplated by the Kutha

Puther project, amounting I believe to 26,000 Beeghas, were measures

774 Proposed formation of a Canal for Irrigation [No. 128.

taken to ensure the use of its waters ; and I think this might be effect-

ed by the adoption of the assessment or contract system. But some

agreement should, I think, be entered into with the landed proprietors

previous to commencing upon the work, to save the State from chance

of loss.”

No. 160.

To R. N. C. Hamitron, Esa.

Secretary to Government, N. W. Provinces, Agra.

Sir,—In submitting for the consideration and orders of Government,

the accompanying correspondence respecting the opening of a new

Canal near the village of Kutha Puther, in the Dehra Doon, the Sud-

der Board of Revenue, N. W. P. observe, that Captain Cautley estimates

the expense of the proposed water-course to be, 90,307, and that it will

yield 7,000 Rs. per annum, or about 73 per cent. the capital sunk.

2d. At the same time it will divert from the channel of the Jumna

75 cubic feet of water per second, of which one-half, it is calculat-

ed, will be entirely lost to the volume of the stream at the Doab Canal

head. The whole of this water will be abstracted from the Dehli and

not from the Doab Canal, the head of the former lying below that of

the latter, and the loss will be felt during that portion of the year,

when the whole body of the river is used for irrigation through the

Canals. i

3d. Half the water then which will yield rent through the Kutha

Puthur water-course, after an outlay of 90,000 Rupees, would at

present yield a higher rate through the Dehli Canal, without any ©

outlay at all.

4th. Hence it seems very questionable whether, viewing the ques-

tion as a mere profit on the consumption of a certain quantity of water,

it would be desirable for the Government to engage in this undertaking.

5th. There are, however, many other questions which might influence

the decision, and on these the Board have not the means of decidedly

expressing an opinion at present. The Dhoon may perhaps become

a most valuable portion of British territory, from the peculiar adap-

tation of its soil to the more valuable products, and from the fitness

of its locality and climate for the enterprize of British capitalists.

1842.} to be supplied from the River Jumna. 775

Without artificial irrigation of this nature, large tracts of it, and amongst

them that which would come under the influence of the Kutha Puthur

Canal, cannot be brought under cultivation. Wells cannot be dug, and

the difficulty of procuring water even for domestic purposes, renders

them uninhabitable. ‘The water in such cases possesses a double value,

being used for the support of life, as well as for irrigation, whilst the

rapid fall of its course gives it a still further value as the motive power

of machinery.

6. It is therefore far from improbable, that other circumstances be-

sides those of a mere profitable return for the water may render the

execution of the proposed work deserving the attention of Government,

or become an object for private enterprize.

7. Agricultural operations in the Dhoon are still too much in their

infancy to enable the Board to speak with confidence on these points,

whilst they are also unprovided with results from the experience of the

lately opened Beejapore water-course, and the now constructing Raj-

pore water-course, on which to build any certain calculations of the

effects of such works in the peculiar climate and soil of the Dhoon.

8th. The present time is also probably one in which the Government

would be reluctant to engage in an expensive undertaking of problema-

tical utility.

9th. These considerations restrain the Board from recommending the

work for immediate execution. But they think it of great importance

that the scheme should be generally made known, in order that its

merits may be fully discussed. ‘They therefore propose, with the sanc-

tion of the Government, to print the Plans, and so much of the Corres-

pondence as may tend to throw light on the project, and hope on some

future opportunity to be able to bring the subject again forward on

better grounds than they at present possess.

I have the honor, &c.

(Signed) H.M. Exutorr, Secretary.

SuppER Boarp or REvENvgE,

N. W. P. Allahabad, the 1st April, 1842.

(True Copies.) .

H. M. Extrort, Secretary.

776

Comparison of the Areas of Plane and Spherical Triangles. By Captain

Suortrep:E, lst Assistant, Grand Trigonometrical Survey.

[N. B.—The first part of the following investigation is taken from

Young’s Trigonometry, but the formula there deduced

cos C

and utterly unworkable when C = 90°, I have transformed it as follows. |

E, being the spherical excess

tan} EK = tan3 (A + B + C — 180°) = — cot 3 (A + B + C)

= tan $0 cot (A B)

1 + tan 2 tan 4 C cot (A + B)

By Napier’s analogies, cot } (A + B) = dees tan $ C

cos 4 (a — b)

cot } E= Aarne a cot 3 6 ae }eot C, being inconvenient in all cases,

which substituted gives

wa ee tan 2 C

cos 4 a —

Lo eae ae ee

cos 3 a—b

( tees (a — b) — cos B (a+ is iC

wi arsenate aaa sy :

cos + (a — b) cot 4 C + cos § (a + OB) tan 5 C

Mae ene the numerator by sin C, and the denominator by its

equal 2 sm 4 C cos } C, we have

cos 4 fe = (G0) cos 5 (Gt b)} sin C

2 cos + Pag cos? + C + 2cos34 (a+ b) sm? iC

and substituting for cos } (a — 6) and cos } (a + 6), it becomes

sin +asin4 6 snC

tan $ C —

tan? E =

tan EK =

tan s b= cost acosi6 + sin iasin 2 b (cost OC —sin?iC

cos 2. acos i 6 + sin2 asin } b (cos? 2 C — sin? 2 C)

and, because cos? + C — sin? 3 = cos C,

Stee Latani6snC

tan? E = Z

1 + tan$atan36b cos ©

This expression has some analogy to that for the area of a plane

triangle, but here, unlike the case of the plane triangle, it is not a

matter of indifference whether the contained angle be acute or obtuse.

The second term in the denominator is -- or — according as C L 90 or

C 7 90. Hence the area and excess also of a spherical triangle whose

1842. ] Area, Spherical and Plane. 777

sides are given, is greater or less according as the contained angle is

greater or less than 90.

When C = 90 the equation becomes simply

tani E = tan}atan 30;

and as every spherical triangle by letting fall a perpendicular becomes

the sum or difference of two right angled triangles, this expression may

be extensively used.

When the second term in the denominator becomes — 1, tan} EK =

co, whence + E — 90° and E = 180°.

When the second term exceeds unity, the whole expression becomes —,

hence 3 E is in the second quadrant, and the excess exceeds 180°.

In order to apply the expression above found to the comparison of the

area of the spherical with that of a plane triangle, it may be otherwise

written

fae tan =a tan + osin Cf

: . ; we 4 atan} 0 cos <)

when the denominator of the term within the parenthesis may be ex-

panded in the usual way.

For tan 3 a and tan 3 6 substitute their values in arc to radius 1 by

the formula

: Ne i7

tnx =xX+3x Lb Xx bigs ko &e.

and we have tan 2a tani b =

Gam a? as 17 a’ ‘art b5 17 6°

—+- = —+—__ + &.\(/- + a ——

( 2 a, 24 240 + 39790 mee )(3 aa 3 @ 540 * 39720)

which by actual multiplication becomes

ab a2 + 5? 6at+ 5a? b2 +6 by

+ ay 12 iF 720 He

136 a° + 63 at BD? + 63 a? bt + 136 66 4 &e.

ar AgnoOR Cas te \

This expression and its powers being substituted in the expansion of

the original one th

a whe ert GY EE Aes GP gu \

2 720

§ __ ab ee a? b? 2 a? +. 6?

21 lr x rea C(1 +5 + &e.)

a® }8

= = cos! C (1+ &c.) + &e. !

778 Area, Spherical and Plane. [No. 128.

by actual multiplication and reduction of terms with common factors

this becomes

2 2 4 2 U2 4

tan = “sin C1 1 B33 lbs cos C + Sa dislenai

a 12 4 720

Ly Bob ake ee oie

24 SibekG

cos? C + &c. \

For tan 2 substitute its value in arc J + ie + &c. and transpose all

the terms after the first, then substituting for them their values in powers

of the quantity on the right hand side, we shall have

3 2 72 2 42

aos) gas Or Ree ah noe nae cos? O + &e, |

OA Al A 4 48-48

incorporating these terms, and multiplying the whole by 2, we have

ab az =~ 2 ab

BS GC + a eer

3at — 5a? 62 +. 364 oad wie aay 52 C \

SS eee Se &

u 360 24 +> cost C + Be

The first term is the same as that for the area i a plane triangle

having the same sides and contained angle: the following terms there-

fore shew the difference between the areas of the two triangles. Of

these, we may take account of as many as suits our object; but in —

ordinary cases it will be needless to regard any beyond the two first.

Limiting ourselves to these, the difference between the areas of the plane —

and spherical triangles corresponds to an excess represented by

Gain c(—E" — ScosC) or by =, sin C (2 * 4+. b? — 3 ab cos C}

This expression shews that when cos C becomes —, or when C ex- —

ceeds a right angle, the spherical area must exceed that of the plane —

—_

triangle. When the two terms within the brackets cancel each other, ©

the two triangles will have equal areas; and when the second term —

exceeds the first, the spherical area will be less than that of the plane —

triangle.

The limits are easily assigned.

The sum of a and b being given, a? + 6? is a minimum, and 3a bisa

maximum when a = 6. In this case the triangles are isosceles, and

a + 6? =2 a2, and3ab = 8 a?; hence the terms within the brackets

will cancel each other when cos C = - or when C = 48° 11! 23%

For equal areas this is the maximum of C. With isosceles triangles, if

1842.] Area, Spherical and Plane. 7 779

C be less than this, the spherical area will be less than that of the plane

triangle.

When cos C is a maximum C = O. In this case a2 + 6?= 348,

b2 b COP EG rig a

or] + =< or 3 — ; which solved as a quadratic gives ~= 387 V5 =

a a a 9

2°618 nearly. This is the maximum inequality in the sides, so as to

have equal areas. |

In like manner, the value of the angle may be found for any given

ratio of the containing sides within these limits; or the angle being

given, the ratio of the sides may be found. To save the trouble of these

calculations, I have constructed the small table in the margin, which shews

aa Gero fereacl C ioe BiveR ratios of a and b the value of ©

a with which the spherical and plane tri-

Bia 200 989391 |48°11! angles have ee areas. If the oe

Oe epee Mapas were so large in regard to the rps,

8 that the terms omitted could sensibly

2) a0 "83109 | 47°20 | afrect these results, it would be neces-

1:3 = "83869 | 46°23 | sary to take into account those of the

14 = °84804 | 45°11 | next, and perhaps also of higher orders.

eg) See -85067 | 43°46 | To ascertain the actual difference in

450

16 = 87021 | 42:08 | the othe of the spherical and plane tri-

7 ae -88938 | 40-18 Le in an para case, suppose an

asa equilateral with sides of 13 degrees:

Pete a, | C9498 |. 31°16

the direct formula gives the excess

570 — 61'°217; and the difference in the

2°0| 9 | °92082 | 33°33 | areas of the two triangles will be 0°3951

461

19; = | -90783 | 36:01

a ‘93386 | 30°50 | square miles, corresponding to an ex-

9:2 shes -94687 | 27:46 | cess of 0°005245: One-third of this

es) 820 95980 | 24°16 would be the error on each angle, and,

9-4| 876 -97962 | 20:08 | Wee it ten times as great, it would still

o5| 2 TERE yee be, in Troughton’s phrase, a quantity

od less than what is visible in the telescope.

mers || (99777 | - 5°48

It is almost needless to remark that the supposed triangle is larger

than any which has yet occurred in practice. The great triangle in the

French are, (long supposed to be the largest in the world), has an

780 Area, Spherical and Plane. [No. 128.

excess of about 39”. I have had one observed by day-light on which the

excess was about 40”.5. The least side was 80 and the largest 92 miles.

Such a triangle does not often occur, but even this had about = only of

the area of that on which the difference has been shewn to be utterly

insensible.

But as the greatest difference occurs when C exceeds a right angle,

we may find the particular angle giving a maximum difference of area

by making 4 { (a? + 6?) sin C — 3a sin C cos ch a maximum.

By differentiating, we have

sy | (e+ bf) cos C —3abcos2ChkdC =o

a+ 62 cos2C

3 ab cos C

This hardly admits of being solved directly, but the indirect solution

whence the maximum corresponds to

is very easy.

Since C must be greater than a right angle, we may putC = 90+ y5

cos 2 C waa agate a2 + $2

h aA E LC AES

whence ~G an X and since 3 ab

that X cannot be less than O nor exceed 45°. Hence the quantity

cos 2 X

sin X

quadrant.

is always +, it is plain

will pass through all its values from o to o in every half

3 ab |

90 + 0 105

91 | 1°75788 |106 | °48808 (121 | 9:95977

92 | 45612 {107 ) °45264 [122]! -91763 | ratio of the sides, the ap- —

proximate angle giving a —

95 | *05306 {110 | 0°35020 [125 | 9-77546 | maximum difference of

93 "27881 |108 *41798 |123 °87320

94 "15217 (109 "38389 |124 "82601

96 | 097117 |4111 *31674 |126 °72076

97 -90101 |112 28336 1127 *66088 | areas.

98 *83929 1/113 ‘24989 1198 59433

99 ‘78387 |114 21620 [129 “51901

100 *73332 115 0°18212 130 9°43160 the former Table, it will

101 | 0°68657 |116 14750 [4134 32661 ‘

102 | 64285 {117 | ‘11217 [132] +19372 | appear, that with equal

103 60157 {1118 07595 |133 | 8°00980 : :

104 | +56226 |119 | -03864 [134] 770105 sides the angle of maxi-

105 | °052453 {120 | 000000 |135 | —o mum difference of areas is

somewhat greater than 124°, and by a nearer computation the exact

value of C will be found 124° 0235”, being the greatest angle, giving a

“5 By tabulating this, as

rel: cl i ees +H c eee in the margin, for every

degree of ‘x, we may rea- _

05 | 0°62453 120 | 0:00000 | dily find, for any givenam

By means of this and

1842. } Area, Spherical and Plane. 781

maximum difference of areas. For any other ratio of sides the angle will

be smaller. For the ratio ee the angle is 120°. When the ratio

is - the value of Mie, = is = the log of which 0°52720 corres-

ponds to a value of C somewhat less than 150° or 140°.55’.45” ; and so in

other cases. When the ratio of the sides becomes indefinitely great,

the maximum difference angle approaches indefinitely near to 90°.

In well chosen triangles there is not usually any very great differences

in the sides, and hence, practically, the greatest differences of area will

usually occur when C is not far from 120°.

If, for example, we suppose a triangle with sides of a degree each,

and containing an angle of 120°, by the original formula, the excess is

27.210; and the difference in area between the spherical and plane

triangles is 0°18214 square miles, the excess corresponding to which is

0°0024176. On a triangle with degree sides and the maximum angle

124°.02'.35”, the excess is 26.035: the difference of areas is 0°18320

square miles, the excess corresponding to which is 0”.0024318. Such

differences, though utterly insensible in the telescope, are still much

greater than have ever occurred in practice ; for though a single side of

more than a degree be nothing very extraordinary, it is but rarely that

two such sides can be found forming a triangle with a third side of from

118 to 120 miles.

The difference here treated of is, in similar triangles, proportional to

the 4th powers of the homologous sides: Hence, in an equilateral with

half degree sides, this difference would be a of 0'°005245, or

0°00006475; and on the isosceles with half degree side containing

120°, the difference would be PA of 0’:0024176, or 0”:00001511. Trian-

‘gles such as these are not very uncommon, but it is much more common

to have triangles with less than half of their area.

It is thus fairly proved that the difference between the excess on a

spherical triangle computed rigorously and the excess deduced by reck-

oning its area as equal to that of a plane triangle with the same sides

and contained angle, is a quantity so small that, even in extreme cases,

the neglect of it will not induce any sensible error; and that, on

triangles such as usually occur in practice, the difference is so utterly

insignificant that to go much out of the usual way in order to take

account of it, would be a very needless refinement.

782

A Note on Cart. SHorTREDE’s Remarks in No. CXXIII. ( Page

240) of this Journal. By 8S. G. T. Heatry, Esq.

The subjects of geometry are not the creatures of arbitrary defini-

tion. We strive first to attain such a definite conception of them as

enables us to see how their properties follow from their nature: we

enunciate this conception as well as we can in words, and call it the

definition. But we cannot, however, enunciate the process of intuition

by which we are conscious of the necessary consequence of any the

most rudimentary property. We are compelled therefore to put down

this rudimentary property itself; it is termed an axiom. Hence the

indispensable appearance of axioms in a system of geometry.

On these grounds I agree entirely with the position that, in mathe-

matical definitions, it is necessary to have a clear conception of the

idea, and then to use such words as will convey that conception to the

mind of another. It did not appear to me that a clear conception of

the idea of an angle is generally entertained ; and I endeavoured to —

analyse the language commonly held on the subject, so as to detect the —

peculiarity which impressed itself on the minds of various authors, and

to shew that the idea of an angle involved the conceptions—of surface —

—of determinate extension in the direction of width—of indeterminate —

extension in the direction of longitude. These are conceptions which

every one, sooner or later, finds floating in his mind clearly or obscurely, :

and if they enable the student to perceive distinctly what he is about —

when he is discussing angles, it is our business to place them before —

him in the simplest and most direct form.

The use made of the word direction arose from the habit of always

reducing geometrical magnitudes and positions along fixed axes, the

two axes being in this case (I need not say) one bisecting the angle, indi-

cating the direction of length—and one perpendicular to it, indicating

the direction of width. This appeared to me necessary to embody

distinetly the conceptions intended to be impressed.

To the axiom I cannot conceive any objection raised: it is merely

an application of the principles of geometrical equality to angular

magnitude. The real “pinch and nip” (to use Colonel Thompson’s

significant expression) lies in the perception of the truth that whatever

applies to an angular space, applies to its angle. This is the elemen-

1842.] Remarks on Capt. Shortrede’s Note. 783

tary property which must be clearly seized: for which purpose we

may put it thus: Let the angle and the angular-space be in any ratio»

say a: 6. Then & dividendo the angle is to the difference between it

and the angular space, a finite rectilineal figure, asa: a-b. But the

angle is infinitely greater than the finite rectilineal figure: hence a is

infinitely greater than a—b, whence the latter is zero, or ab, and the

angle — the angular space.

The matter lies in a simple compass: if the angle be not an infinite

surface, what is it? If it be, it must be discussed according to its

nature. There can be no arbitrary limitations to the province of

geometry: if you will adhere to them, you must try to do without

angles, for they are interlopers. The Greek confined himself to the

geometry of the line and the circle, and did wonders therewith ; but the

trisection of the angle and the duplication of the cube required him to

extend his armory. The Italian (Mascheroni) yet more chivalrous,

used only the circle: but his was a tilt-yard exercise. The only oath

administered to the candidate for mathematical knighthood is, that he

shall seek always for Truth in the realms of Space and Number, and that

he will do his devoirs with every lawful weapon of sound logic. The

attempt to assign forced and arbitrary limits to things which do not

admit of them, has always been productive of mischievous consequences

in retarding our onward progress in physics as in legislation, in poetry

as in mathematics.

Errata in the Essay on Angular Geometry.

Page 221, line 16 from bottom, for Bossat read Bossut

reece Sn Ol desencdacseseecsseaeesten ss CELELATONS » correlations

991 2090s vy pry dy 1d xy. top », Thomson 5, Lhompson

ae » bottom, ,, 2nn-—-A » 2ngGT+ea

erze0 yO LOD », devote », denote

Pe sh Apne V4 », bottom ,, angle »» angles

ea 31, Le 5 a », Each of », each side of

OOO. 45) LO a ‘ » DED » DEB

” oo» » 9 9 Pe », straight cuts ,, straight line cuts

Somes. setae Ps o » Fig. 12. » Fig. 11

ZO. 1.55 3 530) LOD Le aes a

acpalaharys te "p 3 », Fig. 13 oy ae, ee

poms, a6 »5 This line should run thus: Let AC meeting A B, not meet

iis parallel E D, consequently, &c.

784

Descriptive Notice of the Bat described as Taphozous longimanus, by

Gen. Harpwicke. By Epw. Buiytu, Curator to the Asiatic Society.

Upon a former occasion (in vol. X. p. 971 e¢ seq.,) I described

three Indian species of Zaphozous, doubtfully identifying one of them

with the 7’. longimanus, Hardwicke (Lin. Trans. XIV. 525); but I

have since obtained a species which I cannot doubt is the animal so

named by that naturalist, bringing the number of ascertained Indian

species of this genus to four, of which the present is the only one pre- —

viously known to the publication of my former memoir. It remains,

therefore, to impose a distinctive appellation upon the species which I

then cited doubtfully as 7. longimanus, and which I now propose to

designate 7’. Cantori, in honour of the accomplished naturalist who fa-

vored me with the specimen.

The 7. longimanus deviates in some particulars from the detailed

account which I gave as of generic application, the ears of this spe-

cies not lying flatly outward—as in the Rhinopomata and Dysopodes,

and as in the recent 7. Cantori, but remaining suberect, as usual in —

other Vespertilionide : hence the measurement of nine-tenths of an —

inch between them, given by Gen. Hardwicke, is intelligible ; whereas

in 7. Cantori 1 could not recognise it, nor well understand where it

had been taken : again, the tail when exserted by the collapse of the

interfemoral membrane does not curl round upward, as in 7. Cantori, i

‘nor has any tendency that way, but remains out straight, with but :

slight capability of bending except at its extreme base: the nostrils do ~

not appear capable of closure, which leads me to doubt whether this —

be truly the case in the other species. I observe, both in the present

species and its congeners, two remarkable characters which may be add-

ed to the diagnosis of the genus: viz., the double flexure outward —

of the extremity of the closed wing, which always collapses in this

manner, whereas in other Bats the wing does not naturally so fold,

but the tip turns inward ; in connexion with which may be mentioned

that the first digit in Taphozous consists of but one phalanx termina-

ting in a (quasi) joint-knob, whilst in most other Bats (Rhinolophus

appears to be an exception) there is a small second phalanx more

or less developed beyond this, and in the Pteropodine group two

additional phalanges with a terminal claw (the latter only being

absent in Cephalotes, Geoff., in which was comprised Hypodermis,

1842.] Notice of the Bat described as Taphozous longimanus. 785

Is. Geoff.) ; secondly, the testes, in Taphozous (as in Megaderma,

and I presume Rhinolophus), are situate as in man and the monkey

tribe, whereas in the restricted Vespertilio group they are placed

posterior to the anus, and in the Pteropodine section laterally to

the penis; this being a character which may help to indicate the

primary divisions of the family: the magnitude of the genitals is a

remarkable feature of the Vespertilionine subdivision generally, being

in some species quite inordinate; but this is not the case in Zapho-

zous, wherein the penis wholly withdraws internally. Finally, it may be

remarked that the feet and tail of this genus have always a few scat-

tered long and slender hairs; and that the fore-arm is more than

usually curved at the basal third.

The specimen of 7. longimanus before me (an adult male) mea-

sures four inches and one-eighth to tail-tip, the membrane extending

five-eighths of an inch beyond ; expanse fifteen inches and a half, and

length of fore-arm two inches and three-eighths ; the tail an inch, capa-

ble of being wholly sheathed within the membrane, and of protrusion

for five-eighths of an inch: ears, measured internally, from base of

lowermost lobe, nine-sixteenths of an inch, and externally half an

inch: no upper incisors, as likewise in the examples of the three

other species described by me: the throat-sac particularly large, mea-

suring three-eighths of an inch wide, and thickly lined with a hard and

foetid exudation ; there is also a small circular second cavity, a

quarter of an inch posterior to the first, and yielding a similar secre-

tion; this is also perceptible, but rather less developed, in 7. fulvi-

dus: the fur is close and velvety, of a dark brown colour, slightly

grizzled with a pale hue at the tips, and not white at base as in 7’

Cantori (which species has the throat-sac merely rudimentary) ; beneath

it is scarcely paler than above, but the throat is deeply tinged with

rufous : membranes brownish-dusky.

The 7. longimanus is stated by Gen. Hardwicke to be ‘‘ common

in Calcutta, in dark store-rooms; at night it frequents habitations,

attracted by the light of the candles and numerous insects.” The

present specimen was shot in a rural situation, two or three miles

from Calcutta; and, I may remark, rather late in the evening, when I

had been waiting some little time for an opportunity to discharge my

second barrel, prior to returning from a Bat-shooting excursion ;

786 Notice of the Bat described as Taphozous longimanus. [No. 128.

hence, as its stomach was quite empty, I think it probable that the

members of this genus do not leave their retreats so early as the

ordinary Vespertiliones ; indeed I have often wondered that, considering

the great number of Bats which I have lately shot, I could never thus

meet with-any not appertaining to the sub-genera of restricted Vesper-

tilio, save only the great Pteropus Edwardsii and the Pachysoma

marginatum, both of which are abundant. ‘The Bats that fly round

the dinner-table of an evening are oftentimes a little tantalizing to a

zoologist, though it is not often he would succeed in catching them if

he made the attempt, since the rooms in this part of the world (as

the European naturalist may be reminded) are lofty and spacious, with

open doors and windows in all directions. Still I must say I cannot

think that the Taphozoi are frequent visitors.*—Nov. 22d, 1842.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

(Friday evening, 15th July, 1842.)

The Hon’ble W. W. Birp, in the chair.

The following Books were presented.

Books received for the Meeting of the Asiatic Society, on the 15th July, 1842.

The Oriental Christian Spectator, April 1842, Vol. III. No. 4.

The Calcutta Christian Observer, July 1842. Vol. III. No. 31.

The Calcutta Literary Gleaner, 1842, Vol. 1, Nos. 3 and 5.

Annual Report of the Transactions of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, 1840-41.

London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science,

Vol. XX, No. 130.

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Vol. VIII. No. 54, and Vol. IX. |

No. 59.

Journal des Savants, Novembre et Decembre, 1841.

Pemberton’s Report on Bootan, Calcutta, 1839, from Government.

Macpherson’s Report upon the Khonds of the districts of Ganjam and Cuttack,

Calcutta, 1842.

Catalogue of the Physiological series of Comparative Anatomy, contained in the

Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, 1840, Vol. V.

Summer; or, the causes, appearances, and effects of the Grand Nuptials of Na-

ture, by R. Mudie, London.

Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea, in the years 1820, 1821, 1822, and

1823, by the Baron Von Wranzell, translated by E. Sabine, London, 1840.

Glossarium Archaiologicum: Authore H. Spelmanno, Londoni, 1687.

* Some annoying typographical errors occur in my former paper on the Taphozoi,

consequent upon making a slight alteration in the text when correcting the proofs. In

vol. x, p- 972, 2nd line, read “* Loret Volant of Daubenton, styled Senegalensis by

M. Geoffroy ;’’—4th line, read—* a fourth is described by M. Geoffroy, as F. Mauri-

tanus ;’’—close of 18th line, read ‘* Raffinesque ;’’—and at p. 973, line 21, for

altitude read “‘attitude.’’? E. B,

a REESE ene eee

ee ee eee

Pg Ae el ne eee et yee

1842. ] Asiatic Society. 787

Read letter from J. H. Barten, Esq. Almorah, 27th June 1842, reporting

that Mr. Lusurneton was sending a magnificent collection of Ores, which

would do admirably for the Museum of Economic Geology, and that

the continuation of Capt. Manson’s Journal was just now suspended,

because Lieut. Weiuer, Executive Engineer and Junior Assistant to the

Commissioner of Kemaoon had lately visited the Juwahir Pass, and among

other things, had with his own eyes seen “ millions upon millions of maunds

of Ammonites” on the hills sloping down from the Pass into the valley

of the Sutlej, and that he wished to enrich his side notes with Extracts

from the Journal of his Correspondent on his return to Almorah.

Read letter from Lieut. A. Cunnineuan, of 18th June 1842.

My DEAR TORRENS, Lucknow, 18th June, 1842.

I send you a packet of English Coins to be offered to the Asiatic Society for sale; and a small

packet of Roman Coins to be presented to the Museum.

T enclose a list of the English Coins, silver and copper, with their prices. They form a small col-

lection ; but amongst them, are some rather scaree Coins.

I have a fine Sassanian collection to dispose of, which perhaps the Society might like to take.

If so, kindly let me know, and I will make out a list, with the prices of the Coins attached, —

Believe me,

Most sincerely yours,

ALEX. CUNNINGHAM.

LIST OF ENGLISH COINS.

Nos, Silver. Denomination. Value.

1. \|Edward 4th Per ...| groat, wee 5} 9)0

1, |Elizabeth, oh ...| shilling, toe 1;0\{0

1. |Ditto, eee six pence, oes 2/0/)0

Ze GCOS. Sas a pennies, 2 4.0)5)0

PP ICtO; Sen a half penny, 51/010

1. |James Ist, six pence, eee 1);0/;0

ae) Ditto,” ses penny, 11/010

1. |Charles Ist, shilling, 5 OO

1, | Ditto, six pence, 2 AAW IMG,

A MDIGCOSS ches two pence, 1;010

1. |}Commonwealth, two pence, ment OE. TO IO

2. \Charles 2nd, three pence, see contin Oslo

1. |Ditto, ons ... | three pence, 5 | 9 | 0 | by Simon.

1. ‘Ditto, ©... ei ... | two pence, 0/8/10

+ 1. |William 3rd, Ee ... | half crown, 2;0)0

1. |Ditto, ... | four pence, Ors) 1-6

ie. Ditto, “2. ... | three pence, 0;8j0

1. |Anne, ... | four pence, 0|8)0

4. |George 2nd, ... | SiX pence, ” 2/010

1. |Ditto, ... | three pence, re 0;81/0

1. |Ditto, ... | two pence, 0;8 10

1. |George 3rd, ... | Shilling, ... 4/10/10

wei Ditto, « .:. Nee ... | SiX pence, 1|0;0

TeDItto; as. wes ... | four pence, 0;8)0

Baie | Ditto; | >... Rs ... | three pence, DOO

WS aDitto, — sa. as .-» | penny, ... OAS 0

+1. |William and Mary, ... | Shilling, J}101/0

Pe DILEO;) 0 a «| two pence, | SOMD |

37. 521010

Copper. | Hh 4

James Ist, me ..| Small coins, 2 ABO) AO

1. (Charles 2nd, wd ...| farthing, 0|81|0

ae pAnne, © 3.3 a -.| token 1} 010

2. |William and Mary, ...| farthings, 0; 410

2. |George 2nd, “ig ...| farthings,’ 0} 410

| 4/010

Tot), 52 -+-- 4 = 56 Rupees.

Cnr

788 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

It was ordered, that the English Coins offered, be purchased, and that

the thanks of the Society be communicated to Lieut. Cunnincuam, for

his presentation of the Roman Coins.

Read letter from H. M. Extrot, Esq. Secretary Sudder Board of Revenue

at Allahabad, dated the 29th June last, forwarding selections from cor-

respondence respecting the proposed formation of a Canal for irrigation

to be supplied from the River Jumna, near the village of Kuttha Putthur

in the Deyrah Doon.

Referred to the Secretary for publication in his Journal.

Read letter of 30th June last, from R. H. Myrron, Esq. Magistrate 24-

Pergunnahs, requesting return of some Coins found by a convict, or their

value Co.’s. Rs. 36.

Ordered, that the Coins be purchased for the Society, and their value

forwarded to Mr. Myrron.

Read the following Report from the Curator :—

Srr,—In the class of Mammalia, I have nothing of particular interest on which to ~

report. We continue to receive such animals as are entrapped or shot at the Botanic —

Garden, which are always acceptable for exchange or transmission elsewhere; and —

I have especially to thank Mr. Jos. De Cruz of that establishment, for his kind at- —

tention to my wishes in this respect. :

In that of Birds, our acquisitions, since the last meeting, have been very extensive. -

1. From B. H. Hodgson, Esq., British Resident at the Court of Nepal, I have the —

gratification to announce the arrival, as a donation to the Society, of 270 species —

of birds, whereof four specimens respectively are sent of the greater number (though

it is to be regretted that many are in very imperfect condition) ; and there are seven-

ty species which are new to the Museum, while above 100 are more or less common i

in this neighbourhood. =

2. Mr. Frith has forwarded to the Society specimens of :

Budyies citreola, or, I rather suspect, an allied species which is also met with

in this neighbourhood. g

Esacus recurvirostris, Lesson (1831): Pseudops (olim Carvanica) grisea, Hope- —

son, J. A. S. V, 776; Gidicnemus recurvirostris, Swainson. yi

Rhynchops fiavirostris. #

3. Mr. Mackay has kindly permitted me to select from a very interesting collec-

tion of Malayan birds received from Singapore, examples of such species as are | 0

wanting to the Museum, for which I have given duplicate specimens in exchange; 7

and Dr. Spry has also favored me with a like permission in the instance of another — :

collection of Malayan birds, for which I have also looked out a somewhat extensive

series of duplicates for transmission to the Cornish institution at Truro. Our ac-

quisitions in this manner consist of the following species, of which those new to the

Museum are marked with an asterisk.

Paleornis Malaccensis, Vigors: Psittacus Malaccensis, Gmelin, but not of Las

tham, which refers to the next species. A more beautiful specimen than I remember

1842.] Asiatic Society. 789

to have seen before. Middle tail-feathers eleven inches and a half long, and

uniform bright purple; the collar between the black moustache and the emerald cap

of the finest peach-blossom hue, heightened on the nape (like the crown of P.

Bengalensis) with a ceerulean bloom ; and the rest of the colours exquisitely brought

out.

* Psittinus (Nobis) Malaccensis: Psittacus Malaccensis, Latham, but not of Gme-

lin; le petit Perruche de Malacca, Sonnerat. This bird cannot be arranged in

Psittacula of Kuhl, where generally located, if P. galgulus is to be regarded as

typical of that division ; but, though having a short tail, the rest of its structure places

it in immediate proximity with Paleorynis, while a further token of this affinity exists

in the maronne wing-spot, seen also in Pal. Alexandrinus, schisticeps, and Bengalensis.

The allied Ps. setarius of Temminck, an inhabitant of Borneo, presents an additional

approximation to Palewornis in having its two middle tail-feathers much elongated

beyond the rest, though remarkable for being partly naked-shafted. I add a description

of the specimen before me. Length nearly seven inches, of wing four inches and

three quarters, and tail an inch and seven-eighths, the three first primaries being

equal and pointed (as in Palewornis), and reaching to the end of the short tail, which

latter consists of somewhat narrow feathers resembling those of Paleornis, even

though not elongated, the outermost being but a quarter of an inch shorter than the

middle ones. Beak coloured asin Palewornis generally, or having the upper mandible

bright coral-red with a white tip, and the under one dusky; its form precisely

as in that genus. Crown, rump, and upper tail-coverts, bright purplish smalt-

blue, passing on the crown into the greyish-dusky colour of the back; under-parts dull

yellowish-olivaceous, the mesial portion tinged with brownish-ruddy: lower tail-

coverts yellowish-green tipped with blue; and tibial plumes mingled blue and green:

uropygials deep green, and the rest of the tail-feathers yellow, more or less green-

edged : wings deep green, margined with yellowish on the coverts, except those of the

primaries which are wholly purple: maronne wing-spot before noticed; and the

coverts underneath the wing are brilliant crimson, as are also the axillaries, which

must shew to advantage as the bird is flying overhead, and induce the expectation

that the species is much handsomer than it proves on closer examination.

Terax ceerulescens, Vigors. I am now acquainted with three species of these very

diminutive Falcons, viz. in addition to the present one,—JZ. erythrogenys, Vigors,

P. Z. S. 1831, 76, (from Canton, )—and a Nepalese species, rather larger than the

others, contained among the specimens sent by Mr. Hodgson, and which is the Falco

Bengailensis of the old authors, currently but erroneously identified with Z ceru-

lescens.*

* A live specimen of I. caerulescens has lately been received by Dr. M‘Clelland from Assam; |

and the aspect of the living bird gives the idea of a larger species than would be supposed from

examination of preserved skins, as it puffs up its feathers much, in a manner which can only

be successfully imitated when mounting a recent specimen.

It is not generally known that these tiny Falcons are trained for hawking in the Upper Provinces

of India, being flown at Quails and other game of corresponding size, as I have been informed

by different eye-witnesses of the sport, which is thus described in Capt. Mundy’s ‘Sketches of

a Tour in India,’ II, 25. ‘We had also some amusing sport with another kind of Falcon,

a very small bird, perhaps barely so large as a Thrush, and its prey was proportioned to its

strength. It is flown at Quails, Sparrows, and others of the feathered tribe, of like calibre. The

mode of starting it is different from that used with any other hawk. The falconer holds the little,

790 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

*Ceyx tridactyla, Lacepede; the so called first variety described in Shaw’s

Zoology,’ Vol. VIII, pt. UW, 104.

Bucco gularis, Temminck.

Picus mentalis, Temminck, — not of Jerdon, Madr. Ji. Vol. X1, 214, which

is P. Nipalensis of Hardwicke and Gray, badly figured in their ‘ Illustrations of

Indian Zoology.’

* Cuculus (Pseudornis, Hodgson, ) lugubris, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt I, p.

179, and figured in the ‘Zoological Researches in Java’ of the same naturalist: C.

albopunctulatus, Drapiez, Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat., Art. Cowcow. A rare species

in collections, and nearly allied to the Pseuwdornis dicruroides, Hodgson, J. A.

S. VIII, 136.

* Rhinortha (Vigors,—Anadenus, Swainson, ) chlorophea ; Cuculus chloropheus,

Raffles, Lin. Trans. XI11, pt. Il, p. 288.

Eurylaimus Sumatranus, Raffles: Eu. Corydon, Temminck.

Eu. ochromalus, Raffles : particularly fine.

Calyptomena viridis, Raffles: male and female.

Irena puella, Horsfield: female.

Vanga cristata, Vieillot.

Edolius balicassius verus, adult and young : E. affinis, Nobis, Vol. XI, p. 174. I

doubt whether this species occurs in India, being replaced here by EH. Fingah, v.

albirictus, Hodgson, which is the Indian balicassius, Auctorum. I append a Mono-

graph of the Asiatic species of this genus at the close of the present report.

Lanius strigatus, Eyton, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 103. Four specimens, all in the obvi-

ously immature livery described by Mr. Eyton, and also by myself. (Vol. XI, p. 203).

*Tephrodornis sylvicola, Jerdon, Madr. Jl. No. XXV, 237. This bird appears

also to be very common in the Tenasserim provinces.

Muscipeta atriceps, Nobis, Vol. XI, p. 203. The fully mature male of this species

has the dorsal region very rich deep ferruginous-bay, with a fine purplish gloss, and all

the colours more intense than in the specimen formerly described by me. *

well-drilled savage within the grasp of his hand, the head and tail protruding at either opening,

and the plumage carefully smoothed down. When he arrives within twenty or thirty yards of

the quarry, the sportsman throws his hawk much as he would a cricket-ball, in the direction of it.

The little creature gains his wings in an instant, and strikes his game after the manner of the

Bhause [Goshawk.]

‘« There is a queer tribe of gregarious little birds, common in India, which afford very laughable

sport with the above mentioned hawk. They are usually found in a chattering fluttering congress

of ten or a dozen, at the foot of some baubul tree; where the little busy-bodies are so absorbed

in the subject under immediate agitation, that the falconer may approach within six paces of their

noisy court of parliament ere they entertain a thought of proroguiag it [Malacocercus ————— is

probably the species meant]. In the heat of debate, down comes the little Hawk (like some

Cromwell) into the midst of the astonished assembly, and begins to lay about him right and left;

when strange to say, the whole tribe set upon him, wngwibus et rostris, and with a virulence

of tongue as manifestly vituperative, as if it were couched in words. In the dust of the contest,

the sportsman runs up, and all the party take wing, except two or three unfortunates, who,

having caught a tartar, lie fluttering in the clutches of the feathered tyrant.”

*I have now reason to believe that the latter is a female, whilst the specimen formerly

described as female is certainly distinct, and may be designated M. plumosa. I shall therefore

redescribe the two as follow :—

M. atriceps, Nobis. Length seven inches and upwards, of wing three inches and three-eighths,

and tail two inches and five-eighths; bill to forehead (through the feathers) three-quarters

SS ee ee a a

1842.] . Asiatic Society. 791

* Muscicapa hirundinacea, Reinwardt, figured in Horsfield’s ‘ Zoological Researches

in Java,” and described by the same naturalist as M. obscura in Lin. Trans. XIII,

pt. I. 146; erroneously identified by Mr. Jerdon with M. picata of Sykes, (not of

Swainson,) from which it is readily distinguished by having no white on the wings,

nor on the exterior border of its outermost tail-feathers, while the bill‘is also fully a

third longer. Inhabits also Tenasserim.

*M. latirostris, Raffles, Lin. Trans, XIII, pt. II, 312, and again so termed by

Swainson, Nat. Libr., Flycatchers, p. 253: distinct from M. Poonensis of Sykes,

with which it was suspected to be identical by Mr. Jerdon. I presume this to be the

species here indicated, as it differs only from Mr. Swainson’s description by having the

4th primary above one-eighth of an inch shorter than the 2nd, whereas the latter is

stated by that author to be only as long as the 6th; whence it may be that the feather

in question was not fully grown in his specimen. ‘The species there also described

by the same author as M/. deucura (so also named in Latham’s ‘ General History,’

though described as new by Mr. Swainson,) is extremely common in Bengal dur-

ing the cool season; but the same specific name was bestowed by Gmelin upon

another species, which should retain it, the more especially as the present one,

2. €. the male of it, becomes, with full maturity, the Sazxicola rubeculoides of Sykes,

P. Z. 8. 1832, 92, as first suggested to me by Mr. Jerdon.* Lastly, I may remark

that the M. picata, Swainson, of Western Africa, described by him in the same

place, yields precedence to the Indian M. picata of Sykes, and must therefore

receive another appellation. I add a description of the skin before me of M. latirostris.

Length four inches and seven-eighths, of wing two inches and three-quarters, and tail an

inch and three-quarters ; bill to forehead (through the feathers) half an inch, and three-

quarters of an inch to gape; tarse half an inch, and slender. The hue of the upper-

parts is darker than in VW. grisola, being also slightly deeper on the crown; wing-coverts

and tertiaries margined with dull fulvous: throat, gorget, belly and under tail-coverts,

white, with a slight fulvous tinge on the former; the breast and flanks dull ashy

of an inch and upwards, and tarse somewhat exceeding half an inch. Crown and nape, of the

(presumed) male, black with a bright steel gloss; the sides of the head, neck, and breast dark

ashy passing into slightly glossed blackish on the throat, and into white on the belly and

under tail-coverts: the rest of the upper-parts dark rufo-ferruginous, with a purplish gloss on

the back, scapularies, and smaller wing-coverts; the rest of the wing dusky, more or less edged.

with ferruginous, and broadly so on each side of the tertiaries: bill light horn-colour ; and feet

apparently plumbeous. The (presumed) female has the colours generally weaker, the glossed

tips of the coronal and nape feathers less developed, and no rich purplish gloss upon the back,

which is of a dingy and much lighter ferruginous: the under-parts scarcely differ from those

of the preceding.

M. plumosa, Nobis. Length (of a supposed female) about six inches and three-quarters, of

Wing three inches and a quarter, and tail two inches and five-eighths; bill to forehead (through

the feathers) nearly seven-ecighths of an inch, and tarse five-eighths of aninch. Body plumage

very much longer and looser in texture than in the preceding, especially the feathers of the

rump, which are of remarkable length and puffy. Upper-parts light olive-brown, tinged with

greenish-ash on the crown and ear-coverts; throat and breast pale rufescent, still lighter and

passing into white on the belly; wings and tail bright rufo-ferruginous, except the smallest

coverts of the former which are hidden by the scapularies, and the primaries and their coverts

which are edged with the same colour as the back. Bill pale horn-colour; and feet appear to

have been greenish.

* This bird falls under the division Dimorpha (olim Siphya), Hodgson, Ind. Rev. I. (1839),

p. 651,

La ot- a

792 7 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

brown, as also the front of the neck contiguous to the ear-coverts, where but a narrow

mesial line of fulvous-white passes from the throat to the gorget; bend of the wing

beneath, and axillaries, pale fulvous brown; a whitish streak from the nostril to

the eye; and bill horny-black, with the basal half of the lower mandible yellow; the

latter is broad at base, and evenly attenuating; and the feet apparently are lead-

coloured.

Pycnonotus (Kuhl) melanocephalus : Lanius melanocephalus, Gmelin; Turdoides

atriceps, Temminck: not Brachypus melanocephalus of Hardwicke and Gray,

which I followed in so designating—Vol. XI, p. 168, where I identified with it the

Vanga flaviventris, Tickell, J. A. S. II, 573, though itis far enough removed from a

typical Vanga. The present is clearly enough the species referred to Turdoides —

atriceps, Tem. Pl. Col.t. 147, in Griffith’s ‘Animal Kingdom,’ VI, 389, and again

in ‘Shaw’s Zoology,’ VII, 330; but as both descriptions are brief and defective, I

subjoin the following. Length six inches and a quarter, of wing two inches and seven-

eighths, and tail, which is considerably rounded, two inches and a half, its outermost

feather being above three-eighths of an inch shorter: bill to forehead (through the

feathers) nine-sixteenths of an inch, and to gape three-quarters of an inch: tarse barely

half an inch. General colour olive-green, brightening to yellow on the upper and under:

tail-coverts, belly and flanks: the whole head and throat glossy black: primaries and —

inner webs of the tertiaries dusky-black, as also the other wing-feathers interiorly;

and tail greenish for the basal two-thirds, then dusky-black, and tipped with yellow ~

more developed on its lateral feathers. The irides are in this genus, usually, if —

not always, crimson. A young specimen is rather smaller in all its dimensions,

but scarcely less bright in colouring, except on the head and throat, where the black

is merely indicated. In both, the plumage of the rump is black at base, broadly

margined with yellow, as in certain allied species.

P. (?) cyaniventris, Nobis. Length six inches and a quarter, of wing three inches ~

and one-eighth, and tail two inches and seven-eighths; bill to forehead (through the ©

feathers) nearly five-eighths of an inch, and to gape eleven-sixteenths of an inch; tarse —

half an inch. Colour of the upper-parts uniform yellowish olive-green ; the head, neck, —

and under-parts uniform dark bluish ash-colour, bordering on plumbeous, except the —

lower tail-coverts which are bright yellow, as are also the edges of the wings anteriorly: —

primaries dusky, together with the inner and terminal portions of the caudal feathers.

Bill dusky, and legs lead-coloured. I place this bird provisionally in this genus,

though far from satisfied of the propriety of so doing. As compared with the preced- —

ing species, the bill is more Thrush-like, though small; the nostrils very different; |

the gape furnished with much smaller and less conspicuous sete; the tail even, or he

all but so; and the claws less minute; the ensemble, in a word, is different, though

the technical characters sufficiently apply.

* Chloropsis Malabaricus : adult and young. .

*Parus Sumatranus (?); Melanochlora Sumatrana (?), Lesson, as quoted by —

Mr. G. R. Gray (‘List of the Genera of Birds, with their Synonymes,’ Ist edit., —

p- 23), who, doubtfully identifying with it the P. flavocristatus, Lafr., v. (apud

Horsfield) P. sultaneus, Hodgson, I think there can be little doubt that the bird now

before me is referred to. This only differs from P. sudtaneus in its inferior size,

and in the rounded form of the crest, which does not consist, as in the other,

1842. | Asiatic Society. 783

of pointed feathers. Length seven inches and a quarter, or probably as much as eight

inches in the recent specimen; of wing four inches ; and tail three inches and a half:

bill to forehead (through the feathers) nearly five-eighths of an inch, and to gape three-

quarters of an inch ; tarse three-quarters of an inch. Colour of the upper-parts, wings,

and tail, throat, neck, and breast, deep black, without the green shine of P. sudtaneus :

and top of the head, belly and lower tail-coverts, brilliant yellow, the coronal feathers

lengthened but rounded. Bill black, and feet bluish lead colour. Possibly enough,

this may yet prove to be the P. flavocristatus of M. Lafresnoy, rather than Mr.

Hodgson’s P. sultaneus.

*Timalia pectoralis, Nobis. Beak nearly resembling that of 7. pileata, Horsfield,

but longer, less laterally compressed, and not quite so deep. Length about six inches

and a half, of wing three inches and a quarter, and tail three inches, the latter scarcely

rounded, but the outermost feather five-sixteenths of an inch shorter than the next, which

again does not quite equal the others ; bill to forehead (through the feathers, ) three-quar-

ters of an inch, and to gape fifteen-sixteenths of an inch; tarse an inch: colour of the

_ upper-parts, to the rump, olivaceous, the coronal feathers darker along their centres ;

throat black, and feathers of the fore-neck and breast also black, but each elegantly

and conspicuously margined with white : rump, upper tail-coverts, and basal margins

of the rectrices, bright rufo-ferruginous, the rest of the tail-feathers reddish-brown,

tipped and slightly edged with rufous; flanks olivaceous; the lower tail-coverts

ruddy: bill dusky-black, the lower mandible whitish underneath ; and feet leaden-

dusky. A supposed female is rather smaller in all its dimensions, with the breast-

markings less developed.

*T. erythronotus, Nobis. Bill as in last, but rather less elongated. Length six inches

to six and three-eighths, of wing two inches and a half to two and three-quarters, and

tail two inches and a quarter to two inches and a half; bill to forehead (through the fea-

thers) eleven-sixteenths of an inch, and to gape seven-eighths of an inch; tarse seven

eighths of an inch. Colour of the upper-parts deep rufo-ferruginous ; the forehead black,

with whitish lateral margins to the feathers, imparting a striated appearance; crown and

back of the neck dull rufous-brown, passing into the ferruginous of the back and

Wings; and sides of the neck, with the under-parts from the breast, dark fuscous-ashy ;

throat and breast black, the bordering feathers of the latter having a subterminal narrow

white bar; above the eye also black, and a small white line passing from the

eye backward; likewise a white moustachial patch near the base of the lower

mandible: tail much graduated, and, with the primaries, dusky edged with rufous ;

the lower tail-coverts dark faintly rufous brown: bill black, white at base of lower

mandible ; and feet dusky-leaden.

7. sapske, Nobis. Asmall species, with proportionally shorter bill than in the pre-

ceding. Length five inches and a half, of wing two inches and a half to two and five-

eighths, and tail two inches, the outermost feather three-eighths of an inch shorter ; bill

to forehead (through the’ feathers,) nearly five-eighths of an inch, and to gape al-

most seven-eighths of an inch; tarse three-fourths of an inch. Head and neck above

black, or rather brown-black, the feathers of the mesial line white about the shaft,

forming a streak of this colour along the middle of the head, besides which are two

slight lateral streaks not observable in every specimen, in addition to a superciliary

line of the same: onthe nape the white centres of the feathers broaden and are

To th ele

Tec,

Fo tevg te -

794 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

more irregularly disposed, while on the back they become much narrower again, more

or less so in different specimens, and wholly disappear on the rump; the ground-hue

of the back and rump is rich fulvous-brown, brightening on the latter, and tending

to rufous on the upper tail-coverts: lores conspicuously pale fulvous, and the

throat and foreneck fulvous-white, the ear-coverts margined with black : sides of

the bréast white, handsomely bordered with black, and a very slight margin of

the same to the medial pectoral feathers ; rest of the under-parts white, the flanks

bordered with fulvous-brown, which spreads nearly over the whole feather poste-

riorly ; lower tail-coverts more or less tinged with the same; wing-feathers dusky

interiorly, the coverts having terminal longitudinal white spots; and tail ruddy-

brown, margined with more rufous brown at base: bill black, and legs (in the dry

specimen) yellowisk-white.

*T. erythroptera, Nobis. Another small species, with bill very like those of some

of the small Soras or Water-crakes. Length five inches and a quarter, of wing two

inches and a quarter, and tail two inches, its outermost feathers three-quarters of an inch

shorter than the middle ones ; bill to forehead above five-eighths of an inch, and to gape

three-quarters of an inch; tarse a little exceeding three-quarters of an inch. Upper-

parts rufous olive-brown, darker on the head, the wings bright rufo-ferruginous ;

fore-head, sides of head, throat, fore-neck, and breast, ash-colour, becoming paler

towards the belly; flanks pale fulvous-brown, bill dusky, and legs apparently yel-

lowish. |

T. gularis, Horsfield; figured in the ‘ Zoological Researches in Java’: Prinia

pileata, Nobis, Vol. XI} p. 204. The difference in the bill from 7. pileata is so re-

markable, that I hope Imay be pardoned for not formerly looking among the described

species of Zimalia for this species, which Dr. Horsfield described from a Sumatran

specimen, and I have now seen from the Malay peninsula and Tenasserim. The

T. pileata, discovered by Dr. Horsfield in Java, was met with by Dr. McClelland in

Assam, and the Society’s Museum contains a specimen of it from Upper Bengal ;

this bird is also included in Major Franklin’s Catalogue.

*T, chloris; Iora chloris, Hodgson, M. S.* : probably Motacilla rubicapilia,

Tickell, J. A. S. II. 576, though the description there applies equally to this and the

preceding nearly allied species. It differs from 7. gularis by having the upper-parts _

pale olive-green instead of brown, the rusty cap much paler and less spread, and the

gular streaks are fewer and narrower. Length about five inches, of wing two inches and

three-eighths, and tail two inches, its outermost feather but a quarter of an inch shorter,

which is less than in T. gularis ; bill to forehead five-eighths of an inch, and to gapé

nearly three-quarters of an inch ; tarse five-eighths®f an inch. The yellow tinge to the

breast is, in some specimens, scarcely less deep than 7. gudaris, whilst in others it is

scarcely discernible : bill and feet pale. Lieut. Tickell writes, of his M. rubicapilla,—

‘* Female : five inches, eyes reddish-hazel; bill and legs pale horn. * * * Found inthe

thick underwood, hollows, ravines, &c. is lively and agile, with a frequent piping note

and occasional chatter.”’ List of Birds collected in the Jungles of Borabhim and

Dhulbhim. I notice this species here for the convenience of describing it along ©

* Mr. Hodgson has since proposed the subdivisional name Mixornis for this bird, and the

preceding species ranks with it.

eS ee I eS ee a

rp ee

cc os

1842.] Asiatic Society. 795

with its congeners. It is comprised among the specimens presented to the Museum by

Mr. Hodgson. *

* Macronous ptilosus, Jardine and Selby, Il. Orn. pl. CL.: Timalia trichorrhos,

Temminck, Pl. Col. 594, fig. 1, apud G. R. Gray. Length six inches and up-

wards, of wing two inches and five-eighths, and tail two inches and a half, the latter

broad and much graduated, its outermost feathers being an inch shorter than the

middle ones: bill to forehead above five-eighths of an inch, and to gape nearly seven-

eighths of an inch: tarse seven-eighths of aninch. ‘The extraordinary character of this

species consists in the curious form of the feathers of its flanks and rump, which on the

latter, in fine specimens, are two inches and a half in length, being very numerous and

dense, and consisting of long and flexible flattened stems, conspicuously white,

and scantily fringed with fine discomposed and lengthened hair-like barbs, of a dark

colour. The crown is bright rufo-ferruginous ; throat black ; back and breast deep

tawny olive-brown, darker on the wings, and more dusky towards the flanks; and

the tail is uniform dusky-black: bill black, and legs dusky probably tinged with

lead-colour. This bird is barely separable from Timatlia, but has the bill less laterally

compressed.

Trichastoma, Nobis; n. g- Also nearly allied to Timalia, but having a moderately

stout Warbler’s bill, and very long slender sete at the gape, affording a ready distin-

guishing character.

*Tr. rostratum, Nobis. Length above six inches, of wing two inches and three-

quarters, and tail two inches, its outermost feathers three-eighths of an inch shorter than

the middle ones; bill to forehead (through the feathers) above three-quarters of

an inch, and fifteen-sixteenths of an inch to gape; tarse fifteen-sixteenths of an inch;

middle toe and claw seven-eighths of an inch, and hind toe and claw nearly three-

quarters of an inch. Colour of the upper parts uniform olive-brown, somewhat darker on

the crown, and having a slight ruddy tinge on the rump and tail; whole under-parts

pure white, a little sullied on the breast and lower tail-coverts; lores and sides of the

head pale fulvescent-brown, and sides of the neck to the breast ashy: upper mandible

horny-black, the lower yellowish-white except at its extreme tip ; and legs deeply tinged

with yellowish-brown.

*Tr. affine, Nobis. So like the other in plumage as to cause some doubt, on a first

view, whether it be specifically distinct; but the much smaller size, and different

* The same indefatigable naturalist has described 7. Nipalensis and 7. pellotis, H., As. Res. XIX,

182; neither of which I have seen. There is also a Javanese 7. thoracica, v. Pitta thoracica,

Temminck, P/. Col. t. 76, which is referred to the present genus in Griffith’s ‘ Animal Kingdom,”

VI, 402, being described as ‘‘olivaceous brown above; underneath testaceous-grey; narrow white

band from base of bill passes over the eye.” Several species from the Indian peninsula have

also been described by Messrs. Franklin, Sykes, and Jerdon; but the greater number of these con-

stitute the distinct group Malacocercus, Swainson. The following must, however, be excepted.—T7.

hyperythra, Franklin, P. Z. S.1831, p.118, described as follows: — ‘‘Z. supra olivascenti-brunnea ;

capite in fronte corporeque toto subtis rufis; caudd superné fusco obsolete fasciatd ; rostro pallido.

Longitudo 5.” The specimen sent to the Society by Mr. Jerdon for this species is rather

larger, and has the throat and upper-part of the fore-neck conspicuously white; the frontal

plumes merely rufescent-brown, and very rigid, as are in a less degree those of the crown, which

it is evident are usually raised, while those of the forehead would at all times stand up forming

a sort of crest, somewhat as in Pastor cristatellus. Though referrible in preference to Timalia, this

species is little else than a miniature of the Malacocerci.—T. hypoleuca, Franklin, loc, cit.

796 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

colour, of the legs and feet, and also the much shorter bill, have decided me to adopt the

present course with it. Length five inches and three-quarters, of wing two inches

and five-eighths, and tail two inches and a half, its outermost feather nearly five-

eighths of an inch shorter than the middle ones; bill to forehead (through the feathers,)

not five-eighths of an inch, and nearly thirteen-sixteenths of an inch to gape; tarse

three-quarters of an inch; middle toe and claw under eleven-sixteenths of an inch,

and hind toe and claw rather more than half an inch. General colour rather paler than

in the preceding, excepting on the head; the nape much paler; and rump inclining

to fulvous more than rufous: tail and its coverts brighter rufous than in the other; and

breast crossed with pale fuscous. Bill wholly pale, and legs appear to have been green. *

*Goldana (G. R. Gray) nigrocapitata; Brachypteryx+ nigrocapitata, Eyton,

P. Z. S. 1839, p. 103,—distinct from Br. atriceps of Jerdon. Length six inches and a

quarter to six and a half, of wing two inches and five-eighths, and tail the same,

its outermost feather five-eighths of an inch shorter than the middle ones; bill to

forehead (through the feathers) eleven-sixteenths of an inch, and to gape seven-eighths

ef an inch; tarse an inch and one-eighth. General hue of the upper parts rufous-

brown, of the under bright ferruginous : throat white, flanked by a black streak: cap

black, bordered by a white superciliary streak and loral feathers ; ear-coverts dusky,

minutely lineated with white and posteriorly with rufous: sides of the head ashy; bill

horny-black above, the lower mandible yellowish-white ; and legs brown.

* Qriolus castanopterus, Nobis. A typical Oriole of small dimensions. Specimen

apparently female, or perhaps young male. Length about eight inches, of wing four

inches and a quarter, and tail two inches and one-eighth; bill to forehead seven-

eighths of an inch, and to gape an inch ; tarse three-quarters of an inch. Plumage ge-

identical with 7. Horsfieldi, Jardine and Selby, Zli. Orn. pl. CXIX: vide J. A. S. XI, p. 199.

Rather a peculiar species, with not a little of the form and aspect of Calamophilus. — T.

platyura, Jerdon, Supplement. ‘‘ Plumage above dark olive-brown, beneath ochry- yellowish;

bill yellow-horny ; legs fleshy-yellow; irides yellowish-brown: tail-feathers obsoletely barred,

very broad; ist and 2nd quills graduated, 4th longest, 3rd and 5th equal. Length five inches and ~ a

a quarter ; wing two inches and a. half; tail two inches and a half; tarsus nine-tenths; bill at front

four-tenths ; at gape six-tenths: bill much compressed; plumage very lax. I was at first,” con- —

tinues Mr. Jerdon, ‘inclined to take this little bird for a Warbler, but a review of all its

characters has induced me for the present to place it among the Timalie. I procured a specimen

in long reedy grass at Goodaloor at the foot of the Neilghierries. It took short flights and

endeavoured to conceal itself among the thick reeds. Its food consisted of insects.” Possibly

a member of my new genus Trichastoma described in the text, as is decidedly Mr. Jerdon’s

Timalia poiocephala, which he has sent me. (Vide Addendum introduced at the close of Appendia,

' No. 2, ef the present Report.)

* A third species of this group exists in the Timalia poiocephala of Mr. Jerdon’s Supplement,

which has a good deal the aspect of a Curruca, and likewise considerably resembles the Hemiparus

(olim Siva) Nipalensis, Hodgson, Ind. Rev., 1838, p, 89, but is readily distinguished from it by the

rufescent hue of its under-parts, the length of the rictorial vibrissa, and absence of any dark line

over and beyond the eye. Length six inches, or nearly so; of wing two inches and five-eighths, and

tail two inches and a half; bill to forehead (through the feathers) above half an inch, and three-

quarters of an inch to gape; tarse seven-eighths of an inch. Head and neck dull cinereous, the body

greenish olive-brown, inclining to tawney on the rump, wings, and tail; beneath light rufescent-

brown, the ‘rufous tinge increasing on the belly, and lower tail-coverts dull tawney. Bill dusky

above, yellowish at the edges and tip; “‘legs pale fleshy; andirides white. I procured a single

specimen of this bird,” writes Mr. Jerdon, ‘‘on the Coonoor Ghaut, in high forest jungle. It was

alone, flying from branch to branch, and had been feeding on small insects.” The vibrisse in this

species are less lengthened and thicker than in the others.

¢ Previously employed in other classes. —G. R. Gray.

1842. ] Asiatic Society. 797

nerally similar to that of O. Galbuda, but the shade of colour darker, especially on

the head; beneath throughout yellowish white to the lower tail-coverts which are

bright yellow, and lineated with black from the breast ; greater wing-coverts conspi-

cuously margined externally with ferruginous, and tertiaries edged with the same

towards their tips; primaries slightly edged with whitish ; and all the tail-feathers,

save the middle pair or uropygials, largely tipped on their inner web with bright

yellow, contrasting with deep black: bill pale, and feet greenish lead-colour. *

Anthus Malayensis, Eyton, P. Z. S. 1839, 104. ‘This species, which we also

possess from Tenasserim, is, I have little doubt, that insufficiently described by the

author cited, who should at least have given the length of the wings to help in

identifying a member of this difficult genus. It is, he remarks, the A. pratensis

of Raffles, being nearly allied [in plumage,| to A. trivialis, but differing in its

larger size. It is also common about Calcutta, and occurs in Southern India upon the

Neilghierries, where alone it has fallen under the observation of Mr. Jerdon.

*Coturniz Phillipensis, Brisson; Tetrao Chinensis and Manillensis, Gmeiin;

C. excalfaloria, Temminck : male and female.

Oriygis atrogularis.

* Crex fasciatus ; Rallus fasciatus, Raffles, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. II. 328. Nearly

allied, it would seem, to R. fuscus, Lin. Length eight inches, of wing four and a

half to five inches, and tail an inch and a half; bill to forehead seven-eighths of

an inch, and tarse an inch and five-eighths; middle toe and claw an inch and

seven-eighths. Upper-parts deep rufous-brown, the head, neck, and breast, bright

dark ferruginous, paler on the throat; belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts broadly

banded white and black, the latter broader in old birds, the former in younger

specimens ; wings dusky-black banded with white or fulvous-white. ‘‘ Bill bluish-

black, feet red, irides red.’’ (Raffles.) Younger specimens, or perhaps females,

* I have obtained the true O. Galbula in this mefelboushond, and the other Indian and Malayan

species known to me are as follow :—

O. aureus, Gmelin; to which Mr. Jerdon refers the O. Galbula of Sykes’s catalogue (P. Z. S.

1832, p. 87), and also 0. kundoo, Sykes, as the young bird. It closely resembles 0. Galbula, but

has shorter wings, and the black facial streak passes beyond the eye: from the nearly allied

African O. auratus it differs in the greatly diminished quantity of yellow uponits wings. Though

very common in peninsular India, I have not yet met with it in this neighbourhood.

O. Chinensis, Gmelin; O. hippocrepis, Wagler; O. acrorhynchus, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 97;

0, Maderaspatanus, Franklin, P. Z. S. 1831, 118, apud Jerdon, as (doubtfully) the young. BuacK-

NAPED ORIOLE. Not common in India, but much more frequent in the countries to the east-

ward.

C. Hodsonit (Hodgsonii?), apud Swainson, v. O. melanocephalus of India, as distinct from that

of Africa styled Capensis by Swainson, who has described a second black-headed African species

as O. brachyrhynchus, while a fourth presenting the same character inhabits the Malay countries,

and the O. Traillit constitutes a fifth. Very common in Bengal, and hardly less so, it would

appear, throughout India from the Himalaya southward; extends eastward to China, but is not

included in Dr. Horsfield’s catalogue of Javanese birds, whereas O. Chinensis is there enumerated.

0. McCoshii, Tickell, J. A. S. II, 577, is the once-moulted male.

O. leucogaster, Reinwardt; O. xanthonotus, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. I, p. 152, and

figured and further described in the ‘ Zoological Researches in Java.’ Malay countries generally.

O. Traillii, Hodgson; Pastor Traillii, Vigors and Gould; Psarophilus Traiilii, Jardine and

Selby. Himalaya, and likewise Ava. In all seven oriental species, of which the two peculiar (so

far as I am aware) to the Malay countries, — viz. O. leucogaster and O. castanopterus, — are

remarkable for their small size.

798 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

have the colours less intense. The immature plumage has no rufous on the head,

neck and breast, which are dull grey-brown, and the bars on the under-parts are

much less defined ; throat whitish.

In the suite of the foregoing Malayan species, I now proceed to describe a mag-

nificent Podargus, which appears to be the Bombycistoma Fullertonii of Capt. Hay

(J. A. S. X, 573), though not minutely agreeing in all respects with the description

furnished by that gentleman. It is the species mentioned in one of my reports,

ante, p. 106, and there is reason to suspect that the specimen was obtained in the

Malay peninsula.

Podargus Fullertonii (?). Length about sixteen inches, of wing ten inches and a

quarter, and tail eight inches, its two outermost feathers successively much shorter ;

bill to gape two inches and a half, and the same broad at base, its vertical height i

at base about five-eighths of an inch; tarse seven-eighths of an inch. Colour different

shades of fine rich rufous-brown, with a banded whitish half-collar at the nape,

and very remarkable elongated white spatulate tips to the wing-coverts, laterally

margined with black, each being prolonged beyond the dark portion of the feather,

and curling upward so as to rise from the even surface of the wing, with the fine

dark ferruginous-brown of which they contrast strongly: quills and tail less deep

ferruginous-brown, banded with a still paler tint, which is slightly bordered with

blackish; scapularies and tertiaries having each a terminal black spot; interscapularies

dark, and but indistinctly mottled: crown brown, with little or no rufous tinge,

and a subterminal irregular whitish streak, bordered with black, to each plume:

feathers of the nuchal collar lengthened and fulvous-brown, rayed with dusky-black,

and having a subterminal broad fulvous-white transverse band, which is also edged with

black both above and below: under-parts comparatively dull ferruginous brown, with

small whitish spots on the breast, and faint mottling; the belly paler; and lower -

tail-coverts whitish banded with light brown; ear-coverts rufous-tinged, and a pale

streak over the eye becoming more conspicuous beyond it. Bill and feet brown, the

former whitish towards the gape.

Capt. Hay’s second species is probably the Podargus stellatus, Gould, P. Z. S.

1837, p. 43, being received from Malacca, whereas Mr. Gould’s specimen was obtained

from Java. His third species appears to be an Eurylaimus with which I am unac-

quainted.

The Podargus Javanicus, Horsfield, already noticed by Mr. Eyton as inhabiting

the Malay Peninsula, likewise occurs, as 1 have been informed by Mr. Jerdon,

in Southern India, that gentleman having received ‘a very accurate description” of

the species, drawn up froma specimen killed in Coorg. It is rather an unexpected

addition to the Ornithology of India.

The more interesting species which I have lately procured in this neighbourhood are

as follow :—

Cuculus micropterus.

C. niger, Latham, v. C. Bengalensis niger, Brisson; of which the middle-aged

female is C. tenuirostris of Hardwicke and Gray, and the adult male is the doubtfully

cited C. flavus of Mr. Jerdon’s list: a mature male.

Cypselus affinis, Gray : very abundant at all seasons. C. palmarum is less so, and

no other species are met with in this vicinity. Of Swallows ( Hirundo), 1 have never

: 1842.] Asiatic Society. 799

yet seen a single individual in Bengal, but the Society possesses an example of #7.

rustica, which was shot at no great distance from Calcutta.

Mirafra Assamica: nestling plumage, which helps to affine this genus to the Larks.

* Dicoeeum erythronotum : male and female.

Tephrodornis superciliosus, Swainson, v. Lanius Keroula, Hardwicke and Gray.

The female of this bird appears to present an extraordinary difference from the male.

I brought down two at a shot, from a small party on the higher branches of a tall

tree, where they were making much the same kind of noise as a family of young

Shrikes. One was a young male, retaining most of its nestling feathers, which on the

head and body resembled the corresponding garb of Muscicapa grisola,’ while the

_ wing-coverts, tertiaries, and tail, were those of Lanius ; and this specimen, like the

adult male, has the two outermost tail-feathers almost wholly white; the other bird

was an adult female, with no white whatever on the tail, which is besides shorter and

less rounded; and the superciliary streak and dark colour of the ear-coverts are also

wanting: in other respects the two resemble; but the diversity in the tail is so remark-

able, that 1 imagine few would incline to regard them as specifically the same.*

- Columba Javanica: interesting as proving the existence of this beautiful species

in the neighbourhood, where indeed (in the Botanic Garden, ) it is not uncommon.

Numenius arquata.

Tringa subarquata: fine summer plumage.

* Gallinula lugubris ; Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. I, p. 195: male. 7

* Rallus rufescens, Jerdon, Madr. Jl. No. XXIX, 205: female.

A considerable number of skins have likewise been set up.

I am, Sir,

Your’s obediently,

Epwarp BiytuH.

Bee ecaclix to Report, No. 1. —— The Asiatic Drongos (Edolius, Cuv.). Upon a

former occasion (ante, p. 169 et seg.), I was partially successful in my endeavour

to elucidate the various Oriental species of this group, which I am now enabled to

monograph, I think, satisfactorily : and to aid the student in determining the various

species with which I am acquainted, lannex a plate with figures of the beak of each of

_ them, and proceed to offer a conspectus of the series with their synonymes.

Subgenus Criniger, Tickell, 1833; Cometes (olim Chibia), Hodgson, 1837.

1, Edolius Crishna (Latham), Gould ; —~ splendens, Tickell ; —— casia, Hodgson :

_ ante, p. 171. Figs. 1 and 2.

Subgenus Edolius (Cuvier), Nobis ; Cometes (in part), Hodgson.

2. E. grandis, Gould ; —— malabaricus, Shaw and Stephens ; —— malabaroides,

Hodgson : ante, p. 170. Figs. 5 and 6.

3. E. retifer, Temminck ; —— platurus, Vieillot; malabaricus Gould ; ——

cristatellus, Nobis; —— grandis, apud Horsfieldt: ante, p. 170. Fig. 7.

* Ihave since shot a female of this species not differing from the male, which leads me to

conclude that the female above noticed is distinct.

y t Identified as such by Dr. McClelland’s drawing of the specimen; and accordingly Dr. Hors-

field’s remark is explained, that the Assamese specimens of supposed grandis ‘‘agree with the

specific character and description given by Mr. Gould in all points excepting the size, being about

one third smaller.” The present is also Mr. Jerdon’s species.

800 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

4, BE, Rangoonensis, Gould ;—probably the Malabar Shrike or Drongo of Buffon

and Sonnerat:* ante, p. 172. Figs. 8 and 9.

N. B. Either the first or second of these three species (probably the first of them)

is the Cuculus Paradiseus, Lin., the Coucow vert huppé de Siam of Brisson, or -

Coucou a longs brins of Buffon, as founded on a drawing by a M. Poivre, who

had figured the feet to be zygodactyle: the same artist had in like manner mis-

represented the Pica (Cyanocorax) erythrorhynchos, which accordingly has been

described as the Coucow bleu de la Chine, en langue Chinoise, San-hia, of Brisson and

Buffon, and the Cuculus Sinensis, Linneus. This species was observed in Chusan —

by Dr. Cantor.

Subgenus Melisseus (olim Bhringa), Hodgson.

3d. EH. remifer, Temminck ;

apud Horsfield: ante, p. 169. Figs. 3 and 4.

Subgenus Prepopterus (olim Chaptia), Hodgson.

6. E. eneus, Vieillot; —— muscipetoides, Hodgson. Figs. 20 and 21. Butchanga

of the Bengalees.

Subgenus Dicrurus (Vieillot), G. R. Gray, olim Buchanga, Hodgson.

7. E. viridescens (?), Gould: ante, p. 173. Figs. 10 and 11.

8. E. balicassius (Linneus) ;—affinis, Nobis (ante) ;—Javanese forficatus (?),

Horsfield: ante, p. 174. Figs. 12 and 13, A fine adult, recently obtained from

Siheapore, has the wing five inches and three-quarters long, middle tail-feathers

four inches and three-eighths, and the outermost above seven-eighths of an inch

additional ; the tip of the latter curling nearly as much as in E. Fingah, from which

species this differs in its shorter and much less deeply forked tail, and in the superior

size and much greater vertical height of the bill, the upper ridge of which is also

considerably more angulated.f In both the abdominal feathers of the once moulted

birds are tipped with greyish-white, which totally disappears in the plumage

of full maturity. I doubt whether that now under consideration occurs in India, ©

but it seems to be the common species of the Malay countries generally, including —

the Phillipine Islands (from whence it was originally described by Brisson and

Buffon), and it is said to extend even to Australia (apud Vigors, Lin. Trans.

XV, 211).

9. HE. Fingah, Shaw (the young),—Jndicus, Stephens (the adult) ;—albirictus,

Hodgson ;—balicassius, Nobis (ante), as also of Jerdon and other writers on the

Ornithology of peninsular India. Figs. 14 and 15. Shaw appears to have had no

further authority for this species than Edwards’s figure of the ‘* Fork-tailed Indian

Butcher-bird,’’? which he erroneously refers to Lanius coerulescens of Linneus; and

holding this opinion, he had no right to clog our systems with a superfluous name:

quoting, too, the Linnean definition of caerulescens, and perhaps following Edwards’s ~

description, or, it may be, describing from that author’s plate, it would seem that

the most has been made of the whitish tips to the abdominal feathers of the young

of our present species, thus bearing out the mal-identification with caerulescens.

* “ T] manque de huppe.”—Buffon.

+ This bird is the Corvus balicassius of Linnzeus, and in truth its beak partakes much of the ©

corvine form, so that the species might be styled with propriety the Crow-billed Drongo, as the

next might be equally well named the Shrike-billed Drongo.

tectirostris, Hodgson; —— Rangoonensis (?),

1842.} Asiatic Society. 801

His statements, however, that ‘‘this species is described and figured by Edwards,

from a specimen brought from Bengal, where it is known by the name of Fingah,’’ and

that “it is said to be a great persecutor of the Crows, which it attacks and ob-

liges to quit its haunts,’’ leave no doubt in my mind that the present is the species

intended, inasmuch as though others of this genus likewise drive away the Crows,

still this is the common Fingah of the Bengalees, familiarly known to every body,

and its beating off the Crows and even Kites is here a scene of daily observation. A

seemingly constant character of this species is a minute white spot at the rictus, which

dpeg not occur in any of the other species, and hence the appropriate name of albirictus

- bestowed by Mr. Hodgson.

10. #. macrocercus, Vieillot;—annectans, Hodgson, — Muscicapa biloba, Lich-

tenstein, apud Griffith’s work ;—Neel Fingah of the Bengalees: ante, p. 173. Figs. 16

and 17.

1. £. cerulescens (Linneus). Figs. 18 and 19.

12. E. cineraceus, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. 1, p. 145 ;—probably also D.

leucophaus, Vieillot, Dict. Class d@’ Hist. Nat. V, 621, which, with D. Ceylonensis,

Stephens, are referred to (and the latter founded on) the Drongri of Levaillant.

* EB. cineraceus saturatus concolor, remigibus supra ad apicem rectricibusque

lateralibus margine exteriore, nigris. Longitudo 11 poll.?? Horsfield: who adds

that—““ Although very similar to forficatus [which I suspect to be balicassius verus],

it must be considered a distinct species; the bill is more robust, and the exterior

_tail-feathers form a greater curve; it is much less common, and the natives of Java

distinguish it by a peculiar name.’ Dicrurus leucopheus, Vieillot, is briefly des-

cribed as having ‘‘tout le plumage d’un gris plombé avec lextremité des remiges

_@un brun noiratre; barbes exterieures des rectrices noires; queue longue et

fourchue ; bec et pieds plombés. Taille, neuf pouces. De Ceylon et de Java.’’

13. E. leucogaster (Vieillot), Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat. V, 622 (1824) ; D. albiven-

tris, Stephens, (1825): founded on Levaillant’s Drongo gris a ventre blanc, and

suspected by both Vieillot and Stephens to be merely a variety of the last, or

_leucopheus, Vieillot. ‘It chiefly differs in having all the under-parts, from chin

to vent, white,’’ and therefore cannot be identified with cerulescens, to which Mr.

Jerdon has assigned leucogaster as a synonym.

14. The only remaining species which I can find ascribed to this part of the world

is D. gratus, Stephens. ‘‘ Inhabits Bengal. Beak and legs black : general colour of

_ the plumage above black, with a brilliant changeable blue gloss, like bronze, in some

lights appearing green: belly, sides, and under tail-coverts, dull black-grey ; under-

_ parts of the wings and tail black ; the last forked: the hairs about the nostrils point

forward [as a matter of course], and there is a large oval patch of black beneath the

eye.’ Is much in need of verification.

¥ Explanation of Plate.

: Figs. land 2 Edolius krishna.

Pabedan A 215, remifer.

SG Vea YG! Cs, grandis.

By PL tab Les & ze retifer.

yes 8 anids-94"> "5, Rangoonensis.

| sauorand. Il. 4, viridescens 2

802 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

Figs. 12 and 13 Edolius balicassius.

sy dfeand: 15) avy, Fingah.

l6and 17a, macrocercus.

wv amd 9's be. ceerulescens.

po) eeOrands Aha whis, a@neus.

Appendix, No. 2.—Genus Turnix, Bonn. (1790) ; Tridactylus, Lacepede; Ortygis,

Illiger ; Hemipodius, ‘Yemminck : the Three-toed Quails of sportsmen. On a former

occasion (Vol. XI, p. 586), I referred a pair of specimens, male and female, of this

genus, to the Malayan 7. atrogularis, Eyton, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 107 ; to which also I now

find that I should have assigned the Malayan female noticed at p. 204, and there wrongly

identified with 7. taigoor of Sykes, which latter is, however, included by Mr. Hyton in

his list of a collection of Malayan birds, wherein he has characterized the 7. atrogu-

laris : but the similitude of some females of these species is so extremely close, that

it is almost (if not quite) impossible to discriminate them, even though ordinarily

they are distinguishable at a glance; and now that the Singapore collection noticed

in the foregoing report has yielded undoubted examples of both sexes of 7. atro-

gularis, it appears to me that of the pair first mentioned, the male pertains de-

cidedly to that species, while the female sent with it should perhaps be referred

to T.taigoor. 1 have now four continental eastern species before me, of which the males

of three would appear to be normally distinguished from the other sex by having the

throat and middle of the fore-neck and breast jetty-black; but in 7. atrogularis

this black is very much broader than in 7. pugnazx and T. taigoor. Col. Sykes states,

indeed, that the last mentioned species is devoid of this colour, which is the case with

one specimen marked male in the Society’s Museum, but another example before me |

has fully as much of it as 7. pugnaz : again, of the latter species, remarks Mr. Jerdon,

*¢ Col. Sykes and M. Temminck assert the identity of the plumage of both sexes [each

having the mark], and though I did not examine them when I shot several in com~

pany, they were always clothed alike’’ ; on the other hand, M. Drapiez states (Dict.

Class. d Hist. Nat., Art. Turniz),—‘‘ La femelle [of T. Pugnaz] a généralement les

couleurs du plumage beaucoup moins vives; la bande longitudinale de la gorge au lieu

d’étre noire est blanche avec un simple trait noir quil’encadre; le milieu du ventre "

est d’un blanc roussatre.”? Of the 7. Luzoniensis, v. H. thoracicus, Tem., of the

Malayan Archipelago, Sir Stamford Raffles observes, that ‘‘ the throat is black in the

males, generally whitish in the females’; and I imagine that the fully adult males of

all these exhibit the black mark, while (in various degrees, according to the species, )

the young males, and a greater or less number of old in addition to the young females,

are devoid of it, some also presenting a mere trace of this marking, as stated by M.

Drapiez of the female of his pugnaz : and it should be borne in mind that this is a genus

of which several species are so closely allied together, and withal so numerous in

species, that in cases of conflicting testimony there is generally much room for doubt

whether precisely the same species be intended by different writers.

I proceed to offer descriptions*of all the oriental species which I know of.

1. 7. pugnaz, apud Sykes and Jerdon ; perhaps Tetrao nigricollis and Madagascari-

ensis of the older authors, though it is unlikely that the very same species inhabits

Madagascar. Length six inches and a half; of wing three inches and a half; bill

to forehead (through the feathers) nearly five-eighths of an inch, and fully a quarter of

hs La

Sai Paeuy

yt > i

bits

(is Erni, 2

et aa

bie

Rene

1842.} Asiatic Society. 803

an inch in vertical depth ; tarse an inch, and middle toe and claw seven-eighths of an

inch. Upper-parts rufous, with transverse black lines on each feather of the back,

scapularies, and rump, these having also yellowish-white lateral margins, internally

edged with black; sides of the lower part of the neck and breast, together with

the more conspicuous feathers of the wings, fulvous-white, with tolerably broad

black cross-bars; below the breast light and bright ferruginous; throat and middle

of the fore-neck, to the commencement of the breast, deep black; and crown rufous,

with a series of black and white feathers, appearing as white spots set off with black,

along the mesial line, another and broader series over each eye, a third bordering

the black throat, and the sides of the upper-part of the neck covered with the same,

appearing as whitish with black edgings to the feathers; quills brownish-dusky,

with pale edges. The description of the female by M. Drapiez has already been

cited, whilst M. Temminck and Col. Sykes assert that it does not differ from the male.

The example here described is from Madras, and the species is understood to inhabit

the Indian peninsula where it is tolerably common, Java, and (very doubtfully)

Madagascar.

2. T. taigoor, Sykes: ‘ Bengal Sporting Magazine,’ Oct. 1836, pl. I, fig.6; H. plum-

bipes, Hodgson, Ibid. May, 1837, p. 346; ‘ Bombay Literary Transactions,’ II, 271.

The species which I conclude to be this, presents scarcely any difference in plumage

from the preceding: the upper-parts are merely browner and less rufous, especially

the head and nape, and the black cross-bars of the dorsal feathers are commonly

broader and incline to be confluent, the markings generally being somewhat less

clearly defined; but the size is inferior, and the beak proportionally more slender.

Length five inches and three-quarters; of wing three inches and one-eighth, or less ;

bill to forehead (through the feathers) nine-sixteenths of an inch, and under

three-sixteenths in vertical depth; tarse not seven-eighths of an inch, and mid-

dle toe and claw three-quarters of an inch. The male specimen before noticed

as wanting the black gular streak has also the light ferruginous colour below the

throat paler and less developed, the throat being spotless whitish, flanked with dusky

specks. This appears to be the species figured in the ‘ Bombay Literary Transac-

tions,’ as above cited, which is stated to be common in Guzerat and in Malwa.

_ * Extent of wings nine inches and a half.” In the peninsula, Mr. Jerdon has

only procured it solitary, in long grass in the more open spaces of the Western

coast.’? It is not uncommon in the vicinity of Calcutta, where I have found it breed-

ing, in the Botanic Garden. As occasional females of this and of the next so much

resemble, and Mr. Eyton, while enumerating 7. ¢aigoor in his list of species from

‘the Malay peninsula, describes only the male of his 7. atrogularis, it is certainly

not improbable that he mistook the female of that bird for the present species. .

3. T. atrogularis ; H. atrogularis, Eyton, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 107. Intermediate in

size to the two preceding species, with as stout a bill as the first (in old males), and

seldom much trace of rufous on the upper-parts, the predominant hue of which

is a sort of dusky-chocolate, having much black intermixed, the transverse lines

mostly confluent and suffusing a considerable portion of the feather; the black bars

on the sides of the breast and wings, also, are broad, so as to assume an oval or even

round form, and the fulvescent tinge on the belly is not very deep, and mostly

extends up the breast; the black of the breast and fore-neck of the male is, as

5 N

804 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

already noticed, very much broader than in the others, whence this sex may always

be readily distinguished, which is not the case with the females in every instance,

even by referring to the thickness of the bill, which presents a much less marked

distinctive character than in the male. Length about six inches, of wing three

inches and three-eighths, or generally under three inches and a quarter in the

female; bill to forehead (through the feathers) five-eighths; and tarse an inch,

middle toe and claw seven-eighths of an inch. It is evidently very common in the

neighbourhood of Singapore, and occurs in the Tenasserim provinces.

4. T. Dussumieri, ‘Bengal Sporting Magazine,’ October, 1836, pl. I, fig. 5;

Hemipodius variabilis, Hodgson, Ibid. May 1837, p. 345; Button Quail of sports-

men. This is the most abundant species of India generally, including Bengal, and

it extends northward into Nepal, where it is also numerous; but I have not yet seen it

from the eastern side of the Bay. Its length is five inches and a half, with wing

two inches and three-quarters; bill slender, and half an inch to forehead through

the feathers; tarse three-quarters of an inch, and middle toe and claw five-eighths

of an inch. Throat whitish in both sexes, flanked with a few transverse dusky

specks; and middle of the breast of the same fulvescent hue as the belly of the others,

more or less deep: the colour of the upper-parts most nearly resembles that of

T. pugnax, but the black is rather more predominant, especially on the rump which is

chiefly of this hue; the belly is whitish; and the wings marked differently from

those of the three preceding species, having a whitish ground-tint, upon which

each feather shews a large rufous spot, containing a smaller black one externally ; and

these spots being longitudinal instead of transverse.

The following oriental species have also been described, and it will aid the student

to give detailed notices of them.

5. T. nigrifrons; H. nigrifrons, Tem. ‘Six inches in length, having the fore-

head ornamented with three broad bands; the first of which is formed of small white

feathers, arising from the base of the beak to the nostrils; the second, which is twice

as broad as the first, is deep black; and the third, which extends beyond the eyes,

pure white: the top of the head is of a fine red, with delicate black stripes in the

middle of the feathers; the nape is slightly tinged with bright olive; the back,

rump, and upper tail-coverts are of a reddish-yellow, tinged with black and fawn-

colour; the lesser and middle wing-coverts are yellowish, each feather having a small

black spot towards its tip; the secondaries and greater quills are grey; the throat

bright reddish-yellow; neck and breast the same, having all the feathers sprinkled —

with semicircular black spots; belly and thighs pure white : bill red; and feet reddish,

the claws black. Said to be a native of India, and described by Temminck from

a single specimen in the Paris Museum.’’ Stephens, in Shaw’s Zoology.

6. T. maculosus; H. maculosus, Tem. This is an Australian species, but is

stated in Griffith’s work also to inhabit India, upon the authority of Gen. Hardwicke ;

and I make no doubt that the Indian bird here referred to is the same as that

figured, together with another little known species, as two different Bustard Quails —

of sportsmen (both of them differing also from the preceding species of this genus),

in the ‘ Bengal Sporting Magazine’ for March, 1838, the present being represented

as fig. 2 of the plate. The following is Stephens’s description of the O. maculosus

of Australia, in the Appendix to Shaw’s ‘ Zoology.’ “ Distinguished by its very short

1842.) © . Asiatic Society. 805

tail, which scarcely exceeds the tips of the wings when closed; its length is five

_ inches: the top of the head is varied with black spots, and the whole of the feathers

are tipped with greyish-red; a white band extends over the crown; the eyebrows,

sides of the neck, and nape, are bright red; the throat and cheeks reddish-white ;

the fore-part of the neck, breast, belly, sides, and thighs, are red, and (with the

exception of the feathers of the sides and those of the edge of the breast, which are

varied with stripes of black and reddish-white,) they are spotless; the feathers of

the top of the back and the scapularies are black in the centre, bordered with white,

and tipped with red; those of the middle of the back and the long ones which hide

the tail, are deep black, varied with rufous undulations, and slightly edged with

yellowish; the scapularies are a little spotted with grey-blue; the wing-coverts are

reddish-yellow; the whole of the feathers with a black spot near the tip, and the

longer ones with the inner webs red, spotted with black; primaries and secondaries

bright grey, edged with reddish-white; the bill and feet fine yellow.”? Capt. Brown’s

figure of the Indian bird before referred to accords tolerably well, upon the whole,

with this description, differing chiefly a little about the head.

7. The other Bustard Quail is identified by that gentleman with the Dubkee

Quail of Latham, Gen. Hist. VIII, 340, and which is thus described by that author.

‘Length under five inches. Bill pale. Head mottled whitish and ash-colour;

all round the neck and sides ferruginous; down the middle from the chin, paler fer-

ruginous; the rest of the upper-parts fine pale ash-colour, varied with paler spots,

inclining to rufous ; under-parts cinereous clay-colour, marked on the sides of the breast

with round black spots of several sizes; greater wing-coverts and second quills pale

clay-colour, spotted with black, some of the spots kidney-shaped; greater quills

and tail plain dusky; legs yellow, and three toes only. Inhabits India, where it is

called Dubkee.’’ Sir J. Anstruther.

‘¢4, Bill and legs yellow: plumage in general pale grey, crossed with fine black

lines ; lower part of the neck behind, inclining to rufous; breast the same; outer part

of the wing and breast marked with small, distinct spots of black. Inhabits India

and China, called Looah,’’ -- a name commonly bestowed on the tiny Bush Partridge,

classed as Coturnix Argoondah by Col. Sykes.

Capt. Brown’s figure of this species represents the back as handsomely ornamented

with round white spots, margined with black.

_ 8. Dr. Latham also describes a Balen Quail, which is very probably the taigoor,

notwithstanding certain discrepancies. ‘‘ Size uncertain. Bill black. Top of the head,

even with the eyes, marked brown; down the middle of the crown a pale clay-

coloured streak, and another over each eye, almost to the back ; the chin, sides under

the eyes, and throat, white; sides of the neck and breast clay-colour; down the

middle, from the throat to the breast, a broad black streak; the rest of the under-

parts pale clay-colour, each feather marked down the middle with a long black

Streak, rounded at the bottom; back and wings pale mottled brown, as the head,

“marked with a series of pale yellow streaks down the middle and two others of the

Same on each side, besides some fine similar lines from the shaft of each feather ;

legs pale red, three toes only.

‘* Jnhabits India, called Balen. Sir J. Anstruther.”’

** One supposed to be a female, is marked much the same about the head, but with-

806 Astatic Society. [No. 128.

out the black down the breast, or the transverse curved marks on the throat: sides

_of the body dirty-white, with fewer black spots.’’

‘With the above, another of the first. The plumage much the same, but darker

in colour, and the under parts flesh-colour instead of pale rufous, or clay-colour.

This is called Gassur, and is probably a young bird; the specimen differs how-

ever, in having on one leg a rudiment of a hind-claw.”’

‘‘ A. Length five inches. Bill pale blue; above, the body is pale mottled ash-

colour, with a series of yellowish streaks ; also some large spots of blackish before,

and marbled behind; the wings pale brownish rose-colour, chequered with white,

and in the interstices a spot of black; greater quills dusky ; along the middle of

the crown a slender yellow streak ; the rest of the crown marbled; sides of the head

paler ; round the eye nearly white ; beneath the bird is wholly buff-colour; sides

of the breast spotted with black ; tail blotched with brown; legs flesh-colour, no

hind-toe.”’ +4

‘‘Inhabits India. Gen. Hardwicke. Taken in Cawnpore in May.”

9. T. Luzoniensis ; Tetrao Luzs. Gmelin: H. thoracicus, Tem.; Turnix ma-

culatus, Vieillot. Common inthe Eastern Archipelago. ‘‘ About seven inches in length:

the top of the head, cheeks, and nape, covered with black and white spots, more

numerous on the former; the feathets of the throat are white, tipped with black ;

the under-part of the neck and breast are fine bright red ; the belly, sides, and thighs,

bright yellowish ; back, rump, and feathers covering the tail, grey-brown, marked

with delicate zig-zag black lines; the greater and lesser wing-coverts whitish-yellow,

varied with black spots, having a bright red transverse line above each of the latter ;

the greater feathers of the wing are grey-brown, and spotless.’’ Stephens.

Sir Stamford Raffles remarks, that ‘‘The colours vary much in different speci-

mens. The head, back, and wings are varied with black, brown, and fawn-colour, -

of which sometimes the one, sometimes the other, predominates. In full-grown

birds the head is generally black, spotted with white, particularly at the sides, while

the back is more of a red-brown, and the wings are black, banded with white. The

breast also varies, being sometimes ferruginous, but at a later period becoming

marked with transverse bars of black and white. The abdomen is always of a fer-

ruginous colour. The throat is black in the males, generally whitish in the females.

Bill rather long, yellowish, which is also the colour of the legs. Irides white.

‘These Quails are frequently kept tame, and the females are trained to fight with

each other by the natives. The superior courage of the females has given rise to

a common Malay proverb, in which a hen-pecked husband is compared to a Puyu,

This species is always seen in pairs, never in flocks like the Pikau (Coturnix

Phillipensis ).

‘*¢ I am at loss to discover,’’ continues Sir Stamford Raffles, ‘‘ what species of Quail

is intended by the Tetrao suscitator, or Indian Quail of Bontius. The Pikau and

Puyu are the two generally known throughout the Eastern Islands. The latter is the

most frequently domesticated, and becomes as tame as the common fowl. It is the

only one trained for fighting, and they will often combat with such fury as to kill

each other. It is not however noisy, and in the wild state is only seen in pairs.

The Pikau, on the contrary, has a loud clear note, is seen in flocks, will not become

so tame as the other, and is not valued for fighting. It would seem as if the man-

1842.] Asiatic Society. 807

ners of both were confounded in the account given of 7. suscitator. Lin. Trans.

XIII. pt. II, p. 324.

T. Luzoniensis is also the only species included in Dr. Horsfield’s Catalogue of the

Birds of Java; but it may be that the H. pugnax of Temminck is regarded by Sir

Stamford Raffles merely as a particular state of plumage of his Luzoniensis, for

M. Temminck informs us that H. pugnazx inhabits Java, where it is greatly prized on

account of its pugnacious disposition, the inhabitants amusing themselves by setting

the males (?) to fight in the manner of game-cocks. [Col. Sykes, it may here be men-

tioned, takes upon himself to assert of his H. pugnaz that ‘‘its pugnacious qualities

are quite unknown in Dukhun, and even in Java.’’] I should not be surprised if

Tf. atrogularis should prove to be identical with the Javanese pugnaz, while itis quite

distinct from a Madras specimen of Col. Sykes’s Indian pugnaz, this being the only

one I have to compare with several specimensof Mr. Eyton’s atrogularis received

chiefly from Singapore. Of TJ. Luzoniensis, I have no specimen to refer to, but

there is a rude figure of this bird in Sonnerat’s Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinée, upon

which its specific name was founded. La petite Caille de ? Isle de Luzon of this SUROD

represents the female of Coturnix Phillipensis.

10. T. fasciutus ; H. fasciatus, Tem. Inhabits the Phillipines. ‘‘ Rather above five

inches in length. The whole of the fore-part of the neck, the sides of the head and

of the breast, transversely striped with black and white; belly spotless red; top of

the head biack ; the region of the eyes striped alternately with white and black; nape

bright red; back and rump brown, varied with black and red; wing-coverts trans-

versely striped with black and white; the feathers nearest the body having their

outer webs black, tipped with grey: the feet and beak are yellowish.’’ Stephens,

ll. ZT. rufus, Vieillot. ‘‘O. corpore supra cinereo, punctis nigris; jugulo nigro

alboque vario; corpore subtus, remigibus primariis, rectricibusque lateralibus fusco-

rufis; rostro corneo, basi nigricante, pedibus rubescentibus.’’ Inhabits China,

Various other species of this genus occur in Australia, the whole of Africa, even

Spain, and probably other parts of Southern Europe, and doubtless Western Asia; but

there is nonein America. ‘The Society’s Museum contains two from the Cape colony,

of which one appears to be the Spotted-necked Quail of Latham, and the other (a

pretty, small, red-breasted species,) I cannot find described; but then I have not

Dr. A. Smith’s ‘South African Zoology’ to refer to. I have brought together all

the notices I could find of eastern species, though I do not expect that so many will

eventually be verified as distinct; but the data here collected will be useful in

assisting the investigations of such as may now bestow attention on the group, and

certainly may be presumed to intimate that the latter is richer in Indian species

than has hitherto been currently supposed.

The other small Gallinacee classed with the preceding as Quails by Anglo-Indian

sportsmen are as follow,—all having a fourth or hind toe.

True Quails (genus Coturnix), having the first quill longest, the tarsi having

no trace of spurs, &c. Habits migratory.

1. C. dactylisonans : the Common Quail. An inhabitant of Europe, Asia, and Africa,

to the Cape of Good Hope. It is very abundant in the Upper Provinces of India

during the cool months, less so in the peninsula, and is the most frequent species

of Coturnix in the vicinity of Calcutta. Is rarely known to breed in this country.

808 Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

2. C. textilis, Tem.; Perdix Coromandelica, Latham; the Rain Quail of sports-

men. Distinguished from the last by its smaller size, the plainness of its primaries,

and especially by the black breast of the male. Is very numerous in the cultivated

parts of the Indian peninsula, where many breed; but great numbers arrive in the

N. E. provinces of the Bengal Presidency early in the rains, and, after breeding,

depart thence (save a few stragglers, which are observed at all seasons, ) in September.

It is not common about Calcutta; and in Nepal its migrations resemble those of the

common species.

3. C. flavipes, Nobis. A remarkably diminutive species, which I understand is not

rare in Bengal during the cool season. I procured a fine male alive, which I kept

some time, but it unluckily made its escape. Afterwards I obtained a female, in bad

condition, both of them having been brought with Larks, &c., by the bazar shikarees, —

and this, when it died, was ruined as a specimen by the Ants. However, its dimen-

sions were—Length five inches and a half, by nine inches and a half in extent,

the wing two inches and seven-eighths, and tarse seven-eighths of an inch. Legs

bright yellow. The plumage does not differ much from that of the common Quail,

and the sexes are similarly distinguished. This bird has a remarkably soft, piping

note.

4. C. Phillipensis, Brisson; Tetrao Chinensis and Manillensis, Gmelin; Cotur-

nix excalfatoria, Temminck. ‘‘ There is an accurate description of this species of

Quail,’’ writes Mr. Jerdon, ‘in Mr. Elliot’s notes, taken from a single specimen

shot by a gentleman near Belgaum, in the southern Mahratta country.’? The Society

has also received Nepalese specimens from Mr. Hodgson: and Mr. Frith assures me

that he has found it tolerably common in different parts of Bengal, as near Islampore,

where he resides. In the Malay countries generally, it appears to be very abundant.

‘Some notice of its habits, as the Pikauw of Raffles, has been already cited. It is -

remarkable for the great dissimilarity of the sexes, and the male is perhaps the most

beautiful bird of its genus. .

The three next are pigmy Partridges, and exhibit every character of the genus

Perdizx, both as to form and habits ; insomuch that I cannot recognise the genus Rubi-

cola, Hodgson, proposed for them in the ‘ Bengal Sporting Magazine’ for May, 1837.

Col. Sykes unaccountably ranges them in Coturniz, as if size alone were sufficient to

refer them to that group.

5. Perdix Argoondah: Coturnix Argoondah, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, 153; P.

olivacea, Buchanan Hamilton; Java Partridge of Latham: Bush Quail of sports-

men.* Generally diffused over all India, where there is any low cover.

6. P. rubiginosa, Valenciennes ; Coturnix Pentah, Sykes, Ibid; Forest Quail of

sportsmen. Southern India only.f

7. P. erythrorhyncha; Coturnix erythrorhyncha, Sykes: Black Quail of Neil-

ghierry sportsmen. Elevated districts of Southern India only.

Addendum.—Since the first portion of this report has been made up at the press,

the Society has received from Mr. Jerdon, with numerous other specimens, a skin

of his Timalia platyura (vide p, 796, note to preceding page), and I consider this bird

* Also termed Rock Quail in the peninsula,

t Mr. Frith, however, has since informed me that he is tolerably positive of having once obtained

this species in’ Bengal.

1842.1] Asiatic Society. . 809

to belong strictly to the Indian form of Dasyornis (Jardine and Selby), being the

fourth Indian species referrible to it with which I am now acquainted.—E. B.

Museum Economic Geology.

Read the following letter from the Deputy Secretary to the Government

of India, of 8th June last :—

No. 975.

To H. Torrens, Esa.

Secretary to the Asiatic Society.

General Department.

Sir,—With reference to the Correspondence noted in the margin, I am directed to

transmit for the information of the Asiatic Society, the annexed Extract Paragraph

104, from a despatch from the Honourable Court of Directors in the Public Depart-

From Officiating Secretary ment, No. 6 of 1842, dated 22nd March, and to request that

Ree aans och =, ce tg when several specimens of the same Minerals are received

To ditto dated 17th June. in the Museum of the Asiatic Society, duplicates thereof

may be forwarded to this Department, properly packed for transmission to the Ho-

nourable Court. I have the honour to be, Sir,

Council Chamber, Your most obedient servant,

The 8th June, 1842. H. V. Bay ey,

Depy. Secy. to the Govt. of India.

Extract from a Letter No. 6 of 1842, from the Honourable Court of the Directors in

the Public Department, dated the 22nd March,

2 & 3. Dr. T. Thomson

appointed Curator to the

Museum of the Asiatic So-

ciety on the allowance au-

thorized by the Court. The ‘ aa ‘ ‘ :

Rested ment of the So- Society, we should like to be furnished with duplicate

ciety presented to the Court p ft f ,

for their liberal patronage. specimens of which the locality has been ascertained.

(True Extract, ) ’

H. V. Bay ey,

Depy. Secy. to the Govt. of India.

104. As several specimens of the same Minerals are likely

to be frequently received in the Museum of the Asiatic

Read the following Report of the Joint Curator for the month of June

last :—

Report of the Curator, Museum Economic Geology, for the month of June.

Museum Economic Geology.—We have been principally employed in this month in searching for,

and arranging from the Society’s old collections, a suite of Indian Iron Ores ; and J have the plea-

sure of exhibiting a commencement of 69 specimens, comprising 34 species and varieties, some of

which are new, as Indian Ores of that metal, as far as [am aware. The crystallised Phosphate of

Iron No. 39, from Bundlecund, and the earthy Phosphate No. 66, from Assam, are the most re-

markable of these. The series from Bundiecund is valuable as relating to Capt. Franklin’s excel-

lent paper and map in the XVIIIth vol. of our Transactions. We have also made some progress

in the arrangements of the Indian Copper Ores.

Geological and Mineralogical Museum.—We have to announce here a discovery of the very high-

est importance to Indian Geology, which is that of Captain Herbert’s MSS. Geological Report, and

moreover the certainty, from its title page, thatit was accompanied by a Geological Map! and

810 - — Asiatic Society. [No. 128.

six coloured Views. The following letter, addressed by our Secretary to Government, entreating its

assistance in the search for this invaluable document, will sufficiently explain its importance, and

it is therefore needless to dilate farther upon it here.

To G. A. Bususy, Ese.

Secretary, General Department.

Srr,—The Committee of Papers of the Asiatic Society of Bengal desire me respectfully to state

for the information of Government, that after upwards of eighteen months of persevering search,

five volumes of Notes and Field Books, relative to Captain Herbert’s Geological and Mineralogical

Survey of the Himalayas, have been recovered ; and to this they have now to add also, the discovery

of the Manuscript of his detailed Geological Report.

2. And from the title page to this Manuscript they further learn, that it was accompanied by a

Geological Map and six coloured Views, which appear to have been sent in to Government

with it.

3. The importance of the recovery of this great mass of Scientific Knowledge, which with the

extensive collection in the Society’s rooms are the fruit of this costly survey, they will not dilate

upon; but they beg earnestly to bring to the notice of Government, the immense value, both

scientific and strictly financial, of the Geological Map could it be also recovered ; and in confirmation

of this opinion they may refer to the vast labour and expense which for the last twenty or thirty

years past, has been bestowed, both in Europe and in America, upon Geological Surveys and Maps

of various countries: (and especially of England and Scotland,) under the full conviction of the

immense political advantages which have been, and are to be eventually derived from them.

4. They trust then, that under these convictions, and with the hope that this really national loss,

(for such it would strictly be both to India and to England, ) may be yet averted by the recovery of

this valuable document from amongst the archives of Government, they therefore respectfully

request, that strict search may be ordered in the records of the General and Political Secretariats,

the Surveyor General’s Office and any others, for any kind of Geological Maps, Sketches or Survey

by the late Captain Herbert or other persons. The date of his Manuscript Report is 1826.

MusEvum, (Signed) H. TORRENS,

lst July, 1842. : Secretary, Asiatic Society.

I may however be permitted to add that, from the great talent, untiring industry, clear and

patient detail of facts, and absence of all leaning to hypothesis which distinguished so greatly our

lamented associate, Captain Herbert, we may fairly hope, that if the Map is recovered, the Society

at no distant day may have the satisfaction of doing full credit to the liberality of Government in

the outlay for this costly Survey, and ample justice to his memory.

Amongst the old papers of the Physical Committee, we have also discovered a valuable one by

Dr. John Adam on the Geology of Bundlecund, and this has enabled me to recognise Catalogue

No. V. of our Geological collections, as being the series pertaining to this very paper, which is

now in the press for the Journal. When I state that it extends from Mirzapoor to Jubbul-

poor, giving thus an excellent Geological outline for that distance, its value will be easily under-

stood.

I have again renewed every search for the Catalogue relative to Captain Pemberton’s Geological

Series from his Bootan Mission, to which we have no clue, but a very complete set of numbers on

the specimens. Some hints from his Assistant, Captain Blake, lead me to hope, that the references,

as in the case of Captain Herbert’s collection, may be dispersed throughout his Note and Field

Books, and I have written to Major General Macleod on the subject. We have no contributions to

announce for this month.

H. PippinerTon,

Cur. Mus. Econ. Geol. ©

Museum, 30th June, 1842,

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

Contributions towards a History of the development of the Mineral

Resources of India. By 8S. G. TottemMacue Hearty, Esq.

It is often imagined that whatever of scientific or commercial enter-

prize has been exhibited in India, bears a very modern date under the

British rule ; and that the fortunes once so rapidly accumulated here as

to originate the mythus of the rupee tree, were simply the results of

systematic trading in some, and of systematic peculation in others. Such

an idea- was easily suggested by the fact, that the already known

produce of India, and the silk of Cathay, and the spice of Serendib

commanded immediate sale, and enormous prices in the markets of the

West; that the private trade of the factors bore a very respectable

proportion to that of their Hon’ble Masters; that rajahs and dewans

were thickly sprinkled over the land ; and that nuzzeranas were legal

and weighty in amount, and fine in carat. It was difficult therefore to

conceive any inducement for men to engage in the arduous and difficult

task of opening new paths to wealth, when the beaten tracks offered

certain affluence to moderate exertions. Yet it will be found by the

historical student of that period, that in spite of all these serious

temptations to engage in active political intrigue, or to confine them-

selves to the less harassing duties of mercantile speculation, many

a clear and powerful intellect employed its energies in the honourable,

though wearing, task of developing the resources of the country: and

that in many instances they effected, though unaided, almost as much

No. 129. New Szrizs, No. 45. 10

812 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

as has since been done with the help of refined legislation, improved

science, public spirit, and the other peculiarities of the nineteenth

century. The earlier adventurers to India under the Company’s

government (I refer to the period between 1750 and 1790) were, a

large majority of them, far from being the coarse and vulgar beings

it became the fashion subsequently to represent them. Often scions

of ancient but decayed houses, men of liberal education, high principle,

and intellectual activity, their correspondence exhibits views of com-

mercial policy, national wealth, and the duties of the ruler which will

be found far in advance of the age even in the mother country. —

Those who deviate into these records from the monotonous detail of

bloodshed and perjury, cruelty in the strong, and treachery in the

weak, which constitutes the staple of the written annals of this period,

will find the perusal, what Coleridge called, ‘“‘its own exceeding great

reward.” They will learn to estimate at its proper worth, the con-

temptible defence set up for some acts of Clive and Hastings, that they

were suited to the time and the people among whom those statesmen |

moved. Pure and simple-hearted men will be seen desirous to repair

their own fortunes ; but anxious at the same time to be of benefit to

the land which enriched them; working out their plans with patience —

and perseverance ; oftentimes harassed by the injudicious interference —

of those in high places; successfully thwarted by the intrigues of

others who considered their interests endangered by the out-turn of

the new schemes: and not unfrequently stopped, at the very moment —

when their labours promised a result, by the imperative mandate of —

the home authorities. Sometimes retiring to repose on their well-

earned affluence, they have been brought out again in advanced age, |

the mismanagement or dishonesty of others having ruined their for-

tunes ; and they will be seen setting themselves cheerfully to rebuild

the shattered edifice by some new expedient, the introduction of an

exotic growth, a manufacture that might lessen importation from :

England, or one which might serve as a remittance thither.

Biographies, like these, are not interesting merely in an antiquarian

light for the coming generation, but they have their utility for the pre-

sent, shewing us what has been attempted afore of old time ; the causes

of failure, and the probability of success, if endeavours be now renewed

in the same direction. The discovery and working of coal, iron, copper,

1842. ] Minerai Resources of India. 813

lead, silver and sulphur mines; the boring of cannon; the casting of

shells and shot; the glazing of earthen pottery; the manufacture of

porcelain ware ; of soda and potash; of salt ; the introduction of maho-

gany and other plantations ; sugar ; cotton ; the establishment of fisheries

at the mouth of the Hooghly; the reclamation of waste lands in the

Soonderbuns and in northern Bengal: each, and all, these belong to

the last century—the days of Hastings, Clavering and Francis; of

McPherson and Cornwallis. With the last indeed came in a spirit of

-anti-colonization ; all encouragement to European enterprize and

ability to work out the capabilities of the empire ceased. The subject

being thus deprived of present interest, it is not singular that the me-

mory of past occurrences should have fleeted by in a society consti-

tuted as is that of India. The retirement of some, the circulation of

others into distant parts of the country, and the death of the rest, effaced

at an early period the remembrance of what had been done: and the

active duties imposed on all by the subsequently rapid extension of the

British rule, left neither leisure nor inclination to the new comers to

preserve the fading legends.

Having had my attention drawn some time ago to the history of min-

ing in Bengal, and the liberality of Government in permitting access to

their records having enabled me to extend my researches considerably, I

_ propose to arrange their results in the course of two or three papers, in

the hope of rescuing from “dim forgetfulness,” the recollection of deeds

and men already passing into the historical era. I could wish also to

stimulate those who possess authentic information relative to the deve-

lopment of other branches of Indian industry to do so likewise, while it

is in their power. Not a few of the documents registered in govern-

ment offices, which would have thrown much light upon my task, no

longer exist. A few short years, and what is now difficult, will become

impossible.

Memoir on the Discovery and Working of Coal.

The earliest documents which I have been able to trace con-

taining notices of the existence of coal in Bengal, bear date 1774,

and they concur in assigning the priority of discovery and working

814 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

of coal mines in the districts of Bheerbhoom and Pachete to Mr.

Suetonius Grant Heatly. On the 11th August 1774, the Council of

Revenue received the following application and proposals :—

To THe Hon’steE WARREN HASTINGS, Ese. President, §c.

Hon’sie Sir anv Sirs,—lI have the honour to present to you, in

the name of Mr. Suetonius Grant Heatly and myself, ‘ Proposals for

working coal mines and selling coal in Bengal,”

in consequence of our

having discovered certain coal mines in Pachete and Bheerbhoom,

and I assure you, Gentlemen, that in case you will be pleased to

grant us the indulgences we request, that we will endeavour to

prevent all disputes with the country people, and in general to render

the execution of what we undertake, subservient to every good pur-

pose the nature of the work will admit. Iam, &c.

CaLcuTta, .JoHN SUMNER,

August 11, 1774. For Sumner and Heatly.

Proposals for Working Coal Mines and selling Coal in Bengal.

That an exclusive right be granted to us for eighteen years of working

coal mines and selling coal in Bengal and its dependencies, so long

as we can engage to furnish as much pit-coal as ever the Government

may bespeak of us for their consumption at the market price of the

time, when wanted.

That in case we discover any copper, lead, or any other mineral or

metal, except iron, in digging the six mines we have discovered, that is

to say, within the space included by the river Adji to the north, the

border of Burdwan to the east, the river Dummooda to the south,

and a circular line to the west, described from the town of Aytura in

Pachete, at the distance of ten miles from Aytura, between the one

river and the other, we may have the property of the same, and we

agree to pay a fifth part of their produce to the Honorable Company.

In case of our discovering iron ore, we will report it to the Board,

and wait their pleasure on the subject.

That we will furnish the Honorable Company with ten thousand

maunds of pit-coal every year, for five, years to come, (if we dig so

1842. ] Mineral Resources of India. 815

much, ) at the price of two Arcot rupees, and three quarters per maund,

(of 80 Sicca weight to the seer,) and after the expiration of five years ;

and we will annually, at the market price of the time of sale, furnish

the like quantity, and we desire liberty to sell in Bengal, or export

whatever quantity the Honorable Company may not bespeak of us.

That some uncultivated lands contiguous to the mines we work may

be granted us, both because coal mines are known to vary and spread

different ways, when the vein is sometimes lost and found again at a

distance; and because we may be able to entice the labourers in future

to settle on the spot, and if to this indulgence be added some contigu-

ous cultivated lands, to the amount of about six thousand rupees rent,

to be let out to us from the cutcherry of the Burdwan division, we

hope it will prevent our workmen from committing trespasses or any

encroachments under any pretence on other revenue lands, as they may,

within our own circuit, be then furnished with provisions and necessa-

ries by having a market to go to.

That the Government will be pleased to allow us to employ Euro-

peans in the work we are about to undertake, on our engaging to be

security for their good behaviour up the country.

That if the above six mines fail, or do not turn out of a quality for

the Company's works, we may be allowed on the above terms to dig

any other mines that we may discover on our pointing them out to the

Government. But we do not desire to have a property in any metals

or minerals we may discover, except in such parts of Pachete and

Bheerbhoom, as are within the limits of the Adji and Dummooda, &c.

as above described.

JOHN SUMNER,

CaLcurra, For Sumner and Heatly.

llth August, 1774.

On the perusal of these it was resolved,

That the Board approve of the proposals, excepting the latter part

of the 4th article, respecting the farm of cultivated lands in the neigh-

bourhood of the mines, which they are of opinion may be allowed as a

present indulgence to the proposers; but to be resumed whenever

816 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

their possession of them shall become liable to objections, and except-

ing the 6th article which is premature, notwithstanding the encourage-

ment which they think a discovery of this kind merits from Govern-

ment; yet as a precipitate acquiescence to them may be attended with

ill consequences to the collections, |

Resolved,—That we decline coming to a resolution until the senti-

ments of the Provincial Council of Burdwan have been received upon

them, and that this proposal be referred to them for that purpose.

The following letter was accordingly written :—

To GEORGE VANSITTART, Ese. Chief, &e.

Provincial Council of Revenue at Burdwan.

GENTLEMEN,—Accompanying we transmit you copy of some pro-

posals, which have been presented to us by Messrs. John Sumner and

Heatly, together with an extract of our proceedings on the subject.

‘We desire you will agreeably thereto, forward to us your sentiments on

them. We are, &c. Warren HastIines,

Wn. ALDERSEY,

P. M. Dacres,

James LAWRELL,

Fort WILiiaM, JoHN GRAHAM,

The 11th August, 1774. NicHoLas GRUEBER.

-On the 23d August, the answer was submitted to the Board.

To THE Hon’sLE WARREN HASTINGS, Ese. President, ge. Se.

HonovuraBLeE Sir anp Sirs,—We have been honoured with the re-

ceipt of your letter of the 11th instant. If the revenue of the cultivat-

ed lands, which Messrs. Sumner and Heatly request to be allowed, be

equitably adjusted with the present farmers ; if effectual care be taken,

that they do not force people to work for them, nor erect Gunges in such

a situation as to ruin any that are already established, and further, if

the Europeans they may employ be removable without absolute and

formal proof of their misbehaviour, and no protection be given by

them to Ryots, who may desert from their farmers, with balances

due from them on account of their rents; with these precautions,

1842. ] Mineral Resources of India. — 817

it does not occur to us that the scheme can be attended with any

ill consequences to the collection. We are informed that iron is already

manufactured within the limits they describe. We are, &c.

GeorGE VANSITTART,

Joun BaTHoE,

Burpwav, ALEXANDER Hiaainson,

The 15th August, 1774. Crarutes FLEETWoopD.

The following Resolution was passed on the Burdwan Report :—

Resolved,—That in consequence of the opinion given by the Chief

and Provincial Council of Burdwan, a lease be granted to Messrs.

Sumner and Heatly, upon the terms of which we have already approved,

and with the following Resolutions.

First.—That they shall not compel people to work for them.

Second.—That they do not erect gunges or golahs of any kind, but

be allowed only to establish bazars for the use of the people whom they

may employ, and those subject to such regulations or occasional orders

as the Chief and Provincial Council of Burdwan may think proper

to issue.

Third.—That the Europeans or any other persons employed by

Messrs. Sumner and Heatly, shall be liable to be recalled by the Chief

and Provincial Council of Burdwan, without a reason assigned.

Fourth.—That they shall not receive or grant protection to any ryots

who may desert from the farmers or officers of Government, with

balances due on account of the rents, on penalty of forfeiting in every

such instance treble the amount of the balances which shall be claim-

ed as due from the said ryots by the Chief and Council of Burdwan.

Fifth.—That they shall at all times submit to and agree to abide by

the judgment of the Board or of the Provincial Council of Burdwan,

in cases referred to the said Council, without any other appeal.

Sixth.—That they shall not transfer the grant to any other persons,

unless by express permission of the Board; but in the event of their

abandoning the undertaking, surrender it again to the President and

Council of Fort William.

Ordered,—That the Secretary do transmit a copy of these Resolu-

tions, together with our former Resolutions of the 11th instant to

§18 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

Messrs. Sumner and Heatly, and that he do inform them of our ac-

quiescence to their proposals on the terms mentioned in our Resolu-

tions.

On the 4th October, the matter came again before the Board.

To Mr. RICHARD SUMNER,

Secretary to the Revenue Department, Fort William.

Srr,—We have been honoured by the Board’s answer, transmitted

by you on the 24th August in respect to our proposals offered the 11th

August, and we have now to request such orders as may be judged

proper to the Council of Burdwan, and to have a grant (for work-

ing the coal, &c.) to the names of Sumner, Heatly, and Redfearne,

as we all three are proprietors, and this is our firm. Moreover, we hope

that as the time for the despatch of the ships is at hand, the Board

will be so favourable to us as to represent our discovery to the Ho-

norable Court of Directors, as their sanction will be a great encou-

ragement to us in the work we undertake. We are, &c.

CaLcuTtTa, _J. SuMNEr,

30th September, 1774. S. G. Hearty.

Order.

Agreed,—That they be admitted joint proprietors, and that the fol-

lowing letter be in consequence written to Burdwan :—

To GEORGE VANSITTART, Esq. Chief, ce. §.

GENTLEMEN,—Having thought proper to grant to Messrs. Sumner,

Heatly and Redfearne, a Grant for working the coal we before corres-

ponded with you about in the districts under your division, we, enclos-

ed, transmit you a copy of the engagements they have entered into. —

We are, &c. WarrEN HastinGs.

W. ALDERSEY.

P. M. Dacres.

Fort Wituiam, James LawkELu.

The 4th October, 1774. NicuoLas GRUEBER.

5 ees %

ae = . ae

we - F 7

sae, pon a eRe es = ee SS

1842. ] Mineral Resources of India. 819

Ordered,—That the Secretary do transmit the necessary materials to

the Company’s Lawyer, directing him to prepare a Grant accordingly.

At this period the partners were employed on active service by Go-

vernment ; Mr. Sumner at the head of a commission, and Mr. Heatly to

quell some serious disturbances at Mirzanagore in Jessore. Redfearne

never took any part apparently in the coal work, and was stationed at

Nuddeah. At length in September 1775, the following letter was

received by the Board :—

To THe Hon’stE WARREN HASTINGS, Esa.

Governor General, sc. and Council.

GENTLEMEN,—We have the honour to acquaint you with our having

imported from Pachete about two thousand and five hundred maunds

of coal, in part of the quantity which we offered to furnish the Honor-

able Company with, at 2/12, (two Arcot rupees and twelve annas) per

maund, and it is now ready to be delivered to your order. Weare, &c.

CaLcuTTa, JoHN SUMNER,

15th September, 1775. For Sumner, Heatly and Redfearne.

Ordered,—That the coal be delivered to the Military Store keéper,

and that he do report the quality of it to the Board.

The Store-keeper did not, however, furnish any report. Mr. Sumner

was deputed with Messrs. Pye and Adair to examine the Hidgellee salt

accounts, which very fully occupied his time. And Mr. Heatly was

Collector of the united districts of Ramgur, Palamow, Chota Nagpore,

and Gautkondory, where he had small leisure for speculations. In

November 1777, both having returned to the Presidency, they renewed

their endeavours to carry out the work.

To Tue Honw’ste WARREN HASTINGS, Esa. Se. Se.

GENTLEMEN,—I request the favour of you to order two thousand

maunds of pit-coal to be received into the Honorable Company’s stores.

This quantity is a part of what has been dug out of mines at Pachete by

the discoverers, and it has been sometime laying in Calcutta. Iam, &c.

CaucutTta, Joun SUMNER,

15th November, 1777. For Sumner, Heatly and Redfearne.

820 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

Ordered,—That the two thousand maunds of pit-coal be delivered to

the Military Store-keeper, and that he be directed to receive charge

of it.

Ordered,—That Messrs. J. Sumner, &c. be advised accordingly.

To Masor JOHN GREEN, Commissary of Stores.

Srr,—Agreeable to the directions of the Honorable the Governor

General and Council, I request you will please to receive into the store

two thousand maunds of pit-coal, which has been sometime since im-

ported into Calcutta by Messrs. Sumner, Heatly and Redfearne. When

you have received the same, you will please to inform me of it. ] am, &c.

Fort WILuIAM, GEorRGE Livivs,

19th December, 1777. Military Store-keeper.

Major Green on the receipt of this letter, addressed Mr. Hastings on

the quality of the coal not being fit for the purposes for which it was

required by Government, and on the 24th December, Mr. Hastings

brought the matter before the Council.

The Governor General lays before the Board, the following letter

delivered to him by the Commissary of Stores, addressed to him by

the Military Store-keeper, and submits to the Board the propriety of

ordering, that the coals in question may be first examined and re-

ported fit for use by the Commissary of Stores before they be received,

in consequence of the resolution passed on the 18th August 1774, and

that if they should not appear to be fit for use, that the Military Store-

keeper be directed to return them to the proprietors.

Se oe a

pS ee

<=: SSS SS

The letter referred to is Livius’s. The Board agreed to Mr. Hastings’

proposal, and it was “ Ordered,—That the Commissary of Stores be

directed to examine the coals, agreeably to the Governor General’s

proposition.” The report was soon sent in.

To Tur Hon’ste WARREN HASTINGS, Esa. ge. §e.

HonoraBLe Sir anp Sirs,—According to your order of the 24th

December 1777, transmitted to me by your Secretary, I now enclose

1842.] Mineral Resources of India. 821

a report of the coal furnished by Messrs. Sumner, Heatly and. Red-

fearne, compared with sea-coal sent from Europe. I have, &c.

Fort WILLIAM, JoHN GREEN,

20th January, 1778. Commissary of Stores.

A report of the trial made between the British sea-coal and the country

coal furnished by Messrs. Sumner, Heatly, and Redfearne, Fort

William, the 13th January, 1778.

Country Coal, one maund.

Two welding heats were given to fifteen seers of iron, one foot long,

two and half inches broad, one and half inch thick. The first heat

required thirty-seven minutes, the second with the same fire and the

remainder of the coals was sixteen minutes.

N.B.—It burns away very quick, the refuse is nothing but clinker

slate and dirt, without the least remains of cinders or clean ashes, and

it wastes the iron very much. Yet these coals are far preferable to

those sent for a former trial.

British Sea Coal, one maund.

Two welding heats were given to fifteen seers of iron of the above

dimensions. The first heat required thirty minutes, the second heat five

minutes, with a quantity of coals remaining sufficient to have given two

more heats.

N.B.—It is plain from this trial between the two sorts of coals, that

with one maund of the British, the same work may be performed that

can be done with two maunds of the country, in much less time, and

with not near so great a waste of iron.

JouHn GREEN,

Commissary of Stores.

The Government resolution in consequence of the report, closes the

official correspondence of this period.

Ordered,—That the Military Store-keeper be directed to return the

coal to the proprietors; but that they be informed, the Board will

give them all reasonable encouragement in the prosecution of their

822 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

undertaking, and that they have no doubt from this trial of their meet-

ing with good coal, if they will be at the trouble of searching deeper

for it, as this appears to have been gathered only from the surface of

the mines.

Mr. Sumner retired at this period to England. Mr. Heatly alone

remained in the neighbourhood. ‘Tradition current in our family

relates, that he brought out regularly-bred miners from Europe, and

local tradition, according to Mr. Jones, confirmed the fact of Euro-

peans having been engaged in the work, but carried off by a destruc-

tive fever. The certainty of a market was however gone, and the

exertions of the proprietor became consequently less energetic. It

happened singularly enough, that at the very time Government de-

clined taking coals of the quality sent, new purchasers suddenly

appeared on the very spot. In December 1777, Messrs. Farquhar

and Motte addressed Government to be permitted to bore cannon

for them, and to cast shot and shells, in a memorial which I shall have

occasion to notice in a future paper. It has the following passages :—

‘“* After having obtained the best information in our power, we are

‘‘ of opinion, that the pergunna called Jerriah, lying between the rivers

‘‘ Dummooda and Burraker in the province of Pachete, is the fittest

** situation for the iron works. The river Dummooda is navigable as

‘“‘ high as that place. It abounds with iron ores, and has the singular

‘‘ advantage of being contiguous to the coal mines of which Messrs.

“Sumner and Heatly have a grant.” Another passage runs thus:

‘* By this article, however, we have no idea of prejudicing the rights of

~~ oe . 7 — = a

ak OT SaaS Ba ef Bie tern ge oe.

= =e

‘“* Messrs. Sumner and Heatly, who you know, Gentlemen, have the —

“ exclusive privilege of working the mines of coal or of any mineral or ~

“metal, iron excepted, within certain districts of Beerbhoom and

‘“* Pachete.”’

It is not probable, however, that Mr. Farquhar (known subsequent-

ly asthe purchaser of Fonthill Abbey from Beckford,) proved any

very profitable customer to the mines. Disease and death thinned the

number of Europeans employed on them. Government began to see

the impropriety of permitting their revenue and judicial officers to

engage in farming speculations, and the orders of July 1781, prohibiting

1842. ] Mineral Resources of India. 823

the lending of money on such accounts, was intended as an intimation

of their opinion to the service. Mr. Heatly was now appointed to the

chiefship of Tirhoot and Purnea, which precluded all personal superin-

tendence on his part. I can trace nothing more at present of his sub-

sequent connexion with the mines. As the iron mines continued to be

worked long after, he may have let the coal mines to Mr. Farquhar. If

not, the well known economical disposition of the latter makes it

exceedingly probable, that he availed himself of the “ singular advantage

of contiguity” to carry them on for his own benefit, without hindrance

on the part of the proprietor.

Independent of the want of a regular market, another powerful cause

came into operation a little after, to repress the energies of private

speculators.

I have said that Lord Cornwallis brought out a disposition system-

atically opposed to anything like colonial independence. Smarting un-

der the humiliation inflicted on him by the Americans, he undeviatingly

discouraged colonization. No plan which tended to make India a self-

dependent state met his approbation, and at no period of the empire

here do the records exhibit such a bareness of projects for developing

the resources of the country. Under such auspices, it was not to be

hoped that either the original proprietor or other individuals would at-

tempt the resuscitation of the mining project, and accordingly in a

short time the “ young forgot it, and the old had died.” Round its

history grew

A daily darkening pall: it sank subdued,

In cold and unrepining quietude.

A brilliant career was opened to Mr. Heatly whose social qualities,

and American-royalist connexions, had made him a personal favorite

with Cornwallis, and his time was fully engrossed by it.

It has been said before, that Mr. Heatly was appointed Collector of

Ramgur and Palamow in 1775, a situation he held till December 1776.

During this period, he was employed in examining the resources of the

country with a view to its settlement. Warm with the affairs of his

Bheerbhoom coal mines at the very time, I think it is hardly possible

that he could have overlooked the mines of coal in Ramgur and

Palamow, although the troubles which demanded his vigorous efforts for

their settlement may have prevented him from devoting much atien-

824 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

tion to them. He applied for a surveyor to complete a map of the

several districts under his charge. Lieut. Ranken was, at his request,

appointed and prepared a map, which yet exists at the Surveyor Gene-

ral’s Office. It does not mention a word about the existence of coal,

and I am therefore inclined to attribute the notification of a coal mine

situated on the river Coyle, a little below Palamow, to Mr. Heatly, who

was on intimate terms with Rennell, then Surveyor-general. Rennell’s

map of Behar, dated 1779, announces the fact, and Arrowsmith has only

copied it into his Atlas from Rennell’s.

From this period there is a wide gap. In Williamson’s “ Wild

Sports in the East,” (an admirably characteristic work, published in

England in 1808, and pretty nearly as unknown now as the times he

delights to paint were in his,) there is an incidental allusion to coal.

It occurs in pages 7 and 8, Vol I.

** Cooking is carried on in the open air by means of embers ; coals

“being unknown in India, except in the Ramgur country, where the

‘‘ Soobanreeka river runs for some miles through a mine of excellent

“quality. The country being extremely mountainous, and no navigable

‘river within at least a hundred miles, though small streams abound,

“ added to the vast abundance of fuel, occasions that valuable commo-

“dity to be neglected. The India Company indeed find it easier to

‘“‘send coal from England, as ballast, to their arsenals abroad, where

‘* quantities are occasionally used in fusing metals for casting ordnance.”

It was singular enough, that at this very period the India Company

did not indeed find it easy to send coal from England. In a general

letter, dated 8th April, 1808, paragraph 24, they point out to the local

Government the enormous expense to which they were subjected by

the exportation of coal to India; wishing to know the purposes for

which it was wanted ; whether charcoal will not be equally servicable,

and stating if no remedy can be devised, that they must transfer their

ordnance works home. The Earl of Minto was then Governor Gene-

ral, and drew the attention of the Military Board to the complaints of

the Court of Directors.

To Cart. A. GREENE, Secretary to the Military Board.

S1tr,—I am directed by the Right Honorable the Governor General

in Council to transmit to you the enclosed copies of the 28d, 24th, 27th,

1842, | Mineral Resources of India. 825

and 28th paragraphs of a General Letter from the Honorable the Court

of Directors, dated the 8th April last, for the information and guidance

of the Military Board. I am also directed by his Lordship in Council,

to call for the sentiments of the Military Board, with regard to the

. practicability of substituting Bheerbhoom coal for sea-coal for purposes

to which the latter is applied. I am, &c.

Councit CHAMBER, T. THORNHILL,

5th Sept. 1808.

I need not quote the whole of the Board’s answer. It states, that an

ample supply of sea-coal is actually a saving of expense, as charcoal is

inadequate to the same work ; and “that the Honorable Court in their

General Letter of the 12th July 1805, particularly require that this

article shall be regularly indented for.” This last hint seems to

favour a surmise of Messrs. Sumner, &c. that they were unfairly dealt

‘with, owing to the strong interest made by the coal contractors at

home. The Board go on in their third paragraph :-—

* As the Military Board have never had an opportunity of seeing

“or knowing the quality of Bheerbhoom coal, they request to be

‘favored with a communication of any information that the records

‘“< of Government may contain on the subject of it, and in what manner

*‘ some of it may be obtained for the purpose of trial at the Agency

“* Yard.”

It was, however, not thought worth while consulting the records of

Government, and his Lordship in Council directed the Collector of

Bheerbhoom to procure and forward to the Commissary of Stores, a

quantity of from fifty to one hundred maunds of the coal to be found in

that district, reporting at the same time for the information of the au-

thority, any particulars connected with the object of the proposed expe-

riment which he may be enabled to collect from local enquiry respect-

ing the quality of the coal, and the state and situation of the mines from

which it is procured. His Lordship stated as his reason for this inqui-

ry, the desirableness of ascertaining “‘ by experiment whether the coal

_ of which there are reported to be extensive mines in the districts of

Bheerbhoom, can be advantageously used or not, as a substitute for

826 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129,

the sea-coal annually required from England.”—Letter from Military

Department to Military Board, dated 19th September, 1808.

On the 17th February 1809, a specimen of Pachete coal, obtained

from a mine discovered near the village of Cheenacoory, close to the

Damooda river, and which is stated to be very abundant, was forwarded

for the above object to the Military Board.

On the 12th May following, a further communication was made to

the same end, with another sample of coal, on whose qualities a particu-

lar report was demanded by Government. Certain correspondence, in

. connection with this sample, was also handed to the Military Board,

which turned out to be of exceeding interest in regard to the former

labours of Mr. Heatly. The letter from the Collector of Burdwan is

the first.

To B. CRISP, Esq. President, and the Members of the Board of

Revenue.

GENTLEMEN,—Agreeably to the instructions contained in your Secre-

tary’s letter of the 7th ultimo, and its enclosures, directing me to ascer-

tain whether coals are to be procured in this district, I applied to Mr.

Thomas Marriott, a gentleman whose long residence in this district and

local knowledge, qualified him to give the best possible information on

the subject. I feel myself much indebted to Mr. Marriott for the trouble

he has taken, and should Government propose taking any further mea-

sures in the business, I beg leave to recommend him as a very fit per-

son to be employed. I have this day despatched by the Dawk Bangee,

addressed to your Secretary, a muster of the coals I have received

from Mr. Marriott. I have, &c.

Burpwan, CotuEcTor’s OFFICE, C. Trower, Collector.

8th April, 1809.

ee eee!

I give Mr. Marriott’s enclosures in full. This gentleman, I presume,

was a son of Mr. W. Marriott, who had been a Member of the Provin-

cial Council of Burdwan in Mr. Heatly’s time, and to whom therefore

the circumstances of this discovery was familiar.

1842. ] Mineral Resources of India. 827

‘‘ My enquiries regarding the coals have been attended with so much

success, that I cannot avoid the pleasure I feel in communicating

them to you. I returned from Jewszuttee the day before yesterday, and

brought with me two seers of coal, which I picked up near that place

out of the water, and this morning made a trial of it by burning, and

find that it burns excellently, having been lighted early in the morn-

ing, and still continues. On my arrival at Jewszuttee, I accident-

ally met with a man who is a resident of that part of the coun-

try where the heap of coal, to which I alluded in my former let-

ter, is lying. Upon enquiry, I found that he was well acquaint-

ed with all the circumstances of Mr. Heatly having dug the coal,

and of the heap being still in existence; and as a most corrobo-

rative proof that he did, he told me that the potters at that place

used it for burning their pans, &c. Pleased at having thus ob-

tained so much information, I immediately sent off a peon with a

bullock, and ordered every enquiry to be made as to the spot from

whence the coal was taken. The coal which I took up from the river

is doubtless a part of the heap at Mudjea. But this could not have

been the case with the coal taken up by Lieutenant Delamain at the

Goomea Ghaut, which is many coss above Mudjea. I have not the

least hesitation in giving my opinion, that I shall be able to ascertain

the exact spot of the mine, should the Government deem it worth their

while to make further enquiries on the subject. I have enclosed a

sample of the coal, and I shall forward the bullock the moment it

arrives.” T. Marriott.

29th March, 1809.

“In reply to your favor accompanying the public enclosures, requir-

ing any information I might possess regarding a stratum of coal said to

exist in the vicinity of this district, I have the pleasure to state, that

my enquiries on this subject have been attended with much success, to

which I was fortunately guided by having previously travelled in that

part of the country many years ago, in which the stratum is situated.

As I presume that it is unnecessary to trouble you with a repetition of

what I have already mentioned in my former letters, regarding my

: 5 Q

828 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

having seen the heaps of coal lying at Mudjea, in Pachete, on my way

to Jellda in 1782, I shall only further observe, that it was entirely

owing to that circumstance that I was led, upon receiving your letter,

to send people to the spot, to ascertain whether the heap of coal still

existed ; and also to make enquiry from the inhabitants as to the posi-

tive place from whence the coal was originally brought, and by whom.

‘“* My people returned only a few days ago, and informed me, that

owing to the floods, the bank at the village of Mudjea had been cut

away, and that the coal in consequence had fallen into the river, and

spread ‘in different directions to a very considerable distance; that the

inhabitants, in the prosecution of their enquiries, from fear or other

causes, shewed great reluctance at answering any questions. But they

at last met with an aged Bramin, who informed them, that the coal d

had been brought by Mr. Heatly, from a place named Chenacoory,

and also from a spot situated in the Jungle of Damaully. The places _

are represented as being within nine coss of Mudjea, on the same side

of the river, to the westward. It appears to me possible, that Kissen-

cooney, marked in Rennell’s map No. 7, is the same village specified

by the Bramin; because the distance of that village from Mudjea

agrees nearly with the Bramin’s name of Cheenacoorey, and this is

more likely, as the names of villages throughout Rennell’s maps are

frequently strangely disfigured by the mode of spelling.

‘The stratum of coal is stated to be in the bed of the river, on the ©

verge of the river, lying in flakes, and to be very abundant. The

sample of coal which I have sent accompanying is brought from below

the village of Mudjea, and taken up from the bed of the river, and is

doubtless part of the heap originally collected at that place. Upon

as ee

Fs a ee ee ee

inspection, it will appear evident, that it must have laid in the water

for a very considerable period, as the angles are in some pieces much

fretted and worn off, and in others totally destroyed. I am much

vexed that my people did not proceed to Cheenacoory, as they ought

to have done. I have sent them back to ascertain the veracity of the

Bramin’s assertion, and expect that they will return in a few days.

“‘T shall not presume to offer any scientific opinion as to the quality

of the coal, but merely state, that on a trial, I found that it burnt

extremely well, afforded a very strong heat, and leaves a residum that

is very considerable, compared with the original bulk.

1842. | Mineral Resources of India. 829

“Regarding the stratum of coal of which Government have received

some information through the communications of Lieut. Delamain and

others, I have not been able to make any discovery worthy of notice.

In my way down from Shahabad in 1797 to Burdwan, I crossed the

Dummooda river at the same ferry that Lieut. Delamain did, which is

called the Rajeghaut, and also the Goomeahghaut, (vide Rennell’s

map, No. 8, Gopur). To the north of the ferry, at the distance of

three or four coss, there is a brook or rivulet, by the side of which I

recollect seeing a hot spring, that in some places burst with a flame and

caused a strong sulphureous smell. In the vicinity of this spring a

stratum of coal may exist, some fragments of which Lieut. Delamain

may have picked up from the bed of the Dummooda river that runs so

near to the source of the spring, distant only four coss from the ferry,

and into which the rivulet discharges itself. However this may be,

it is highly improbable that the coal which I have collected and de-

livered as a sample, can be from any stratum alluded to by that gen-

tleman, as the ford at which he passed is above forty coss beyond the

spot that I have specified. :

‘“‘ As incurring the expense of travelling for local investigation with-

out any immediate prospect would not suit my present circumstances,

I must confess, however my inclination leads me, I have not been

induced to undertake the journey. But if the Government should

deem it worth while to ascertain any further points on this subject, and

employ me for that purpose, I am willing to do the utmost in my

power, and trust that no objections may be made to defray my travelling

charges, which I presume would hardly exceed three hundred rupees.

In making this tender of my services, I cannot avoid remarking, that

my knowledge as a mineralogist is very confined, and that it appears a

business requiring a person well versed in the nature of coal, of which

it would be uncandid not to declare my ignorance.

“‘T beg leave further to state, that during my enquiries regarding the

stratum of coal in Pachete, I have been informed by a man belonging

.to Tellotoo in Shahabad, that the coal is an article well known in that

part of the country by the name of Khaurdhur, and used there on

some occasions medicinally. It is to be found at a place named

Thoorah, on the southern side of the Soane river, three coss above the

Coyle river. Here are also quantities of coal to be found in the bed

830 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

of the Buccooah nulla, that is only half a coss from Kussyaun, a place

well known, which evidently discovers that there must be a stratum.

It was near to this village that Mr. Prinsep many years ago found

copper, and commenced an extensive manufacture of vitriolic acid.”

Burpwan, April 6. T. Marriorr.

It appears from this letter of Mr. Marriott’s, that the sample of coal

sent down by him for Government, and by Government to the Board

for a particular report, was part of a heap lying at Mudjea, but dug at

Cheenacoorey and Damully by Mr. Heatly. Upon this sample we have —

the subjoined

Minute by Lieut. Col. Harpwicke.

In compliance with the desire of the Military Board, I have the

honour of making a communication on the Pachete coal, submitted to

me for experiment and report thereon. In the first place I shall notice

some particulars and peculiarities descriptive of the substance in ques-

tion, and then give the result of the few experiments made upon it. In

its appearance and some of its properties, it approaches nearer to the

‘“‘ bituminous oxide of carbon,” known in England under the denomina-

tion of Bovey coal, than any other substance I can compare it with. In

texture it is lamellar, the laminz subject to two very dissimilar ap-

pearances, the one evidently marked with the woody fibre, and resem-

bling pure carbon or charcoal; the other of a full shining black,

opaque, very brittle, and breaking with a rhomboidal fracture, both

irregular and mixing one into the other. ‘The first rubs easily into ~

powder, and sticks to the fingers on handling; the other does not soil

the fingers when rubbed. Its specific gravity is greater than the coal

here used, called sea-coal, being to that as 145.75 is to 135, taking

water at 100 as the standard of comparison for both. It burns with a

clear whitish flame without sparks or crackling, as coal and charcoal

commonly do; emits little or no smoke, and without odour, burns for a

considerable time without producing ashes, and with little change to

either its form, bulk, or weight. The degree of inspissation in this

bituminous substance must be very great, and the carbonic principle

so prevalent, that it can scarcely be termed bituminous. In combus-

tion, it discovers none of those appearances common to good coal ; it

SS ee eee eee

Se ee

1842.] Mineral Resources of India. 831

neither runs into mass, nor forms the least adhesion one piece with

another; the laminze shew a partial separation from each other, and

sometimes curl up. Its appearance after considerable exposure to

heat is slaty, and the few ashes formed, and adhering to the surface, of

a ferruginous brown.

Experiment 1st.

Two lbs. weight of this coal was exposed to the strong heat of

a blast furnace in an open crucible for one hour and forty-five minutes,

and lost only eleven ounces of its original weight. The last ten minutes

of this experiment it gave no flame. The appearance when cold, was

as stated above, with this addition, that many of the black shining parts

remain unchanged, shining with a vitreous texture, and more brittle

than before.

Eixperiment 2d.

In the smith’s forge, I found it inferior to common charcoal for

producing the desired heat for working iron: and the same bar of iron

which in about eight minutes under the heat of a common charcoal

fire threw off scintillating sparks from its surface when taken from the

forge, gave a very different appearance after being twelve minutes in

the forge heated with the Pachete coal. The bar came forth with a

rather dull heat, threw off no sparks, and the iron instead of yielding

freely to the stroke of the hammer, flew off in large scales from its sur-

face; and the workmen unanimously pronounced this fuel unfit for

their use.

Experiment 3d.

I tried it also in combination with the English coal, the result was

an inferior heat to that produced from Europe coal and charcoal.

Under such demonstrative proof, I do not hesitate to express my

opinion, that the discovery of this coal promises no advantage for the

_ uses of our Blacksmiths in iron work: but for household or culinary

purposes, I think it may be found very desirable. For a house in par-

ticular to burn in grates or stoves, I think it desirable. It gives heat

enough for our houses in India; is free from sulphureous smoke or

the suffocating effect of charcoal, and makes little or no dirt. In

832 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

kitchens it will be found a desirable substitute for charcoal, if the

expense of obtaining it should be less, and which must most likely be

the case where the facility of water conveyance is at hand.

May 19, 1809. T. HarDWICKE.

Under such demonstrative proof, with the circumstances known to

all parties under which the sample was picked up, the Pachete coal

was once more doomed to be shelved. | |

Simultaneously with the letter dispatched to the Burdwan Collec-

tor, similar instructions had been sent to the Collector of Bheerbhoom.

His answer stated, that coal had been discovered in the Zemindaree

of Jerrea ; that the beds were superficial, and have never been worked,

the natives being entirely unacquainted with the nature and qualities

of the substance ! He further stated, that the coal was slaty and burn-

ed to white ashes without leaving any cinders: that it might be trans-

ported to Calcutta by the new road, at an expense of eighty-five Rs.

per 100 maunds, but by boat during the rains, the cost would be

twelve Rs. per 100 maunds.—Letier from Mr. Suttie to the Board

of Revenue, 2d June, 1809.

The Governor General in Council, for the present suspends passing

any final orders on the subject of Lieut. Col. Hardwicke’s report, res-

pecting the specimens exhibited of Pachete coal: it being the in-

tention of Government, at a convenient opportunity, to depute a

professional person into that district, for the purpose of making further

enquiries into the nature and situation of the coal in question.—6th

June, 1809.

It is necessary to say a word here of Lieut. Delamain’s discovery,

not only because it is mentioned by Mr. Marriott in his letter, but

because the Coal Committee have assigned to it the palm of priority in

the district. On receiving the letter from Government, ‘dated 19th

September, stating the orders to the Collector of Bheerbhoom, the

Military Board returned a reply on the 27th, saying, that they had

1842. ] Mineral Resources of India. 833

been recently informed of there being a considerable stratum of coal

in the bed of the Dummooda river, very near to the place where troops

coming down the country are accustomed to cross that river in the

Burdwan district. On the 3d January, 1809, the Board wrote again,

mentioning Lieut. Delamain as the discoverer, and that he had been

written to for particulars. Col. Hardwicke, who was the informant of

the Military Board, had “ no better evidence of the fact than is obtain-

able from the enclosed ncte from Mr. Moreton.” The enclosed note

ran thus :—

“‘] remember to have seen some pieces of very fine coal in the pos-

session of Lieutenant James Delamain, who had taken them from

the bed of the Dummooda, at or near that part of it crossed by the

7th Regt. of Native Infantry on its march from the Upper Provinces to

Barrackpore, some four or five years ago. I am likewise informed

by a gentleman, who has resided in the district of Burdwan, that he has

frequently taken up pieces from the bed of the river at a place about

five or six coss above the Civil Station, and if I am not mistaken, you

will find some particulars on this subject in a work lately published,

and denominated “ Wild Sports of the East.”

W. Moreton.

On the 24th January, 1809, Lieut. Delamain sent in his explanation.

To Lizut. T. MADDOCK, Assistant Secretary to the Military Board.

Srr,—In reply to your letter, dated the 3d instant, I request you will

state to the Military Board my regret, that the specimens of coal which

I had by me, have in the course of moving, been all lost.

It may afford, however, some slight guidance to mention, that I took

the pieces of coal out of the Dummooda river, when the 7th Regiment

marched down in December 1802, at the first ford between the village

of Gomea and Angbella, (for we crossed it twice). The fragments

though numerous, were all small, and strewed about immediately at

the ford. As I did not burn any of it, I could not ascertain whether

it were of a good or spurious species. It seemed however of a slaty

structure, harder than the common coal, soiling the fingers but little

when rubbed, and the colour approaching to grey. I am sorry that

834 Mineral Resources of India. [No. 129.

no opportunity has offered to enable me to give the Military Board

the slightest information relative to the stratum of coal in Burdwan.

I am, Sir, &c.

KISSENGUNGE, J. DELAMAIN,

16th January, 1809. Lieut. Tth Regiment.

Lieut. Delamain’s discovery therefore was confined to picking up

some pieces of coal from the bed of the Dummooda in 1802, twenty-

eight years after Messrs. Heatly and Sumner had imported four

thousand maunds into Calcutta from the district, and while large heaps

from their mines were lying about the country, their origin being

familiarly known to the inhabitants. It is however interesting to see,

that this discovery of Lieut. Delamain anticipates that of Col. Shelton

years after, as the locality is precisely the same—the ford of Angbella,

on the Benares road.

In 1814, under the spirited administration of the Marquis of

Hastings, the slumbers of the Military Board were once more disturb-

ed. Referring to the suspension of final orders on the 6th June, his

Lordship stated his anxiety to ascertain beyond a doubt, whether the

coal of India was of a quality calculated for the purposes of the forge.

So far from being discouraged by the results of previous experiments,

he considered them to afford a strong presumptive proof, that there is

coal here well calculated for military purposes; that surface coal may

be expected to fail here as in England, where some of the excavations

reach the depth of 205 yards before proper coal is met with; that a

qualified person will be despatched with the requisite apparatus, as

soon as possible, to any spot the Military Board think the best,

suggesting Cheenacoory to their consideration.

The Board replied, that their information was too limited to permit

them to hazard an opinion; suggested the Collectors of Pachete and

Burdwan as the best authorities, and recommended that the person to

be deputed should examine the district before commencing his boring,

and submit his plan of arrangements and details to Government for

their consideration.

It was well known at this time, that Mr. Matthew Smith, an eminent

shipwright in Calcutta, used the Pachete coal to a large extent in his

1842. ] Mineral Resources of India. 835

forges. To him therefore Government applied directly for informa-

tion. His answer is dated 14th March 1814. He states, that he has

never been to the spot, but is told that it is Jarrea Cottra, about

thirty coss from Bancoora; that the coal is from the surface, therefore

too slaty and bituminous to answer every purpose of the forge; that

even now he met occasionally with very good coal, and was sure that

if they dug deeper, much better could be obtained. That he procured

it for little more than the cooly hire, or eleven annas the cist, and had

imported several thousand maunds, which he used in combination with

charcoal. Mr. Smith also stated, that he obtained nails from the

same place, manufactured from the iron ores of the neighbourhood with

the aid of the coals ; concluding with recommending Mr. W. Jones to

the notice of Government as a person conversant with mines and

collieries, and one ‘‘ who from his great knowledge of mechanics, could

soon ascertain if better coal could be found lower in the earth.”

Mr. Jones, who had never been in the district before, was accord-

ingly deputed by Government to examine it on an allowance of 600

Rs. a month. Meeting my father occasionally in town, he soon learnt

all Mr. Suetonius Heatly’s exertions in the working of coal, and was

directed to the various sources of information. On his return, he men-

tioned that the remains of Mr. Heatly’s works were distinctly visible,

that the natives knew their origin, and stated them to have been con-

ducted by Europeans, who fell a sacrifice to a pestilential fever. It is

not therefore very creditable to Mr. Jones, that both in his papers in

the Transactions of the Asiatic Society, as well as in the official corres-

pondence which he held with various Government officers, not a single

word alluding to any labours prior to his own is to be found.

From the time of Mr. Jones, the question of the value of Bheerbhoom

coal has been settled, thanks to the energy of the distinguished noble-

man, who then directed the councils of India. The labours of later

discoverers will be found in the reports of the Coal Committee in suffi-

cient detail. I have already sufficiently trespassed in length, having

been, to speak in the quaint language of Williams’ Natural History of

the Mineral Kingdom, “really concerned for the honour of the coal,

. “and as I reckoned the subject my own, I wished therefore to be its

faithful historian.”

836

Memorandum on the usual Building Materials of the district of Cuttack,

forwarded to the Museum of Economie Geology, with a set of Speci-

mens. By Lieut. Ricuy, Executive Engineer, Cuttack Division.

No. 1, called by the natives Kondah, found at Killah Mootree on the

Mohanuddee, about ten miles above Cuttack, little

used in the principal parts of buildings, but in

constant demand for cornices and screen-work surrounding the roofs of

the natives’ houses. The stone is cut from the hills as wanted, and

the simplest tools are used for that purpose, small or large chisels,

according to the size of the portion to be separated. The operation is

slow and laborious,.and its cost is about three and half annas per yard.

The yard of stone is three cubic feet ; the carriage per yard to Cuttack

Sandstone.

is one and half annas.

No. 2, (Laterite,) called by the natives Makrah, used almost entirely

for puckah buildings in this district ; and may be had in almost every

place, as it is found over a large extent of country, and may be carried —

in the rains to any part of the district. It is procurable in this pre-

sidency over a line of about sixty miles, running South-west from

Cuttack, and is, I have no doubt, found over even a greater length in

the Madras presidency. It is cut in slabs of from one to four feet in

_ length, and to two feet in breadth, but seldom more than eight or nine

inches in thickness, and is only quarried to a depth of two or three feet

from the surface, as below that it is too soft for use. The mode of

quarrying is simple; a channel being cut to the depth wanted, the stone

is split off with a few blows of the hammer and chisel. Exposure to

the atmosphere appears to harden these materials.

No. 3, called Bolemallah, is used for the same purposes as No. 1.

Brought from the Chutteah hills, Killah Durpon,

cut at about four annas per yard; its carriage to

Cuttack thence is, however, six annas for that quantity, which prohibits

~ Soft Argillaceous.

its use to so great an extent as No. 1.

I have been unable to discover where this kind, (No. 4,) called by the

natives Moogney is quarried, as it comes to the

bazar only from the old buildings in the district ;

it is, however, supposed to have been brought from some considerable

distance to the Southward. There is much of it in the Black pagoda,

Greenstone.

x. Whee for lee

1842.] Building Materials of the Cuttack district. 837

and the images on many buildings are sculptured from it; its price is

twelve rupees per yard.

Two kinds of lime are in use in this district. The one made from

shells, (Specimen, No. 5,) collected on the coast about Manickpatum,

the other from konker, (No. 6,) found in numerous rivers in this dis-

trict, but principally in Debnuddee. The former is collected at an

expence of about three rupees and four annas per hundred maunds,

and its cost when burnt, is about fifty rupees the hundred maunds,

where the shells have to be carried a distance of eight or ten miles.

The konker is collected at the rate of two rupees, and its carriage

to Cuttack is six rupees for that quantity; when burnt, the lime stands

at from seventeen to eighteen rupees the hundred maunds.

The foregoing are the principal building materials in use in this

district, for bricks are little used, as the generality of the soil is un-

suited to their manufacture :—

Specimens of Iron.

Iron, of the three kinds sent is procurable in the bazar in any

quantity. The ore is found in the direction of the Mahanuddee river,

a considerable distance (about 150 miles) above Cuttack, and is

smelted there. The cost of No. 1, per Cuttack maund (150 sa.) is

five rupees and eight annas; of No. 2, four rupees and four annas;

and of No. 3, three rupees and twelve annas.

Specimens of Timbers procurable in the Bazar.

Timbers of the several kinds subjoined come to Cuttack in the

rainy season in large quantities; being floated down in rafts as soon

as the Mahanuddee commences to rise. The average size of each, as

it arrives, is shewn, as also the price, but Timbers of considerably

longer scantling are to be procured in the forests whence these come.

No. .1.—Koorom Timber, length ten feet, and diameter at each end

one foot three inches, cost of each one rupee and ten annas, received

from Killah Ungool, river Mahanuddee, distance from Cuttack 100

miles.

No. 2.—Jack Timber, length eight feet, and diameter one foot,

cost of ditto five rupees ; ditto ditto ditto.

No. 3..—Ghamber Timber, length ten feet, and diameter one foot,

cost of ditto four rupees ; ditto ditto ditto.

838 Building Materials of the Cuttack district. [No. 129.

No. 4.—Giringah Timber, the length ten feet, diameter nine

inches, cost of ditto one rupee and eight annas; received from Killah

Ungool, river Mahanuddee, distance from Cuttack 100 miles.

No. 5.—Ubloos Timber, length ten feet, diameter one foot, cost of

ditto five rupees ; ditto ditto ditto. |

No. 6.—Saul Timber, length ten feet, diameter one foot three

inches, cost of ditto two rupees and eight annas ; ditto ditto ditto, used

as rafters.

No. 7.—Peahsaul Timber, length ten feet, diameter one foot, cost of

ditto two rupees and eight annas ; ditto ditto ditto.

This Timber is greatly in demand for doors, sash frames, and all _

kinds of furniture, &c. for which paint is used.

No. 8.—Sissoo Timber, the length ten feet, diameter one foot, cost

of ditto three rupees and eight annas; ditto ditto ditto.

Takes a fine polish, and is much used for household furniture.

No. 9.—Boudhun Timber, length fourteen feet, diameter nine

inches, cost of ditto three rupees and eight annas; ditto ditto ditto.

No. 10.—Kankarah Timber, length eight feet, diameter one foot,

cost of ditto one rupee and twelve annas ; ditto ditto ditto.

No. 11.—Dhamun Timber, length ten feet, diameter eight inches,

cost of ditto one rupee four annas ; ditto ditto ditto.

No. 12.—Saul Timber, Barohatty, length sixteen and half feet, and

diameter seven inches, cost of ditto one rupee; used for beams, rafters, —

door posts, &c.

839

Second Report on the Tin of Mergu. By Carr. G. B. Tremen-

HEERE, FP. R. S., Executive Engineer, Tenasserim Division.

No. 3373.

From the Military Board.

To tHe Hon’sLteE W. W. Birp, Esa.

Deputy Governor of Bengal,

Fort William, \st October, 1842.

HonoraB_e Sir,—In continuation of our letter, No. 3408, dated

the 16th October 1841, we have the honor to submit in original,

_ Captain Tremenheere’s letter, No. 1838, dated the 27th August last, to-

_ gether with his second Report on the tin of Mergui, and to recommend

that a copy of this Report, and also of the one forwarded with our

letter above alluded to, with the specimens of tin, may be transmitted

to the authorities in England, or to Professor Royle. :

2d. The Superintending Engineer has reported to us, that he has

received from Captain Tremenheere, three more boxes of specimens.

These we have called for, and when received in this office, they shall

also be forwarded to Government.

We have, &c.

(Signed) J. H. Parton, Chief Magistrate.

ni J. Cueaper, Lieutenant Colonel.

ah T. M. Tayxor, Lieutenant Colonel.

9 A. IRVINE, Major.

No. 183.

To Magsor R. Firzcera.p,

Superintending Engineer, South East Provinces, Fort William,

Srr,—I have the honor to forward by the H. C. Steamer Enterprize,

my second report on the tin of the Mergui Province, and to advise you

of the despatch by the same opportunity of three boxes of specimens,

the contents of which are enumerated in the report.

2. I have also to report, that on my return from Mergui, I despatch-

ed by the Ship Ann Ranken, direct to London, a box of specimens

840 Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. (No. 72

of the Kahan tin ore to Professor J. F. Royle, at the East India House,

and forwarded by the Overland Mail to that gentleman a short account

of the locality, and of the additional information I had collected on the

subject on my second visit to Mergui.

3. Having consulted with Mr. Blundell, Commissioner, as to the

best mode of disposing of the cleaned tin ore, which had been received

from Kahan and another locality, he was of opinion, that as it is desir-

able the produce of the tin localities of the Mergui province should,

as soon as possible, become known to English capitalists and adven-

turers, it would be useful to send the sample already collected, consist-

ing of 229 viss, or 7 cwt. and 51 lbs. of ore from Yahmon, direct to the

India House to Professor J. F. Royle, who will take the orders of the

Honorable Court of Directors in regard to its eventual disposal. The —

quantity therefore, 12 cwt. and 88 Ibs. in all, was shipped on the 11th

instant on board the Jupiter, Captain T. Longridge, which has sailed

for England direct. Mr. Sutherland, local agent of Messrs. Cockerell

and Co., to whom this ship was consigned at this port, has most

obligingly procured freight for ten boxes, containing the ore and spe-

cimens, on board the Jupiter, free from all charges.

I trust the Military Board will approve of the steps which have

been taken.

4. In consequence of the inferiority of the Yahmon ore, its collec-

tion from that spot has been stopped by the Commissioner; but there

are at present 118 viss of the Kahan ore at Moulmain, which await

instructions, and more may be expected, as well as a sample of the

Thabawlick tin, the most productive stream visited by me last year.

5. I beg to propose that this, as well as any further samples that

may be procured, be sent in like manner to the India House, when

Professor J. F. Royle will, with the consent of the Court, bring the

subject to the notice of private speculators or others, who may be in-

terested on the subject. The produce of the metal from the Kahan

ore already sent, will, I should think, repay the expenses which Mr.

Corbin, the Assistant Commissioner, has incurred in procuring it.

The report has been submitted to Mr. Blundell.

I have, &c.

(Signed) G. B. TREMENHEERE,

Capt. Ex. Engr., Tenasserim Div.

1842. | Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. 84]

P. S.—If it should be thought advisable to send a copy of the accom-

panying report to Professor Royle, it would afford better information

than I was able to give in my hurried communication of May last,

alluded to in the 2d para. of this letter.

(Signed) G. B. TreMENHEERE, Captain.

Recewed from the Military Board by order of Government, for the

Museum of Economic Geology of India.

Having in the 16th and 17th paragraphs of my first Report of the

3ist August last directed attention to a rich deposit of Tin, existing

at Kahan on the Tenasserim river, a few miles from Mergui, I have

now to add the following information which has been since collected

respecting this locality. Experimental operations have been in pro-

gress there since the end of April last, by order of the Commissioner,

and under direction of Mr. Corbin, Assistant to the Commissioner at

Mergui, with a view to ascertain the value of the spot for mining

purposes, and I am happy to have it in my power to state, that these

have been attended with complete success. More than eight hundred

weight (8 ewt.) of clean ore of the pure peroxide of tin, ready for

smelting has been collected by a gang of convicts, and was despatched

from Mergui on the 18th July; this has been received at Moulmain,

together with some bulky specimens from the same hill of macled

crystals of tin or quartz, which in weight and in size of the crystals,

surpass any thing I have seen in Cornwall or in Cabinets elsewhere.

2. In the early part of May, I proceeded to Mergui on the Steamer

Ganges, and on the 10th of that month, visited Kahan in company

with Mr. Blundell and Mr. Corbin. The survey of the hill, plan of

which is forwarded herewith, was made on the following day. It will

be seen therein, and by the portion of map on the same sheet copied

from Capt. Lloyd’s Survey of the Coast, that Kahan is one of several

small detached hills upon what may be termed the Island of Mergui,

formed by two branches of the Tenasserim, one of which debouches a

few miles to the north of Mergui, and the other to the south, which

is divided near the sea into numerous channels by flat mangrove

ground. The general surface of the island itself is of level alluvial

842 Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. [No. 129.

soil, from which these small isolated hills rise abruptly unconnected

with each other, and detached entirely from the high granite and

slate ranges which stretch along the peninsula. Except a small con-

nected group at the town of Mergui, these have all the same exterior

character, but Kahan is the only one in which tin has been found in

situ. It occurs here imbedded in decomposed granite, consisting of a

large proportion of felspar completely decomposed, termed kaolin or

china clay, with quartz and mica, which appear to be its only con-

stituents. A soft red sandstone is in immediate contact with the

granite.

3. Along the same line of coast, in the southern part of the

Malayan peninsula, in the provinces of Malacca and Johore for in-

stance, the tin localities are similarly situated in small detached hills,

having no apparent connection with the main ranges, and the ore is

procured from a mixture of quartz, gravel, and china clay, which in

description very much resembles the surface soils at Kahan. At

Mergui, there is evidence of the destruction and denudation of granite

hills, and of a considerable wash and deposit of debris from the east-

ward towards the Coast. The small cantonment there stands on the

highest of a group, composed entirely of rounded fragments of quartz

and sandstone, identical with that which touches the bed of decom-

posed granite at Kahan, with scales of mica, white felspathic clay, and —

likewise containing tin, which has been washed out of the gravels near q

the town, and from similar gravel hillocks in the neighbourhood which 4

fringe the sea border. Localities of stream tin near the Coast south of 4

the mouths of the Tenasserim are becoming known, and last year I 4

penetrated to a range of hills about twenty miles from the Coast, ‘

consisting exclusively of granite, from the debris of which tin was

obtained. I am for this reason inclined to think, that many of the

small isolated hills before mentioned, as well as others in the low

ground to the southward, will be found to consist, like Kahan, of y

nuclei of granite, containing tin, which have resisted the course of i

events, and have been left like islands in the alluvial plain between the :

high ranges. and the sea.

4, The Kahan hill is 1921 yards in circuit at base, having a general

direction of north-east and south-west; its highest points, C and F, are

not more than 150 feet above the level of the surrounding rice fields.

1842.] Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. 843

There has been more abrasion, and the slope is more gradual on the

eastern face of the hill than on the west; the debris on the east slope

being evidently from the disintegration of the granite and adjoining

sandstone rock, from which tin may at this day be plentifully procur-

ed a few feet below the surface. Some very rich specimens of the

mineral were taken from a pit dug by the convicts about five feet deep

at the point C in the plan. This face of the hill, as well as the north-

east and south-west extremities near the base, have been dug into pits

by the Burmese in former periods, and washed for tin in several

places. Near the two last points, there are distinct traces of tanks

which have been used for washing and separating the ore; the ground

is seen there, and along the eastern slope, strewed with glittering plates

of mica nearly an inch square, and covered with remains of the soft

granitic matrix from which the ore has been extracted. A few

persons now at Mergui were engaged here in tin works under the

Burmese Government, and Mr. Corbin has ascertained from them, that

those who understood the work, and laboured ten hours a day, collect-

ed one and a half viss of clean ore per man; but a very rich vein was

not unfrequently met with, from which more than double that quantity

could be obtained in the same time. No machinery was used, and the

tin was procured by surface workings only. The produce, or clean

peroxide of tin, was sold on the spot at the rate of five, or five and a

half ticals of silver for ten viss of ore, which yielded on an average

seventy per cent. of metal. The metal was at that period selling in

the bazar at 100 ticals of silver for 100 viss of tin. There are 100

ticals in a viss, and 100 viss = 868 Ibs. avoir.

5. On arriving at Kahan, we found that the working party had re-

opened the bed of ore at the spot at which I found it last year, on the

east face of the hill, marked A in the plan. At this spot, which is

fifty-five feet above the level of the rice fields, and 600 feet horizontal

distance from the foot of the slope, a pit twelve feet deep had been dug,

the lower part of which was sufficiently roomy to allow a man to work

easily with a pick-axe. The pit was an irregular four-

sided figure of the following shape and dimensions: & —~

coe

the three short sides being innermost next the vein, ~

T feet

and apparently comprising its total thickness at that *

point, as far as could then be ascertained. All the three sides and the

844 Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. [No. 129.

entire depth of the pit consist of decomposed granite full of small

bunches and. strings of tin ore, of varying length and thickness, com-

posed of crystals of the pure peroxide of tin, aggregated loosely toge-

ther, and easily separable from the matrix in which it is imbedded.

This is extremely soft and friable, and I was able with the sharp edge of

a Burman daw, to cut down the sides of a pit, and expose fresh bunches

of ore at every stroke. It is also remarkable for the large scales and

crystals of mica it contains, the plates of which are readily separated,

and for the abundance and whiteness of the kaolin or decomposed

felspar of which the mass is chiefly composed, and to which the quartz

appears to bear but a small proportion. Red sandstone touches this

decomposed granite, and in the pit alluded to, looks like the enclosing

rock of a vein, which is only slightly inclined from the vertical. A

good sample of the ore had been collected here, and some rich speci-

mens, shewing it in the matrix as taken from the pit.

6. The convicts had also been occupied in sinking pits near the base

of the hill in other places, and had succeeded in obtaining at the north-

east extremity, at the point C, some very rich specimens of the ore

imbedded in material similar to that above-mentioned, angular as

before, and apparently from another part of the vein, or very near it.

This was afterwards placed beyond much question, for at the point B

at the south-west extremity of the hill, and 280 feet from A, but on the 4

reverse slope, the vein was again exposed to the day by a few hours’

digging, and tin collected while we were there. This point is 43 feet ;

above the level of the new fields on the west, at 550 feet horizontal :

distance from them, and the Burmese had worked there about 20 years

ago, as was apparent by the washing tank situated on the level ground

near it. It will be observed on the plan, that the points A, B, C, turn

out to be in a direct line; A and B correspond very closely, both in

substance and in elevation, and are doubtless part of the same vein, or

mass of tin-bearing rock; and it seems probable, that this will be

found to extend near the surface along the whole length of the

hill, or 600 yards, accessible by mere pit digging, or bya straight

gallery throughout its whole extent. It has been seen in thickness

three and half feet, and in depth twelve feet ; but its entire breadth and

depth is, in the present stage of the workings, involved in some uncer-

tainty, and can only be ascertained by mining operations systemati-

1842. ] Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. 845

cally conducted. The upper decomposed portions of granite which

have been exposed to view at the surface appear but indications of a

most valuable repository of tin. The sandstone in contact with it is

highly inclined to the horizon ; and holds no water, but this is procur-

able within three or four feet of the surface, at the base of the hill, and

could be easily raised for washing the ore by means of a Chinese wheel,

or by the chain and rag pump, or by any simple process. The hill itself

is not ten minutes walk from the main river, and a tidal creek touches

its south-west extremity near B, and another, the north-east, at C, by

either of which the produce of a mine can be carried away at high

water. The northernmost creek is accessible by large boats to with-

in 800 yards of the base of the hill. |

7. On June the 15th, Mr. Corbin writes, that two pits had been

sunk to the depth of eighteen feet on the ridge to the left of the

small pagoda, between the points B and A, in which the stratum was

found to be very thick and rich in tin. A pit near the pagoda itself

had been sunk to nearly the same depth, and a very good thick stra-

tum of tin soil found. Another on the east face, half way down the

slope from A, where work had been formerly carried on, had also

produced some very good ore; but as the ground had been much bur-

rowed in former times, the surface soil was not very safe. Mr. Corbin

on the above date, despatched to Moulmain eighty viss of the clean

ore, which has been since received. On the 18th July, this gentleman

informed me, that owing to heavy and incessant rain for fifteen or

twenty days successively, the whole of the pits having no artificial

support, had fallen in, before which however 170 viss more of cleaned

ore had been collected, as well as the large specimens before alluded

to. These are specimens of great weight and richness, consisting of

large macled crystals of tin on quartz, and contain more tin in pro-

portion to their bulk, than any specimens I have before seen. The

largest which measured about fourteen inches square by twelve deep

was so heavy, as to require some exertion to hold it steadily in both

hands. Mr. Corbin had directed the whole of the upper soil at the

pits on the ridge between B and A to be removed, and the convicts

are still engaged in collecting tin from them. The stratum of tin soil,

he says, is exceedingly thick here, he has ascertained it to be upwards

_ of twelve feet. It is found, Mr. Corbin states, immediately “below the

846 Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. [No. 129.

sandstone rock, and consists principally of quartz and mica with ap-

parently a small proportion of the sandstone, giving it a reddish colour:

in some spots where the mica predominates it appears dark yellow; in

this the ore is found scattered in masses ; but lower down, it assumes

the general form of whitish clay, where the ore is very little seen but in

washing. The hill in this neighbourhood was in former days much

burrowed, a pit with short galleries being met within a very few feet.”

The following is a list of specimens accompanying this report, which

are illustrative of the produce of Kahan :— 3

No. 1.—A box containing about twenty-one viss of clean ore of

the native peroxide of tin.

No. 2.—Specimens of various sizes, not selected for their richness,

but shewing the mode of occurrence of the tin ore in small strings

and bunches, imbedded in the matrix of decomposed granite ; some of

these consist of nearly pure kaolin or soft felspar: in others mica

and quartz predominate.

No. 3.—Specimens of pure kaolin, from the upper part of the ex-

cavations at A and B.

No. 4.—Specimens of macled crystals of peroxide of tin or quartz

taken from a pit D, between Band A: with this several similar and

larger pieces were found in the loose soil at the bottom of what was —

apparently an old Burmese shaft, and though Mr. Corbin writes, on g

the 9th of August, that no more had been met with, it appears from q

the extreme richness of the specimens, to be a valuable indication of

what may be found at greater depths than have been hitherto pene- 7

trated. They existed probably in a cavity of the granite mass, before

it was disintegrated by atmospheric causes, and wherein the large

crystals of quartz and tin were deposited.

8. Ore rich in tin has now been found at seven different parts of the

hill, chiefly in the line B A C, but near A, at more than 100 feet to

the east of this direction; and Mr. Blundell, who has just returned

from Mergui, informs me, that Mr. Corbin is pursuing his excavations

to the westward of this line towards the highest part of the hill, and

that the farther they proceed in this direction, the richer the ore

becomes. ‘This is scarcely, therefore, the character of a vein of ore,

but may be more properly termed a bed of decomposed granite, contain-

ing tin in great abundance, in small bunches and strings throughout.

1842. ] Second Report on the Tin of Mergut. 847

9. The mode of occurrence of the ore here more nearly resembles

that of Banea, than any of which I am informed. The matrix in which

tin is found at the latter, is said to be somewhat harder than that of

Kahan, and to require pounding or stamping before it can be separat-

ed effectually; but the situation of the ores are, I understand, very

similar. Mr. O’Reilly, a gentleman now residing at Amherst, was

permitted by the Dutch authorities a few years ago to visit the Banca

mines, and has described to me, that the matrix and ore are there

dug out of pits in the face of a hill not 300 feet high, and that after

being pounded, it is brought within the action of a stream of water,

which is led from wells and a small spring on the higher levels. No

machinery is used, but the Chinese miners penetrate after a time to a

bed of solid silex, where the tin is lost altogether. Mr. O’Reilly has

seen the specimens and samples of tin from Kahan, and pronounces

them fully equal to Banca tin, and that the grain has precisely the

grey glittering appearance, when held to the light, by which the

Chinese miners distinguish good ores.

10. In addition to the sample of eight cwt. of clean ore collected at

Kahan, 176 viss, or more than five cwt. have peen received from near

- Yahmon, a conical and isolated hill in the Nunklai district, on the oppo-

site or south side of the Tenasserim, and about a day’s journey by

water from Kahan, bearing south-south-east from Mergui, distant about

twenty miles. Theore is found here as stream tin, in tidal creeks,

about three miles from the hill, its colour darker than that of Kahan,

being nearly black, which is caused by a mixture of Wolfram sand, or

Tungstate of iron.

11. Of this locality, Mr. Corbin writes to Mr. Blundell on the 24th

of April: “ The following morning we proceeded from Kahan to

*¢ Yahmon in the Nonklai district, where we arrived at 5 Pp. M., it having

‘‘ taken four and half hours hard pulling to get there from the Kywai

“‘ Kuran village, and examined one of the localities, (that which had

“been worked during the Burmese Government) ; here the soil was

“rich in ore. The next morning we visited another place in a differ-

“ent Nullah, a short distance from the former, where also the tin ap-

** peared to abound ; but the Chinese objected to the two last spots, in

“‘ consequence of the want of a command of running water, for they

“‘ make a decided objection to wash out the soil by hand. Of the three

848 Second Report on the Tin of Mergut. [No 129.

“places, they gave the preference to Kahan; one of their reasons in

‘“ favor of this was, its propinquity to the town and the main river, for

“¢ procuring their supplies. The tide flows to both of the Yahmon sites

‘where the Nullahs appear to terminate, and during the spring tides

“ the water recedes to a considerable distance from where I landed,

“leaving the Nullahs dry at this season ; their sides are muddy, but in

‘‘ the middle is a small clear gravelly space in which tin ore is found.

“ The Chinamen say, this ore is precisely of the same description as

“‘ that of Kahan; but from the accounts of the natives, it always sold at

“ ten per cent. less.”

This inferiority, which is marked by its selling price, is owing to the

mixture of Wolfram sand, before mentioned, which, from being very

nearly of the same specific gravity as tin, it is difficult to separate. ° It

has likewise a strong sulphureous smell, and would require to be roasted

before it is put in the smelting furnace. The presence of tungstate

of iron with stream tin in the Mergui Province is very common; it has

apparently an extensive distribution in some of the minor ranges near

the sea, and becomes mixed with the tin in the beds of streams, after

both are detached from their original sites. Nearly all the specimens

of ore brought by Mr. Corbin last year from Malewan, on the Pakchan

river, contain it in such abundance as would most likely interfere materi-

ally with the profitable working of tin in many of those localities. It was

not present with the stream tin procured last year from the Thabaw-

lick, the Thengdon, and other rivers east of the town of Tenasserim.

12. Two hundred viss of the Yahmon tin ore, in addition to what

has been already mentioned, is expected by the next opportunity from

Mergui; as well as a sample from the Thabawlick river, which I

visited and reported on last year. Some Malays have been there col-

lecting the ore, and have agreed to supply it at half the selling price of

smelted tin, or about forty-five rupees per 100 viss.

An analysis of the Yahmon ore gave per cent.

Of Metallic Iron, ed “er “on 4.69

“ Tungstic Acid, nor ach ae 29.46

“ Sulphur, Lepage op 1.37

Earthy residue and tin not examined.... 64.48

100.00

1842. ] Second Report on the Tin of Merqui. 849

The Kahan ore gave on analysis 0.91 per cent. of metallic iron

only, and is believed to be free from the tungstate of iron and sulphur.

13. No accurate statement can be made of the probable cost of

obtaining the cleaned ore at Kahan from the outlay which has been

lately incurred. Convicts alone, who were before quite unaccustomed

to the work, have been employed, and for this labour no cost appears.

Chinese labourers, who understand the process of washing and smelt-

ing are to be procured in any numbers, and many, who have heard that

enquiries have been lately on foot concerning tin, have come already

from Tacopah to Mergui in search of work. They arrive in poverty,

and are glad to accept the wages of common coolies in plantation

work, &c. till better employment is to be had. Advances of money

for subsistence, and to enable them to make the requisite preparations

for getting the ore, both in tools, wheel work, troughs, &c. are only ne-

cessary for commencing operations to any extent at Kahan, or at any

of the most available sites of stream tin. The wages of Chinese miners

in the peninsula are said to be from five to eight dollars per month;

but they would be found ready to stipulate for the payment of

their labour by a certain fixed proportion of the produce. At the

Dutch mines, I am told they are remunerated by 40 per cent. of the

actual produce, the remaining 60 being the clear profit and property

of Government, which has been found at Banga and in the Straits to be

the best mode of paying them. They are in mining operations, as well

as in common labour, more skilful and industrious than any class in the

Kast with which I am acquainted. By Rule 4th, concerning grants of

waste forest and jungle land, published at Moulmain on 10th May 1841,

a tax not exceeding 10 per cent. is leviable on the part of Government

on the gross produce of mines worked within the limits of any

grant.

The freight of tin from Mergui to Penang with the present craft,

(China junks,) plying between the two places, would be two rupees

four annas per 100 viss of 365 lbs. Freight from Penang to China by

the Penang Price Current of April last, was 55 to 65 cents. per picul.

To Whampoa about 50 cents. more than to Lintin.

From Penang to Calcutta, eight annas to one rupee per picul.

9998 to Bombay ten annas to one rupee ditto.

iP sy sha to London 1/. per ton of 20 ewt.

850 Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. [No. 129.

The freight of the metal from Mergui to Saag via Penang, may

be taken at 2s. 6d. per cwt.

14. The annual produce of the Banca mines was stated by Sir S.

Raffles in 1827, to be 30,000 piculs, but owing to the substitution

of late years of Chinese workmen throughout, to whom the mines are

farmed, for the less productive labour of the natives, the out-turn has

been since nearly doubled. Mr. O’Reilly informs me that in 1841, the

actual produce was 54,000 piculs, but a considerable reduction in the

amount obtained from the Malayan peninsula, south of Junk Ceylon,

has taken place within this period, chiefly owing to dissensions amongst

the petty chiefs on the East coast. In 1885, 34,600 piculs were

assigned by Ensign Newbold as the annual produce of these states,

but the total amount from thence may now, I understand, be estimated

at about 22,000 piculs,—and from Banca

54,000

76,000 piculs, or 4523 tons.

In this most extensive tin region, comprising the whole of the

Malayan peninsula, the most extensive known repository of this

metal, there is sufficient evidence collected that many convenient

and valuable localities exist within the limits of our own ter-

ritory. The northernmost point at which it is known in the Te-

nasserim Provinces is amongst the high ranges near Tavoy, where, in

the Tounq-byouk valley, it has been seen by the Rev. Mr. Mason, and

traces of former works observed above Kaboung and on the Taling-

guwa, twenty miles north of Tavoy. A specimen of very small grain-

ed tin from this locality has been recently brought from Tavoy by Mr.

Blundell. It was washed out of alluvial soil, and stated to occur more

plentifully, and sometimes in pieces at greater depths. The locality

is said to be near granite hills, and from the occurrence of tin with the

alluvial soils, it exists probably in great abundance in the hills them-

selves. ‘To the northward of this I have not heard of it, but in Kar-

reenee, the country of the red Kareans, on the Burmese side of the

Salween river in 18 north latitude, the metal has been obtained by

Captain Warwick from the natives, at the rate of about twenty-five

rupees per 100 viss, who states, that a considerable quantity of tin is

obtainable there at that cost by indirect barter for beads, broad cloth,

i fee of Me: Wile n hill HAT Mery

iy 1TH, Phi [ox lan of the Lan ip

and ii provatle Aired 7 BAC. May 18#2.

—_

Ms j

Tin whashin,

Tink 9

fe =: Pagoda ps FUgt ta

«) 4 1 a

i 4

A / me

& se

ADs fal

XK a

VA \o :

Ee B

in w\\, i

aWhing ‘<

tank

Js \ —

| \

/ &

: /

aN '

(es S

WX N

$\ S

Ihe s

In Ss

/s iS

AS sy

To Mergque

I Mules

Scale 12 Inches to a Mile

Tw 508 20 “ 600

yaet

—

pee 7 (

Srom Dihiein aLleyih ene cy

Ip 3 a7 ‘

Ki “tiny he redalive wlualions of Ueryui % Kithan-

é F

distand Cy the vtver I lites ey; é.

Long 93°38" E \

Lat 12°26 30" NV ye . ix

Atlak 128 202 | =

= ———— eo

s SF

- te

he \

ip \

= Vo.

= ye ee

enya 2 A We

\ YY

Yahmon Hlill-

ANS

J (

f \\ @tte (-\\

Pe ea eatin.

Matar hte

; ee ea

| et eS

1842.] Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. 851

and coloured cottons. It appears by a good specimen of rolled tin

stone in the possession of a native at Mergui, which Mr. Blundell has

shewn me, that near the head of the Palouk river, about thirty miles

north of Mergui, tin ore exists, and the specimen exhibits tin inter-

spersed in a rock very much resembling the ore of the Cornish mines.

The existence of tin in the Palouk river was known, and the late Dr.

Helfer proceeded on one occasion to examine it, but owing to indis-

position, was obliged to return without effecting his purpose. Between

the neighbourhood of Mergui and the Pakchou river, our southern

boundary, it also occurs at Bokpyeen, and in many streams near the

coast, but has not been much sought for, as this part of the province

is an uninterrupted jungle, with scarcely any inhabitants.

15. All the tin sites in the Mergui province are believed to be healthy.

Kahan is situated on the bank of a large river, where it is more than

a mile broad, and a few miles only from the sea, while the spot itself is

open, and the level ground entirely free from jungle. The coal mine

lately worked on the Tenasserim river, sixty-four miles from Mergui, is

farther inland than any of the tin localities yet known, and the country

around is clothed with jungle to the summits of the highest hills; the

parties of convicts employed there from December 1840 to October

1841, were not subjected to any remarkable degree of sickness, if their

daily employment at hard labour, and consequent exposure, is taken

into consideration. The European overseers and mechanics under

Lieut. Hutchinson were perfectly healthy, and the following Table

represents the proportion per cent. of native convicts reported sick at

Mergui for nineteen months successively, compared with the proportion

at the coal mine during the same period.

5 PT

852 Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. [No. 129. :

Proportions percent.} Proportions per cent. re-

reported sick during|ported sick during the month Remarks.

the month at Mergui.|in the Jungles.

oe ee

ee no ee

April, 1840. 102 244 1840,/ The number —

Ms of convicts

May, ” 20 a re which

June, ; 6 1 these propor-

: 265 27 5 » |tions were

July, » 20) 942 determined,

A ¢ - 45 » Ivaried = at

RE uae 15 ai 1926 Mergui, from

= 1 “3. Fe VISE to.230

Pern i 1155 ors! and in the

October, _,, 11S i ” - |Jungles from

ot 185 » 194 to 204.

November, _,, 140 ogi! ‘i

December, _,, 165 35 i ‘i

January, 1841. 6 hg re

February, __,, 3 16) i

43 16

March, 99 oF 16, ”

April, ‘, T= 26— ss

May, ik 5 20, ”

June, es 145 21 5 ”

July, ” T= A 4

August, 3 95 Lg OFS

SH 53 76

September, _,, 135, i ee Sg

October, 8= " Gil os

The receipts of tin ore up to this date are,

From Kahan, corresponding with sample, No. lL.

‘¢ despatched from Mergui, 15th June 80 viss

ee ditto ditto 18th July 177 ,,

be ditto from Mergui 17thAugt. 118 ,,

Total, se és 379 viss or 12 cwt. 24ib.

From Yahmon, corresponding with sample, No. 2

a despatched from Mergui 18th July 166 viss or 5 ewt. 15tb

Total from both places, .... Al viss or 17 cwt. 69tb

MouLMEIN, (Signed) G. B. TREMENHEERE,

27th August, 1842. : Capt. Bengal Engr. Ex. Engr. Ten. Div.

(True copies, ) H. V. Bay ey,

Depy. Secy. to the Govt. of Bengal. |

We have lost no time in giving this valuable report and its plan to the public, and we should add

here, that the specimens have been divided; a part having been sent home to the Hon’ble the _

Court of Directors, and a part retained for the Museum of Economic Geology.—Ep. ae

853

Notes on the Iron of the Kasia Hills, for the Museum of Economic

Geology. By Lieutenant Yuur, Engineers.

ees

We have had much pleasure in giving with this valuable article, (not the last we

trust that the Museum will be favoured with from Lieutenant Yule,) the spirited -

sketch, No. I. which accompanied it, but No. II. was found to be exactly similar to

that accompanying Mr. Cracroft’s paper on the smelting of the Iron Ores of the Kasia

Hills, in Journal As. Soc. Vol. I. p. 150, and being rather graphic than of manu-

facturing utility, we take the liberty of referring our readers to that volume.—Ep.

These notes are very imperfect, but having no prospect of opportunity

to render them more complete, I am unwilling to withhold them, such

as they are.

I believe iron ore is excavated at intervals throughout this great

range of hills by all the various races who inhabit them, Garrows,

Kassias, and Nagas, of many tribes. |

The district in which these notes were taken, includes the large

villages of Nongkrem and Moliem, near the banks of the Ka-umyam, or

Boya Pani, about eighteen miles north of Cherra, and for a space five or

six miles in length from east to west by two in breadth, exhibits old

or new excavations in every hill-side. So marked an effect have these

works achieved on the undulating hills which cover the country, that in

many instances what must once have been like their neighbours, round,

swelling knolls, appear to have collapsed and sunk to their skeletons,

shewing nothing but fantastic piles of naked boulders ; the earth which

once bound and covered them, having been entirely washed out by the

heavy rains following in the track of the miner. So numerous and exten-

sive are the traces of former excavations, that judging by the number at

present in progress, one may guess them to have occupied the population

for twenty centuries. The mines are so similar, that the description of

one will sufficiently apply to all. It presents to view a semi-circular

See Sketch A. broken slope of debris and boulder, on the hill

side, exactly such as is described by the word scar used in the north

country at home. A small stream of water is con-

ig along the slope to the site of the present

854 Notes on the Iron of the Kasia Hills. [No. 129.

excavation. ‘The excavators standing on one side of their work, poke

out the soil from between the boulders with long

poles terminating in iron spikes. The loosened

soil tumbles into the stream, and is carried by it violently down a narrow

channel to a point 200 yards distant, and about

eighty feet perpendicularly below. Here a little

post is fixed at each side of the stream, and against the upper side

of these posts, little bits of stick are laid, so as to form a kind of

dam, which stops the heavy particles of iron, whilst the lighter grains

of soil are carried off by the rapid stream bounding over the obstacle.

As the iron accumulates, sticks are added to heighten the dam, and

See Sketch C.

See ditto D. D.

when this is nearly as high as the bank, (about one foot), the ore, a fine

black sand is taken out, the dam lowered, and the process repeated.

Above the dam a man is constantly employed in

Bea dultores turning up the channel of the stream with a hoe,

to prevent the ore from sticking in the passage, and with a long hook-

ed fork (F), he occasionally takes out any pieces of stone brought

down by the current.

The ore is now removed to the washing trough, which is supplied

with water by a small branch of the upper stream.

pilin ieee The washing is performed by two women, work-

ing the ore against the stream with their feet, and occasionally turning

and mixing it with a hoe. It is then put in a heap to dry, and washed

again. ‘This washing I was told is repeated four times.

The ore is then carried to the smelting house. The charcoal used

(at Nongkrem) is of all sorts. The best is said to be that made from

a small species of oak common near the Boga Pani, and from a tree

called by the Kasias dingsai, bearing an acorn, but the leaves of which

do not resemble the oak. The fir is used, because it grows at the

door, but it is not approved of.

The bellows are double ; formed of two-half cylinders of cowskin,

and worked by a man or woman, with a leg on each swaying from

foot to foot. Sometimes this employs two, as in the sketch, where

the good man and his wife are at work. The furnace is about twenty

inches in diameter; and the chimney about five feet high, made of clay q

bound with iron hoops. In the village of Sorra Rim, the chimneys —

1842.] Notes on the Iron of the Kasia Hills. 855

are made of a fine white clay, a quantity of which was furnished to

Dr. O’Shaughnessy for his experiments in Pottery.

The iron sand is wetted and placed on a shelf. At short intervals

a handful of fern leaves is dipped into the sand, and shoved into the

furnace, and charcoal to replenish the fire is poured down the chim-

ney. In some villages, instead of using the fern, as above described,

the ore is mixed with pounded charcoal and placed on the shelf. The

person who works the bellows, at almost every other sway of his body

takes up a pinch of the mixture, with a long handled spoon, and drops

it into the chimney.

After an interval (which from the equal size of the masses, must be

very regular, though judged by guess,) one of the workmen stirs up the

mass with the poker (M), takes it out with the tongs (N), lays it ona

block covered with earth, beats it with a wooden club into a sort of hemis-

phere, and then splits it nearly in twain with axe (O), which like most

other Kasia cutting and digging tools, has a heavy-headed handle and a

very acute angle. He opens the split further by the insertion of a

couple of wedges, and then pitches the hot mass (P) into a trough full

of pounded dross, to cool. The metal, impure as it is, is now sent to

market all over the hills, and to the plains of Sylhet. The loss of iron

purchased in this form is at least three parts in four. Heating in the

furnace and hammering, form the only further process of purification.

The Kasia tools appear generally to be of impure iron, though their

edges are often good and serviceable, being formed of steel, and welded

to the rough blade. ‘The Nagas to the eastward, though said to be

much more savage in their habits than the Kasias, appear (judging

from their weapons of war) to have much more skill in refining iron.

The excavation is only carried on in the height of the rains, as the

streams employed in their plan of washing the iron are only then

full. Perhaps one year’s excavation occupies only twenty days! and

it may be still fewer, as the rain in that district does not come near

the Cherra mark of thirty inches in twenty-four hours. From four

to ten rupees annual rent is paid for a mine, where the proprietor is not

the excavator. The men employed as miners receive four annas a day,

and will excavate in twenty days in a good mine, the value of twenty

five or thirty rupees each. Thus the statement of expense and profit in

a good mine for a season of twenty days, will be as follows :—

856 Notes on the Iron of the Kasia Hills. [No. 129,

Expenditure.

3 Men, (excavators,) at four annas for twenty days, Rs. 15 0

2 Women, (washers,) at one and half do. for thirty days, 5 10

2 Lads employed in clearing the channel, and watching

the dam D. at two annas for twenty days, .. Da Du as

Rent, Pa ie ate Ss as av way LOC OiuaO

35 10 0

Profit.

The work of three men, averaging a value of twenty-seven

TUpEeS Encieee =. te ays ae fi OL. amen

Deduct; 05. be a 5" LOO

Profit annually, .. -.. 49 6 0

The ore when washed is sold for smelting by the basket, one rupee

for seven baskets, or about three maunds. |

After smelting, as above described, it 1s generally sold in the hills by

the score of pieces. At Mongkrem one rupee, or one rupee two annas

a score. About a dozen of these pieces go to the maund, and at

the Pundua bazar, at the foot of the hills, they sell by weight at

one rupee four annas a maund. Fourteen or fifteen of these pieces

are made in one furnace in a day’s work, or where the work is carried

on day and night, as is common in some places, from twenty-four

to twenty-five in the twenty-four hours. Specimen No. 6 shews the

iron in this state. It is also sold in pigs, such as specimen No. 10,

at three rupees four annas to three rupees eight annas in the Cherra

bazar. Of this the smiths tell me, there will be a further waste of ten

or fifteen seers in the maund.

List of Specimens forwarded.

Nol) Decomposed rock containing the ore.

No. 2. Ditto in a more solid state.

No. 3. Boulders in the ground excavated.

No. 4. Ore partially washed.

No. 5. Ditto ready for the furnace.

No. 6. Metal after smelting as sent to market (half a piece.)

By Litheid NPP ng

a4 ah

1842.] Notes on the Iron of the Kasia Hills. 857

No. 7, 8. Slags from the smelting.

No. 9. Dross detached by beating with wooden club.

No. 10. Metal as sold in pigs at three rupees eight annas a maund.

No. 11. Metal further refined. |

No. 12. Isa specimen of slate found about twenty miles from Cherra

near the Assam road. I should be glad to know any particulars of

the proper mode of working and splitting slate,* and whether it is

usually of better quality below the surface. This (found at the sur-

face) does not split into plates sufficiently thin, nor sufficiently parallel.

There is, I am told, an account of the iron works in these hills

by Mr. Cracroft, in an old number of the Asiatic Society’s Journal.

Not having access to the former volumes of the Journal, I cannot

tell whether it is such as to render these notes superfluous.

Cherra Poonjee, 21st September 1842.

* This was duly sent.—H. P.

Note by the Curator Museum of Economic Geology.—The granite has nothing

remarkable about it, and the iron sand is so minutely dispersed, that it can only be

traced at times by a commencement of oxidation. The boulders are of silex.

The ore is composed of minute amorphous grains of the common iron sand, remark-

ably equal in size, and amongst which all traces of crystallisation have almost disap-

peared, for it is rare to detect any thing approaching to even an imperfect crystal.

Upon digesting some of the slags with muriatic acid, I find that they contain sul-

phuret of iron (which accounts perhaps for the inferior quality of the metal) but no

titanium was detected. Minute specks of the sulphuret resembling gold-coloured mica

are visible on close examination in the granite.—H. P.

Captain Tuos. Hutton on Ga.ropes (vorax ? )

In the 52d and 53d Numbers of the Annals and Magazine of Natural

History, are two letters from Messrs. W. S. Macleay and W. E. Shuck-

ard, relating to the occasional capture of small birds by certain spe-

cies of Arachnide; and as the subject is one of some interest, I take

the liberty of presenting you with a note long since made by me, on

the habits of a large species of Galeodes, common to some parts of

India, and for which, if undescribed, I would propose the name of

“ Galeodes vorax.”

§58 Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes (Voraz.) [No. 129.

My first observations on this species were made in 1832 at Mirza-

pore, where it is very abundant, and of large size. During the rainy

season, it was my constant habit on a fine evening, to spread a sheet

upon the ground near my house, upon which was placed a small lan-

tern to attract insects.

In a very short time, two or three of these ravenous spiders would

make their appearance at the edge of the sheet, but at a respectful dis-

tance from each other, and no sooner did a moth, or a beetle, or a

cricket alight upon it, than it was snapped up and devoured before I

could lay hold of it. There seemed indeed to be no end to the appe-

tite of these creatures, for they continued to seize and devour every

thing indiscriminately, that came within their reach, even to large and

hard winged beetles, cutting them to pieces with their powerful jaws

with the greatest ease. Many were the deadly fights I witnessed

among these marauders, as they trespassed upon each other’s beats to

get possession of some newly alighted prey, and often was I obliged to

kill them, in order that 1 too might in turn obtain some share of the

booty. This species is, strictly speaking, nocturnal, though I have

sometimes seen them active in the day time; they live beneath stones

and in holes in the ground, and never construct a net or other trap

for their prey, seizing every thing by main force, as they roam about

in search of food.

Again I fell in with this species abundantly at Neemuch, where they

were also sometimes of large size. One of these I kept for some time

in a vessel, the bottom of which was well supplied with earth, which

had been purposely hardened by pouring water on it and then allow-

ing it to dry. 7 ,

The Galeodes soon began to dig a hole, and in a very short time

succeeded in making itself a subterranean retreat, in which it usually

resided, seldom coming forth beyond the mouth of its den. It pro-

ceeded to dig out the earth at first with its strong jaws, cutting it

away in a circle, and having thus loosened the soil, it gathered it toge-

ther into a heap with its anterior palpi and threw it out behind, as a

dog does in scratching a hole. When it had by this means succeeded

in excavating a hole sufficiently large for it to enter, instead of throw-

ing out the loose earth as at first, it gathered a quantity together, and

surrounding or embracing it with the anterior palpi, shoved the load

1842. ] Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes (Vorax.) 859

by main force before it up the mouth of the cave, and then returned

for more. Having completed its task, it remained for a few days sta-

tionary and refused to feed, although previously it would devour seve-

ral insects at a meal, and even small house lizards. I now perceived

that it was a female, the ova being distinctly visible through the skin

of the abdomen, which was much distended.

The ova were deposited in the cave, to the number of more than

fifty (50,) the parent remaining motionless amidst them. In the

course of a fortnight, these, which were of the size of a largish mustard

seed, and of whitish hue, were all hatched.

The young are at first motionless, and appear devoid of animation

until the period of three weeks has elapsed, at which time they cast

the first skin. Their colour, which up to this time was pure milky

white, now gave place to a faint tinge of pale brown, and the jaws and

palpi became deep brown.

The young ones now threw off their lethargy, and began to move

about and occasionally sallied forth from the den, but instantly re-

treated on the slightest appearance of danger. All this time, however,

they took, apparently, no food whatever, and yet they continued to

grow both in size and activity. |

It was indeed very interesting to watch the motions of the parent

at this season. From the general bad and ferocious character which

the spider tribe bears, I fully expected to see the parent, at the first

craving of appetite, commence an attack upon her own family, and

devour them ; but the all-wise Creator has endowed even this ferocious

spider with that most powerful feeling—maternal love; and thus is

the Galeodes, the very tiger of the insect world, subdued at this peri-

od into the anxious and tender mother. Placing herself in front of

the aperture of the cave, she seized and examined between her anterior

palpi, every thing that entered. I tried repeatedly to arouse her anger

by thrusting in straws, hoping to make her forget her good behaviour,

but.all in vain, for though she bit and pulled at the straws in evident

anger, not once did she turn upon her offspring, although crowding

round and crawling over her very body. I then threw in some beetles

and flies, upon which she vented her fury by speedily devouring them,

and I thought by this means to play her a trick. Accordingly, I with-

drew two or three of the young ones from the cave, and threw in alter-

5 uU

860 Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes (Vorax.) [No. 129.

nately a beetle and a young Galeodes, thinking to deceive the parent,

and make her in the blindness of her fury, commit infanticide. But

nature was not to be thus deceived; the unfortunate beetles were

instantly seized and devoured, but the mother knew her offspring, and

drew them into the den without the slightest injury ; the beetles were

gathered into her jaws, but her own offspring were merely seized

between the anterior palpi, and allowed to pass on unhurt.

This whole family, much to my regret, effected their escape from the

vessel in which I kept them, which being of glass and deep-sided,

I thought sufficiently secure, and therefore left uncovered.

The Galeodes, however, being furnished with a reéfractile sucker at

the ends of the anterior palpi, had contrived to crawl up the side of the

glass, and make their escape. I succeeded more than a month after-

wards in recapturing the old one in the same room, but her offspring

I never again saw.

This species is extremely voracious, feeding at night upon beetles,

flies, and even large lizards, and sometimes gorging itself to such

a degree, as to render it almost unable to move.

A lizard three inches long, exclusive of tai/, was entirely devoured ;

the spider sprung at it, and made a seizure immediately behind the

shoulder, never quitting its hold until the whole was consumed. The

poor lizard struggled violently at first, rolling over and over in its

agony, but the spider kept firm hold, and gradually sawed away with

its double jaws into the very entrails of its victim. The only parts

uneaten were the jaws and part of the skin, although the lizard was at

least five inches long from nose to extremity of tail. After this meal,

the spider remained gorged and motionless for about a fortnight, being

much swollen and distended.

A young sparrow, about half grown, was placed under a bell glass

with a Galeodes; the moment the luckless bird moved, the spider

seized him by the thigh, which he speedily sawed off, in spite of the

sparrow’s fluttering, and then as the poor bird continued to struggle in

pain, the savage seized him by the throat, and soon put an end to

his sufferings by cutting off the head. It did not, however, devour

the bird nor any part of it, but seemed satisfied with having killed it.

On another occasion, I gave it a large garden lizard, which was

instantly seized by the middle of the body; the lizard finding that

VX ee

1842.) Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes (Vorax.) 861

it could not shake off its adversary, turned its head and bit the Gale-

odes on one leg, which obliged it immediately to quit its hold and

retreat ; this was owing to the seizure having been made too low down

on the body, for in general the Galeodes seizes as close behind the

shoulder as can be, in order to put it out of the victim’s power to turn

and bite; the lizard was allowed to escape with only a severe wound

in the side, but as it lived for some days before I allowed it to run off,

the bite of the Galeodes would not appear to be poisonous.

On another occasion, my friend Dr. Baddeley confined one of these

spiders in a wall-shade with two young musk rats, (Sorex Indicus),

both of which were killed by it.

When two of these spiders are confined in a vessel together, both

endeavour to make their escape, as if conscious of their mutual danger.

If in their efforts to get away they are brought into contact, the one

instantly seizes the other and devours him, the victim making no

struggles whatever; but if they meet face to face, both enter into

a wrestling match for life or death.

They plant their true feet firmly on the ground, the body at the

same time being elevated, and the two pairs of palpi held out in front

to ward off the attack. In this attitude they advance and retire, accord-

ing as either gains a slight advantage, endeavouring to throw each

other to one side, so as to expose some vulnerable part, or form an

opening for attack, and when this is once effected, the fortunate wrest-

ler instantly takes advantage of it, and rushing in, seizes his adversary

behind the thorax, and the combat is ended; the vanquished victim

yielding himself without further struggle to his inevitable fate.

The same species occurs in the Bhawulpore country, from whence

I obtained it when constructing the road for the advance of the Army

of the Indus in 1838. It is also abundant in Afghanistan, where in

all probability it is the species mistaken by Elphinstone for the Za-

rantula, which he describes as common in that country, but which

I neither saw nor heard of.

The usual size of an adult specimen of ‘“‘ Galeodes (vorax”,) mzhi,

is about 21 to 22 inches long, and the body or abdomen equal to a

thrush’s egg. When in motion, the body is elevated off the ground,

and the two pairs of palpi-or feelers are stretched out ready to make

a seizure; it progresses therefore solely upon the true legs, which

862 Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes ( Vorax.) [Nog 29:

spring from the thorax, and are six in number. The head is armed

with two strong and formidable chele, or double jaws, answering to

the long cheliform fore-arms of the scorpion; these jaws are denticu-

late, and the ends are curved, sharp pointed, and extremely hard and

horny, of a dark brown colour. Eyes two, and placed on the top of

the head between the base of the jaws; the colour generally is sandy

brown, and the body soft and clothed with short mouse-coloured hairs ;

the limbs, and especially the palpi, are furnished with long coarse

hairs; beneath these are ten obtriangular plates springing from the

under side of the thigh or coxe of the posterior legs, five on each, the

inner one being smallest, the outer one largest; these are of an ob-

triangular form, and their use appears to be still unknown. I never

saw them used to assist progression in any way.

The true legs are furnished at the end with strong hooks or claws,

but the two pairs of pedi-palpi are destitute of them, the anterior pair | 4

being the largest and strongest, and furnished at the end with a white

retractile sucker; this in a state of rest is withdrawn into the last

joint of the palpi, and it appears to be used to assist in climbing up

surfaces, or in hanging against gravity, in the same way that flies and

lizards use their feet, by the exclusion of air. In seizing its prey,

one pair of jaws keeps hold, while the other is advanced to cut, and

they thus alternately advance and hold till the victim is sawed in two;

the only sound they emit is a hissing or rustling, caused by the fricti-

on of the two pairs of chele, as they are advanced and withdrawn ;

this is only heard when the spider is suddenly disturbed or irritated. j

From the tenor of Mr. W. S. Macleay’s remarks upon Mygale and

the large species of Hjpeira, which he has discovered in the vicinity of .

Sydney, it would appear, that although these spiders may occasionally

feed upon the juices of warm-blooded animals, which accident may

throw in their way, yet that their natural food consists of insects, and

the fact of their killing birds at all, must be regarded as a very rare

exception to the general rule of their habits ; and from the above re-

marks on Galeodes, it will be seen that the habits of this spider in

some measure corroborate Mr. Macleay’s opinion, for although strictly

speaking, the proper food of Galeodes consists of insects, yet when

accident throws a lizard in its way, it will not fail to seize and devour

it. With regard however to its preying at all upon warm-blooded ani-

1842. | Captain Thos. Hutton on Galeodes (Vorax.) 863

mals, we have as yet no testimony whatever, for in the experiments

above cited it will be observed, that although the sparrow and musk

rats were easily killed by the spider, yet that it fed upon neither of

them.*

Mussoorree, 21st June, 1842.

* Should this paper meet the eye of Mr. Macleay, I may add, that I shall be

happy to do my best in determining the habits and economy of any species found in

my neighbourhood, if he will kindly point out his wants and wishes, and I shall like-

wise be happy to assist him with duplicates from my own collection. I would like-

wise gladly effect exchanges with any one collecting in the Islands, or on the Conti-

nent of India.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

(Friday Evening, \2th August, 1842.)

The Hon’ble H. T. Prinser, President, in the Chair.

The following Gentlemen proposed as Members were unanimously elected ; viz.

Captain R. Suortrepe, Assistant Surveyor Grand Trigonometrical Survey.

Brevet Captain W. J. E. Boys, 6th Regt. Light Cavalry.

R. Houston, Esq. C. S.

Ordered—That the usual communication of their election be made to the parties,

and that they be furnished with the rules of the Society for their guidance.

Messrs. J. Macxenziz, and A. S. Giapsrone were proposed as Members of

the Society by the Hon’ble the President, seconded by the Secretary.

Library.

The following Books were presented.

Books received for the Meeting on the 13th August, 1842.

The Calcutta Literary Gleaner. Calcutta, August 1842. Vol. I, No. 4, from the

Editor.

The Calcutta Christian Observer. August 1842. New Series, Vol. ILI, No. 32.

Presented.

Abstract of the Proceedings of a Committee for the investigation of the Coal and

Mineral Resources of India. Calcutta, April 1842. Two copies, from Govern-

ment,

Reports on projected Canals in the Dehli Territory, Allahabad. From Government.

Sixth report of the Egyptian Society, 1842, pamphlet. From the Society.

864 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

Laws and Regulations of the Egyptian Society, pamphlet. From the Society.

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Vol. VIII. No. 53, Vol. IX, No. 56.

Purchased.

History of British Birds, by W. Yarrell. London, 1842, part 30. Purchased.

The Secretary submitted the proceedings of the Royal Society of Agriculture and

of Commerce of Caen, received by the Mail.

Ordered—That the thanks of the Society be communicated for the same.

Read the following letter from Mr. PippincTon.

To H. Torrens, Esa.

Secretary, Asiatic Society.

Sir,—Having examined attentively the five books of Dr. Voysey’s Notes, I beg to

report, that there is in them much geological information of the very highest interest, for

they principally relate to that stupendous geological phenomenon, the great trap and

granite formation of Central India.

I have further to bring to your notice, that from a fragment of a report amongst the

papers, it would appear that there must have been reports made by him to Government .

(the Supreme Government of India), from 1819 to 1824, apparently, at least, once

a year.

I beg to suggest then that, as doubtless containing much matter of value, an .

application be made to Government for permission to examine and publish such

parts of them as may be of general utility.

I am, Sir,

Museum, 19th July, 1842. Your obedient servant.

H. PIpDINGTON,

Curator, Museum Economic Geology.

P.S.—I should perhaps remark here, that there are two special reports published

in the Journal of the Asiatic Society for 1833 ; but these do not appear to me to be Dr.

Voysey’s official summaries of his annual labours, and from the fragment above alluded

to, more I think must be found.

The Secretary, reported that the foregoing letter was, agreeably to the directions

of the President, submitted to the Government, with a request that its Records may

be searched for the highly valuable documents therein alluded to.

Read summary description of two new species of Flying Squirrels and of an Eagle,

by H. B. Hopvcson Esq. with observations by Mr. Bryru, Curator.

Referred to the Secretary for publication in his Journal.

Read a letter from Capt. W. E. Hay, of the 1st European Light Infantry Re-

giment, noticing amongst other matters, that he had been the means of bringing before

the public a number of new Coins, which Lieutenant Cunnincuam would notice

in his forthcoming work on the successors of ArexanpEeR the Great. In some

instances circumstances had demanded his permitting them to pass into other hands,

1842. ] Asiatic Society. 865

which although a matter of regret, yet he still fortunately possessed a few that were

supposed to be unique, and of great value.

Read letter from J. H. Batren Esq. of 10th July last, forwarding continuation of

Major Manson’s valuable Journal, with Lieutenant WrLiEr’s Notes, and promis-

ing by next opportunity, the Journal by Lieutenant Weer, of the country

beyond Oonta Dhoora, at the same time proposing Brevet Captain Boys, 6th

Cavalry, (with his consent, ) as a member of the Society.

Captain Boys was accordingly proposed in due form as a Member of the Asiatic

Qociety, and the Journal referred to by Mr. Barren made over to the Secretary

for publication in his Journal.

Read letter from Reverend J. H. Prarv, of 11th August 1842, on the brass Astro-

labe from Herat, presented to the Society by Major E. Porrincer, also made over

to the Secretary for the Journal.

Read the following report from the Curator for the month of July, 1842 :—

Sir,—The most interesting recent accessions to our collection of vertebrated animals

pertain to an important class, that of Reptiles, which hitherto I have been too much

otherwise occupied to investigate except casually.

From Dr. Strong, we have been favored with a fine specimen, but just dead, of

Chelonia midas ; the Edible or Green Turtle, which has been mounted. It may be

as well to remark, that this was not captured in the neighbouring Bay.

Having intimated a wish, not long ago, to possess some of the so called ‘* Iguanas”

that inhabit the tanks of the Botanic Garden, the Society has accordingly been kindly

favoured by Mr. DeCruz, of that establishment, with three fine specimens, which have

proved to be of as many different species. These it may be useful to Indian students

of Natural History to describe.

1. Varanus Bengalensis, Dumeril and Bibron, in whose excellent ‘ Histoire des

Reptiles’, III, 480, will be found its synonymes. Length of the specimen (a female)

forty-one inches, of which the tail measures twenty-four inches: head, to auditory

orifice, three inches; to anterior margin of eye an inch and three-quarters; and the

nostrils oblique, and situate half-way between the eye and tip of muzzle: entire

length of fore-limb to end of middle claw five inches and three-quarters, and of hind

limb, to end of claw of longest toe, seven inches and a half; the toes well developed,

and claws, especially the anterior, very large and strong.* The head is covered with

minute polygonal plates, nearly uniform in size, and the superorbital bone projects far

over the eye: the nape is studded with scales of a rounded oval form, very much

bulged, and each appearing like a nail set at the extremity of a digit; on the back

this unguicular appearance is more strongly marked, the nail-like part being smaller,

* A very fine and bulky male, since procured in the same quarter, measured fifty-five inches in

total length, of which the tail was thirty-one inches ; from muzzle to auditory orifice three inches

and a half ; and length of hind-limb, to tip of the claw of longest oe nine inches and a quarter:

colouring exactly as in that above described.

866 Asiatic Society: [No. 129.

and the scales flatter: on the fore-limbs anteriorly, the scales form hexagons, and are

larger than elsewhere: the tail is clad with transverse series of oblong subquadrangular

scales, those of its sides a little carinated, and the inferior scarcely exceeding them

in size; along the ridge of the tail is a double serrated crest of laterally triangular

scales, more strongly developed than in either of the following species: the under

surface of the neck, breast, and inside of the limbs, are clad with rounded oval scales,

and the belly with transverse series of others having an elongate subquadrangular

form. The colour of this specimen is greenish olive-brown on the upper parts, very

prettily and uniformly marbled with meandering lines of black scales, this black

being nearly as broad as the intervals of ground-colour left between its courses: the

head inclines to yellowish green, and has the black markings large and bolder; and

the extremity of the tail is similar in hue, having the markings gradually fewer tiJh

they disappear: the under-parts are whitish, deeply tinged with yellowish-green on

the neck, which is marbled as on the upper-parts, only that the lines are broken or

not continuous; and the breast and belly are merely spotted with black, though the

whitish scales are also minutely freckled with the same, the markings on the under

surface of the tail being less defined. A constant character of this species is to havea

black streak proceeding backward from the eye, which is broader and more developed

than in the following species; and the toes have each a distinct yellow streak along

their upper surface. Of various young Varani which we possess in spirits, there is

only one which I incline to refer, with some hesitation, to the present species, the princi-

pal objection being that its claws do not appear to be proportionally large enough: the

situation of the nostrils and proportion of the superorbital bones are, however, the

same, and I can perceive no characteristic difference in the scaling; but the markings

are more different, appearing on the upper parts of this one as irregular transverse series

of pale yellowish-olive spots—each occupying three or four scales—on a dusky ground-

tint, while beneath the colour is almost uniform yellowish, having transverse narrow

dusky streaks on the throat and neck, and others extending downwards from the sides,

but interrupted along the middle, where are only a few scattered specks; the under

surface of the tail being altogether without markings.

2. V. Picquotit, Dumeril and Bibron. ‘The specimen sent of this reptile, measures

thirty-two inches in length, of which the tail is seventeen inches, being deficient of

about an inch and a half of its extremity; from muzzle to orifice of ear is two

inches and a half, and the nostrils are only half an inch distant from the former,

being placed considerably more forward than in the preceding species; length of

fore-limb to end of middle claw four inches and three-quarters, and of hind-limb to end

of longest claw five inches and a quarter, the toes being comparatively very short,

and the claws, especially the posterior, small for a Varanus. The head is covered

with small polygonal plates, and the scales of the body are considerably larger than in

either of the others, their form an elongate oval and much carinated, but becoming

circular towards the occiput, where especially they are much larger than in the

preceding species. ‘lhe tail is more compressed towards its base than in V. Benga-

lensis, and also less attenuated or drawn out at the tip; the double serrature of its upper) _ ‘

ridge is less strongly marked, and its scales are smaller and much narrower or more

elongate, being also but little larger on its under surface than on the sides: those

on the under part of the neck are nearly circular, becoming more oval towards and

1842] Asiatic Society. 867

upon the breast, while those of the belly are of the usual oblong-quadrangulate form.

The general colour is yellowish olive-green above, irregularly banded with reddish-

brown having dusky margins, which latter throw out lines across the greenish, so as to

separate this into large round spots ; these markings, however, are not very strikingly

conspicuous: the tail is barred with successive pairs of transverse dusky bands,

enclosing somewhat rufous brown interspaces ; and the under-parts are pale and spot-

less, inclining much to yellowish-green on the belly, and having a few very faint dusky

bars across the neck: above, the neck is uniform-brown, and the crown darker; there

is a narrow streak of blackish behind each eye; the fore-limbs are sulphur-yellow, and

the hinder coloured like the back and tail. Of several young which we possess in

spirits, the largest measures nineteen inches, of which the tail is ten inches and a half;

general colour similar to the last, but much paler, and legs green (the latter, however,

may have faded), the dusky cross-bands underneath the neck are more distinct, the

head and neck above are very pale, and the darker colour—though less deep than

in the preceding—is more predominant on the back, so as to leave only a series of

irregular whitish cross-bands. Another ten inches and three-quarters long, with the

tail five inches and a half, is intermediate in its markings to the two preceding, but

much darker than either; the cross-bars beneath its neck are very distinct, and there

are others descending from the sides of the body, but interrupted along the middle of

the under-parts, which lines are considerably less distinct in the last specimen, and

but just visible in the large one. Still smaller examples, but six inches and three-

quarters long, of which the tail measures three inches and a half, are more like the

large one, but differ in having their markings well brought out and brightly con-

trasted: one has alternate broad and narrow cross-bands of pale greenish more or

less divided into spots; and another has the same kind of bands less regular, both these

having also the nape pale greenish, and banded with dusky-brown, which is

broadest at the median line. It is clear that the particular markings of each indivi-

dual specimen are permanent for life, as regards disposition, but become gradually

indistinct, and more or less effaced, with age ; the dark, which at first appear of uni-

form tint changing to brown where broad, leaving dusky edgings only ; while different

specimens vary at all ages considerably from each other, and are pale or dark, very

probably according to the soil on which theyginhabit.*

The V. Picquoti is remarkable for its comparatively short toes and small claws,

and for the strong yellowish tinge which prevails more or less on its olive-green ground-

tint. M. M. Dumeril and Bibron remark that they have every reason to believe that

the Monitor Alavescens figured by Hardwicke and Gray represents this species, al-

though the scales are not shewn to be carinated, which, however, may have been an

omission of the draughtsman ; and accordingly they have included that denomination

as a synonym, but without stating that the name Picquoti had been published prior

to that of flavescens, which latter appears in the ‘ Zoological Journal,’ III, 225. There

certainly can be no doubt of the correctness of this identification.

3. V. binotatus, Dumeril and Bibron. The example sent of this species measures

four feet and a quarter in length, of which the tail is thirty-one inches, thus exceed-

*T have since obtained other adults of this species, but none so large as that of which the

dimensions are above given. They vary considerably in their markings, and in some the rufous

brown colour predominates over the usually prevailing olive-green. In all the tribe, the colours

of the living animal are much brought out by putting it into water.

J X

868 Asiatic Society: [No. 129.

ing, by more than half, the aggregate of the head, neck, and body: the head mea-

sures nearly four inches to auditory orifice, and two inches from eye to muzzle, the

anterior margin of the nostrils being within half an inch of the tip of the latter : length

of fore-limb to end of middle claw seven inches, and of hinder to end of longest claw nine

inches ; the toes well developed, and furnished with large claws, though inferior in size

to those of V. Bengalensis.* The head of this species is much more elongated than in

either of the others, and has a curvilinear series of eight broad transverse scales above

each orbit, conspicuously developed, while in the others the corresponding plates

must be sought for to be observed : the auditory orifice is broad and open. The scales

_ of the upper parts resemble those of the last species in form, being oval and much

carinated, but their size is much smaller, especially upon the nape and towards the

occiput ; on the sides of the tail they are small and oblong-quadrangulate, and on the

under surface of the tail they are very much larger, a particular in which this species

differs from both the preceding : they are of an oval shape upon the throat, breast, and

inside of the limbs, inclining to circular on the latter ; and upon the belly they near-

ly resemble those of the under surface of the tail. This fine specimen has black

scales with whitish intervals on the upper parts, and is banded across the body with

several distant rows of white rings; immediately behind the scapulars the first of

these rows is less distinct, forming merely an obscure broad whitish band, anterior to

which a broad longitudinal black streak proceeds backward from above each fore-

limb, surmounted by a whitish one, not conspicuously developed in this specimen, but

which is usually well marked, and from it is derived the specific name which the rep-

tile bears ; the anterior limbs have a white spot on each scale, in addition to which

the hind-limbs have scattered wholly white scales, imparting a speckled appearance :

the under-parts are dull white, with incipient dark stripes from the sides of the body,

and the throat and under surface of the neck are speckled with black, having besides a

series of V-like cross-streaks pointing forwards ; tail minutely mottled black and

whitish, with broad bars of the former, indistinct for the basal two-thirds, and the rest

successively blacker to the end. Another specimen, of similar size, which we possess

as a skin, differs only in having no markings underneath the neck, the black bands are

less distinct on the tail, and the transverse rows of pale rings on the body less conspi-

cuous : in this the lateral pale shoulderstreaks are but just visible, and varieties of

this species have been met with altogether black. We do not possess examples of the

young.

I kept the specimen of V. binotatus here described alive for some days, chain-

ed toa tree, which occasioned me to notice that it climbed the trunk with facility,

and. I also observed that its regular mode of defending itself was by slapping smartly

with the tail, for which purpose it turned itself with the tail towards any one who an-

noyed it: but I make no doubt that, like other lizards, it would also bite if it had

the opportunity, when the compressive force of its jaws would render its small teeth

of some efficacy as a weapon.

A fourth Indian species of this genus already described, and which is common to

Bengal, Siam, and the Malay countries, is the V. nebudosus of M. M, Dumeril

* The larger of two specimens since obtained, measured sixty-one inches in total length, of

which the tail occupied thirty-four inches; from muzzle to auditory orifice four inches and —

.ahalf ; and length of hind-limb, to the tip of claw of longest toe, ten inches and three-quarters. d

1842. ] Asiatic Society. 869

and Bibron; being stated to be one of those wherein the muzzle is most pointed. Ac-

cordingly, this is at once a distinction which separates from it a small specimen in

the Society’s Museum, which appears to be of an undescribed species, and I shall

therefore venture to designate it V. Bibronii. It is remarkable for the great length

of its tail, but in other respects is nearly allied to V. Bengalensis : its naral apertures

are situate as in that species, but the head is less flat, and a peculiar character con-

sists in a group of central plates between the eyes, which are considerably less mi-

nute than the remainder of those upon the head. Length of the specimen twenty

inches and a quarter, of which the tail measures thirteen inches, being very much

drawn out at the end; at base it is perfectly cylindrical for about two inches, when the

double serrated crest commences, which is not so strongly marked as in V. Bengalen-

sis, the tail becoming thence more compressed to its extremity. General colour

bright olive-brown, marked all over the body with longitudinal rows of alternately

larger and smaller angular black spots; head tinged with yellow, and marked with a

dark ring sutrounding the group of larger scales between the eyes, behind which is a

dark semi-circle pointing backwards, then another ring, flanked by a lateral black

line along each side; the usual dark mark behind each eye, but narrow, and

continued along the side of the neck; fore-limbs mottled with brown, olive, and

yellow, having a streak of the last along each toe; the hind limbs and also the flanks

shewing scattered pale yellow spots, which are surrounded by dusky-brown forming

ocelii; tail indistinctly mottled, and yellowish for its terminal two-fifths, beneath, and

the rest of the lower parts, also vellowish, irregularly marked with brown, the neck

banded with dusky underneath, and between each of the bands a transverse row of

spots. The specimen thus described is preserved in spirits: and I find that we have

also a stuffed skin, which appears to be referrible to the same. This was received

from Madras, and confiding in the judgment of an eminent Zoological acquaintance

who has much studied the Indian Repiilia, I referred it to V. binotatus in my first

Report to the Society. The length of this is twenty-three inches, of which the tail

measures thirteen inches, but the neck is made rather longer than it ought to be.

Colour above dusky brown-black, relieved with a few scattered inconspicuous whitish

scales; beneath yellowish-white, mottled with spots and specks of dusky except under

the tail, while the fore-neck is greyish and rather more densely mottled: the group of

larger scales between the orbits is paler than the rest; and on the flanks and thighs

are scattered ocelli as in the other specimen. I have little doubt that this is the

species which I observed to be brought in considerable numbers to the bazar at

Madras, being much eaten there by the natives; but I hope soon to receive some

large specimens from that locality, which will determine the question. I certainly

remember to have particularly noticed the great length of tail in the Madras species,

by means of knotting which round the limbs the dealers disabled them from running

away.

A species of Varanus, additional to those described in the very excellent work of

M. M. Dumeril and Bibron, was obtained in the island of Mindanado by Mr.

Cuming, and is described as V. Cumingi by Mr. Martin in Proc. Zool. Soc. for 1838,

p- 69; and in the same work for 1831, p. 137, is a notice of the anatomy of a Varanus

by the same author, which had lived for some time in London at the gardens of the

Zoological Society.

870 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

By Mr. Piddington, we have been favored with a male specimen, and by our Se-

cretary with a female, of an Agama common in the neighbourhood, appertaining to

the subdivision Calotes, being probably the C. Tiedmani, Kaup, Isis, XX, t. 8, as

quoted in Gray’s Synopsis Reptilium appended to the 9th Volume of Griffith’s

Animal Kingdom’, where the following synonymes are attached,Agama versico-

lor, Daudin, t. 44, .4. flavigularis, Daudin, and A. Indica, Gray. This species averages

fifteen inches in length, whereof the tail exceeds eleven inches and a half; the longi-

tudinal series of vertical scales forming its nuchal crest are tolerably elevated, those

along the back are much smaller, and at the base of the tail they are nearly obsolete ;

there is also another series above each ear, divided into two groups, each of which has

a single pointed scale longer than the rest. Colour changeable, but usually vivid-

green, more or less tinged with yellowish, especially on the sides; beneath, whitish,

the throat of the male often bright red: the markings also vary, but when well brought

out consist of a row of large quadrangular spots along the back, changing from

yellowish-brown more or less black-edged to wholly black, and a similar row along

each side, between which and the former the ground-tint forms in some a pale band.

The very long tail of this beautiful little animal is commonly raised to curve over the

back. ‘It is the liveliest by far,’? remarks Mr. Torrens, ‘‘ of the Lizard tribe that

I ever saw: its motion is a most rapid darting run for from six to twelve yards, stand-

ing high on the fore-legs, and carrying its head singularly erect; it then comes to

a dead stop, and remains motionless with the head erect for sometimes a minute and a

half, when the rapid motion is resumed to be succeeded by a similar halt: it is very

active, leaping from the ground upon shrubs, and its demeanour is markedly viva-

cious. This specimen I have watched for some weeks: it frequented a flower-pot

opposite my dressing room, and seemed to harbour under a particular shrub.”

Our Museum contains also a single example of a species closely allied, but nearly

as large again, with the nuchal and dorsal crests more developed; this I presume

to be C. ophiomachus, Kaup, v. Lacerta calotes of Seba and Linnzus, whereof the

colour should be brilliant blue, but the fine tints of these animals wholly fade in

specimens consigned to spirits.

From J. Baker Esq., Civil Surgeon of Noacolly (Bullooah), near Calcutta, has

been received a species of Trigonocephalus, stated by him to be of rare occurrence, at

least in this district. It appears to be nearly allied to Zr. erythrurus, Cantor,

P. Z. S., 1839, p. 31, (which also is indigenous to the Gangetic delta,) having the

same number of abdominal plates and subcaudal scuteli@ ; but the tail has merely

a very faint reddish tinge, and there is no black serrated line enclosing the abdominal

plates. Length thirty-two inches, of which the tail, posterior to the vent, measures

four inches and three quarters. Colour wholly dark grass-green above, beneath green-

ish white, the tint deepening towards the vent and along the under surface of the tail ;

sides of upper lip, and below ears, bluish ; and wholly without markings, through the

lateral row of scales bordering the abdominal plates are lighter-green than those above

them, and may form a line more or less defined in younger specimens.

The only additional examples of this genus we possess consist of two small and pro-

bably young specimens, nearly allied to each other and to the above, and possessing

the same number of abdominal plates. One, measuring twenty-three inches and a half,

of which the tail is four inches and a half, and consequently longer in proportion than

1842.] Asiatic Society. 871

that of the preceding species, is wholly of a leaden-blue colour above, with whitish

under-parts; no lateral line; a remarkable (though probably merely individual) dis-

tinction consisting in four or five of the plates immediately anterior to the vent tending

to assume the divided form of those of the tail, being in fact more or less divided and

oblique. ‘The other specimen is twenty inches and a half long, with tail four inches

and a quarter; and is also leaden-blue above, and whitish gradually more suffused

with blue for the first third of its under surface, the rest uniformly bluish and deepen-

ing to under the tail: it has also a narrow yellowish-white lateral line commencing

under the eye and continued for its whole length. This is allied to the Bodroo Pam

of Russell’s ‘ Indian Serpents’, plate IX., as indeed are the others also, and like-

wise to the 77. purpureo-maculatus figured by Hardwicke and Gray.

From Dr. Thomson, who has already favored us with a highly interesting box

of insects from Afghanistan, I have now to record the donations of a mounted human

skeleton (that of an Englishman), excellently prepared and set up, and of an ex-

tensive collection of insects, filling 21 glass-fronted cases exceeding a foot square,

and of which the contents of 18, consisting of the orders generally, were obtained

in the vicinity of Agra, while the remaining 3 are filled with Himalayan Lepidoptera.

This fine collection has arrived in most satisfactory condition, and constitutes, of

course, a very important accession to our entomological cabinet, (the previous extent

of which is briefly noticed at p. 604,) albeit a greater community of species occurs

than would perhaps be anticipated in the entomology of the neighbourhoods of Agra

and Calcutta.

Our esteemed contributor, Robt. Ince, Esq., has favored us with some specimens of

a small Weevil known as the Mango Beetle, which prevails, as he informs us, ‘‘in the

. districts of Sylhet, Furreedpore, Dacca, Tipperah, Backergunge, and half Jessore—but

strange to say, our own mangoes which, in 1839, I brought as grafts from Santi-

pore, and planted in a pucka terrace with a wall round, are quite free from them ;

however, there is no accounting for them, for on enquiry it appears that frequently

with two trees planted close to each other, the one has the insect and the other not.’’

I have not the means of determining the genus of these insects which are found in all

stages within the fruit of the Mango.

A fine Hawkmoth, of the genus Sphinx, has been presented to the Society by Mr.

Borradaile. The only bird with which we have been favored since the last Meeting

is a skin of Cryptonyx coronatus, from Captain Macleod.

In this class, I have also little to report on as concerns our own collecting. For a

long while, in consequence of the heavy rains, not any were brought to the bazars, and

the only rare species to the neighbourhood, which has been procured, is a fine male

of Oxylophus Coromandus. Due progress has, however, been made in mounting

our great accumulation of skins, and I have procured fine series of two species of

Euplectes in addition to the common Weaver-bird, or Eu. Phillipensis. These do not

appear to have been hitherto distinguished, and the females and young of both may be

alluded to as Eu. aurinotis by Mr. Swainson, Class. Birds, II, 279.

Lu. Phillipensis, the common Baya or Weaver-bird of India generally, as also of

the Malay couutries, does not appear to attain its full colours until the third or fourth

year. The young are like the females, and the once moulted males vary much in the

intensity of the yellow colour upon the head, which in some attains its full brightness,

872 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

while others exhibit little more than a yellowish tinge; and there is also seldom any

trace of yellow upon the breast at this age, beyond perhaps a feather or two, the rest

being light rufous-fulvous, while the isolated yellow feathers alluded to are not new and

indicative of a moult going on. In this state of plumage, great numbers may be now

(June and July) purchased of the dealers, while no yellow-breasted specimen will be

found among them; the latter, however, may be procured at the breeding assem-

blages, though only in a small proportion to the number of birds; and these again

differ much in the quantity of yellow exhibited on their under-parts, it being perhaps

not until the fourth or fifth year, varying in different individuals, that the full amount

of this colour is thrown out. This species has its yellow paler and much less inclining

to orarfge than in the others, which latter, too, are devoid of any upon the breast, and

the female has no yellow lateral neckspot nor other trace of this colour, as occurs in

both the other species.

Eu. Bengalensis; Loxia Bengalensis, Lin.: Coccothraustes chrysocephala, Vie-

illot: Zu. albirostris (?,), Swainson. Length five inches and three-quarters, by nine

inches and a quarter across; wing from bend two inches and three-quarters, and tail an

inch and three-quarters. In allstates of plumage this may be readily distinguished from

the next species by the following characters ;—the rump (and head and neck of the

female and young) are not uniformly striated with the back and scapularies, but streak-

less, and the breast also is not marked with numerous longitudinal black streaks, but is

uniform pale fulvous, with a broad black pectoral cross-band more or less developed ; bill

also more neatly formed, of a glaucous colour, 7. e. bluish or pearly white in the adult

male, whereas in the other it is deep black (asin Eu. Phillipensis). The mature male

has the crown brilliant golden-yellow, with a slight inclination to flame-colour; back

nearly streakless, and in one specimen dusky-blackish, while the rump is plain dingy

grey-brown; a very broad black band crosses the breast, and the throat is white, and ear-

coverts and sides of the neck suffused with dusky. Another specimen is generally paler,

and has the throat, ear-coverts, and sides of the neck, pure white, with a tinge of yellow

beneath each eye ; the pectoral band is likewise interrupted in the mfddle, and considera~-

bly less broad than in the preceding. An old female has the pectoral band entire, but

somewhat narrow; the crown streakless dusky-brown, slightly tinged with yellow; a

bright yellow spot on each side of the neck, beyond the ear-coverts ; superorbital streak

of the same, paling towards the occiput, and throat deeply tinged with yellow, which

forms a sort of moustache-streak on each side. Irides of all dark, and legs dusky flesh-

colour. These are the only adults I have seen, among multitudes of the young in

(presumed) second plumage. The latter were first brought to the bazar early in

May, when great numbers were to be seen, all very similar, and such as I have kept

alive from that time have as yet undergone no alteration: their feathers were worn,

occasioning the black pectoral streak to appear conspicuously in all ; whereas in an-

other large quantity of these birds recently brought, and from among which I select-

ed the adults, this pectoral streak was more or less concealed by terminal edgings to

the feathers, of the same pale fulvescent hue as the rest of the under parts: in other

respects all resembled the adult female, but the newly moulted birds have generally

the eye-streak, neck-spot, and throat of a brighter yellow, than when this plumage

becomes worn : bill flesh-coloured. Dr. McClelland, to whom I shewed both this

and the next species, is disposed to doubt whether either of them occurs in Bengal;

1842.] Asiatie Society. 873

and whence the dealers are supplied with them I cannot satisfactorily assert, as they

pass from hand to hand among them, and the statements of such people, concerning

what they do not in the least interest themselves about, are not trustworthy. It is even

a common practice with them to pass whatever they can off as Chinese, thereby, it

would seem, thinking to enhance its marketable value.* However, there are specimens

of the next species among those collected by the late Sir A. Burnes in the Western

countty ; and Mr. Jerdon notices the present one, remarking, however, that he had

not himself met with it, ‘‘ but finds it recorded in Mr. Elliot’s notes, as found occasi-

onally in the Southern Mahratta country. That gentleman says that, ‘ the male has

the yellow crown only in the breeding season. At other times only eye-brow and

ear-spot are yellow. Their nests, though similar, are smaller than those of the com-

mon Baya, and have two chambers. Habits the same as those of the Baya.’ ’’ It will

be seen that I differ in opinion from Mr. Elliot regarding the phases of plumage of

these birds, which seem to depend on age and not on season.

Eu. striatus, nobis, n. s? Size of the last, or a trifle larger, having a black mesial

stripe on each feather of the breast and flanks ; the rump (and head and neck of the

female) uniformly striated with the back and scapularies; neck, throat, and cheeks, of

the male, dusky-black ; and bill deep black, that of the female yellowish horn-colour.

Crown of the male brilliant golden-yellow, and black generally predominates on the

upper-parts, which are much more streaky than in the adults of the preceding species.

The female is very similar to the young of Eu. Bengalensis in newly acquired second

plumage, having the same yellow superorbital streak and neck-spot, more or less bright ;

and the under-parts are usually tinged with yellow, but are readilyedistinguished

(like the crown and rump) by their streakiness. These birds have lately been sold

in great numbers by the dealers, mingled with the preceding species, and it is remark-

able that all of this kind have been in fully adult plumage, the males at least having

the crown very brilliant yellow, as indeed have some of the young males of Eu.

Phillipensis. It may be, therefore, that the mature plumage of this one is assumed at

the first moult. + |

I have the honor to be,

Sir,

Yours obediently,

Ep. BuyTH.

Report of the Curator Museum Economic Geology, for the month of July 1842.

Museum Economic Geology.—We have to announce here the arrival of three boxes

of specimens from England, procured for us by Captain Tremenheere. The letter ac-

companying them, of which copy is transmitted by Government, is as follows :—

* Great numbers of small birds are continually brought to Calcutta from Singapore, which taken

hence to Europe, are there regarded as natives of this country ; whereas, in truth, many of them do

not inhabit this region.

1 I have recently been assured that this species breeds abundantly in the reeds, margining

some large tanks, a few miles to the southward of Calcutta; and that Eu. Phillipensis occasion-

ally resorts to the same situations, in lieu of suspending its beautiful nests to the fronds of

the fan-leaved palms, as is its usual habit. It is remarkable that the beak of Zw. striatus becomes

gradually white after breeding, commencing at the base, but never bluish-glaucous like that

of Lu. Bengalensis.

874 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

No. 141.

To J. H. Youne, Esa.

Deputy Secretary to the Government of Bengal.

Srr,—I have to acknowledge your letter No. 123 of the 12th ultimo, advising the

receipt of three boxes addressed to me, to the care of Mr Phillips, Museum of Econo-

mic Geology, No. 6, Craig’s Court, Charing Cross, London.

2nd. In reply, I beg to inform you, that these boxes contain specimens of metallic

ores, or others, illustrative of metallurgical processes, which are intended for the Mu-

seum of Economic Geology, established in January 1841, in one of the rooms of the

Asiatic Society at Calcutta.

3rd. The Specimens in question, form part of a Collection designed to aid in the

development of the mineral resources of India, the first portion of which was brought

out by me at the period above-mentioned, under sanction of the Honourable Court of

Directors. For its progressive increase, I arranged, before leaving England, with

Sir H. T. De la Beche, F.R.S., &c. &c. Director of the Museum of Economic

Geology in the Department of Her Majesty’s Woods and Forests, for the occasional

transmission and interchange of specimens of mineral products. I was likewise pro-

mised by gentlemen, connected with mines and manufactures in Cornwall, Northum-

berland, and Wales, several series of specimens suited to the objects in view.

4th. It was arranged that these boxes of specimens, when ready, should be forward-

ed to the care of the Curator, Mr. Phillips, of the London Museum of Economic

Geology, from whence they were to be forwarded to Calcutta by the proper authori-

ties at the India House, who had instructions from the Court of Directors to that

effect.

oth. Any boxes therefore that may in future arrive, addressed in a similar manner

to those which are the subject of this letter, may, unless marked “ Private,’’ be trans-

ferred at once to the Government Museum of Economic Geology at the rooms of the

Asiatic Society.

I have the honor to be &c.

(Signed, ) G. B. TREMENHEERE, Captain,

Executive Engr. Tenasserim Provs.

Revenue Department, the 20th June, 1842.

(A true Copy.) Frep. Jas. Hatuipay,

Mouumaln, 19h April, 1842. Secretary to the Govt. of Bengal.

The contents of the boxes are as follows :—

One box ores of copper, &c. copper and tin with other minerals as fluor spar,

&c. indicating the modes of occurrence of the ore in the veins.

One box larger specimens, mostly duplicates of the foregoing.

One box coal, from the Newcastle coal-field.

We have also received from Major Ouseley, Agent to the Governor General, N. W.

frontier, specimens of gold and gold dust from the Brahminy river ;

Specimens of Garnets from the Bora Sambur, a tributary from the South to the

Mahanuddee ;

And of an ore of lead and antimony, with the matrix in which it occurs from

near Hazareebaugh.

1842.} Asiatic Society. 875

The last mineral is under examination, and will be duly reported on.

From J. H. Batten, Esq. C. S. an assortment of ores of iron, copper, lead, &c. from

Kemaon, have just arrived while I am writing. These will also be noticed in more

detail in the next report.

Geology and Mineralogy.—I have the pleasure of congratulating the Society upon

the recovery of Captain Herbert’s Geological Map, as will appear from the following

letter, in reply to that addressed by our Secretary to Government.

No. 982.

To H. Torrens, Esa.

Secretary to the Asiatic Society.

General Department.

Srr,—In reply to your letter dated the Ist instant, I am directed to acquaint you, for

the information of the Committee of Papers of the Asiatic Society, that Captain Her-

bert’s Geological Map, and the twelve colored Views of mountain scenery, referred to

by the Committee, were forwarded to the India House, under date the Ist February

1827, and that an application will be made to the Hon’ble the Court of Directors for

copies of the Map and Views, for preservation in the Asiatic Society’s Rooms with

the MS. Report recently recovered. I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

G. A. Bususy,

Secretary to the Government of India.

Council Chamber, the 20th July, 1842.

We have thus succeeded, I trust, in a public service of no small importance to the

cause of science, which I doubt not will be fully appreciated by Geologists in Europe,

to whom the remarkable phenomena presented by the formations of India, are of the

very highest interest.

I am happy also in being able to announce, that there is every probability of the

recovery of the Catalogue of Capt. Pemberton’s valuable Bootan specimens, alluded

to in a former report; for in a reply received from Capt. Blake, now at Sepree, who

commanded the Escort, he describes so distinctly the book in which the notes were

kept, that there is little doubt it will be found amongst his papers. General Macleod

has again been written to on the subject, and I need not add, that we are certain of

his most zealous assistance in all things. Capt. Blake’s reply is as follows :—

Seepree, 7th July, 1842.

My perdr Srr,—I have had the pleasure to receive your letter of the 21st ultimo,

regarding the Geological specimens handed to you by Col. McLeod. I extremely

regret, that I have no clue whatever by which you would be able to assign localities

to the different specimens. Pemberton used to put down in a note book (with a parch-

ment cover which you may perhaps yet find) whenever he picked up, or broke off a

specimen, its locality, numbered it, the dip of strata if we happened to be amongst

stratified rocks, and whatever other information he thought useful. The loss of the

book vexes me much, for my esteemed friend took an infinity of trouble to make every

information regarding the unknown land of Bhootan as full as possible. I was hurried

876 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

away from Calcutta at so short a notice, that I had not time to fill in a Section of

Bhootan, (which I had prepared on a large scale,) so as to shew the Geology through-

out every mile. This outline I left with Pemberton, who gives it on a smaller scale in

his printed report, but he may have filled up the one he got from me; if you have the

luck to get it, much trouble will be saved you. In Pemberton’s Report there is a

Synoptical Table, showing, amongst other things, the Geology of every stage, which will

enable you to lay out the specimens not far from the truth, but it is not of course

altogether satisfactory. Regretting extremely my inability to give you the required

information, I remain,

Very faithfully your’s,

M. T. BLAKE.

I have been also engaged in examining five volumes of Dr. Voysey’s Journals.

My report on them is partly stated in my letter of the 19th instant, addressed

to our Secretary, and with the approbation of the Honorable the President, Go-

vernment has been addressed as therein recommended; and when I add that Dr.

Voysey’s whole time may be said to have been spent in crossing and recrossing the

vast field of the trap formation from the Kistna to the Ganges, and from Cuttack to

Bombay, noting day by day his acute and able remarks on it, it will be conceived with

what interest these will be read in Europe, and how much they may contribute to

advance our knowledge of the Geology of India. Our Secretary has authorised me

to employ a Copyist for the purpose of extracting the geological and mineralogical

details, (which require to be separated from various others with which they are mix-

ed up) for the purpose of publication in the Journal, and I hope also to recover from

our neglected stores, some of the series of specimens to which the Journal refers.

30th July, 1842. H. PippiINnGToN,

Curator Museum Economic Geology.

For the contributions and presentations, the thanks of the Society were accorded.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society..

(Friday Evening, 2d September, 1842. )

The Hon’ble H. T. Prinszp, Esq. President, in the chair.

Messrs. James Mackenzie and A. S. Guapstong, proposed at the last

Meeting, were ballotted for, and unanimously elected Members of the

Society.

Ordered—That the usual communication of their election be made to

- Messrs. Mackenzie and Guapsrone, and that they be furnished with the

rules of the Society for their guidance.

1842.] Asiatic Society. 877

The Secretary submits in Persian and Oordoo MS. the work entitled

‘‘ Tareekh-i-Nadree,”’ proposed to be printed. The Secretary stated, that he

had taken every care to procure the best MS. for collation. He had sent for

the purpose to Lucknow, and had received thence, and from other parts

of the country, nine MS. some of them having the character of great

correctness. These MS. would be collated by Molvee Gholam Ukbar,

Persian Librarian to the Society, with the aid of some native friends of

the Secretary, who after careful perusal of the MS. produced by the

collation, would submit it for approval to the Hon’ble the President. Or-

dered accordingly.

Ordered—That the Librarian of the Society be directed, with the aid of

Readers, to prepare a List of the Readings of the Books, vol. 1 to 8.

Library.

The following Books were presented :—

Books received for the Library of the Asiatic Society, for the Meeting on the 2d Sept. 1842.

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, by Professor Jameson, No. 64.

Edinburgh, 1842, from the Editor.

Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education. London, 1841, from Govt.

Reports on the training of Pauper Children. London, 1841, from Govt.

Naturalist’s Library.—Ornithology, Vol. XII. British Birds. ( Purchased.)

ea -—Entomology, Vol. VII. Foreign Moths. ( Ditto.)

Lyell’s Principles of Geology, sixth edition. London, 1840, 3 vols. (Ditto.)

Merrat-ul-Janaun, Maroof Tarikh-ia-pha-i, 1 vol.

The Calcutta Literary Gleaner, Vol. I, No. VII. Sept. 1842, from the Editor.

Oriental Christian Spectator, June 1842, second series. Vol. 3d, No. 6, from the

Editor.

Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, January 1842, No. 3,

from the Society.

The Report of the British Association for the advancement of Science, for 1841.

London, 1842, one vol. from the Association. \

‘The Trials of P. and M. Wallace. London, 1841, one vol. from A. Rocers, Esa.

Yarrell’s History of British Birds. London, 1842, Vol. III. pt. 29, purchased.

London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science.

Vol. XX, Nos. 129 and 131, purchased.

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Vol. IX, No. 57, purchased.

Royle on the Production of Isinglass along the Coast of India. London, 1842.

Two Copies, from the Author, P.

Hesychii Glossographi discipulus. Edidit B. Kapitar. Vindobone, 1840.

Wilson’s Translations of the Vishnu Purana, London, 1840, 1 vol. from the

Author.

A Bengalee Pottee MS. from

878 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

Read following letter from Professor Wixson of 2d July, 1842.

To H. Torrens, Esa.

Secretary, Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Dear Sir, East India House, 2d July, 1842.

The Society will probably have been apprised by Messrs. Allan and Co. that the

bust of Dr. Mill has been sent by them to Calcutta by my desire. I hope it will

arrive in safety ; it is one of the most successful of the late Sir T. Chantrey’s works.

The change from a picture to a bust, agreeably to the Society’s instructions, involved

an expence exceeding that for which provision had been originally made. £180

had been remitted by Mr. J. Prinsep to Messrs. Morris and Provost to await Dr.

Mill’s order, but Sir T. Chantrey’s charge, as the Society is aware, was 200 guineas,

I have paid the balance £30 to his executors, from the £200 in my hands on

account of Mr. Prinsep’s bust, as the whole sum will not 1 expect be required for

the latter.

Little progress had been made in Mr, Prinsep’s bust at the time of Sir T, Chantrey’s

death, and the executors were willing to transfer the model for completion to Mr.

Weekes. I delayed, however, giving authority to Mr. Weekes to proceed until

the model should have been seen by Sir EK, Ryan and Mr. Wm. Prinsep, as they

were expected in England. They have now seen the model, and suggested various

alterations ; and in fact, Mr. Weekes has made an entirely new model, under Mr.

W. Prinsep’s guidance, He and Sir Edward Ryan have both expressed their appro-

bation of the model, and their favourable opinion of Mr. Weekes’s talents, and I

shall therefore direct him to complete the bust without delay. His terms are lower

than Sir T. Chantrey’s, and I hope therefore to be able to discharge them from

the money of the Society in my hands, notwithstanding the deductions on account

of the bust of Dr. Mill. There may be perhaps a surplus, and in that case it may

be advisable to provide a set of Pedestals of Scagliola, or imitation marble, for the

Society’s busts ; but for this I shall require further authority, as well as information

of the height and diameter of the Pedestals, should the Society think it desirable to

have them sent out. I am, Dear Sir,

Yours truly,

H. H. Wiuson.

The proposal of the Professor to provide a set of Pedestals of Scagliola,

or imitation marble, for the Society’s Busts, with the surplus fund in his

hand was declined, pedestals having been already provided.

Read following letter from Captain R. Wroveuton of 27th August,

1842 :—

To the Secretary of the Asiatic Society, &c. &c. &c. Calcutta.

Chunar, 27th August, 1842.

Dear Sir,

I beg to inform you, that I have placed under the care of Mr, Digney, proceeding

to Calcutta, the three following specimens of Natural History, which, perhaps you

1842.} Asiatic Society. 879

will do me the favor to present to the Museum of the Asiatic Society, in my

name.

ist. The skin of a female Gour or Bison of the rocky forests, bounding the basal-

tic table land of the Nagpoor State, and killed by my people near Umurkuntuk,

the source of the Nerbudda river, in the month of April last.

2nd. The skin of a common Crocodile, killed near the Soane river, south of Mir-

zapoor.

grd. The nest of a species of Vespa Crabro. ‘This insect is indigenous to the

forests of the basaltic table land confining the Nerbudda river at its source. I never

saw the insect myself, because I only reached that part of the country in March

last, at which time it appears, they usually leave their nests, and return to them at

the commencement of the rains. Iam in hopes I shall be able to secure and send to

the Museum some of the Hornets preserved in spirits, and for which I have written.

By this time I had hoped that I should have been able to forward some other

specimens of Natural History, peculiar to the interesting country about Umurkuntuk,

but unfortunately the Rev. Mr. Loesch of the Berlin Mission, who located himself

with five German artizans, near Umurkuntuk in March last, with the express

object of winning over the wild ‘‘ Goands,’’ to settled habits, the useful arts, and

the advantages of civilized life, and though last not least to the inestimable bless-

ings of mental culture and pure religion ; has, I grieve to say, with the whole of his

companions been carried off by Cholera, which has for some months past been

depopulating that country! Mr. Loesch and his friends promised me much as-

sistance, which we are now deprived of.

It so happens, that the skins have been not only injured in the preparation, but

otherwise by friction. I regret this, but accidents of the kind are unavoidable when

quadrupeds or other large animals are skinned by ignorant people. In addition to

this, the difficulty of conveying weighty specimens great distances over rugged and

almost untraversed tracts, renders it impossible to pack them in such a way, as to

preclude their injury during the transit from one place to another. I beg to subscribe

myself, Dear Sir,

Yours very faithfully,

Rost. Wrovucuton,

Captain, 69th Regiment N. I.

Ordered—That Captain Wroveunrton be specially thanked for his con-

tribution and exertions to furnish information.

Communicated by H. V. Baytey, Ese. a letter from Baboo Eshan

Chunder Banerjea of the Hoogly College, forwarding a MS., being, as he

presumed, a correct Genealogical History, in Sanscrit and Hindwi verses,

of the Nagbongshus of Chota Nagpore, presented to the Baboo while at

Kishenpore, by Lal Debnath Shahdeo, of Sehag.

The Secretary reported, that on the examination of the MS. by

Dr. Roer and the Pundit of the Society, they were found to contain ge-

880 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

nealogical tables of the Nagbongohur, composed in the Hindee language,

but written in Bengalee character.

Read the following report from the Curator, Mr. Buytu :—

Sir,—Although the Ornithological department of our Museum may now be con-

sidered rich in examples of the species inhabiting Bengal and the Himalaya, it has

hitherto been extremely deficient in specimens of those proper to Southern India ;

wherefore it is with much satisfaction that I now report on a fine collection of specimens

from peninsular India, which has recently been presented to us by Mr. Jerdon, and

which may be regarded as the first instalment of desiderata, from that quarter,

which Mr. Jerdon is kindly endeavouring to procure for us,* whereof the value, too,

is enhanced as verifying the actual species described or indicated by that naturalist

in his ‘¢ Catalogue of the Birds of the Peninsula of India,’’ published in successive

numbers of the ‘ Madras Journal of Literature and Science,’ from XXIV to XXIX

inclusive.

Of Mammalia, are sent

* Herpestest ————-? A Mungoose from the Neilghierries, allied to (but cer-

tainly distinct from) Mr. Hodgson’s H. auropunctata, J. A. S. V, 239, identified

by Mr. Ogilby as H. Edwardsii: this will shortly be described by Walter Elliot,

Esq., the author of the excellent ‘‘ Catalogue of Mammalia in the Southern Mahratta

Country,’ published in the ‘ Madras Journal,’ Nos. XXIV and XXV. It is also

distinct from the allied Malayan H. Javanica, of which Mr. Elliot possesses a speci-

men, and as I can aver from recollection of the living Javanica.

*Sciurus Delesserti; lately figured and described, as Mr. Jerdon informs me, in

the ‘Magasin de Zoologie.? This animal is allied to the Sc. insignis, Horsfield,

figured in the ‘ Zoological Researches in Java’ of that naturalist, and also to another

small species, from Bootan, in the Society’s collection, which I presume to be un-

described, and shall therefore venture to designate Sc. Pemberionii.{ .

* Kemas hylocrius, Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 81; a head with the skin on. I have

been assured by Mr. Elliot that this, and no other, is the so-called Ibex of the

Neilghierries, noticed by me in a letter published in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoolo-

gical Society’ for 1841, p. 63: and as, according to that naturalist, its habits are quite

those of a wild Goat, keeping to the steepest and most inaccessible situations, the

term hylocrius imposed by Mr. Ogilby, under the impression that this animal was

the Jungle Sheep of Anglo-Indian sportsmen, becomes objectionable as applied to

it. I have now been long satisfied that the so-termed Jungle Sheep of sportsmen

refers to the Muntjac, Kakur, or Barking Deer, and a very intelligible description

of the latter, as the Jungle Sheep, is given in a notice of certain of the Mammalia a

of the Tenasserim provinces, in the ‘Bengal Sporting Magazine’ for 184], p. 445, ‘

which thus corroborates the information which I have received from other quarters.

It is remarkable, however, that a rude figure of what certainly appears to be the i

K. hylocrius is contained among the drawings of Gen. Hardwicke bequeathed to the

* A second large collection of bird-skins has since been received from the same gentleman.

+ The species with an asterisk prefixed are new to the Society’s Museum.

{t Vide p. 887.

1842.] Asiatic Society. 881

British Museum, labelled Warry-atoo from the Chittagong hills: and I may add,

that a Neilghierry specimen of this animal which Mr. Elliot shewed me, at Madras,

was so much finer than that mounted in the Museum of the Zoological Society,

with horns so much larger and longer, that if I had not a very perfect recollection of

the latter, in addition to possessing drawings of it, I might perhaps have hesitated

in identifying them as the same; the head now sent, however, has the horns about

equally developed with those on the Zoological Society’s specimen.

The Birds presented consist of

*Aquila imperialis, Temminck, vel Heliaca, Savigny; 4. chrysatos of Mr.

Jerdon’s Catalogue.

* 4g. Vindhiana, Franklin, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 114: young.

*Aq. pennata ; Falco pennatus, Auct.; Spizetus milvoides, Jerdon: young male.

Spizetus grandis; Nisaétus grandis, Hodgson, J. A. S. V, 230; N. niveus,

Jerdon’s Catalogue.

* Heteropus perniger, Hodgson; Aquila pernigra, Ibid., J. A. S. V, 227; Nisaé-

tus ? 2? ovivorus, Jerdon, Supplement to Catalogue, and indicated only in the latter

as a Black Eagle frequently seen on the summit of the Neilghierries: male and

female, the latter particularly fine.

*Pernis cristata: a young male, white beneath,—a female in more advanced plu-

mage,—and a male still more advanced.

P. Ellioti, Jameson: a female, nearly white below,—and a male in more advanced

plumage.—N.B. I feel far from satisfied of the distinctness of these two alleged

species.

* Limnetus punctatus, Jerdon; olim Spizetus punctatus, Supplement to Catalogue.

* Buteo longipes, Jerdon.

*B. rufiventer, Jerdon, Supplement.

B. teesa, Gray and Hardwicke; Circus teesa, Franklin; Astur Hyder, Sykes: an

adult female and young male.

*Circetus albidus; Falco albidus, Cuvier, Temminck ; Buteo melanotis, Jerdon,

Supplement.

Circus Swainsonii, A. Smith ; C. pallidus, Sykes : male.

Falco Juggur, Gray and Hardwicke; F. Luggur, Jerdon: young female.

Falco subbuteo, female ; the European Hobby Falcon. In J. A. S. ante, p. 162, I

attempted to cast a doubt as to whether the true Hobby inhabited this country, sus-

pecting that the specimens referred to it had either been females or young of the

nearly allied F. Aldrovandi, vel severus, Horsfield; but although there can be no

doubt that the Darjeeling male F. Aldrovandi which I there described was correctly

referred to that species, a more decidedly characterized specimen of the adult subbuteo

which I killed on the wing very late one evening in the immediate vicinity of

Calcutta, leads me, after much consideration, to identify not only Mr. Jerdon’s

specimen as specifically the same, but also the two which I described as the female

and young female of Aldrovandi on the occasion cited. The two species must cer-

tainly be very intimately allied, and I regret that we do not possess a specimen of

Aldrovandi that might now serve for further comparison, and also that I do not know,

and cannot find a description of the immature plumage of this species, which pro-

bably approximates very closely indeed to the corresponding garb of F. subbuteo.

882 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

*F., vespertinus, Lin.; F. rufipes, Tem.; F. subbuteo, Var. A., Latham, Gen.

Hist. 1, 121, being the only notice of an Indian specimen which I have met with

previous to the present instance, which latter relates to that described in J. A. SR;

note to p. 162, as a small red-billed Falcon procured upon the Neilghierries in

January.

* Accipiter minutus ?, Auct; A. Besra, Elliot and Jerdon : young male.

*Astur Indicus, Hodgson, ‘ Bengal Sporting Magazine,’ 1835, p. 177; A. palum-

barius, Jerdon, Catalogue, vide Supplement to the latter. A typical Goshawk, having

an occipital crest: young male, and very fine old female.

* Strix longimembris, Jerdon.

*Syrnium Sinense.

Meseidus Newarensis, Hodgson, As. Res. XIX, 168; Bulaca monticola, Jerdon,

Supplement: male. 7

*Scops castanopterus ? Horsfield.*

Ketupa Leschenaulti.

Tephrodornis sylvicola, Jerdon.

* Dicrurus macrocercus, Vieillot; D. annectans, Hodgson.t

D. eneus, v. muscicapoides, Hodgson.

D. retifer, Temminck, — Malabaricus, Gould, — cristatellus, Nobis, ante. Vide p.

799, ante.

* Hypsipetes Neilgheriensis, Jerdon.

Tricophorus virescens, Jerdon. So far as can be judged from the specimen, this

does not appear to differ from Tr. flaveolus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 6.¢

*Tr. Indicus.

* Goldana (G. R. Gray) atriceps ; Brachypteryx atriceps, Jerdon.

* Myophonus Horsfieldi.

Petrocincla Manillensis, vel Pandoo et Maal, Sykes: male and female.

* Turdus simillimus, Jerdon; the Neilghierry Blackbird: male, female, and young.

*T. (Oreocincla, Gould, ) varius (verus ), a from the Neilghierries, vide

Jerdon’s Supplement.

*T. Wardii, Jerdon. A remarkably coloured species, from Mysore, connecting

the Blackbird group with the Oreocincle of Gould.§ Length about eight inches,

of wing four inches and three-quarters, and tail three inches and three-eighths; bill

to forehead (through the feathers) an inch and one-eighth, and to gape an inch

and three-eighths; tarse an inch: third primary longest, and a little exceeding the

fourth, second and fifth equal, and first rudimentary. General colour deep black,

* A small species, procured in the vicinity of Madras. ‘Mr. Jerdon, ina letter which I have

recently receive@ from him, doubts the propriety of my referring it, hesitatingly, to Strix castanop-

tera, Horsfield, remarking that Lesson has described the latter, from a Paris specimen, as a

Noctua, and the description does not tally. It is probably a nex species, and will be described as

such by its discoverer.

+ I have since obtained both this and the next species in the vicinity of Calcutta, where the

latter is tolerably common in the cool season, and the former not rare. To the synonymes of D.

@neus (p. 800 ante), add D. @ratus, Stephens (p. 801 ante).

t Mr. Jerdon, however, to whom I have since forwarded a skin of Zr. flaveolus, considers them

distinct, and I expect to receive other specimens from him of Tr. virescens.

§ The 7. mollissimus, Nobis, J. A, S. XI, 188, links the Oreocincle with the T. musicus group.

1842. ] 7 Asiatic Society. 883

with a conspicuous pure white eye-streak ; all the wing-feathers broadly tipped with

white, except the four first developed primaries, which have more or less of their

outer webs white-edged; under-parts from the breast white, tinged with carneous,

the plumage of the flanks, however, only tipped with white: under surface of the

wing marked with white, as in the Oreocincle: the upper tail-coverts are somewhat

broadly tipped with white, and a tolerably large patch of the same is formed by the

ends of the smaller wing-feathers: tail having its middle feathers but slightly tipped

with white, the next largely, and the rest shewing successively more white on their

inner webs, till on the outermost the feather is more than half white, being also,

together with the penultimate, marked on the outer web with white towards the base.

Bill dusky above and at the tip of the lower mandible, the rest yellowish: legs yel-

low. A female specimen. ©

*Garrulax cachinnans ; Crateropus cachinnans, Jerdon.

Dasyornis striatus; Megalurus striatus, Jerdon, Supplement; D. locustelloides,

Nobis, J. A. S. XI, 602.

Pellornium ruficeps, Swainson, Fauna Americana-borealis, 11, 487; Cinclidia

punctata, Gould, P. Z. S. 18387, p. 137; P. olivaceum, Jerdon.

* Malacocercus Malcolmi ; Timalia Maicolmi, Sykes.

*M. griseus ; Turdus griseus, Latham.

*M. Somervillei; Timalia Somervillei, Sykes.

*M, subrufa; Timalia subrufa, Jerdon.

* Timalia hyperythra, Franklin.

* Trichastoma, (Nobis, J. A. S. XI, 795-6,) poiocephala; Timalia eee

Jerdon, Supplement.

* Pomatorhinus Horsfieldi, Sykes.

* Sazicola nigrorufa, Jerdon.

Dimorpha (Hodgson,) leucura; Muscicapa leucura, Latham, Swainson : adult,

being the Sazicola rubeculoides of Sykes. ;

*Phenicura (?) major, Jerdon, Supplement.

*Calliope cyana; Larvivora cyana, Hodgson, J. A. S. VE 102: Pheenicura

superciliaris, Jerdon, Supplement. Ba

*Curruca orphea. ie: 7

*C. garrula. Ph)

Phyllopneuste rufa. ties

* Acrocephalus montanus ; Sylvia montana, Horsfield.*

* Prinia sylvatica, Jerdon. et

*P. socialis, Sykes.

*P.imornata, Sykes.

* P. gracilis, Franklin. ©

* P. rufifrons, Jerdon.s oa

*P,—-n.s. sBit . sylvatica in its smaller size, the less grey but more

fulvescent hue of its upper-parts, shorter wings, and especially in its smaller and pale

bill. Length five inches and three- -quarters, of which the tail measures two inches

and a half, and wings two inches and one-eighth; bill to feathers under half an inch,

and above five-eighths of an inch to gape; tarse exceeding three-quarters of an inch.

* Not rare about Calcutta during the cool season.

5 2

884 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

Upper-parts slightly olivaceous brown, the tail obscurely barred, and its outer feathers

successively more distinctly tipped with dusky and then whitish; under parts dull

fulvous-white, except on the throat and middle of the belly, which are pure white;

bill pale brown, darker near the ridge of the upper mandible; legs, also, in the dry

specimen, pale reddish-brown ; the crown a trifle darker than the rest.

Cisticola cursitans ; Prinia cursitans, Franklin. This small species extends into

Nepal, where there is another nearly allied to it,

* Parisoma ? vireoides, Jerdon: mutilated.

* Motacilla variegata, Vieillot, not of Latham: do.*

Muscipeta paradisea: a particularly interesting specimen, as demonstrating —

what 1 have for some time been convinced of, from observation of the living birds,

and especially their notes, — that this and the M. Indica v. castanea, Auctorum,

are but different states of plumage of the same species, both sexes of which attain

the white garb with full maturity, though breeding before they assume this livery.

In the present specimen, a male, which is only sent for inspection and exhibition, as it

belongs to a friend of Mr. Jerdon, the whole under-parts, some of the upper tail-

coverts, and the upper tertiaries of the wings, are pure white, the last displaying the

usual black markings, while the rest of the plumage is bright chestnut, except the

head and neck, which are glossy green-black as usual ; and it moreover does not appear

that this bird was moulting, but that the individual had thrown out this intermediate

garb at the last renewal of its feathers, a few of these (among the interscapularies) being

partly white and partly of the chestnut hue of reputed M. castanea. One of our taxider-

mists assures me, however, that he has shot a male of this species during its moult, in

which the chestnut feathers were all being replaced by white ones, and mentions particu-

larly that one only of its long chestnut middle tail-feathers had been cast, and that a

new white one was growing in its place. I may further add, that Mr. Hodgson has

already presented the Museum with white and chestnut specimens, referring both

to M. paradisea; and that I have seen a white male paired with a chestnut female,

though more frequently pairs of the same colour associate. This bird is not un-

common in the vicinity of Calcutta at all seasons: and I have seen a nest of young

ones, which were dull chestnut, with merely a slight indication of the black hood.

It was necessary to enter into the foregoing details, because inCol. Sykes’s Catalogue

of the Birds of the Deccan (P. Z. S., 1832, p. 84), it is remarked that — ‘“‘these two

birds have lately been erroneously considered to belong to the same species. They were

never found however by Col. Sykes (who shot many,) in the same locality, nor did he

observe any intermediate state of plumage. The difference between the females of the

two birds noticed above at once decides the distinction of species’?! Both white and

chestnut-coloured individuals may commonly enough be observed in the Calcutta

Botanic Garden, and frequently about thick bamboos in other districts of this neigh-

bourhood. ‘.

Muscicapa melanops : here not rare during the bol months.

* M. albicaudata, Jerdon.

*M. superciliaris, Jerdon; Dimorpha (Hodgson, but wrongly so located by me,)

* I have lately obtained a fresh, but much injured, specimen of this bird, taken by a shikaree,

and am told that it is not very rare in the vicinity of Calcutta during the cool months.

1842.] | Asiatic Society. 885

albogularis, Nobis, J. A. S. XI, 190, where an allied species is described by the

specific term superciliaris, which accordingly may now give place to hyperythra.

* Pericrocotus, (Boié, Phaenicornis, Swainson,) erythropygius; Muscicapa ery-

thropygia, Jerdon, Catalogue. |

* Crypsirina leucogastra ; Dendrocitta leucogastra, Gould.

* Pastor fuscus? Wagler; P. Mahrattensis, Sykes: very closely allied to, but

distinct from, P. cristatelius, which latter is here common, but appears not to have

been observed by Mr. Jerdon in the peninsula,

*Spermestes —_——? No. 173, bis, of Mr. Jerdon’s Supplement. Decidedly

_ distinct from Sp. lewconota, as is also Mr. Hodgson’s Munia acuticauda, As. Res.

KIX, 153:

Corypha baghaira; Alauda Dukhunensis, Sykes: identical with the so called

‘ Ortolan’ of this part.

*Mirafra Javanica: a specimen from Madras, according very well with the des-

cription by Stephens; and a specimen from the northern part of the Deccan, sent as

the M. Javanica of Mr. Jerdon’s Catalogue, which, it may be, is distinct, but the varia-

tion of plumage to which these birds are probably subject, requires further investigation.

* Anthus rufescens, apud Jerdon.

*A, rufula, ditto.

*A. similis, Jerdon.

A. agilis?, Sykes; identical with the Bengalese, Nepalese, and Malayan specimens

which I have hitherto referred to A. Malayensis, Eyton. It may be either, so far as

the descriptions go, which are both very deficient in the necessary measurements; and

it is not unlikely that both descriptions refer to the same species, perhaps in summer

and winter dresses respectively.

*Cuculus sparverioides : adult and young.

*C. Sonneratii; v. C. Himalayanus of Mr. Jerdon’s Catalogue.

C. niger, Latham: v. donbtfully cited C. flavus of Mr. Jerdon’s Catalogue, adult

male and female.

*Phenicopheus Jerdoni, Nobis; Xanclostomus viridirostris, Jerdon.

*Xanclostomus Sirkee ; Eudynamys (!) Sirkee, Hardwicke and Gray, and Sirkeer

Cuckoo of Latham : female.

*Cinnyris polita ; male and female.

*C. minima, Sykes: young male.

- *Diceum concolor, Jerdon.

Arachnothera inornata ; Cinnyris longirostris, Jerdon’s Supplement.

Upupa epops, from the Neilghierries : this bird is common in the neighbourhood of

Calcutta during the cool season, but in the peninsula is generally replaced by U.

minor.

*Chetura gigantea ; Cypselus giganteus, Temminck: a specimen from Penang ;

and another which I consider to be identical in species, from the Neilghierries.

Very closely allied is the Ch. macroptera, Swainson, v. Ch. nudipes, Hodgson,

J. A. S. V,779; but this has constantly the whole chin and throat conspicuously pure

white, forming a large and well defined patch, and the spinous extremities of the

caudal feathers are much less developed than in the other.

I add a description of the specimens which I refer to Ch. gigantea. Presumed

886 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

length of the recent bird, (2. e. making due allowance for the skin being inordinately

stretched lengthwise,) about eight inches and a half; of wing eight inches; and

middle tail-feathers, to their spiny points, two inches and five-eighths. Back dull

hair-brown, the head, neck, wings, and tail, dull iridescent black, and under-parts

brownish, tinged with the same, especially about the breast; under tail-coverts, and

line along the sides reaching to them, white; and chin slightly albescent, the loral

feathers still less so. This description is taken from the Penang specimen; the -

Neilghierry one being a trifle less in length, its wing measuring seven inches and

a half, and tail two inches and five-eighths. The chin is whiter than in the other,

and the loral feathers are also white; but there is no other difference.

* Cypselus alpinus, vel melba : from the Neilghierries.

*C. australis (2), Gould, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 146; ora closely allied species, having

the tail above half an inch shorter than is stated in the description cited: from

Penang. Length about six inches and a half, of wing seven inches, and outer tail-

feathers two inches and seven-eighths, the medial two inches and a quarter. General

colour dusky-brown overlaid with shining green-black, the feathers of the breast

and belly margined with whitish ; rump white, having dusky shafts to the feathers ; and

throat and fore-neck whitish, being similarly shafted.

Cc. ——? A specimen from the Deccan, only differing from the last in being

smaller, generally somewhat browner, particularly on the head and nape, and in ~~

having the abdominal feathers more slightly margined with whitish: the foot is,

however, so decidedly smaller, that I cannot regard it as the young of the preceding

species; bending the hind-toe backward, the span barely exceeds five-eighths of an

inch, whilst in the other it is fully seven-eighths of an inch. Length five inches

anda half, of wing six inches, and outer tail-feathers two inches and a half, the medial

an inch and three-quarters.

C. affinis, Hardwicke and Gray. A Neilghierry specimen is also sent as different

from this, but which appears to me to be only the young of affinis. Length of wing

four inches and three-quarters, and of tail an inch and five-eighths. Colour more

brownish and less glossed than in the adult affinis.

*C. concolor ; Hirundo unicolor, Jerdon, Catalogue, but since correctly referred

in the Supplement to the latter to the present genus, wherein already a distinct C.

unicolor, from Madeira, has been figured and described by Messrs. Jardine and Selby,

in their ‘ Illustrations of Ornithology,’ Pl. LX XXIII, for which reason I have altered

the specific name bestowed by Mr. Jerdon on the present species.

* Hirundo domicola, Jerdon, Supplement.

* H. urbica : from the Neilghierries.

* H. inornata, Jerdon, Supplement.

* H. concolor, Sykes.

*Vinago aromatica, female; being the V. affinis, Jerdon, Catalogue, where the

V.unicolor, Jerdon, is likewise the female of V. bicincta, Jerdon.

Carpophaga cenea.

* Ardea nigra, Vieillot.

A, lepida, Horsfield.

Porzana rufescens; Rallus rufescens, Jerdon: also met with in the vicinity of

Calcutta.

1842.] Asiatic Society. 887

*P. ? New species. Allied to the last, but smaller, and otherwise differing.

Gallinula chloropus (?,), var. Indicus ; male, sent as G. akool, Sykes. This bird

’ is common enough in the vicinity of Calcutta; and it appears to me, judging from

memory, to be constantly inferior in size to the British species. As in the latter,

the female is larger and much finer-coloured than the male. A handsome adult

female measured twelve inches and a quarter long, by nineteen inches and a half

in spread of wing: in Dr. Fleming’s ‘ British Animals’, the dimensions of the Eu-

ropean bird are given as — ‘“‘ Length fourteen inches; breadth twenty-two inches”’

but Mr. Jenyns assigns only thirteen inches by twenty inches and three-quarters,

which are probably the admeasurements of the European male bird. In other res-~

pects there appears to be no difference whatever.

Machetes pugnaz; sent as Tringa Hardwickii, Gray, which is evidently the Ruff

in winter dress, as 7. Indica, Gray, is the female or Reeve.

* Charadrius russatus, Jerdon.

* Strepsilas interpres.

From the Barrackpore Menagerie, we have received a specimen of a young Sambur

Deer (Cervus hippelaphus ).

I now proceed to describe the small Bootan Squirrel, which has been ‘lcaaily men-

tioned (p. 880) as being nearly allied to Scturus insignis, Horsfield, and to the

Neilghierry Sc. Delesserti.

Sc. Pembertonii, Nobis. Total length nine inches, of which the tail with its hair

measures four inches; tarsus, to end of claw of longest toe, an inch and one-eighth.

General hue of the fur dull brownfsh-fulvous, grizzled with black, and slaty-black at

base; under-parts albescent-brown: a black stripe on the nose, anterior to the whiskers

which are also black; another black mesial stripe commences between the shoulders,

and is continued to the croup, besides which is a narrow lateral black stripe, adjoining

a broader pale fulvous one external to it, which commences on the side of the neck,

and is continued to that of the base of the tail, becoming narrow over the croup: the

ears are rather small, and are lined internally with minute close fulvous-white hairs;

their edges are black; and the fur outside the ears is longer, and terminates in a white

tuft which shews conspicuously, contrasting with the black edge of the ear: the tail is

grizzled nearly like the back, but black predominates on its upper surface, and ful-

vous on the lower: orbits fulvous; and feet coloured like the sides.

I may also here describe another small rodent, presumed to be from the Himalaya,

which I shall designate

Georychus fuscocapillus, (vide J. A. S. X, 928), or Dusky-capped Lemming.

Length about four inches, exclusive of the tail which measures a quarter of an inch, or

with its hair half an inch: tarse, to end of claw of longest toe, seven-eighths of an inch.

Ear-conch very minute, and concealed underneath the fur: the latter is of an Isabella

colour at the surface, or nearly that of Bathyergus maritimus, but slaty-black for the

basal two-thirds; the upper part of the face and head being dusky brownish-black,

which gradually passes into the hue of the body: whiskers reaching to the ears, a few

of the anterior being whitish, and the rest dusky. The rodential tusks of this species

are pure white, and the upper pair project very remarkably forward.

Having taken a fortnight’s excursion up the river since our last Meeting, and gone

much on shore to observe and collect whatever fell in my way, a few remarks on the

888 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

Zoology of the district as observable during the latter part of July, when the rainy

season has moderated, though heavy showers are still of frequent occurrence, leaving

periods of sunshine at most but of a few hours’ duration, may be acceptable to some ©

readers of the Journal in(Europe, who may not be prepared to hear of the remarkable

paucity of animals which fell under my observation, in a region so generally under-

stood to teem with animal life at all seasons.

I may notice that, keeping on shore almost constantly while the weather permitted

it, I did not advance above fifty or sixty miles above Calcutta; the country being

almost everywhere so thickly populated that it was dangerous to point a gun near

the ground: to this cause, however, must not be attributed the scarcity of birds in

particular, so remarkably noticeable during the epoch of the rains, for the contrast in

this respect presented during the cold season is very striking.

There was a total absence of water-fowl upon the river; and the only species of

wading or water-fowl observed on land, were a few Egrets (Paddy-birds ) of different

species in the rice-fields, with occasionally an Anastomus seen on the wing, and now

and then a solitary Ardea Javanica would be put up from secluded tanks generally

surrounded by jungle; I also observed two or three individuals of the larger Whistling

Duck (Dendrocygna major, Jerdon), a pair of the Pygmy Greenshank ( Totanus

Horsfieldi) on the margin of a brook, and the only Raddide seen were two or three

individuals of Gallinula Javanica vel phenicura.

The Raptores were not more extensively represented. The White-backed Vulture

(Vultur leuconotus, of which V. Bengalensis, Auct., is merely the young, ) was duly

numerous, collected wherever there was, or had “been, aught to entice its appetite,

or sailing in quest of such delicacies high in the bright sunlight. The Halizetus

Pondicerianus (‘ Brahminee Cheel’), so very numerous at other seasons, was seen

only once or twice; and the common Indian Kite (Milvus cheele), which literally

swarms in Calcutta during the greater part of the year, quits it entirely at the time

of the rains, and of this I saw two or three individuals high in air: the only remaining

bird of prey observed was Circetus undulatus, a pair of which were hovering over

Barrackpore park, and another was shot some miles higher up the river.

There are five species of Parrot more or less common in this neighbourhood

throughout the year; viz. Paleornis Alexandrinus, torquatus, mystaceus, and Ben-

galensis, and Psittacula vernalis. Pal. torquatus is the most numerous, and P. Ben-

galensis next so; these I have marked down in my list as having been observed on

the present occasion, as also a large flock of what appeared to be the little Crim-

son-rumped Lorikeet ( Psittacula vernalis ).

Of Woodpeckers, Picus Bengalensis is extremely abundant at all seasons, and P.

Macei less so: in addition to these was obtained P. badius, Raffles, which is not com-

mon in this part of Bengal, though I had before observed it. Of Cuckoos, Cuculus

fugazx was numerous, Oxylophus edolius less so, and Centropus Phillipensis common.

Bucco cyanops and B. Phillipensis abundant. The Kingfisher tribe was as plentiful

as at other seasons, consisting of Halcyon Capensis, tolerably common, H. Smyrnensis,

Ceryle rudis, and Alcedo Bengalensis: the fine Halcyon amauropterus, Pearson,

(J. A. S. X, 635), which is tolerably common near Calcutta during the cool season,

I did not observe. The Roller (Coracias Indica), so very plentiful in the cool

months, had almost disappeared: and the pretty little green Bee-eater (Merops

—— en Fo ee,

1842.] Asiatic Society. 889

Indicus), which during the cool season is one of the very commonest birds we have,

had not been once seen by me for two or three months in places where it had abounded,

when in the course of my late excursion I observed three or four upon one occasion

hawking over a paddy field. Of Swifts, we have two species common throughout

the year; viz. Cypselus affinis, Gray, which frequents towns, and is chiefly seen

in their immediate neighbourhood, and C. palmarum which mainly affects rural

districts, building its nests within the fronds of the fan-leaved palms, sometimes twenty

or thirty pairs of them associating in those of a single tree, while it is also rare to

meet with one of the same palms clustered with the pensile nests of the Baya,

(Euplectes Phillipensis,) that does not also harbour two or three pairs of this elegant

little Palm Swift.

3 Among the perchers, the common Indian Crow (Corvus splendens, Vieillot), the

common Mynah (Pastor tristis), and the common House Sparrow (Pyrgita domes-

tica ), were, of course, everywhere abundant about habitations. No other Mynah or

allied bird fell under my notice, except the Pied Starling (Stwrnus contra). The

Indian Black Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos), was here and there seen along the river

bank; Crypsirina vagabunda in the trees. In the various green lanes, orchard-

gardens, and other most likely places to meet with small perching birds in general,

scarcely a chirp could usually be heard, and not a bird be seen for perhaps five or ten

minutes together: but Columba tigrina was numerous in most places, perpetually

uttering its coo, and about the most conspicuous feathered inhabitant of this part of

Bengal throughout the year is the gregarious and noisy Malacocercus terricolor,

(Hodgson, here called Chatarrhea, or, oftener, Saat Bhye, vide J. A. S. X, 650);

the tiny but loud chirping Tailor-bird (Orthotomus Bennettii), and the various-

chirping Lora typhia vel scapularis, are other conspicuous species at all seasons;

also the Indian Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus Hodsonii, apud Swainson), and two

species of Bulbuls (Hematornis of Swainson, the Ivos Cafer and I. jocosus, Aucto-

rum). The assemblages of Bayas (Euplectes Phillipensis) all but invariably select

a fan-leaved palm wherefrom to hang their curious and beautifully constructed nests,

preferring the immediate vicinity of human abodes; but on one occasion I noticed

a number of these pensile nests upon two small exogenous trees, which stood alone

near the margin of a rice-field. Small flocks of Pyrrhulauda crucigera were occa-

sionally put up in the rice-fields; and among conspicuous species should not be

omitted the Fingah (Dicrurus Fingah), though it appeared to be considerably less

numerous than at other seasons; the Butchanga of the Bengalees (D. @neus) was

likewise met with. The Dial (Copsychus saularis), whose pleasing song reminds

one of the Robin of Europe, though inferior in quality, being intermediate to that of

the British Robin and Redstart, was also frequent; Muscipeta paradisea seen now and

then ; small troops of Pericrocotus peregrinus not rare ; and the restless Dusky Fantail

(Rhipidura fuscoventris) moderately common; this bird has a very pleasing, short

and tinkling, song. I obtained one specimen of Tephrodornis superciliosus ; and ob-

served two or three individuals of Anthus agilis, which in the cool season is most abun-

dant. Finally, upon the blossoms of the cocoa-nut palms, were seen feeding the

brilliant little Cinnyris sola, which was tolerably plentiful, its weak chirp and song

recalling to mind those of a Regulus, and the dull-coloured Diceum Tickellig, Nobis

(or Nectarinia minima, Tickell, J. A. S. II, 577), which was less abundant, D. ery-

890 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

thronotum had also been procured by me a few days previously to this small excut-

sion. :

The foregoing brief list comprises all the species of birds I remarked, during daily

rambles of several hours; and very scantily were they, in general, dispersed. Of

mammalia, the common species were, of course, the Jackal, and the Palm Squirrel

and Musk Shrew about habitations. I obtained the Gerbillus Indicus, for the first time

I had seen it from Bengal, and learned that it was not uncommon about rice-fields.

Of Bats, nothing new was met with, at least additional to what I have procured in

the immediate vicinity of Calcutta. I observed the Hoonuman Monkey (Semnopithe-

cus Entellus) in great numbers, along the banks of a nullah about fifty miles from this

metropolis ; scarcely less tame than domestic animals, and a great annoyance to the

villagers whom they plundered incessantly. As soon as my boat was moored, the trees

around and almost hanging over were crowded with them, peering with curiosity,

though not unmixed with distrust; nor without due cause, for desirous of getting a

fine specimen for the Museum, I soon brought one down, and the villagers, to my con-

siderable surprise, gave every encouragement to shoot others, although themselves

would not think of doing so. The sacculated stomach of this individual was quite

filled with finely masticated foliage, a diet which the conformation of the molar-teeth

and stomach in this genus had led naturalists to suspect these animals more or less re-

sorted to,* though the actual fact of their doing so had not, I believe, previously been

ascertained. These Monkeys were perfectly at home upon the huts of the villagers,

and their surprising agility recalled forcibly to mind M. Ruppell’s description of the

habits of Colobus Guereza.t Their deep and loud, heavy voice, calling to one another

among the trees, could be heard to a great distance. {

Of Reptiles, I scarcely met with anything. The pretty Calotes Tiedmanni was now

and then seen, and once a sort of Scinque, under a fallen tree, which I failed in secur-

* Vide Mr. Owen’s paper on the stomach of the present species, published in the Zoological

Society’s Transactions, Vol. I.

+ The Colobt have recently been ascertained by Professor Owen to resemble the Semnopithect in

the conformation of the stomach.

{ The following very interesting observation relative to the habits of the Semnopithecus Entellus,

I quote from the ‘ Bengal Sporting Magazine’ for August 1836, page 98.

‘In the extensive jungles which exist in the Burdwan district, the large black-faced Monkey,

the Honooman I believe of the natives, is found in considerable numbers, as also in the topes or

groves which are scattered over the cultivated parts of the country: which latter circumstance has

afforded the means of remarking the curious method which is observed by these animals, for

regulating the sexual intercourse of the species. The Monkeys are always found in packs occupy-

ing particular trees, and it is remarkable that, in each, only one adult male will be found; the

remainder consisting of females and their young. It is also surprising that this individual should

exhibit great animosity towards the male young, pursuing them on every occasion, and never failing

to destroy them when they unfortunately fall into his power. To obviate this, the mothers make

use of many ingenious expedients, keeping their progeny as much as possible out of sight, and

when hotly pressed, throwing them from one branch to another into the hands of other she-

monkeys, who take charge of them with as much solicitude as if they were theirown. The young

female monkeys, on the contrary, are not molested in the least.

** At a particular season of the year, the great body of he-monkeys, which had been leading a

monastic life deep in the woods, sally forth to the plains, and mixing with the females, a desperate

conflict ensues for the favours of the latter, This continues for several days, at the end of which

1842.] Asiatic Society. 891

ing. A large Cobra was observed swimming in the river, but no other snake whatever.

Of Batrachia, I procured a few Tree-frogs (Hyla maculosa of Hardwicke and Gray),

which passed the day asleep upon low herbage; also a species of Toad undertermined,

additional to that common about Calcutta, and the young of a third species.

Of Fishes, nothing but what is common in the Calcutta bazars.

A few Testacea and Crustacea were collected, and a considerable number of fine

Insects, particularly Orthoptera and Lepidoptera, but not many species additional to

what I had previously met with.

Such is a brief summary of the products of a fortnight’s quest for specimens to enrich

the zoological collections in the Society’s Museum, undertaken, however, chiefly for

purposes of observation, to which collecting was regarded as subservient. Of course

there were many species which eluded observation, but fewer of birds than of the other

classes, whence my list of these will tolerably well illustrate what are to be met with

in this part of Bengal at the season when birds are rarest. The frequency of the rain

was a great impediment to carrying on any researches of the kind, by rendering

many places impassable alike under-foot, and drenching the bushes and under-wood, so

that traversing them was as bad as experiencing the effects of a shower; but my little

party did their best towards securing whatever they could for the Museum, and while

the showers fell, there was work enough inside the boat in preparing what specimens

had been collected. I do not, however, recommend any other party to select the same

season for similar investigations. |

With much respect,

I now subscribe myself,

Yours obediently,

Epwarp BiyTH.

time, one male, more valorous or strong than the rest, will be found in possession of the whole

female part of the flock, his discomfited fellows remaining at a short distance from the scene of

their defeat. An interesting scene now follows: a kind of conference takes place, the female

monkeys delivering up their half-grown male offspring to the care of the former, who troop away

to the jungles, reinforced by the juniors, who at the next season return with their foster-fathers to

take part in the contests which ensue on their periodical migration.”

Though rather out of place here, J shall cite another observation from the same work (for

September 1836, page 158), relative to the habits of the Rhinoceros, concerning which it would

appear that the nasal horn is not the most formidable weapon of this powerful beast. ‘‘ At one

time,” remarks the writer, ‘‘T thought it was so, but have long been satisfied that it is merely used

in defence, and not as an instrument of offence. It is with the tusks they wound so desperately.

I killed a huge male, which was cut and slashed all over its body in fighting; the wounds were all

fresh, and as cleanly cut as if they had been done with a razor,—the horn could not have been used

here. Another we had wounded, stood, and out of pure rage, cut at the jungle right and left,

exactly as a hog uses his tusks. One of my friends had a man, who was sauntering through the

forests, actually embowelled by a Rhinoceros. He examined the wound immediately, and I heard

him say afterwards, that, had it been done with the keenest cutting instrument it could not have

been cleaner cut;—that could not have been with the horn.” Other facts to the same effect have

been related to me by a sporting friend, who has had considerable experience in Rhinoceros

hunting; and since transcribing the above, I see that Mr. Robinson mentions, in its ‘ Descriptive

account of Assam,’ p. 97, that ‘‘the Rhinoceros makes no use of its horn as a weapon of defence,

but for this purpose invariably uses its teeth.”

I may also here notice, that I have just ascertained the fact of @ plurality of species being,

there can be no doubt, confounded under the appellation of Hoonuman, which greatly detracts

from the value of what had been hitherto ascertained regarding the geographic range of the

alleged Semnopithecus Entellus. January 20th, 1843.—E. B.

892 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

Read the following letter from the Curator of the Museum Economic

Geology.

H. Torrens, Esq. Secretary, Asiatic Society.

Srir,—Upon examining the official reports of the late Dr. Voysey, I learn, that

with that of 8th August 1821, (Cons. of 21st August 1821,) he forwarded a Geolo-

gical Map, which was soon after sent to the Honorable the Court of Directors. No

record appears of any copy having been made to retain here,

I beg therefore to suggest, that the Society apply to Government to obtain for

us copy of this and any other of Dr. Voysey’s Maps or Plans, as being documents of

the highest possible importance to us, and in fact, almost the only existing materials

we have for a Geological Sketch Map of much of that part of India.

Iam, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

H. Pippincron,

Curator Museum Economic Geology.

A copy of the foregoing letter was forwarded to the Secretary to the

Government in the General Department, on the 27th August last, with a

request that copies of the Geological Maps of Dr. Voysey alluded to, may

be procured from the Honorable the Court of Directors, for the use of

the Museum Economic Geology. The Secretary reported, that assurances

had been held out for a compliance by the Government with the request

of the Society.

Read the following report from the Curator Museum Economic Geology :—

Report of the Curator Museum of Economic Geology for the month of August.

Museum Economic Geology.—I announced in my last report an ore received from Major

As Isupposed, it has proved to be an

argentiferous ore, of sulphurets of lead and antimony in varying proportions, with iron pyrites in a

Ouseley, Agent to the Governor General S. W. Frontier.

quartz matrix. I obtained from 500 grains of the ore, fairly taken as an average, one and a half

grain of muriate of silver, equal to one grain of pure silver. This would give about 70 oz. of pure

silver to a ton of well picked ore, which in England would be worth working. I have written to

Major Ouseley for more specimens, (those sent being merely the out-crop of the vein,) when we may

perhaps find ores of a quality better worth attention; the presence of the antimony being a

favourable indication.

We have received from Miss Lloyd, (Darjeeling,) a white earthy powder found in the bed of

one of the mountain streams, and used by the Lepchas to whitewash their houses. Upon

analysis, this substance is found to be composed of

Carbonate of Lime, tas . ae ae So ee 55.20

Carbonate of Magnesia, ... ae ci ove oe ax oe 19,04

In 100 Parts. at Alumina, at as nee F ae cco GH

Silex, rfl aes aoe nes C “ eve aon OKO

Tron, oe eee “i aus «- None

98.24

Loss, ss. soe > 1006

100.00

1842. ] | Asiatic Society. 893

In a separate report on this mineral, addressed to our Secretary, I have pointed out the impor-

tance of examining the sediments below these deposits, and the river courses above them, so as to

trace the rock, and to ascertain if any metallic ore exists in it or in the sediments.

The earthy deposits would make good lime, which is so great a desideratum at Darjeeling.

From Government we received in July, (in which month’s report it was omitted by an oversight,)

a report by Captain Campbell, Assistant Surveyor General, on the Natural History of Southern

India, with two specimens manufactured by himself, from the iron sand of that quarter.

Our zealous member, G. T. Lushington Esq. Commissioner, Kemaon, has also sent us a valu-

able collection of sixty-four specimens of ores of iron, copper, and lead from Kemaon, which, with

the foregoing, are upon the table.

From Mr. Garnier, Engineer, through our Secretary, we have received a specimen of the rosc-

coloured sienitic granite of the interior of the Pyramids, and one of the limestone from the exte-

rior of them.

Geological and Mineralogical Museum.—I have been continuing the arrangement of the mine-

rals, and we have received herein from the Reverend J. H. Pratt, Chaplain to the Lord Bishop,

an excellent littie series of fifty-six Geological specimens from Gwalior to Jubulpoor in Bundle-

eund, comprising several curious and instructive specimens of the Geology of that interesting

tract of country.

From Mr. Garnier also, we have a specimen of fossil wood, from the large deposit of it in the

Desert between Cairo and Suez.

H. Pippineroy,

Curator Museum Economic Geology.

. No. 465.

_ To H. Torrens, Esa.

Secretury to the Asiatic Socrety.

General Department.

Srr,—I am directed to transmit to you, for the Museum of Economic Geology, the

accompanying copy of a Letter and Report by Captain Campbell, Assistant Surveyor

General at Madras, on the manufacture of Natural Steel in Southern India, received

from the Government of Madras, together with the specimens of Steel therein re-

ferred to.

I have the honor to be,

Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

H. V. Baytey,

Deputy Secretary to the Government of India.

Councit CHamBeRr, the 15th June, 1842.

No. 496.

Fort St. George, 30th May 1842.

To the Secretary to the Government of India,

Public Department.

Sir,—I am directed by the Right Honorable the Governor in Council, to transmit

to you, for submission to the Supreme Government, copy ofa report upon the manu-

894 Asiatic Society. [No. 129.

facture of Natural Steel in Southern India, received with the’accompanying’ letter

from Captain Campbell, Assistant Surveyor General, dated 9th instant.

I have the honor to be &c.

(Signed, ) H. Cuamier,

Chief Secretary.

(Copies. )

To the Secretary to the Government of Fort St. George, in the Public Department.

Sir,—With reference to a report in October 1841, I have the honor to forward a

report on the ‘‘ Manufacture of Natural Steel in South India,’’ which I request may

be laid before His Lordship, the Right Honorable the Governor in Council.

2. Accompanying I have also forwarded a small piece, as a sample, of this steel

in the rough state, after having been forged, on removal from the furnace ; as also a

piece made up into the shape of a Native carpenter’s chisel, which has been in use

long enough to prove, that the steél will bear a temper as good, if not better, than

that of similar articles made in England.

3. The purposes to which this steel might be applied, and in which the Govern-

ment must now expend vast sums of money are very numerous ; viz. ramrods for

muskets, axes, bill-hooks, and jumpers for the corps of Sappers and Miners, the

various tools of artificers, &c. &c. all of which could be made with iron and steel

manufactured in India, for very much less than they now cost from England.

4. With reference to my proposal to undertake to manufacture iron, I shall be

happy at the same time to undertake to supply this steel at the rate of 150 rupees

per ton, and in quantities probably as large as can be required.

5. I have the honor to remark, that in specifying the above rate for the cost of the

manufacture of this steel, and also of the iron, without requiring any further outlay

on the part of Government, I have been guided by the certain results of my experi-

ments, so as to secure myself against any loss, and do not deny, that the rates men-

tioned, will probably afford me a very handsome remuneration ; but that should His

Lordship, the Right Honorable the Governor in Council, be pleased to have suffi-

cient confidence in my knowledge and information in the various branches of physi-

cal science, to recommend that I should be employed to institute the manufacture in

question, at the risk and immediate expence of Government, I shall be happy to

endeavour to economise the expence of manufacture to the lowest possible rate,

which I am led to believe might be reduced as low even as 60 rupees per ton, as

I hope in that case that there may be no objection to a proportionate increase of my

monthly salary. ;

6. In presuming to propose the institution of my manufactures in question, I am

quite aware that ithas been stated as a dogma by political economists, that it is

objectionable for a Government to meddle with the manufactures of a country, or to”

attempt unnatural fostering of any particular branch ; but with deference, I beg to be

allowed to suggest, that a sufficient distinction has sometimes not been made be

tween fostering a trade, and fostering the dissemination of the knowledge necessary

1842. | Asiatic Society. 895

to establish, or to improve a trade. In Europe, of course the latter can never be

requisite ; but in the present state of India, I believe it will be allowed, that with-

out the fostering aid of Government, no new manufacture can be introduced in

which natives of the country may be expected to participate.

7. In the present instance there is no one acquainted with the theory or practice

of the processes which I employ, and even if they were well known in Europe they

could never be put in practice in India; because being very simple, it is more than

probable that in less than five years, the natives will have learned and taken them out

of the hands of the first institutors, while the modes of manufacture common in

England, which from the great expence of the furnaces, &c. required, are retained

in the hands of capitalists, cannot be generally employed in India, in consequence of

the manner in which the ore and fuel are distributed through the country.

I have the honor to be, &c.

(Signed) J. CampsBety, Capt. Assistant Surveyor General.

Ryacotran, 9th May 1842.

Report upon the manufacture of Natural Steel in Southern India. By Captuin CampseEtt,

Assistant Surveyor General, Madras Establishment.

1. In England, steel is made by cementing bars of Swedish or Russian iron, at a

high temperature, while embedded in powdered charcoal. In this manner the

cheapest kind is produced called ‘‘ blister steel.”’

2. By drawing out this steel into small bars under a ‘< tilt hanimer,’’ the quality

is much improved, and it is then called ‘‘ tilted steel ;’? and by combining bars of

«« blister steel” at a welding heat, and drawing them out under the hammer, ‘‘ shear

steel’’ of still better quality is formed, and by fusing pieces of blister steel together

in a crucible ‘‘ cast steel’’ is produced, which is the finest kind of steel made in

England.

3. The wholesale prices of the above varieties of steel in the English market vary

from 30 to 80/ per ton, and blister steel is sold at Madras in retail, at the rate of

560 rupees per ton.

4. In Mysore, steel is made by a process which admits of considerable improve-

ment, and is sold in retail at the rate of 373 rupees per ton. In quality this steel

is sometimes far superior to any English steel, but as considerable practical know-

ledge is required to select the good from the bad, and as the quality is very uncertain,

itis not probable that while the manufacture remains in the hands of natives, it can

ever supersede the use of English steel.

5. The cheapest steel made in India, sells at about 233 rupees per ton, and being

of very inferior quality, it is only used by the natives for making axes and bill-

hooks,

6. In Germany and Styria, a kind of steel has long been made, by treating cast

iron in a particular manner, called ‘‘ natural steel,’’ or ‘‘ German steel,’’ which at

one time was imported largely into England, and is still used on the Continent, in

896 Asiatic Society. (No. 428.

consequence of its cheapness, forall rough purposes, such as tipping ploughshares,

making axes, &c. &c.

7. This kind of steel is not made in England, in consequence of the bad quality

of the iron made from the commoner ores of England.

In a former report, I have shewn that this ‘‘ natural steel’? can be produced im-

mediately from the ore in smelting the ‘‘ iron sand” of South India, at a very cheap

rate; but on further investigation of the process, I have found that by treating the

cast iron procured from this ore, in a manner similar to the German methods, a

natural steel can be produced without any uncertainty in the result, for less than

150 rupees per ton, which is less than iron now sells for in South India.

9. By experiments on steel which I have made in this manner, I have found that

it is fitted for every purpose for which natives now use steel, while the process is

so very simple, that it can be learned and practised by natives with very little diffi-

culty, and the apparatus requisite costs hardly any thing.

(Signed, ) J. CampBeiy. Capt. Asst. Surveyor General.

Ryacortan, 9th May, 1842.

(True Copies.)

(Signed) H. Cuamitr, Chief Secretary.

(True Copies.)

H. V. Baytey, Dept. Secy. to the Government of India.

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

A Monograph of the Indian and Malayan species of Cuculidee, or

Birds of the Cuckoo family. By Epwarp Buytu, Curator of the

Asiatic Society.

In the present state of Indian Ornithology, there is nothing so much

required, as aseries of carefully prepared monographs of various groups,

in which the object should be less to describe new species, than to

attempt an analysis of those which have been already made known,

more or less satisfactorily, by numerous writers, whose information at

_ present lies scattered in a great variety of works, many of difficult

access, and others in which few would think of looking for notices of the

kind. In proceeding to offer a series of such monographs, I am quite

sensible of my own deficiencies, arising alike from a paucity of expen-

sive works of reference, and from the circumstance of my having so

recently commenced the more especial study of Indian zoology ; but,

on the other hand, the peculiar advantages of my position afford consi-

derable facilities for the undertaking, and I am desirous to commence

at once, and publish with as little delay as practicable, such information

on many groups as will enable students of zoology in this country

to turn their observations to more account, by letting them know

_ whitherto their attention can be advantageously directed, hoping thus

to elicit from them those various additional details, which, were I to

postpone the publication of these monographs until my own researches

should have supplied me with all such desiderata, there would be

little chance of their ever appearing at all, and even if they did appear,

No. 130. New Szrizs, No. 46. 6B

898 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

it is very doubtful whether they would prove to be of as much prac-

tical utility.

The species of Indian Cuculéde are rather numerous, and to these

I shall first invite the attention of our zoologists, commencing with

those members of restricted Czuculus, which, like the included

European Cuckoo, have short and half-feathered tarsi—alone a suffi-

cient indication of this particular group.

In the European species of this genus, the sexes are usually similar,

though the female has generally some trace of barred markings on the

sides of the neck, which are likewise present in a few of the young

males of the preceding season, while they are absent in some old

females ; but I have seen one instance, and heard of others, wherein

the adult (presumed) female of Cuculus canorus has been entirely

clad in a barred livery, quite different from that of the young, and cor-

responding to the garb which seems to be the ordinary one of certain

of its allied Indian congeners, in which state it has been described asa

separate species by the name of C. hepaticus. A specimen of this kind

has been noticed by my friend Mr. Thompson of Belfast, in the ‘ Pro-

ceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1834, p. 29; it was killed at the

end of May, as was likewise that which fell under my observation ;

and it seems probable that the converse occasionally obtains with

certain of the Indian species, some females of which may resemble the

mature males in plumage, while perhaps the latter in some instances,

at least on casting their first or nestling feathers, may assume a dress

resembling what in them is the ordinary one of the other sex ; this

remains to be certified by actual observation.

At least five species of typical Cuculus inhabit this country, two of —

them being characterised by having a shorter and less graduated tail,

and, markings on the under-parts, which, as observed by Mr. Jerdon

in the instance of one of them, have the same character as those of

the Hawks, being longitudinal in the young bird, and becoming

transverse with age: such are—

l. C. sparvertoides, Vigors, P. Z. 8. 1831, p. 173, — Gould’s Centu-_

ary, pl. LIII.* (AccrprrrinE Cuckoo.) Length about fifteen inches ;

* Probably also the ‘‘ Ferruginous-necked Cuckoo”? of Latham, Gen. Hist. 1II.,

269, though differing in the colour of the bill and feet, and in having the wings of

ordinary length.

1842. ] Malayan species of Cuculide. 899

of wing eight inches and a half; and middle tail feathers eight inches, the

outermost an inch and a quarter shorter ; bill to forehead (through the

feathers) an inch and one-sixteenth, and to gape an inch and a quar-

ter; tarse seven-eighths of an inch. General hue of the upper-parts

(in the specimen before me) a bronzed dark brown, but slightly tinged

with ashy, though I think it probable that older birds would be grey-

er: crown, occiput, and sides of the upper-part of the neck, very dark

ash-colour ; the sides and front of the lower-part of the neck bright

ferruginous, marked a little with dark ash, and white at’ the bases of

the feathers ; chin dark ashy, the throat white streaked with the same,

mingled with rufous; lores also whitish: under-parts from the breast

fulvescent-white, transversely streaked with dusky, but the vent and

lower tail-coverts pure white, with one or two dark bands on only the

longest feathers of the latter: tail of a paler brown than the back, and

crossed with five dark bars, one of them basal, another subterminal

(which is very broad), the extreme tip being whitish, and the penulti-

mate dark bar much narrower than the others ; the space immediately

bordering the dark bars beyond them being paler than the rest and

rufescent: primaries and secondaries obscurely marked on their outer

webs with narrow bars of dull pale fulvous, and on their inner webs

banded with white internally. Bill dusky horn-colour, with some yel-

low on the lower mandible; “‘ the irides and feet both pale gamboge-

yellow, the feet with a slight buff tinge” (Jerdon). A young specimen

has all the upper-parts transversely barred with rufous, except the

crown which is dark ashy without markings: under-parts fulvous-

white, each feather having a mesial blackish streak: there are six dark

bands upon the tail, and the rufous colour bordering them is more

developed than in the adult: the head and throat are nearly as in the

mature plumage.

Both this and the next species.are included in the catalogue of

Dr. Royle’s birds procured at Saharunpore and in the Himalaya, as

migratory, appearing in March; and the present would seem to be

chiefly a mountain species. I have not yet met with it in Bengal,

but Mr. Jerdon has lately procured two specimens in peninsular

India, from which I have drawn up the foregoing descriptions. Of its

particular habits and notes I can say nothing.

2. C. fugax, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII. 178; Bhrou (i. e. burra

900 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

or large) and Bychan Cuckoo, and the young—Sokagu Cuckoo, of

Latham, Gen. Hist. III., 264-5; C. Lathamt, Hardwicke and Gray ;

C. radiatus (?), Gmelin, or le Coucou brun et jaune aventre rayé, Buf-

fon, Hist. Nat., Ois., VII., 379.* (Warstitine Cuckoo.) Length thir-

teen inches and a half, by twenty-two inches in extent ; wing from bend

seven inches, and tail six inches and three quarters, its outermost fea-

thers an inch and a half shorter than the middle ones: bill an inch and

one-sixteenth to forehead (through the feathers), and an inch and

a quarter to gape; tarse three quarters of an inch. Colour of the

upper-parts uniform ash-grey, the winglet and coverts of the primaries

darker: fore-neck and breast pale rufous, each feather light-grey in

the centre: belly and flanks white, barred with adjoining lines of grey

and rufous; the white hardly visible anteriorly, from the overlapping

of the feathers: thighs, vent, and lower tail-coverts, pure white; the

first a little barred: throat grey, and some white at the base of the

bill and sides of the throat: tail grey, tipped with faint rufous and

finally whitish; having a broad dusky subterminal band, and five

other narrow undulating zigzag bands (one near the base), composed

of a dusky bar and then a whitish one adjoining, with some traces of

rufous: quills barred with white on their inner webs for the basal

two-thirds or three-fourths of their length: bill dusky, the lower man-

dible, except at its extreme tip, and the sides of the base of the upper

* Since writing the above, I have seen Sonnerat’s figure of his Coucow a ventre

rayé de UV Isle Panay, and am less inclined to identify it with C. fugar than I was

previously. It is described to be nearly as large as the European species, having an

even tail: ‘* the upper part of the head of a blackish-grey ; throat and sides of the head

vinaceous (couleur de lie de vin) ; breast dull orpiment-yellow, the belly faint yellow,

and both barred with black ; back and wings dull brown-black ; the tail composed

of feathers of even length, tipped with white, and marked with series of white round

spots [upon the shafts], so arranged as to form [interrupted] bars: bill black ; the

irides pale orange; and feet reddish.’? Dr. Buchanan Hamilton referred the C. Sugax

to this species; and it appears that the latter has never been verified as distinct, to

judge from every succeeding writer having copied from his predecessors.

One of the specimens referred by Latham to his Sokagu is described as having ‘ the

under-parts of the body to the thighs pale slate-colour,’’ while the description of the

back suits very well the young of C. fugax: another has ‘the body beneath pale

ash-colour, marked with roundish black spots on the sides of the neck a ody’’; and

a third has * all the under-parts dusky-white, marked with onsite streaks of

pale brown,’”? which agrees with all the young of C. fugaz which I have seen no

inconsiderable number. It remains for future observers to substantiate these various:

indications, which however, mostly resting on drawings of more or less questionable

fidelity, their value is thereby much deteriorated.

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 901

one, wax-yellow: orbits brilliant gamboge-yellow ; irides the same:

feet comparatively dull yellow. An adult female had the bill pale-

greenish at the basal half of the upper mandible, and on nearly the

whole of the lower mandible, the rest being dusky; irides brownish-

yellow. Size exactly that of the male, and plumage only differing in

being less vividly coloured, the breast mottlings dingy jand indistinct.

The young have the irides paler and greenish ; the usual rufous bar-

ring of the upper-parts not very distinct, being almost obsolete on the

back, and chiefly visible on the wings and about the nape; head

ashy ; and the longitudinal markings of the lower-parts much less

dark than in the preceding species. Very young birds have the bill

wholly yellow.

This Cuckoo, originally discovered (if identical with vadzatus) in

the Phillipines, and since observed in Java by Dr. Horsfield, is very

common in Bengal, and apparently throughout India—equally so

with the British Cuckoo in England. It feeds largely on fruit, espe-

cially (as remarked by Mr. Jerdon) on the small figs of the banyan

tree, but it also preys on caterpillars and other insects. It is a noisy

bird, and has two or three different notes, the most remarkable of

which is the shrill whistling crescendé note adverted to by Mr. Jerdon,

and which Mr. Elliot endeavours to express by the sound “ whe-

wheewa, whe-whee-wa, whe-whe-e-mwa, uttered eight or ten times,

and sometimes oftener ; at first lower, and gradually rising till the later

repetitions become extremely loud and shrill ;’—indeed, so much so,

that it is impossible for one’s attention not to be aroused by it, and the

bird often delivers this ery perched conspicuously upon a bare branch

near the top of a high tree, being answered to, at times, by others, and

not unfrequently two or three of them may be heard engaged in noisy

contest, emitting then a continuously reiterated squeaking cry, which

also increases gradually in loudness. This bird is the Choke-dello of

the Bengalees, a name meant to be imitative of its note, but which is

not very expressive of it.

3. C. canorus, Lin. (The European Cuckoo.) This species is to-

lerably on on the Himalayas, and Lieut. Tickell informed me

that it is not rare in the jungles of Borabhim and Dholbhim, but Mr.

Jerdon states that “it is seldom met with Southward of North latitude

20° [that is, in India, for in Africa I believe it is not unfrequent in the

902 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

Cape colony]. Its well known note was often heard in Goomsoor.”

Colonel Sykes mentions it as found, though rarely, in the Bombay

Deccan ; and Major Franklin designates it.‘‘ the common Cuckoo of

India’: but I have never yet heard its note in the vicinity of Calcutta,

though I possessed a living specimen for some months which was taken

in the neighbourhood. It is a very rare bird, according to Dr. Horsfield,

in Java, and in the specimens from that island “ a very slight differ-

ence from the bird as it occurs in Europe is observed.” Can it .be,

therefore, that the nearly allied C. micropterus is here mistaken for

it? I possess an example of the latter from the Malay peninsula,

and the Javanese C. striatus of M. Drapiez would seem to be no

other. The C. canorus measures fourteen inches long, by twenty-

six inches across ; wing from bend eight inches and three-quarters, and

tail seven inches, its outermost feathers two inches shorter; bill to

forehead (through the feathers) an inch, and to gape an inch and

three-sixteenths ; tarse seven-eighths of an inch.

4. C. micropterus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 187; probably C.

striatus, Drapiez, Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat. 1V., 570* (1823); Dun-

mun Cuckoo, var. A., Latham, Gen. Hist. I1]., 264,—that previously

described by him being either a variety, or (more probably) merely

an imperfectly moulted young specimen, retaining its nestling white-

tipped larger wing-coverts,—erroneously (I presume) referred by

this author to the Coucouw vulgaire d’ Afrique of Levaillant, or C.

gularts figured and described in Shaw’s Zoology (1X, 83), which —

would seem to be very closely allied. (GreatT-BILLED Cuckoo.) Dif-

fers from C. canorus in its inferior size, larger bill, the darker hue of its

upper-parts, and differently coloured iris, while its note is very dis-

tinct: length of a male twelve inches and a half, by twenty-three inches

* “Taille, douze pouces. Parties superiéures d’un brun cendré, bleuatre; remi-

ges brunes, frangées de blanchatre, le deux premiéres dentelées de roussatre; rectrices

peu etagées [if we except the outermost pair, this holds good in C. micropterus],

noiratres, avec l’extrémité et des taches le long de la tige blanches; gorge et devant

du cou d’un cendré bleuatre, trés-clair; parties inferiéures blanchatres, rayées transver-

salement de noir; bec noir, roussatre en dessous 4 sa. base; pieds rougedtres. De

Java. On nous a communiqué sous le nom de Cuculus dasypus, un espéce de méme

taille venant également de Java, qui pourrait bien étre le Coucou a ventre rayé

[striatus] dans son jéune age; ilen différe en ce que les parties superiéures sont

toutes traversées de bandes rousses, et qui la gorge et la devant du cou sont sem-

blables au restes des parties inferiéures.”’

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 903

in extent ; wing from bend seven inches and a half, and tail six inches,

the outermost feather two inches shorter: another specimen had the

tail six inches and three-quarters long: bill to forehead (through the fea-

thers) an inch and one-eighth, and to gape an inch and five-sixteenths ;

tarse three-quarters of an inch. Bill coloured asin C. canorus, but the

irides pale dusky, and the orbits and feet light wax-yellow: the abdo-

minal cross-streaks are, also, usually broader and wider apart than in

C. canorus ; but perhaps the most ready distinction is afforded by the

comparative shortness of the wings. Colour of the upper-parts darker,

and in old birds uniform pure dark ashy ; in specimens once moulted

a bronzed ash-brown, with the head and neck grey, the throat and

breast pale grey, and slight traces of rufous on the sides of the neck

and on the wings. A young Malayan specimen has much white

about the head, occupying the whole loral feathers, broadly margining

the lateral feathers of the crown, and passing backward as an ill-

defined streak to the occiput; ground-colour of the upper-parts dull

brown, with a slight gloss of bronze ; the nuchal feathers having one

broad bar of white, which is little seen from their overlapping, and

slightly edged with pale rufous; the interscapularies with a narrow

single bar of pale rufous, and margined with the same ; scapularies,

wing-coverts, and tertiaries, more broadly tipped with dull white,

and together with the primaries and secondaries more or less barred

or spotted with dingy rufous; inner webs of the primaries marked

with white, as in the adult ; the white markings on the shafts of the

tail-feathers more developed, and the medial tail-feathers spotted with

faint rufous along both margins; the upper tail-coverts are barred with

rufous and tipped with whitish, the lower almost spotless: under-

parts fulvous-white, barred with dusky, which latter is almost hidden

on the throat and breast by the broad pale margins of the feathers.*

This bird is common on the Himalaya, and I was informed by

Lieut. Tickell that it is of frequent occurrence in the neighbour-

hood of Chyebassa, in Central India, but I cannot find it recorded

* This young bird seems to agree, except in being a trifle smaller, with the Brown

Cuckoo of Latham, Gen. Hist. I11., 291. ‘* Length thirteen inches, bill bent; gene-

ral colour of the back and wings brown, mottled with white ; head, neck, and under-

parts, white, with dusky markings; tail long, cuneiform, whitish, barred irregularly

with dusky; legs bluish ; toes before and behind tolerably hooked. Inhabits Ceylon.”’

904 A Monograph of the Indian and | [No. 130.

in Mr. Jerdon’s catalogue, though I doubt not it is occasionally met

with throughout the wooded parts of the country. A specimen from

the Malay peninsula has already been noticed, and I presume it to be

the Javanese C. striatus of M. Drapiez, if not also Dr. Horsfield’s

Javanese slight variety of C. canorus; I also find it included in

Mr. Vigne’s catalogue of his collection of birds procured in Kashmir

and Little Tibet ( Proc. Zool. Soc., January 26, 1841). About Cal-

cutta it is not rare, though I have hitherto been able to procure but

one recent specimen; but I have often heard the musical note of ano-

ther in possession of a native, and from which is derived its Bengalee

appellation of Bocuétdcko. Lieut. Tickell termed this a double repeti-

tion of the sound cuckoo, and the tone of utterance is much the same as

in the last species, or it may be styled a melodious deep-toned whistle,

agreeable to hear despite its monotonous reiteration. Among the natives

this bird is an especial favorite. ‘The captive specimen had the same

pale feet and orbits, as compared with the European species, and light

dusky irides, as in that which I procured for the Museum: but neither

of these were in the final pure grey plumage, but in what I have

described as their second dress. The name Dunmun, which according

to Dr. Latham this species bears in Calcutta, seems to be quite un-

known here.

5. C. poliocephalus, Latham, Gen. Hist. II1., 181,—the grey old

male; C. Himalayanus, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 172,—Gould’s Cen-

iury, pl. LIV., but the tarse erroneously represented as unfeathered ;—

not of Jerdon, Madr. Jour. XI., 220: the female, or dress corresponding

to that occasional livery of C. canorus upon which was founded the fic-

titious C. hepaticus. (Smart Himatayan Cuckoo.) Male exactly re-

sembling the mature examples of the last species in colour, except

that the specimen examined has a stain of rufous on the breast, as

often happens in younger males, and especially females, of C. canorus,

(though the bird here described had nearly quite assumed this livery

for at least the second time); but the size is very much smaller, this

measuring but ten inches to ten and a quarter in length, the wing five

inches and seven-eighths, or commonly a trifle less, and tail five inches

and one-eighth; bill from forehead eleven-sixteenths of an inch, and from

gape an inch ; tarse posteriorly five-eighths of an inch. It is possible that

old females assume a similar garb ; and that young males, once moulted,

1842. ] Malayan species of Cuculide. 905

do not differ in their colouring from ordinary females. The latter have

all the upper-parts fine rufous-bay, spotless (or nearly so) on the fore-

head, sides of the neck, and rump, but elegantly barred with dusky across

the scapularies, wings and tail, and faintly on the crown, hind-neck,

and interscapularies: under-parts barred more broadly than in the

male, including the lower tail-coverts, which in the male are spotless;

the throat, fore-neck, and breast, whitish along the middle, and stain-

ed with rufous laterally, having also dark bars more or less distinct ;

and there are the same white markings along the shafts, and at the

tips of the tail-feathers, as in the male of this in common with the

foregoing species, which white markings are wanting in C. niger and

probably Sonnerati. A specimen in full-grown nestling plumage has

the bill shorter, less curved, and wholly black; and the plumage

altogether as in the darker examples (which I believe are always

females) of the young of C. canorus: the head, neck, and smaller

wing-coverts, being dusky-black, margined, as is the whole upper

plumage, with white; fore-neck and breast the same, but with a

white bar across the middle of each feather; a similar bar, but

faint rufous, across the scapularies and interscapularies, and two or

more such bars on the upper tail-coverts; tail as in the female,

but having the white markings more produced, as are also the rufous

bars of the primaries.

Upon a former occasion, I referred this species to C. Sonneratii,*

but have since met with another from peninsular India which I

cannot doubt is the latter, while the adult male of the present one is

distinctly the C. poliocephalus of Latham. It appears to be peculiar

to the Himalaya, and the specimens here described are from Darjeel-

ing. I have been informed that its note is proportionally very loud.t+

* Vol. Xl, p. 168.

¢ Here may be noticed the C. rubeculus, Swainson, Nat. Libr., Birds of Western

Africa, II, 181. ‘ Wings six inches and a half long; breast and sides of the neck

rufous; body beneath fulvous-white, with broad black bars; tail black, with three

white spots down the shaft; the tips white. This Cuckoo is at once known from the

last [C. nigricans, Swainson,—‘‘ Above and beneath black, glossed with blue;

quills internally white, with blackish bands; tips of the lateral tail-feathers

whitish ; bill and legs black;’’?] by the colour of its tail and the greater breadth of

the black bars on the body. A young specimen, in a state of moulting, has obviously

been prepared by the Senegal bird-stuffers ; but what we consider as the adult bird is

& specimen sent, as we are informed, from India: both, however, agree in the length

906 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

Two species are confounded with it in Mr. Jerdon’s elaborate cata-

logue of the birds of peninsular India, namely, the young of his doubt-

fully cited C. flavus, which is C. tenwérostris of Hardwicke and Gray,

and evidently identical with C. 2¢ger of Latham and Gmelin, and

the closely allied species which I refer to Sonnerated, Auctorum, both

of these having been sent me by Mr. Jerdon as the adult and young

of C. Himalayanus of his list. One of them agrees with all the pre-

ceding in having the tarse half-feathered, but the plumage of both is

much more closely barred, and the tail in particular (of C. nzger at

least, for the other has this part too imperfect to judge from,) presents

as many as fifteen cross-bars in the young bird, wherein this agrees

with the female Coel. There would appear to be other Indian species

allied to these, which are at present very imperfectly known: and I

much suspect that all will prove to have the males glossed dusky-ash

of some shade, without markings except on the tail, while the females

are permanently barred or spotted, in which respect they would re-

semble the Coels (subgenus Eudynamys.)

6. C. Sonneratét Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 215; le petit Coucou

des Indes Sonnerat, Voy. Ind. 1V, 216; C. Himalayanus apud

Jerdon, Madr. Journ. XI, 220, where C. tenutrostris, Hardwicke

and Gray, is introduced as a synonym, the young of this being con-

of the wings and the peculiar colour and markings of the tail, so that we have but

little doubt that they are of one species; although, in the young bird, the rufous

colour of the breast, and the bands on the body, are not so dark as in the supposed

adult from India. The vent and under-tail-coverts are light buff-colour.’’

It may be remarked that Mr. Swainson is one of those authors who, in general, use

the term Jndia in the vaguest signification, including the Burmese and Malay coun-

tries, if not all Southern Asia eastward of the Indus. Thus, to select one of many

instances, he remarks, of the Eurylaimi, that ‘‘ their geographic limits seem to be

restricted to the hottest parts of India’? (Class. Birds, II, 81) ; the truth being, that

no species has yet been discovered in the ‘‘ hottest parts of India,’’ properly so called,

but there are two on the flanks of the Himalaya, a third in Assam, and proceeding

thence southward, to the east of the Bay of Bengal, the number increases in the

ceded Tenasserim provinces, and attains its maximum in the Malay Peninsula and

Islands; the two species first alluded to, however, not extending southward, so far as

has yet been observed. Consequently, one of the distinctive features of the Ornithology ©

of India, on the one hand, and of the Burmese and Malay countries on the other,

consists in the developement of this remarkable group in the latter; and the impro-

priety of designating the whole by the appellation Zmdia, is especially apparent in the

case cited.

Sete Yaar =

dies: + th. ee ee ne a

Vee ie

ies |

1842. ] Malayan species of Cuculide. 907

founded with the present species. (SonngERat’s? Cuckoo.) The only

objection I can perceive to the propriety of referring a specimen before

me to the Little Indian Cuckoo of Sonnerat, is that, that author

states the bill, feet, and irides of his bird to be yellow, whereas in

the one here described the feet appear to have been dusky-plumbeous,

with at most a tinge of yellow, and the bill is wholly black, mixed

with whitish on the lower mandible. It resembles so much the fe-

male and young of the next species as to have been confounded with

them by so acute a discriminator as Mr. Jerdon; but may, never-

theless, be readily distinguished from them by having the tarse half-

feathered, and by the greater length and stoutness of the bill, which

is also less compressed towards the tip. Probable length of the

recent specimen about nine inches and a half, of wing five inches and

one-eighth, and tail (the medial feathers being wanting) four inches

and one-eighth ; bill to forehead (through the feathers) above an inch,

and to gape an inch and one-eighth ; tarse three-quarters of an inch,

and externally feathered nearly to the toes. Another distinction from

the females and young of the next species consists in the whole under-

parts from the throat, being white, but very faintly tinged with fulvous

onthe flanks, and marked throughout with numerous narrow dusky bars,

agreeing thus with the description given by M. Sonnerat ; the sides of

the head and neck are also white similarly barred, but the ear-coverts

are coloured like the back, and the frontal feathers white at base,

shewing conspicuously just over the bill ; upper-parts uniformly green-

ish-dusky, with numerous cross-bars of rufous, excepting on the

coverts of the primaries, while the latter have only an indication of

these bars on the extreme edge of their outer-webs. Of the tail only

two feathers exist in the specimen, which appear to belong respectively

to the second and third pair; their colour is rufous, with a broad

dusky bar near the end, the external webs almost wholly dusky, with

traces of rufous barring on the extreme edge, more conspicuous

towards the base, and fragments of numerous other bars on the inner

web ; its two external feathers are also seen, on turning up the rump

plumage, to be growing, and what appears of them is rufous with a

whitish tip, a dusky outer web and subterminal broad bar, with other

narrower bars on the inner web. The body-plumage had recently

been renewed, and I judge the specimen to be a mature female, and

908 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

have very little doubt that the adult male will prove to resemble

much that of the next species.

Mr. Jerdon states of this bird, though it is necessary to bear in

mind that he did not properly distinguish it from the following species,

that “it is found, though rarely, all over the peninsula, in thick

forest jungle. I have observed it once or twice only, in Malabar, and

in the Coonoor Ghaut, but have seen specimens from Travancore,

where it appears tolerably abundant, and also from the eastern range

of ghauts, about the latitude of Madras. The stomach of the only

specimen I shot contained caterpillars.”

7. C. niger, Latham, Gen. Hist. III. 285*; C. Bengalensis niger,

Brisson, IV. 141,—as cited by Latham; C. tenuirostris, Hardwicke

and Gray,—the middle-aged female; doubtfully quoted as C. flavus,

honoratus, Sonneratit, and lugubris, by Mr. Jerdon, Madr. Journ.

XI. 220, but distinct from all of these,—the adult male. (PLaInrTIvEe

Cuckoo.) Distinguished from the preceding by its smaller, shorter,

and more curved bill, and wholly naked tarse. Length, of a male, nine

inches, by thirteen inches in extent ; wing four inches and a half, and

tail the same, its outermost feathers an inch shorter ; bill to forehead

(through the feathers) barely seven-eighths of an inch, and to gape

fifteen-sixteenths of an inch; tarse somewhat exceeding five-eighths

of an inch. Plumage varying much in colouring according to age

and sex. What I infer to be the fully mature male is described by

Mr. Jerdon to have ‘‘ the plumage above entirely cinereous, with

a slight indication of greenish gloss on the wings only ; beneath pale

cinereous, vent and under tail-coverts white; the quills with a

broad white band on the internal webs; and tail black, its inner

webs banded with white, except the two central feathers, and all

tipped white. Irides of a fine ruby red.” Another is described

by him to be “ entirely of a dark cinereous tint, with a strong

gloss of green throughout ; tail blackish, edged with rufous; quills

beneath cinereous. Irides blood-red: the bill blackish red beneath

(at the base), also at the gape and internally; feet reddish.” A third

he describes as of ‘‘ the same glossy green colour above, with the

exception of the rump, which is a lighter cinereous without any green,

* The sole objection to this identification is, that the bill is stated to be orange.

as SS Se - Se tian

a as cS ae ee 2

1842. ] Malayan species of Cuculide. 909

and the forehead—which also is nearly devoid of the green; chin and

throat cinereous ; breast the same but darker, banded with rufous and

white ; the belly pale cinereous, faintly marked with pale rufous and

white; under tail-coverts and tail as in the first.” One procured near

Calcutta, from which the admeasurements here given were taken, agrees

nearly with the last, and exactly with a specimen sent by Mr. Jerdon:

irides brownish-red, the orbits dusky; bill also dusky, with merely a

dull yellowish tinge at the base of the lower mandible; inside of

the mouth carneous deeply tinged with coral ; feet olivaceous, tinged

with yellow underneath. Upper-parts wholly dusky-cinereous, with

a greenish gloss, except on the head and rump; throat, breast and

belly, somewhat lighter cinereous; the vent, under tail-coverts, and

greater part of the exterior webs of the outermost upper tail-coverts,

white; tail blackish, its outer feathers successively more broadly tip-

ped with white, and the inner webs of the two outermost feathers on

each side barred with the same. A specimen casting off the nestling

livery has the new growing feathers of its under-parts a dul! ruddy-

brown colour without markings, including the belly and under tail-

coverts, while those of the head and back are greenish-glossed dusky-

cinereous, as in the last preceding adults. The gloss of the upper-parts

of this young bird, as also the colour of the irides of the glossed Bengal

specimen before described, together with the analogy of C. mcropterus,

(the second brownish plumage of which is much bronzed, while little

or no trace of this exists in dark ash-coloured specimens,) indicates

that the glossless uniform dark ashy examples of the present species

are also in fully mature plumage, the glossed being younger birds.

A specimen, which I infer to be an old female, agrees in dimensions :

all the upper-parts are bright rufous, barred with broader dusky bands

than in younger birds, having a greenish shine, and which are obsolete

on the occiput and rump, and nearly so on the upper tail-coverts ; pri-

maries wholly dusky-brown, with slight rufous edges towards their base

only, these being more developed on the secondaries; tail rufous, its

medial feathers marked along the shaft with dusky, and the rest shewing

fragments of dark bars, and a broader subterminal dusky band, with a

white spot at the tip ; sides of the neck rufous, the throat, fore-neck, and

breast, much stained with the same, and more or less crossed with un-

910 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

dulating dusky bars ; belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts, white, with

similar cross-bars more scanty on the last; some of the tibial feathers

shewing traces of rufous, but otherwise white barred with dusky: the

legs appear to have been dusky-yellowish. Two other presumed females

agree better with General Hard wicke’s figure, except that their colour-

ing is not so rufous, but more ferruginous, and their markings gene-

rally somewhat finer: both have the entire under-parts deeply tinged

with dingy ferruginous, a little albescent on the belly and lower tail-

coverts ; their upper tail-coverts and rump have very numerous cross-

bands, as likewise the occiput; and the tail has as many as fifteen

bars, the same as in the female Coel. The immature plumage of the

young male before noticed, as killed while in moult, has the barring of

the upper-parts of a more mottled character, the ferruginous tint

paler, and the nestling feathers retained on the under-parts are band-

ed pretty much as in the last described females ; its new tail-feathers

resemble those of the adult male, while the only one left of the

nestling series (being the penultimate) is rufous, crossed with twelve

or thirteen dusky bars.

The points of resemblance between this bird and the common large

Coél (Eudynamys orientalis) are worthy of being noticed ; viz. 1.

the crimson irides,--2. the sexual diversity of plumage, which I

suspect to be constant,—d. the uniform dark colouring of the male,—

and 4. the nakedness of the tarse, wherein it differs from all the

foregoing species; while the number of caudal bars in, at least, the

younger females is a further token of this affinity, and C. hono-

ratus would seem to be intermediate. Latham’s description of his

male C. niger is sufficiently accurate, except that he assigns an

orange colour to the bill; but his female does not accord with any

specimen which I have seen. This is described by him as having ‘“‘a

pale bill; is brown above, spotted with white; head striped white

and brown, over the eye a white streak ; under-parts white, with ©

irregular brown spots; thigh-feathers long, barred with brown ; tail

cuneiform, brown, crossed mith fourteen or fifteen whitish bars, the

tip fringed with white ; legs pale blue.”

From what I can learn, this Cuckoo appears to be not a rare bird

in Bengal, though I have hitherto succeeded in procuring but one a

1842. | Malayan species of Cuculider. rou

recent specimen* ; and Mr. Jerdon remarks that “ the Plaintive Cuckoo,

as it may be appropriately named, is an inhabitant of the western

coast of the peninsula, being found alike in thick jungle, and in the

more open spaces, and even in gardens and avenues. It occurs at all

levels from that of the sea, to the top of the Neilghierries, about

Coonoor and Kotagherry, where it is found in thick bushy ground.

[ I have been informed by this naturalist, that he has since ascertained

it to be much more generally diffused than he formerly supposed. |

Like the other Cuckoos it is found single or in pairs. It has a most

sweet and plaintive note, which is often heard, and which sounds

something like the last syllable, being whe-whew, whe-whe-é-m, much

lengthened out, and very plaintive. I found its food to consist chiefly

of caterpillars.” +

* I have since obtained others, among which is a female that had nearly acquired

the adult garb of its sex, similar to that described above,—also two males, quite simi-

lar to each other, but in a phase of plumage different from any described in the text,

and one of them incompletely moulted into this livery, retaining a few unshed seconda-

ries and wing-coverts, together with some scattered feathers upon the nape, belong-

ing to the first or mottled dress common to both sexes. These have the back and wings

dark grey, glossed with green, the head, neck, rump, throat, and breast, pure ashy,

the last being tinged with rufous, while the rest of the lower-parts, from the shoulders

of the wings to the lower tail-coverts inclusive, with also the fore-part of the inner

surface of the wings, and the axillaries, are uniform bright rufous-baff; irides com-

paratively dull red. A specimen described in the text was also moulting out of its

first or mottled livery, and throwing out rufous feathers on the under-parts, but these

are considerably duller than in the two now noticed, and they equally appear on the

throat and breast, which in the present specimens are grey; moreover the upper-parts

_ were coming much darker than in the latter, and equally so on the crown and back.

The man who shot one of the rufous-breasted males here described, informed me that he

saw it follow a butterfly on the wing, which it endeavoured to capture with its feet in

the manner of a Hawk; a trial that has already been recorded of the European

Cuckoo. I may add that the average size of the present species exceeds the dimen-

sions given in the text, the males commonly measuring about nine inches and a half

long, by thirteen inches and a half across; and the females nine quarter by twelve

inches and three quarters.

+ The Javanese C. rufovitiatus and C. pyrogaster (habitat not given) of Drapiez

(Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat., Art. Coucow), may be varieties of this or the preceding

species,

“ C. rufovitiatus. Taille, sept pouces. Parties superiéures d’un brun noiratre, rayées

de roux vif; plumes du front blanches a leur base; rémiges brunes, dentelées de roux a

leur bords ; rectrices largement bordées de roux, avec l’extrémité blanche, d’un roux

fauve en dessous; gorge, devant et cdtes du cou, et poitrine blancs, finement rayés de

noiratre; parties inferiéures d’un blanc roussatre; bec noir, brun en dessous a sa

base; pieds d’un jaune rougeatre. La femelle a fauve tout ce qui est d’un roux

912 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130. ‘

8. C. flavus, Gmelin: le petit Coucou de l’'Isle Panay, Sonnerat,

Voyage ala Nouvelle Guinée, p. 122 ; le petit Coucou a téte grise, et

ventre jaune, Buffon, Hist. Nat., Ois. VI, 382. So far as an opinion

can be formed from Sonnerat’s figure of this species, I incline to

regard it as nearly allied to the preceding one; but the tarsi are

doubtless represented much too long, and they are figured toe be

naked, as in C. niger. Length (apud Buffon) about nine inches,

of which the tail measures more than half, and is of a wedge shape.

Upper part of the head and throat light grey; the nape, back and

wings, pale umbre-brown ; belly, thighs, and lower tail-coverts, pale

yellow tinged with russet; and the tail black, barred with white.

Bill and feet light yellow, the former tipped with black. A female is

described by Sir Stamford Raffles to have “the tail barred with

brownish-yellow instead of white, and the grey extending to the

breast. The nostrils are perfectly round and tubular, their edge form-

ing a prominent ring. Found at Pulo Penang:”

of Panay, and very abundant in Java, and doubtless in the Malay

countries generally ; frequenting the plains and cultivated tracts,

where, in Java (according to Dr. Horsfield), ‘it is heard in the morn-

ing from almost every tall tree. It has three distinct notes, which

it repeats in great regularity with a loud but not unpleasant voice,

although by many natives it is considered ominous of evil.”

9. C. ( Eudynamys ?) honoratus, Lin; Cuil, v. Coucou tachété de

Malabar, Buffon, and figured in Shaw’s Zoology, IX, 104: identified,

according to Levaillant, with his African Coucou Tachirou, Oiseaux —

d’ Afrique, pl. 216, apud Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat., 1V, 569. This —

manifestly appertains to the Coél section, differing from the common ~

Coél in being much smaller, in having a still more graduated —

tail, &e.: what is probably the livery of the female and young appears

to be the only one described in the books to which I have access.

vif chez le male ; elle a le sommet de la téte cendré, la gorge et les cdtés du cou teints

de fauve, et toutes les parties inferiéures rayées de noiratre. De Java.

*“ C. pyrogaster, Vieillot. Taille huit pouces, six lignes. Parties superiéures d’un

brun bronzé, rayées transversalement de fauve; sommet de la téte tirant sur le cendré;

rémiges intermédiares dentelées de fauve, les latérales de blanc; toutes étagées et

terminées de blanc; gorge, dessous du cou, poitrine et ventre d’un fauve pale, rayés

transversalement de brunget de blanc; bec noir, brunatre a sa base en dessous; pieds

rougeatres.”’

also in the island

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 913

Length above a foot, the tail about six inches, and very much

graduated, its outermost feathers scarcely more than half the length

of the middle ones. All the upper-parts blackish-ash, marked with

two points of white on each feather ; the throat and under-parts white,

with ash-coloured cross-rays ; quills cinereous, and also marked with

transverse macular bars. This bird is stated to inhabit Malabar, but

much requires to be verified as an inhabitant of India. It is ap-

parently intermediate to the common large Coel and diminutive

C. niger.

10. C. (Eudinamys, Vigors and Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XV,

304, ) orientalis, Lin.; C. Indicus, Latham, Ind. Orn. I1I, 285 ; and

the female—C. Mzndanensis, scolopaceus, crassirostris, punctatus,

and maculatus, Auctorum. (Common Cost.) Length fifteen and a half

to sixteen inches, by twenty-three inches in extent; wing seven

inches and a half, and tail the same; bill an inch and a quarter to

forehead (through the feathers), and nearly one and a half to gape ;

the tips of the mandibles opening to two inches and a quarter from the

hooked extremity of the upper one; tarse an inch one-eighth, and

bare of feathers except close to the joint: irides bright crimson, afford-

ing a very conspicuous character in the living bird, and quite reliev-

ing the sombre uniform greenish-glossed black colour of the plumage

of the mature male: bill pale greenish, and inside of the mouth flesh-

coloured: legs somewhat bluish-slaty, or in younger individuals dull

greenish lead-colour. Average size of both sexes alike, or nearly so,

though it may be that the females are more commonly somewhat the

Jarger. Too well known in India to require a further description. This

bird is very common in Bengal, as also in the Malay countries, extend-

ing even to <ustralia (I.in. Trans. XV, 304), where, however, it is

understood to be rare.* Mr. Jerdon notices it as ‘‘ common in the

Carnatic in groves, gardens and avenues, and also on the west coast ;

but rare on the bare table-land. It feeds entirely on fruit, and is

remarkably fond of the fig of the banyan tree.” During the time

these figs are ripe, which is early in the cold season in Bengal, the

trees are quite alive with Barbets ( Bucco), Coéls, and other less

abundant visitants. Col. Sykes remarks, of the Coél, that “its sin-

* The Cuc. crassirosiris, currently identified with this species, is described as

| African,

914 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

gularly loud notes are not at all like those of a Cuckoo” (P. Z. S.

1832, 97): assuredly they do not resemble that “note of fear,

unpleasing” to particular parties, but those who are acquainted with

the melodious liquid shaking note which the European Cuckoo

frequently utters as it takes wing, will immediately recognise the

Coél’s cry as thoroughly cuculine ; at least I did so, before I knew

what bird it proceeded from. The Coél is very commonly kept

caged by the native inhabitants of Calcutta, becoming quite fearless and

familiar, and frequently uttering its loud ery (Koyo-koyo-koyo, with

variations,) adverted to by Col. Sykes, as well as another note, which

truly corresponds to the sound cuckoo emitted by the bird of Europe,

and which sounds like ho-whee-yo, delivered at intervals as the C.

canorus utters its well-known cry, often for a long while together,

and not unfrequently in moonlight nights. The Coél is remarked by

Mr. Jerdon to be parasitic,* and here as with him usually selects the

nest of the common Indian Crow (Corvus splendens ) to deposit its egg

(or, as I am told, generally two eggs) in; and I am further assured,

that it is no unfrequent occurrence for the Crow to turn out the young

Coél at the age when it has begun to put forth its spotted feathers.

This remains to be certified by further observation. The Coél is

very good eating; and the same is stated of the European Cuckoo.

As compared with the allied species, its robustness of form would '

seem to be exceptional, rather than normally characteristic of its sub-_

genus, and its relation to some of them may be compared to that of 4

Gracula (or Eulabes, Cuv.,) religiosa to Pastor tristis and the other —

thick-built smaller Mynahs. {

I shall not venture to introduce, as an established species, different —

from the Coél, the C. Panayus, Latham, Ind. Orn. I., 210, Gen.

Hist., J11., 281,--founded on the Coucou tacheté de Panay of Sonne- —

rat: which appears to differ only from the female ordenfalis in want. q

ing the rufous on the ear-coverts (not always present in the young of 3

the latter), and in having an ungraduated tail: the throat and upper

part of the front of the neck are also figured and described as black,

spotted like the back, and abruptly defined. It is said to inhabit the

island of Panay, but needs verification. 4

* Vide also J. A. S. VIII. 684.

1842. | Malayan species of Cuculide. 915

Subgenus Pseudornis, Hodgson, J. A. S. VIII. 136.* (Droneo

Cucxoos.) Essential structure that of the other Cuckoos with feather-

ed tarsi, but the tail even or forked, except that the outermost feathers

are much shorter than the rest, and the two lateral halves of the tail

curve outwards towards the extremity, as in the Drongos. The size,

colouring, and general aspect, also, so closely resemble those of the

Drongos( Edolius, subgenus Dicrurus), that an ordinary observer might

readily mistake one for the other, whence Mr. Hodgson’s apt desig-

nation of false bird ( Pseudornis), i.e. ‘ disguised Cuckoo.’ Mr. Jerdon,

indeed, suggests, of one of them,—‘‘ Does this Drongo Cuckoo select

the nest of the Dicrurus to deposit its eggs in? If so, the foster-

parents would hardly be undeceived even when their progeny were

arrived at maturity.” The sexes are similar, but whether the young

also resemble the adults I am unaware. These birds inhabit upland

forests.

ll. C. ( Pseudornis) dicruroides, Hodgson, J. A. S. VIII. 136~

Madr. Journ. X1., 221. (ForK-ra1Ltep Droneo Cuckoo.) Length

ten inches to tenand a half, of wing five and aquarter to five and a half

inches, and of penultimate tail-feathers five inches and a half to five

and three-quarters, the outermost an inch and a quarter less, and the

medial three-eighths of to half an inch less than the penultimate ;

bill to forehead (through the feathers) an inch, and to gape rather

more ; tarse three-quarters of an inch. Irides hoary-brown ; bill black,

the palate red ; legs and feet blue. Colour black, with a changeable

blue and green gloss, brighter on the upper-parts: head subcrested :

the outer webs of some of the long tibial feathers white, as also

those on the tarse, and the under tibial feathers which are of downy

texture; a minute speck of this also near the tips of the outer

principal wing-coverts, but often obsolete ; the same occasionally on

the tips of the upper tail-coverts, and a series of such on the lower

tail-coverts; the outermost tail-feather obliquely barred with white,

the bars in some contracted into spots, and finally an oblique streak

of white on the inner surface of the wing, and a round spot of it

on the inner web of the short outermost primary.

*Erroneously identified with Ozxylophus, Swainson, by Mr. G. R. Gray, List

of the Genera of Birds, &c. \st edit. p. 57.

916 A Monograph of the Indian and _[No. 130.

In Nep&l, according to Mr. Hodgson, this species is confined exclu-

sively to the mountain forests ; and I am informed that it occurs rarely

at Darjeeling. A single specimen has been obtained by Mr. Jerdon

in Southern India, near Manantoddy, in the Wynaad ; in this indivi-

dual the irides are stated by him to have been reddish-brown, and

the legs reddish.

12. C. ( Pseudornis ) lugubris, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII. 179, and

Jav. Res., with a coloured figure ; C. albopunctulatus, Drapiez, Dict.

Class. d’ Hist. Nat. 1V, 570. (Square-TatLED Droneo Cuckoo.)

This so very much resembles the last as to require some consider-

ation as to the propriety of admitting them as distinct; but on

minute comparison I am satisfied that they are distinct, although the

plumage absolutely resembles, to every white speck and marking on

the greenish-glossed black ground ; the example of C. dugubris before

me has, however, an occipital spot composed of three or four wholly

white feathers, which I do not perceive in the preceding species,

though both specimens of the latter which I have for comparison

are unfortunately somewhat defective of feathers just at that part ;

there are also a few scattered white specks upon the crown and on the

breast of C. lugubris, which however may occur in some specimens of

the other: the more distinctive differences consist in the present being

a smaller bird, with shorter wings and tail, the latter square, or

merely exhibiting a furcate tendency from the decided curvature

outward of each lateral half, besides which the outermost pair of

tail-feathers are in a greater degree shorter than the rest than in C.

aicruroides. Length about nine inches, of wing four inches and seven-

eighths, and tail four inches and a half, its outermost feathers an inch

and a half shorter than the rest, whereas in C. dicrurotdes these are

but an inch and a quarter shorter than the more elongated penultimate

tail-feathers ; bill to forehead (through the feathers) fifteen-sixteenths

of an inch, and to gape an inch ; tarse under five-eighths of an inch.

Bill and feet black, according to Dr. Horsfield, but the latter seem to

have had a yellowish tinge in the Society’s specimen : irides, according

to the same authority, dark-coloured.

“The C. lugubris,” writes Dr. Horsfield, ‘is found in districts

of secondary ‘elevation, which are diversified with extended ranges

of hills and covered with luxuriant forests. The southern and wes-

1842. | Malayan species of Cuculide. 917

tern parts of Java are generally of this description. In the extensive

central plains intervening between abrupt, conical, and elevated

mountains, and which are generally in a high state of culture and

covered with flourishing towns and villages, I have rarely observed it.

This bird retires into the deepest coverts, and having a dark plumage,

it is with difficulty surprised. Its peculiarities, both as to voice and

habits, have not, as far as known to me, been observed. Its habits

are very different from those of C. (Kudynamys) orientalis and the

C. flavus, both of which are very abundant in Java.” The specimen

here described was brought from Singapore.

Subgenus Chrysococcyx, Boie (1826), v. Lampromorpha, Vigors,

v. Chalcites, Swainson. (MrtTaLuine Cuckoos.) The members of

this group absolutely resemble the first or typical Cuckoos in struc-

ture, being merely characterized, in addition to their very small

size, by the resplendent metallic hues of their plumage.

At least three inhabit the Malay countries, two of which are des-

cribed by Dr. Horsfield in Lin. Trans. X1II., 179, and one of them

more elaborately in his ‘ Zoological Researches in Java’; besides which

the next appears to be not uncommon in the Malay peninsula, if

not also in the Tenasserim provinces.

13. C. lucidus, Gmelin; C. Malayanus, Raffles, Lin. Trans. XIII.

286,—the female; C. metallicus, Vigors, Ib¢d. XV. 303,—the young,

as satisfactorily shewn by specimens in transitional plumage. (BANDED

EMERALD Cuckoo.) What are evidently the male, female, and

young, of a species which appears to be referrable to the foregoing, are

clearly identical with one another, the intervention of the female

livery assisting to demonstrate the necessity of bringing the above

synonyms together. Length of a splendid male fully seven inches, of

wing four inches and a quarter, and tail three inches, its outermost

feathers half an inch shorter ; of bill to forehead (through the feathers)

five-eighths of an inch, and tarse half an inch. Bill, in the dry specimen,

translucent pale straw-yellow, both mandibles tipped with dusky.

All the upper-parts, with the breast, brilliant dark emerald-green, the

feathers silky in texture, and having a rich and slightly aureous

silken gloss; belly, sides, and under tail-coverts, with the inside of

the wings anteriorly, white, transversely barred with shining green ; _

tail like the back, a pair of unmoulted old feathers, next to the uropy-

918 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

gials or central pair, of a duller or more bronzed green, with dusky tip

and slight rufous edge, and one of the outermost pair, also unmoulted,

having a pale tip and deep rufous barrings, but the corresponding

outermost feather on the other side, which has been moulted, having

smaller bars of white, almost confined to the outer web ; rest of the tail

streakless, and equally bright on both webs as the uropygials, the penul-

timate feather only being slightly tipped with white; such of the large

wing-feathers, also, as have been renewed, are bright-green like those of

the back, the old being dusky with merely a faint gloss of green, and

- the old coverts a more bronzed green, slightly tipped with rufous.

A presumed old female is smaller, or barely six inches and a half long ;

wing from bend four inches and one-eighth, and tail two inches and

three-quarters: dusky tips of the mandibles rather more developed

than in the male: this specimen also is moulting, and the new feathers

of its wings and tail resemble those of the other sex ; but the rest of

the upper-parts are much more bronzed, especially on the head and

neck, and the feathers of the crown have each a well defined narrow

whitish bar; throat, front of neck, and breast, also bronzed shining

green, with white cross-bars; and rest of the under-parts resembling

those of the male, but the transverse green markings more bronzed.

Three specimens of the young differ from the young of the subgenerically

restricted Cuckoos in having no transverse bars on the upper parts:

crown, nape, and interscapularies, a rather faintly bronzed dull-brown,

the last also more or less of a shining green, which prevails on the scapu-

laries, tertiaries, and on the wing and tail-coverts ; under-parts whitish,

barred throughout with faintly bronzed brown ; primaries and second-

aries, with the coverts of the former, and the winglet, dull brown, the |

primaries marked at the basal half of their inner webs underneath with —

white, as is also the case in the adults; tail brown, with a faint q

green gloss and subterminal dusky band, all but the uropygials having —

a white spot at the tip of their inner webs, and the outermost feathers —

having both webs barred with white, and more of this than in the

adult, and the rest with two or three rufescent bars on the inner web 3

only: bill wholly dusky. 2 7

The C. lucidus was originally discovered in New Zealand, and 2

is also known as an inhabitant of Australia, from which continent the 4

specimen described as C. metallicus was obtained. The C. Malayanus a

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 919

of Sir Stamford Raffles, is mentioned as a “ native of the Malay

peninsula”; and the specimens here described are from that country

and (1 believe) Tenasserim.

14. C. chalcites, Temminck, Pl. Col. CII, fig. 2; C. basalis, Horsfield,

Lin. Trans. XIII1., 179. I copy the following description from Shaw’s

Zoology, X1V., 209. ‘“* Length rather more than five inches and half

[six inches, Horsfield], the male having the top of the head red, with

a bronzed gloss; the back and wings plain metallic green, the tail

above red at its base, a little shaded with green in the middle, and

white at its tips, the two lateral feathers having large oval white spots

on their inner webs: the fore-part of the neck and the breast are

whitish, varied with brown; the belly is white; the under tail-co-

verts whitish spotted with bronzed green ; the tarse Jong and naked

[?]. The female is reddish above, very slightly shaded with bronze,

and white beneath.”

From analogy I should judge that the female and young, rather

than the mature male and female, are here described. This species)

inhabits Java and Australia, The identity of C. basalis and C. chalcites

is stated by Dr. Horsfield in the ‘ General Catalogue of Javanese

Birds,’ prefixed to his Zoological Researches in Java, where also we

are informed that C. pravata, Horsf., briefly described in Lin. Trans.

XIII., 179, is “ to be cancelled.”

15. C. xanthorhynchos, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, 179,—Jav.

fes., with a coloured figure. (AmerHysTinE Cuckoo.) Length six

inches and half, of wing four inches, and tail three inches, its outer-

most feather half an inch shorter; bill to forehead (through the feathers

eleven-sixteenths of an inch, and tarse half an inch. Colour of the upper-

parts and breast brilliant amethystine-viclet, with dull dark margins to

the body-feathers slightly glossed with green ; beneath white, barred

across with dark green ; outermost caudal feathers having five white

bars, the last terminal, and the two basal not extending to the inner

web ; the next two feathers on each side are tipped with white, and

the penultimate have rudiments of other white bars; rest of the same

splendid colour as the back: bill wholly yellow, and much less thick

than represented in Dr. Horsfield’s plate ; and feet apparently dusky :

the crown is very slightly crested. Inhabits Java, where stated to be

rare and very shy. Dr. Helfer mentions its existence, also, in the

920 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

Tenasserim provinces, and it is probable that the Asiatic Society's

specimen was thence obtained. |

Subgenus Oxylophus, Swainson. (CrestEp CucKoos.) These

have bare tarsi, and the occipital feathers lengthened to form a

considerable crest: the wings shorter and less pointed than in the

preceding, having the fourth primary (instead of the third) more

or less the longest: they are never barred or mottled at any age; and

are mostly green-glossed black above, and whitish beneath, sometimes

varied with other colours. I know of nothing peculiar in their habits.

16. C. Coromandus, Auctorum. I can hardly reconcile the conflict-

ing descriptions of this species without some suspicion that two have

been confounded under the name. That with which I am acquainted,

as occurring in Bengal, Nepal, Tenasserim, and which is also the

C. Coromandus of Mr. Jerdon’s list (Madr. Journ. XI, 222), is

well described by Latham, Gen. Hist. III, 292, and may be distine-

tively termed the Rep-wincep Crestep Cuckoo. A male I pro-

cured measured fourteen inches and a half long, by eighteen inches

and a half inspread of wing ; the latter from bend six inches and three-

eighths, and middle tail-feathers eight inches and a half, the outer-

most four inches and a half shorter; but the tail is generally some-

what longer than this, its middle feathers not uncommonly measuring

ten inches and a half; bill to forehead (through the feathers) an inch

one-eighth, and to gape an inch and a quarter; tarse an inch,

being a little feathered towards the knee. Irides dark hazel: orbits

dusky ; bill black ; the inside of the mouth dull coral-red ; feet lead-

coloured. Upper-parts, comprising the scapularies and tertiaries, with

the tail, black glossed with green, paler on the tertiaries, and less gloss-

ed on the head ; the longest occipital feathers exceeding an inch and a

half: a conspicuous half collar of white encircles the nape : wings invari-

ably deep ferruginous, the tips of the primaries and secondaries dusky :

under-parts white, a little tinged with fulvous, excepting the lower

tail-coverts which are green-black, and the throat and fore-neck, .

which in some are deep ochreous-fulvous, in others (probably females)

a very light fulvous, deepening laterally. The wings of the presumed

females are scarcely less deep in colour than in the males.

Dr. Latham remarks, that “ the above is found not only on the

coast of Coromandel, but also on the south coast of Africa, where

1842.] Matayan species of Cuculide. 921

M. Levaillant met with it, near the rivers Swarte-kop and Sondag.

Many also have been brought from Senegal.” In the vicinity of

Calcutta it is certainly rare, as the specimen above noticed was the

only recent one ever seen by the Society’s taxidermists, who. were

unaware of its existence in this part ; and it does not appear to be

commoner in peninsular India, but on the eastern side of the Bay of

Bengal it is more numerous, as likewise, I have reason to suspect, in

Nepal. With its note I am wholly unacquainted.

The definition by Linneus of C. Coromandus is merely “ caudé

cuneiformi, corpore nigro, subtus albé, torque candidé ; saying no-

thing of the very conspicuous character of the rufous wings, nor of the

hardly less conspicuous fulvous throat of especially the male: various

other authors assign a small, round, grey spot on each side of the head

behind the eye, no trace of which is perceptible in six specimens

before me; and likewise assert, that the throat as well as the thighs

are blackish, the latter only being more or less dusky in the specimens

I have seen. Analogy with C. edolius renders it probable, however,

that the young are here adverted to. .

The Ceylon Cuckoo of Latham (Gen. Hist. III, 291,) must be

nearly allied. Length seventeen inches. Bil] curved, black ; general

colour above, and of the tail, fine blue black ; the head much crested ;

chin and throat dull yellow-ochre ; from this the rest of the under-

parts are white; thighs pale ash-colour ; tail cuneiform, blue-black ;

its two middle feathers nine inches long, the others gradually much

shorter ; legs blue, the hind claws curved, neither of them straight

nor subulated. Inhabits Ceylon. Mr. S. Daniell.’

_ 17. C. edolius, Cuvier; C. ater and melanoleucos, Gmelin,—ser-

vatus, Sparrman ; /e Coucow Edolio, Levaillant ; Le Jacobin huppé de

Coromandel, Buffon. (Piep Cresrrep Cucxoo.) Length thirteen

inches, by seventeen inches and a half in extent of wings; the latter

from bend five inches and three-quarters ; and middle tail-feathers seven

inches, the outermost three inches less: bill to forehead (through the

feathers) an inch and one-eighth, and to gape a trifle more; tarse

fifteen-sixteenths ofan inch. Irides dark-coloured ; bill black ; and legs

bluish-leaden. Colour of the upper-parts uniform black, not very in-

tense, with a greenish shine, except the bases of the primaries which are

pure white, forming a conspicuous wing-spot: all the tail-feathers, ~

922 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

except the middle pair, rather largely tipped with dull white: crest-

feathers an inch in length: under-parts dull white, or faintly tinged

with fulvescent, more especially in the female, which presents no other

difference of plumage from the male. A full-grown young bird measured

twelve inches and a half long, by sixteen inches and a half across: upper

mandible of the bill dusky, with a slight yellowish tinge; the sides of

its base, and nearly all the lower mandible, bright-yellow: irides dark

hazel, with greenish-yellow orbits: feet greenish lead-colour. Upper

plumage as in the adult, but much less deeply coloured, and the coronal

feathers scarcely elongated, and rounded like the dorsal plumage at

their tips; the throat ashy, passing downward on each side, and sepa-

rated by a whitish streak from the dark ear-coverts; the rest of the

under-parts, and tips of the tail-feathers, rather deeply tinged with

fulvous, as also the greater portion of the wing-spot; coverts of the

primaries slightly tipped with fulvous-white.

This is a common Bengalee species, and appears to be found also in

South Africa, where, however, it must not be confounded with the

Oxylophus Levaillantit of Swainson’s ‘ Illustrations’ (2nd series, Vol. I,

pl. XIII), the Vardeté de Coucou Edolio of Levaillant, or C. Afer of

Leach and Shaw, which is nearly allied, but larger, and at once dis-

tinguished by the sagittal black spots on its throat and fore-neck.

The present species was strangely referred to Leptosomus Afer by

Major Franklin and Colonel Sykes; and Mr. Jerdon remarks of it —

“The Popeya is distributed all over India, but cannot be said tobea —

common bird anywhere [here, in Bengal, it certainly is tolerably com- —

mon]. It is of course most numerous in the more wooded districts. I

have seen it in the Carnatic, Malabar Coast, and even on the bare Deccan,

in low jungle or among gardens. It hunts single or in pairs, and feeds

chiefly on various soft insects, &e. On the Neilgherries, I have seen it

occasionally about the edges of the hills, frequenting the thick bushy

ground there.” From what I have observed of this species, it is not

one which much affects concealment, but frequently sits exposed on a 4

dead or bare branch. I have never heard from it any note resembling —

the sound Popeya, which is here also the common name of the species ; F

but only a continuously reiterated simple cry, by no means loud. It —

is also designated Koloo Bulbul, allusive probably to its crest ; for na- 5. |

tive classification is not better than popular classification in England, —

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 923

where the Accentor modularis, for example, is styled ‘ Hedge Sparrow.’

Dr. Latham informs us, that it is said to lay its eggs in the nest of

the Chattoreah (Malacocercus Chatarcea), and that they are plain

breenish in colour; the Cuckoo said generally to destroy those of the

Thrush, when it deposits its own”: this at least is true of the European

Cuckoo (C. canorus,), whence any eggs that may be found in the

same nest with the Cuckoo’s egg, have been laid subsequently to the

introduction of the latter. The C. Vazllantit before noticed, according

to Latham, inhabits India, a figure of it being among the drawings of

Gen. Hardwicke ; but I greatly suspect there must be some mistake

in this.

In the Pied Crested Cuckoo, it may be remarked that the third pri-

mary is very nearly equal to the fourth, and exceeds the fifth ; whereas

in the Red-winged species ( Coromandus ), the third is considerably

shorter than the fifth. With the Crested Cuckoos terminates the

genus Cucu/us, in its most extended signification, agreeable to modern

notions of arrangement ; and I next pass to the consideration of the

Malkohas ( Phenicopheus ), an extensive group generally characteriz-

ed by having a somewhat large, green-coloured bill, having the

nostrils basal, and placed near the edge of the upper mandible,—a

coloured bare space round the eye, more or less developed,—distinct

eye-lashes, in general, but rudimental only in the subgenus Ih7-

northa,—a longer tarse than in the Cuckoos, but the toes similarly

formed for arboreal habits,—short and rounded wings, of which the

sixth primary is usually longest, the fifth, sixth, ‘and seventh being

nearly equal—and a broad and much graduated tail, sometimes of

great length.

Among them, the most distinct subgenus is that of

Rhinortha, Vigors, (1830), v. Anadenus, Swainson, (1837):

STRAIGHT-BILLED Max.koHas :—wherein the clothing plumage has

disunited webs, and the bill is straight, tapering regularly to the

end, where the tip of the upper mandible curves somewhat abruptly

to overhang that of the lower one. The size of these birds is inferior

to that of most of the others; and I am not aware that any occur to

the westward of the Bay of Bengal.

18. Rh. rufescens ( ? ); Anadcenus rufescens (?_), Swainson, menti-

oned in Class. Birds, I1., 324; Phenicopheus viridirostris, Eyton,

924 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 130.

P. Z. S. 1839, p. 105; Bubutus Isidoret, Lesson, figured in one of

the plates to Bellinger’s Voyage, as I am informed by Mr. Jerdon.

Length twelve inches and a half, of wing four inches and a half, and

middle tail-feathers seven inches, the outermost three inches and a

half less; bill to forehead an inch and one-eighth, and to gape an

inch and three-eighths ; tarse fifteen-sixteenths of an inch. Colour of

the upper-parts bright rufous-chestnut, except the head and neck

which are pure light grey, together with the breast; the rest of the

lower parts tinged with ferruginous, the flanks and lower tail-coverts

coloured as above; volar feathers of the wings tipped with dusky,

more developed on the primaries, and all the tail feathers tipped with

white and subterminally with black; the legs appear to have been

bluish. I am ‘unaware whence the Society’s specimen of this bird was

obtained, but the species is included in Mr. Eyton’s catalogue of —

a collection of birds from the Malay Peninsula, under the denomina-

tion cited.*

19. Rh. chlorophea: Cuculus chloropheus, Raffles, Lin. Trans.

XIII, pt. II, p. 228; probably cited as C. chlorocephalus, Raffles, —

P. Z. S. 1839, 105; Coccyzus badius, J. E. Gray, and Anadenus ~

rufus, Swainson, apud G. R. Gray (List of the Genera of Birds, |

first edit., p. 56). Length, of the largest specimen before me, thirteen —

inches and a half, of wing four inches and a half, and middle tail- j

feathers seven inches, the outermost three inches and three-quarters —

less; bill to forehead an inch and three-sixteenths, and to gape an 4

inch and three-eighths ; and tarse an inch. Colour of the upper-parts i

bright rufous-chestnut, as in the preceding species, and the volar fea- d

thers of the wings similarly tipped with dusky; but the head, neck q

and breast, are bright ferruginous, paler on the throat, the belly —

tinged with fuscous, and under tail-coverts blackish: tail and its q

upper coverts wholly dusky-black, the former tipped with white, and ”

both crossed with numerous rays of a paler colour. The legs, accord- if

* The Cuculus melanogaster, Vieillot, Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat. IV,570, would

seem to be allied. ‘* Taille, quinze-pounces. Parties superieures ferrugineuses ; som-

met de la téte cendré ; rectrices longues, etagées, noires et terminées de blanc; gorge, _

devant du cou, et poitrine, roussdtres; parties inferieures noires: de Java.’? The

plumage would thus appear to be intermediate to that of Rh. rufescens (?_) and of Rh. ff

chlorophea. .

1842. ] Malayan species of Cuculide. 925

same green colour as the bill, which is doubtless also the case with

the preceding species. This bird, observes Sir Stamford Raffles, “in-

habits the forests of Sumatra, but is not common. It feeds on insects,

like the rest of the genus.” The Society’s specimens are from Singapore.

The more restricted Malkohas have been divided by Mr. Swainson

into Phenicopheus and Dasylophus.

Dasylophus is defined by him to have the “ bill rather large, com-

pressed in its whole length. Gonys angulated. Culmen convex,

gradually arched. Frontal feathers incumbent, and concealing the

nostrils. Feathers before the eye erect, forming a double crest.”

20. Ph. superciliosus, Cuvier. (RED-EYEBROWED Matkona).

Two specimens in the Society’s Museum may, I believe, be referred

to this species, though but partially agreeing with the description in

the Dictionnaire Classique, which is the only one to which I have

access. Length about sixteen inches, of which the middle tail-

feathers measure eight inches and a half, the outermost being three

inches and a half less ; wing six inches ; bill to forehead (in a straight

line) an inch and five-sixteenths, and to gape an inch and _ three-

quarters ; tarse an inch and three-eighths. General colour dusky, bright-

ly glossed on the upper-parts with greenish-blue, the tail-feathers

white-tipped ; the bare orbital skin not papillose, bounded above to

beyond the eye with a white streak, and fringed above throughout its

length with a singular erect range of rigid and glistening, narrow and

discomposed, red feathers, the longest nearly an inch in length; bill

apparently yellow at base, then shewing a sinuous deep green zone,

and the rest pale green; in form more evenly compressed throughout

its length than in the subgenerically restricted Phenicophei. A

young bird is generally similar but less brightly glossed, the posterior

portion of the red eyebrows much less developed, and the anterior

portion yellowish in colour. The Malkoha a sourcils rouges des-

eribed by M. Drapiez as Ph. superciliosus, Cuv., however, is stated

to be but from ten to eleven inches (French) in length, having the

under-parts of a dull white, but agreeing in all other respects.

Should that here described prove different, it might be termed PA.

ornatus. M. Drapiez’s bird is stated to inhabit the Philippines.

21. Ph. Cumingi, Fraser, P. Z. S., 18389, p. 112. (Lamtnarep

Marxkoua.) Length sixteen inches and a half, of wing six inches, tail

926 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 1380.

eight inches, bill an inch and a half, and tarse an inch and a quar-

ter. This is at once distinguished from all other known species of

Cuculide, “ by the singular structure of the feathers of its crest and

throat, the shafts of these being expanded at their extremities into

lamine, which may be compared to the shavings of whalebone; and

in this respect they resemble the crest feathers of the Toucan to which

Mr. Gould, in his Monograph, applies the name Pteroglossus ulo-

comus, but which is the Ph. Beauwharnesit of Wagler, only they are

not curled as in that species. The feathers above the nostrils, of the

crest and chin, and along the middle of the throat, are grey at the

base, have a decided white spot towards the middle, and are ter-

minated by a broad expansion of the shaft, which is of a glossy black

colour, and exhibits blue or greenish reflections; the external edge

of this expanded portion of the shaft is minutely pectinated: the

occiput and sides of the head are grey, passing into dirty-white on

the cheeks and sides of the throat: the hinder part and sides of the

neck, with the breast, are of a deep chestnut colour: the back, wings

and tail, deep shining green: all the tail-feathers are broadly tipped

with white: the vent, thighs, and under tail-coverts are dusky-brown,

tinged with green: the bill is of a brown colour, and the feet are

olive: irides red.” :

This beautiful species was obtained in the Island of Luconia, of the _

Philippines, being termed Ansic En Bicol in the language of Albay.

It is referred by Mr. Fraser to the present subgenus, though appa- —

rently devoid of the last character assigned to this by Mr. Swainson ;

and it would also seem, from the description, to want the usual naked

space surrounding the eyes.

The subgenus Pheenicopheus is restricted by Mr. Swainson to

such as have the “ bill large, very thick, smooth, resembling that of :

a Toucan in miniature [the nostrils, however, very differently j

placed]. Face naked Land papillose]. Nostrils basal, oval, close to —

the rictus; placed in a groove of the bill [not always perceptible],

and defended by stiff erect bristles.” Ridge of the bill more or less _

convex, in some obtusely angulated ; its terminal half more compressed _

than the basal half. B

Among these, Cuvier distinguishes, as having the naral apertures _

narrow and placed near the edge of the bill:—

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 927

22. Ph. pyrrhocephalus ; Cuculus pyrrhocephalus, Gmelin; Ph.

leucogaster, Dumeril. (Wu1ITE-BELLIED Matkouna.) I quote the fol-

lowing description from Latham. “ The length of this bird is sixteen

inches ; weight four oz. Bill strong, very thick at the base, and bend-

ing downward ; its colour greenish-yellow: top and hind-part of

the head and neck, under the jaws, greenish-black, with a slender

white streak down the shafts of the feathers, appearing, from the

narrowness of those about the head, as numerous specks: sides of the

head, and round the eyes, wholly bare of feathers, appearing rough or

granulated, and of a reddish-orange colour [crimson in the living

bird? ], bounded beneath with white: the middle of the crown fea-

thered : fore-part of the neck, back, and wings, greenish-black, with a

gloss of green on the last: tail very long, cuneiform, greenish-black,

appearing glossy in some lights, the feathers white for nearly one-third

from the end: breast and belly white: the legs brown, with yellowish

seales: wings reaching a. little beyond the middle of the tail [an

extraordinary elongation in this genus, and perhaps owing to the

manner in which the skin described had been prepared]. Inhabits

Ceylon, where it is called Malkoha. A specimen, in Mr. Daniell’s

drawings, was fully eighteen inches long, and named Maal-Kenda-

Ettah.” Also said to inhabit Africa.

Others have round nostrils placed basally.

93. Ph. viridis, Lavaillant: le Rouverdin, Id.; Ph. curvirostris,

Shaw, Nat. Misc. pl. 905; Ph. tricolor, Id., Zool. 1X, 61; Ph.

melanognathus, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. I, p. 178, and Cucu-

lus melanognathus, Raffles, Ibid. pt. II, p. 287. (Rep-sreastED

Mauxona.) About eighteen inches long, of which the middle tail-

feathers measure ten inches and a half, and the outermost four inches

and a half less; wing six inches and a half; bill to forehead (in

a straight line) an inch and a half, and an inch and three-quarters

to gape; tarse an inch and a half. The bare skin around the eye

less developed than in the last species, but still large and extending

forward to the bill, being of a bright red colour in the living bird ;

the irides dark; and feet lead-coloured. Back and wings dark and *

tail in one specimen before me, while in another the entire central

glossy bluish-green, continued along the rump and two-thirds of the

pair of tail-feathers is of this hue, and there is more of it on the rest

928 A Monograph of the Indian &c. [No. 130.

of the tail-feathers than in the other; head dark ashy, as also the

chin and feathers bordering the lower part of the orbital skin in the

second specimen above mentioned ; the rest of the under-parts deep

chestnut-rufous, more or less paler on the throat, and darkening to

maronne on the belly and lower tail-coverts: in the first specimen

mentioned, the outermost tail-feathers are almost wholly maronne,

and the rest successively more so to the middle pair, which have only

their terminal third of that colour: bill glaucous-green, the basal half

of the lower mandible coral-red towards the middle.

Sir Stamford Raffles states that this bird “‘ feeds on insects, and not,

as has been reported, on fruits. It is found on the hills of Sumatra

and the neighbouring [peninsula and] islands, but is not easily

procured, as it commonly perches on the summits of the highest

trees.’ It is described also to inhabit Africa.

24. Ph. tristis: Melias tristis, Lesson; Cuculus Sumatranus,

Raffles, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. 2, p. 287. (Lirrte Marxouna.)

Length of a fine specimen fifteen inches, of which the tail is nine

inches, its outermost feathers four inches and a quarter less; wing

five inches; bill to forehead (in a straight line) an inch and one- ~

sixteenth, and an inch and three-eighths to gape; tarse an inch —

and one-eighth. Entire upper- parts closely resembling those of the pre- i

ceding species (Ph. viridis), except that the tail-feathers are wholly 3

greenish and white-tipped: under-parts of a dark ash.colour: orbital —

skin tolerably large, and bordered above with a slight streak of white: g

some have a tinge of rufous about the breast. Inhabits Sumatra and the 4

adjacent peninsula and islands, where it lives (according to Raffles) —

upon insects; and it was also obtained by Dr. McClelland in Assam.

In Ph. tristis, the bill is more compressed than in Ph. virddis, and 7

the ridge of the upper mandible is obtusely angulated throughout, in- a

stead of being quite rounded and bulged towards the base, as in that spe-

cies ; the inferior margin of the upper mandible also curves much further q

downward, overlapping the base of the lower mandible. In the next |

two species, the bill is still more compressed and proportionally smaller, a

" asuming nearly the same form as in Xanclostomus, wherein Mr. Jer- 4

don has even placed one of them. It is possible that either the Tac- y

cocua of Lesson, or the Calobates of Temminck, may refer to this form.

(To be continued.)

929

Notes, principally Geological, on the Tract between Bellary and Byapore.

By Capt. Newson, F. R. S. &c. Madras Army.

Nose].

The notes, of which the following paper is an abstract, were taken

during a survey ordered by Government of that line of Post Road, con-

necting Bombay and Madras, which lies between Bellary and the

ancient Mahomedan capital Bijapore. They commence from Bellary,

comprising a line of 164 miles extending in a north-westerly direction

through part of the Ceded Districts, the Nizam’s dominions, and the

Southern Mahratta country, crossing at right angles the courses of the

Tumbuddra and Kistnah rivers as: they hasten across the Peninsula

from west to east, to add their tribute to the Indian ocean. The route

chiefly lay over a vast undulating plain, constituting a considerable por-

tion of the great plateau that is elevated on the shoulders of the Eastern

and Western Ghats, and intersected by a few subordinate spurs, run-

ning nearly at right angles with the great lines of dislocation.

From Bellary to Courtney, a distance of eleven miles, extends a plain

Ceded Districts from based on granite and gneiss, penetrated by numer-

Bellary to Yailbenchi. gy oreenstone dykes. From Courtney to Yailben-

chi, four miles, the plain continues, as before, covered with a superstra-

tum of régur, or the black cotton soil of India, to a depth of from one to

eighteen feet, in many places resting immediately on the gneiss and gra-

nite ; in others on an intervening bed of a calcareous deposit, somewhat

resembling the travertin of Italy, though more nodular, and called by

the natives kanker. It is burnt by them for lime. Like rows of flints

in chalk, it is seen also in the lower layers of the régur, often with sharp

projecting spiculz of carb. of lime, which would have been broken off

had the nodules been drift pebbles. Here and there, on the surface,

and partly imbedded in the soil, greenstone occurs en boules, indicative

generally of a subjacent dyke. Angular fragments of both yellowish

and reddish quartz in many places literally strew the surface of the

ground, which close to Yailbenchi, changes to a red clayey soil ; and, on

examination, proved to be the result of the disintegration of a bed of

micaceous hornblende schist, with gneiss here rising to the surface.

Granite, greenstone, and a rock composed principally of a reddish foliat-

ed felspar, pierced by veins of the same mineral in a more compact form,

6 F

930 Notes, principally Geological, on the [No. 180.

and tinged of a delicate green by actynolite, are seen in the walls of

the small fort here. The produce of the soil is principally cotton, and

juari, (Holcus sorghum).

From Yailbenchi to Devasamudrum, the régur continues covering

Ceded Districts from the surface of the plain, mingled, in greater or

Yailbenchi to the South-

ern bank of the Tum-

buddra. subjacent rocks just alluded to; except near the

less proportion, with the angular debris of the

village of Soganhully, where it is interrupted by a bed of a rich red allu-

vial soil, deposited apparently in this low situation by a number of

rivulets flowing easterly from the great tank, or artificial lake of Daroji.

This rich soil deriving additional fertility from the water to which it

owes its locality, produces rice and’ wheat in addition to other grain ;

and also sugar cane. In some places, however, it is impregnated with

muriate of soda. A few native salt manufactories, indicated by small

mounds on the banks of the rivulets, are visible on the left of the road.

From Devasamudrum, gneiss with its associated schists, mica, horn-

blende and chlorite, constitutes the prevailing rock to the bed of

the Tumbuddra. Veins of quartz and felspar cross it in various direc-

tions, in which thin seams of an actynolitic felspar, of a lively green,

not unfrequently occur. Near Hulhully, on the south bank of the

river, a few dykes of greenstone and basaltic trap, contaming augite,

cut the gneiss in an easterly direction. Calcareous deposits, in the

form of a nodular kanker, are seen in the rivulets running down the

slopes of the plain to the river bed. The soil is régur, lying upon

the gravelly detritus of the subjacent gneiss, &c., with here and there

a thin stratum of kanker interposed. The cultivated vegetable pro-

ducts the same as before. The plants growing wild on the plain

are principally the cassia auriculata mimosas, asclepias gigantea, and

the jatropha glandulifera. The last named plant is almost con-

fined to the black soil. The banks of the Tumbuddra at this point,

are formed by an accumulation of silt, clay, and sand, brought down

by the freshes. The bed is covered with a fine red quartzy sand.

The Tumbuddra is crossed by basket boats to Mustoor, the first

Nizam’s country from Village in the Nizam’s dominions. The plain rises

Taapudta by Berita. gently as the traveller proceeds northwards to

hirry to Cundigul. Umaluti, a walled village about twenty-four and

a half miles from Mustoor. Between this place and Tawurghirry, its

— CT

1842.] Tract between Bellary and Biyapore. 931

surface is broken by the protrusion of a bed of milky quartz, rising

into a broken ridge of small hills; from which a gradual, but stony,

descent leads to the decayed town and fort of Tawurghirry. Springs

of fine water abound, and with numerous rivulets, maintain an almost

unfailing supply of water. The latter feed the Tumbuddra, the bed

of which constitutes the drainage line in this part of the Nizam’s

territories. Judging from the quantity of kanker found on the banks

of these tributaries, a large proportion of lime must be conveyed by

their means to the Tumbuddra, and thence to the ocean. The régur

continues to cover the surface of the plain, with but few breaks, from

the Tumbuddra to Umaluti, a distance of upwards of twenty-four and

a half miles, though not perhaps to the depth seen in many parts

of the Ceded Districts. This circumstance might probably be account-

ed for by the slopes here having a greater angle of inclination, ren-

dering the superincumbent soil more liable to the denuding effects

of floods, streams, and the heavy monsoon rains. The régur thus

becomes blended with the alluvium washed down, and is seen as a

stiff greyish mixed clay. Both the alluvial red soil and régur are

impregnated with muriate of soda and natron. Salt manufactories

are seen scattered over the country on the banks of the rivulets.

Beyond Umaluti to Tawurghirry, the soil consists of the debris of

granitic rocks; and is sandy, gravelly, or stony, according to situation,

and state of disintegration. Near the bed of the Tumbuddra, I have

before remarked, that the subjacent rock is gneiss and its associated

schists. Quitting the bed, these rocks are less seen, while granite

and greenstone constitute the prevailing rocks from Chuloor to Uma-

luti ; the former occurs in bosses, knolls, and detached hills, with tors

and logging stones, the latter in dykes and loose boules, From

Umaluti to Tawurghirry, the granite rises in a more decided manner

from the surface, taking a south-easterly direction. One of the most

considerable of these elevations, is a range of hills a little south of

the Tawurghirry road, called the “ Caradi Guddi,” from being infested

by a number of bears, which are attracted to this neighbourhood by

the fruit of the dwarf date, that luxuriates in the low moist valley. A

bed of white and red quartz assumes the form of a low ridge, covered

with jungle, and over which the road passes, called by natives, from

its white appearance, “ Pilla Guddi;’ and running S.S.E. Some of

932 Notes, principallg Geological, on the [No. 130.

the quartz veins intersecting the granite, pass into hornstone with

a splintery fracture. ‘The granite is crystalline, and contains dark mica

in scales; hornblende in small crystals; foliated reddish felspar; and

greyish quartz in minute angular fragments. Hematitic iron ore exists

largely near the bed of quartz: the slope of the ridge towards Umaluti

is strewn with the slag and scoriz of the furnaces formerly used for

smelting it. The Hindus, I am informed, gave them up many years

ago, owing to the exactions of their Mahomedan rulers. The agricul-

tural produce of the soil is chiefly juari, cotton, and a little wheat ; being

at a distance from the river, it is indifferently watered ; depending on

the dews, springs, and the periodical rains. The majority of the springs

about Tawurghirry are brackish—the formation granite, with reddish

felspar, in clustered blocks, generally not rising above twenty or thirty

feet from the surface. The soil around the town is reddish, arising

from alluvium brought down the slopes of the ridge, and the disintegra-

tion of the granite rocks in the vicinity. It produces good crops of

juari.

A little more than a mile N.W. from Tawurghirry, chlorite slate

occurs in the bed of a rivulet in nearly vertical lamine, interseamed

with a reddish subcrystalline felspar, having a general direction of E. 10

S. though contorted and waving at various points: the general dip is

to the N. About two miles farther on, a trap dyke intersects the schis-

tose beds, running nearly East and West, and decomposes into a red-

dish brown soil. Three miles farther, near Idlapur, the chlorite, mica,

and micaceous hornblende schists appear in the form of low hills,

having an irregular direction ; but which approaches that of the lamine

of the schists themselves. The chlorite schist predominates, and losing

its chlorite, passes into both a ferruginous and a soft purplish shale, or

slate clay, containing much felspar in a decomposing state. The sum-

mits of two or three of these hills were crested with a jaspery clay iron-

stone, with cherty quartz in parallel lamine. A smoke-coloured vesi-

cular quartz is found veining the chloritic slate, and a reddish tough

subcrystalline kanker is seen in the hollows and sides. of the hills.

Large masses occur in the road side, imbedding small nodules of hemati-

tic iron ore, which is profusely scattered in the bed of the rivulets. At

Sassenhal, in the bed of a nullah, I found an angular block of a compact

rock of a light ochreous yellow colour, having cavities lined with minute

1842. | Tract between Bellary and Bijapore. 933

yellowish pyramidal quartz crystals. Passing still north-westerly from

Idlapur, the hills subside into long wavy swells to Moodianur. The

chlorite slate is seen penetrated by a rock of reddish felspar and quartz,

in which chlorite is scattered in thin lamelle, which passes into eurite

imbedding minute green crystals of tourmaline. Actynolite occurs in

thin veins with quartz, and imparts a fibrous and radiated character to

the rock. The direction of the lamine of the chlorite slate was found

to be N. 55° W. ; dip 584°, S. 45° W.; general direction of joints N. 10°

E.; dip 85°, E. 10 S. The larger beds of quartz conform in direction and

dip to the laminz or strike.

About half a mile beyond Moodianur, the left bank of the Ramtar

river, running towards the Kistnah, presents a

Ramtar River. small section of the rock composing the hill, the

base of which it washes. It proved to be quartz rock, irregularly tinged

with oxide of iron in almost tabular masses, separated by fissures, having

the appearance of stratification, dipping to the N. E. at an angle of 13°.

As I could discover no interstratified bed of any other rock, I hesitate to

pronounce these the lines of stratification. Globular masses of a por-

phiritic greenstone imbedding reddish crystals of felspar occur on the

surface. This bed of quartz rock lies between the chloritic schist and

felspathic gneiss, the latter of which is observed about a mile further on,

with a similar direction and dip as the former. Veins and beds of a

jaspery clay iron ore, with calcareous incrustations, occur in parallel

laminz to the gneiss, which extends into the Southern Mahratta country

to Cundigul.

Near Cundigul the chloritic slate again rises to the surface as a clus-

S. Mahratta country ter of hills, having the same smooth contour as

f; Cundigul to Da- ‘ side "

Gece BY thes. bank of those of Idlapur, and crested with a similar jaspe-

Seamisinah. ry rock. Kanker and calcareous spar occur in

the seams ; and the surface is strewn with nodular hematite. Many of

the specimens of the slate effervesced with dilute muriatic acid, im-

pregnated with lime, probably from infiltration of water, charged with

this mineral. The dip is to the N. 45° E. at an angle of 70°, the strike

N. 45° W. Passing over the plain at the foot of these hills, about

quarter of a mile from the village of Cundigul, a dyke of basaltic green-

stone, running E. and W. is traversed. The green chloritic slate in its

vicinity acquires a dull blue hue; becomes hard and compact, and

934 Notes, principally Geological, on the [No. 180.

splits into prisms having smooth planes. The contortions of the

strata observed at some distance from the dyke, may be perhaps

attributed to the intrusion of this rock. Gmneiss is again seen in the

beds of the Nundawarghi nullahs, alternating with mica, hornblende,

and chlorite schist. It is red, felspathic, and contains veins of

quartz, felspar, and actynolite. The last mineral often occurs in the

seams with a compact siliceous felspar, having a lively green colour,

sometimes in drusy crystals, and lining the interior of vesicular

cavities. A dyke of basaltic trap crosses the plain in a West by

Northerly direction. At the village of Nundawarghi, I remarked a

number of millstones composed of a fine white and red granular

sandstone, the grains of quartz cemented together by a felspa-

thic paste imbedding angular and rolled bits of a dark flinty slate,

derived from the slate associated with the gneiss and of a ferruginous

rock. These stones I was informed were quarried at Badami and

Jalihal, the price from } to 1 rupee each. The red felspathic gneiss

and associated crystalline schists are seen at intervals as far as Cumblihal,

where I encamped in the plan. Here the gneiss becomes granitoidal,

the red felspar still continuing six furlongs beyond Cumblihal ; at the

Muddi nullah it is seen alternating with micaceous schist. Dip 60°,

E. 20° N. Nodular kanker of a faint red, and hematitic iron ore, strew

the beds of the rivulets. Near Caradi, the granite loses much of its

mica, consisting almost wholly of red felspar and greyish quartz, and

assumes the character of a pegmatite and graphic granite. The green

actynolitic felspar continues to intersect the rock in thin seams. At

Right bank of the Coujaganur the Kistnah river is first seen ;

Kistah. thence to Danoor, the tappal village near the

ferry, the route lies along its right bank, to which the plain declines

with a gentle slope that increases however near the river bed. Numer-

ous streams cut the bank in their progress to the Kistnah, leaving

intervening swells of ground, and rendering the road, which crosses

them at right angles, uneven and difficult to traverse during the rains,

when this tract is partially inundated by the river. In consequence of

the thick superstratum of mixed alluvial and régur soil, few opportuni-

ties occurred of observing the subjacent rocks. Gneiss, however, was

the one most frequently met with.

On the ascent of a low hill a little beyond the small fort of Haverighi,

1842. | Tract between Bellary and Byapore. 935

a dyke of basaltic greenstone cuts the gneiss, running nearty due East

and West, and slightly distorting the lamin of the latter rock. Several

ramifications are thrown off, one of which has a South-westerly direc-

tion. The trap here may be remarked splitting into prismatic fragments

with smooth planes. The natives take advantage of this circumstance,

and employ the stones thus ready formed in building.

In the bed of the river lie nodules of a reddish brown and white cor-

Se cc icicot, nelian, chert, a iat calcedony, visti se-

mi-opal with linear curved and angular delinea-

tions, and mocha stones. The pellucid pebbles are sometimes surround-

ed with an opaque enduit which adheres to the tongue, mealy externally,

but hardening as it approaches the nucleus. The fracture of the mner

part is semi-conchoidal, hardness from six to seven of Mohs’ scale. Frag-

ments of a dark coloured basaltic rock still adhere to these pebbles ;

which, together with their water-worn rolled exterior, indicate them

to have been transported from the trap amygdaloids to the West.

The swollen state of the river prevented any observation which the

section of its banks might have afforded. The sides of the ra-

vines, however, presented gneiss, with both white and red felspar, in-

terstratified with micaceous hornblende schists. The latter has a fine

and almost slaty structure, brilliant lustre, is easily worked, and split

by the natives into long slabs for the purposes of building. Iron py-

rites are disseminated. A trap dyke running to the East is crossed a

little beyond Muddur. The strike of the gneiss, &c. though contorted

in some places, runs E. 30 S. and dips at an angle of 60° to N. 35

E. The surface of the left bank is much the same as that of the right,

it is covered with pebbles brought down by the river; among them I

observed a water-worn bit of a grey limestone, probably brought down

by the Kistnah from the plain at the base of the Western Ghauts.

It may be remarked, passim, that the Kistnah is one of the most

Remarkson the Kistnah. Co@Silerable rivers of India. It rises among the

Mahavaleshwar hills, near the western coast, a

little to the S. W. of Satara, and after crossing the peninsula in an

East by Southerly direction, falls into the Bay of Bengal at Sippelar

Point, a little to the S. of Masulipatam. During a course of about 700

miles, it receives the waters of the Yairli, the Warda, the Gutpurba,

the Malpurba, the Bima, the Tumbuddra, and the Hydrabad or Mussy

936 Notes, principally Geological, on the [No. 130.

rivers. Its breadth from bank to bank at Danoor, previous to its junc-

tion with the three last streams, as taken by trigonometrical measure-

ment by my friend Lieut. Kinkead of the Artillery, and myself, was .

found to be 1918 feet. The current was running rapidly, carrying the

round wicker basket boats, in which we crossed, a considerable distance —

down the stream, in spite of all the efforts of the boatmen.

Accumulations of mud, silt, and sand are daily progressing on the

banks, entombing the remains of alligators, fish, and fluviatile shells.

This river is thought to be richer in gems than any other stream in

India. As it flows through the Palnad Circar, diamonds, cat’s eyes,

onyxes, and calcedonies occur in its alluvium; also a small portion of

gold dust at Paugtoor, in the Nizam’s dominions. Near the frontier of

the Ceded Districts, beautiful agates are found. Not far from its mouth

are some of the diamond mines for which Golconda is celebrated, and

at Paugtoor, it abounds with amethystine quartz.

S. Mahratta Country, After leaving the bed of the Kistnah, the plain

from me North bank of rises gradually to the North. On the slope lie

dinny. some scattered blocks of a fine grained granite,

composed of crystals of reddish felspar, quartz, and a black glittering

mica in minute plates. The superstratum of soil beyond the alluvium

of the river is red and quartzose. Passing in a West by Northerly

direction, we reach a long low descent, which slopes gently to the west,

to the bed of the Hirri, one of the tributaries to the Kistnah: from

this the ground again rises with an almost imperceptible ascent to the

west, forming a shallow valley running almost due north. The Hiri © |

river follows its course from Bagwari, flowing southerly to the Kistnah,

into which it debouches a little above its junction at Capila Sungum,

with the Malpurba. It forms the principal line of drainage of an exten-

sive and fertile tract. Our route lay on the left bank of the stream.

In the lower, or more southerly part of the valley, a felspathic zone,

extending in an easterly direction and several miles broad, is crossed.

This rock varies in lithological character, in some places assuming ~

the form of a pegmatite, at others that of a protogine, being combined

with quartz and chlorite. A few loose and imbedded blocks of a granite,

similar to that found on the north bank of the Kistnah occur, rarely

without rising to any considerable height above the surface. The

felspathic rock observed in sections presented by the deep nullahs run-

1842.] Tract between Bellary and Bijapore. 937

ning down the slope of the plain, has a pseudo stratiform appearance, aris-

ing from nearly horizontal joints, which might be mistaken for the lines

of stratification. It continues as the surface rock as far as the village

of Gurdinny, near which it is overlaid by beds of

S. W. limit of the

reat overlymg ‘Trap a friable trap, approaching wacke, with an ob-

ormation. d

. scurely schistose structure, and penetrated by

veins of an earthy carbonate of lime, cale spar, and quartz in crystals.

It rises near the village into a small knoll, down whose declivity

runs a rivulet, in the bed of which the first section of the great overlying

trap formation of the Deccan met my eye. Depositions of kanker, both

in beds on the surface, and veins penetrating the fissures in both rocks,

occur in abundance; it is found in a pulverulent and concrete state: the

nodules are not so crystalline as those that are seen in the vicinity of

the older trap dykes, which penetrate the granite and gneiss of the

Carnatic, the Ceded Districts, and Mysore.

About two miles to the north, on the rising ground on which stands

the little fort of Beylhal, the road is literally

S. Mahratta Country c i eS

from Gurdinny to Bag- paved with the doules of trap, which, exfoliating

ante in concentric lamelle, leave circular and oval

nuclei, the latter m their turn, however hard and compact, evince a

tendency to a similar process of disintegration. This gives a singular

appearance to the surface of the road where the rock is uncovered by

dust; presenting a surface paved, as it were, with mere pebbles of

compact basalt set in concentric rings of wacke. The nuclei remain

prominent from their superior hardness. Cale spar of various shades

of white, green, and pink, calcedony in perforated nodules, and in

geodes exhibiting concentric annular delineations, and lined with mi-

nute crystals of quartz, semi-opal and jasper occur in veins imbedded in

wacke.

At Umblanur, a walled village in the jaghire of the Mahratta chief

Punt Pritti Niddhi, about three miles north from Beylhal, I found

the nuclei to consist of a hypersthenic felspar, imbedding crystals of

augite, fracture small grained uneven; streak greyish white. Bits of a

dark flesh-coloured eurite, and a porphyritic rock composed of crystals

of dark dull green hornblende, imbedded in a paste of a faint bluish

green felspar, exceedingly tough under the hammer, occur in the plain.

I searched, but in vain, for these rocks in siti; although judging from

938 Notes, principally Geological, on the [No. 130.

the sharp angles of some of the fragments, their proper locality cannot

be far distant.

From Umblanur, still proceeding northerly, to within three furlongs

from the town of Bagwari, the route continues along the left bank of

the Hirri. The trap is observed in the nullah beds to undergo many

changes in texture and colour, even in the space of a few yards, from

a compact heavy basalt to a friable wacke ; from globular to schistose ;

from black to red and a light brownish speckled grey. The lamine of the

schistose variety are often intersected by transverse fissures, which

divide the rock into rectangular and rhomboidal prisms, similar to

those observed in clay slate near the line of contact with a basaltic

dyke. These again, by the agency of the mysterious law of crystalliz-

ation, which is manifested in a greater or less degree, in both ancient

and modern trappean rocks, from the microscopic atoms of augite and

hornblende to the prodigious pillars of Staffa and the Giant’s Causeway,

often assume a pentagonal and hexagonal shape by exfoliation. By

process of farther exfoliation the angles are worn away, and the prisms

assume a globular appearance, which has led some observers to ima-

gine them to have been erratic boulders subjected to the rolling action

of water, or from their abundance, and the augite often found in them,

to have been showered down on the surface by volcanic agency. Near

Bagwari, the beds of the streams abound with kanker, indurated ferru-

ginous clay, fragments of red and yellow jasper, trap, amygdaloid, and

a few nodules of calcedony; the concave surface of the botryoidal —

varieties of this mineral not unfrequently exhibit a succession of penta-

gons and hexagons.

From Bagwari to Mangoli, the route lies over plains, the lowest

S. Mahratta country

from Bagwari to Bija- twenty to fifty feet below the surface and beds of

Ba nullahs, is the overlying trap. About two miles

N.W. from the former place, it is overlaid by a sheet of a conglomerate

composed of a nodular and pisiform iron ore, and fragments of ferru-

ginous clay imbedded in a travertine-like paste of carbonate of lime,

coloured of a light ochre brown by oxide of iron. The bed of a nullah

presented the only section (of this stratum ) ; it was here four feet thick

covered by a layer of black cotton soil or régur, and resting immedi-

ately on the concentric exfoliating trap which was penetrated by seams

stratum of which, as seen in wells, to the depth of i

i a

1842. | Tract between Bellary and Byapore. 939

of a whiter and more earthy carbonate of lime, as shewn in the right

hand corner of the plan.

Large masses of a lateritic rock, cemented together by calcareous and

ferruginous matter, and having a smooth shining enduit, which imparts

a glazed appearance to the surface, occur in the calcareous conglome-

rate. The extent of the latter, owing to the thickly covered nature of

the soil, I was unable to trace ; but it is met with at various places be-

tween Bagwari and Mangoli, and most probably continues, almost un-

interruptedly, overlying the trap for the greater part of the distance ;

viz. twelve and half miles. Near Mangoli, the trap again appears as

the surface rock, seamed however, and almost broken up, by the im-

-mense quantity of calcareous matter penetrating between the lamine.

The lime is seen to take up some of the colouring matter of the augite

or hornblende of the trap, and is stained of a mottled green and brown.

The trap exhibits superficial dendritic appearances, generally dark

brown, with a yellow or brownish ground on the smooth surface into

which it readily divides on being struck with the hammer. This facility

of division arises from natural microscopic fissures pre-existing in the

substance of the rock, sometimes visible to the naked eye. The frag-

ments are of different shapes, but almost invariably angular, and fre-

quently prismatic. The trap varies from a compact black and phono-

litic basalt, to a loose light greywacke, speckled with minute ferrugi-

nous spots, and still preserves both the laminar and globular forms

described above. Veins of a reddish colour, without any definite

direction, are observed intersecting it. Their composition does not

appear to vary much from the dull brown grey rock that forms the pre-

vailing colour of the trap in this vicinity, except in being more ferrugi-

nous. Deep and nearly vertical fissures dipping generally to the W. 70°

S. cleave its tables in a direction N. 25° W. A number of small

vesicular cavities pervade its structure, the axis of whose longest

diameter is generally N. and S., may be received as indications of the

course here taken by this great coulée of trap.

The view of the city of Bijapore, as the traveller approaches it from

Mangoli, is truly striking, and peculiarly oriental.

ear usrote, As in the distant view of Istambul from the

s in view sea

of Marmora, spires, minarets and cupolas, some of which are topped

by the crescent still glittering, the donec impleat orbem of Mahomedan

940 Notes, principally Geological, on the [No. 180.

ambition, now all crumbling into dust by the Almighty fiat, rapidly

shoot up in succession to the view in the distant horizon. I enter-

ed the city by the Futteh gate, near which is the breach in the wall

made by Aurungzebe’s batteries, and rode through a heap of ruins,

gardens, and tombs, (literally a city of sepulchres,) which extends

nearly to the Shahpur gate, where there is a small bazaar. Beyond

it, the elegant mausoleum of Ibrahim Ali Adil Shah, stands at a little

distance from the city walls, nearly opposite the western, or Mecca

gate, having an extensive garden in the rear. The tall and graceful |

minarets of this harmonious structure contrasted in their whiteness with

dark masses of foliage in the back ground, throw a lightness and airiness

over the whole, altogether enchanting. ‘The gilded arabesque work,

comprising sentences from the Koran, into which the screen of the

mausoleum has been carved, is rudely shattered by the balls fired

from the city walls to dislodge Aurungzebe, who had established himself —

in the mosque behind the tombs. Fascinated by the beauty of the

place, I directed the camel drivers to ease their animals of their canvass

load, and fixed on a spot shaded by some fine old trees as the site of

my little encampment.

The staple articles of cultivation are red and yellow juari, (Holcus

Sorghum) ; bajra, (Holcus spicatus) ; culti, (Glycine tomentosa) ; moong,

(Phaseolus mungo) ; thoor, (Cytisus cajan); bullur, (Dolichos lablab) ;

and white lobey, (Dolichos catiang). ‘These are comprised in the ;

Mungari, or early crops, and are generally sown in June and July after

the early showers of the S. W. monsoon, and are reaped about the end ~

of December. Cotton, wheat, white- juari, the castor oil plant, and

chenna, (Cicer arietinum,) are the staple articles of the late, or Hin- '

gari crops, and are almost invariably sown in régur, during the months '

of September and October, and cut about February or March. A \

quantity of caradi and kusum, (Carthamus tinctorius,) are sown with —

the Hingari crops, from which the staple oil of the country is chiefly —

produced. Cocoanut trees are but seldom seen. In consequence of the ©

almost total absence of tanks, and other sources of artificial irrigation F

from which a constant supply of water can be kept up, but little rice is j

sown; the subsistence of the peasantry therefore is chiefly on cholam q

and wheat cakes. After reaping, the ryots have a custom of heaping ~

up the straw in the fields, and covering the stacks over with a thick y,

Yatanhatiys a

M ee.

Bagwari \\

Si ‘andslone

Badami o

(Guy ande tars on

eee

uke

GrF hence of

Kitn ah, cy

eh x ra Lithegraphie

Litnestone ~~

faSungur So @

os,

ee be Mma rab vel MeV,

anule

Myrtypnarbs ee ria aigarase

wie i

eed

Cuddiuwad %

Cundligue A

Secliow

Nullirhe 2.

|Sandstone

cm:

P* ae ar fie

r jow pra §

Sassenthad day SFieposits 7

Nundapur q\ Tevrrglirré

Manadhal \

Hulthadre {

\Umatudi

am i th re

“a WS

mae Yaudbereche. \

uy ony eurtney ]

oe. | Grantlpe

2, \ FS Belle

Skelch referred to —— se he

between Bay vcus XR \Mangok,

agg cepur ee teat;

ma cate ‘Newbelel M. ne ee, nd

0 English Miles

1842.] Tract between Bellary and Bijapore. 941

layer of the black soil, which is said to preserve it effectually from the

ravages of animals and insects. In the Ceded Districts, it is generally

carried off to the villages and there stacked. This custom of heaping

it up in the fields is ascribable to the almost total absence of carts and

bandies in the South Mahratta country and the Nizam’s dominions.

The principal trees growing wild in the plains from Bellary to Bija-

pore, are the Acacia arabica, the Melia azadirachta, Butea frondosa,

Ficus indica, Ficus religiosa, Spondias mangifera, and a tree called

the “ Jummi,” held sacred by the Mahrattas.

The principal wild shrubs of the plain are the Cassia auriculata, the

Asclepias gigantea, Indigofera czrulea, and several species of Mimosa.

The Webera tetranda, Cassia fistula, the Zizyphus jujuba, Ixora parvi-

flora, the Carissa spinarum, Carissa carandas, the Bander and Hingar,

are generally found in the red soils, while the Jatropha glandulifera, as

before stated, is almost confined to the régur. On the declivities of the

granite hills, bushes of Euphorbia, Cacti, the Annona squamosa, and less

frequently the Agave vivipara. That delicious flower, the Nerium

odoratum, grows in abundance on the banks of the Tumbuddra. The

tamarind and mango trees are seen planted in a few scattered groups or

topes. The Solanum lycopersicum, the Calyptranthes caryophylli-

folia, the Musa paradisiaca, and the Feronia elephantum, are seen in

orchards near the villages.

Notes principally Geological, from Bijapore to Bellary, via Kannighirri.

By Capt. Newzoup, F. R. S. &c., Madras Army.

No. 2.

The city of Bijapore stands on an immense sheet of overlying trap,

Deatoay of the plain of with an undulating surface, though here and

Bijapore. there small step-like descents, characteristic of

trappean formations may be observed; but none of sufficient altitude

to disturb, to any great extent, the generally level appearance of

the surrounding country. As far as the eye can reach, on the north-

west horizon are seen, from some of the higher points of the city,

| low, wall-like, ranges of sandstone. The almost unbroken extent of the

| plain of Bijapore affords but little scope for the geological examination

942 Notes, principally Geological, from [No. 130.

of the strata subjacent: the observer must therefore dive into wells,

pass up the beds of rivulets that water the surface, search for quarries,

and descend into the fosses that surround fortified places. In failure of

all these, the walls of forts and other buildings present a mineralogical

collection on the large scale which usually affords a clue to the petro-

graphical nature of the surrounding formations, as natives seldom trouble

themselves to bring building-stones from any distance, preferrmg mud

if the former material be not at hand. The surface of the plain is

in general strewed with fragments of trap, amygdaloid, quartz, calcedony,

opal, cacholong, calc spar and zeolites, kanker, nodular iron ore,

and a conglomerate of ferruginous clay and iron ore imbedded in

compact kanker. ‘These decomposing together in unequal proportions,

form a superstratum of a light brown soil, in which small crystals of

a pearly calc spar and zeolite glitter like particles of silvery mica

or talc, in soils formed by the decomposition of gneiss and granite.

This light-brown soil is extremely fertile, producing abundant crops

of wheat, chenna, bajra and juari: it is very different in colour

and appearance from the régur, which I have seen covering with

its black crust, rocks of all formations, at heights above the present

drainage level of the surrounding country, the granite and gneiss of

Bellary, a small part of Mysore, the limestone and sandstone of

Cuddapah, and the states at the foot of the Nulla Mulla hills. Beneath

this soil the trap, in public roads and other places liable to abrasion, .

is often seen in the state of the concentric decomposition alluded to

in speaking of Beylhal, and also in a schistose form. In deep sections, —

such as wells and quarries, the rock assumes a tabular appearance,

splitting almost horizontally ito thick stratiform masses, which are —

again intersected, at right angles, by almost vertical fissures, im- —

parting a columnar structure. At Turvi, a village about four and a half

miles from the Mecca gate of Bijapore, beyond the ruined palace of ~

Aurungzebe, the basalt rests conformably upon a bed of amygdaloid

into which it passes. Large beds of the amygdaloid occur in the trap, —

rising above its surface, as seen near the Allahpur gate of Bijapore.

The fissures, though nearly vertical, do not appear to indicate any |

axis of disturbance, dipping irregularly. At the —

bottom of a well at Tangoli, about fifteen miles ©

south of Bijapore, the direction of the fissures was N. 25 W., dip W. 20 |

Fissures and joints.

1842.] Biyapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 943

S., joints horizontal. At the quarries of Bijapore, the fissures took a

direction N. 20 E., joints dipping 5° to E. 20S. Cale spar occurs in

thin discoloured seams, lining the fissures. A number of empty

vesicular cavities pervade the rock, which appear never to have contain-

ed any mineral substance, and probably were occasioned by the evo-

lution of gases while the rock was in a liquid state. Their direction is

not uniform, but it will be found generally south-westerly, conforming

to the axis of the trap’s direction.

The petrographical structure varies often in the space i a few feet,

Petrographical struc- from a compact greyish black basalt, having a

peroot rocks. granular structure and conchoidal fracture, with

streak of ash grey, to a soft wacké speckled with brownish decaying

crystals of augite and amphibole. The trap in this vicinity has a blush of

red traceable in the darker portions, and becoming stronger in the

wacke and amygdaloid; the latter has for its basis, a fine red clay. The

dark compact variety melts into a black glass, and is faintly translucent

at its edges, exhibiting a dull green; the rest are opaque, and melt with

difficulty into a greenish black glass. Some varieties, which appear to

contain much silicious matter, are infusible. The less compact trap

has an uneven fracture. When reduced to a coarse powder, a few of

the fragments are taken up by the magnet; the fine powder is of dull

greenish grey. It does not gelatinize when treated with acids. Its

specific gravity I found to be 3.35.

The variety used in building the splendid palaces, mosques, and

mausoleums of Bijapore is of a deep reddish brown opaque, and of a

granular fracture, approaching earthy. This rich colour adds much to

the appearance of the ruins. The rock is by no means uniform in

texture, being more or less vesicular, amygdaloidal, or clayey, and sub-

ject to exfoliation : consequently, when the stone has not been carefully

selected, it gives way under the superincumbent pressure ; many of the

structures are rapidly falling into decay on this account. The variable

nature of the trap is perhaps most strikingly seen in making the circuit

of the city walls, which are built upon the rocks from which their ma-

terials have been quarried. Not only is the disintegration seen in the

walls themselves, but wherever they rest on an amygdaloidal founda-

tion ; which, exfoliating, splitting, and giving way, causes whole masses

of masonry to be precipitated piece-meal into the fosse. Vertical

944 Noles, principally Geological, from [No. 180.

fissures in the walls commencing at the base, and proceeding upwards,

mark the site of future and extensive ravages. The masonry on the

firmer parts of the rock is in excellent preservation : if well selected, it

would make a good building stone, and is capable of receiving a fine

polish, as shewn in the bas relief round the Sijdeh recess in that little

gem of Moorish architecture, the Mecca Mosque within the citadel,

which is constructed of the more compact variety of the purplish amyg-

daloid just mentioned.

The basis of the rock is felspar, with amphibole and augite in various

proportions. The latter mineral (augite) is not much seen in the red

amygdaloid rock. Olivine is of rare occurrence. Vesicles are seen in

all varieties, both empty and containing green earth, which becomes

brown or black on long exposure, calcedony, cacholong, calc spar,

quartz, zeolites chiefly radiated, stilbite, heulandite, and mesotype,

when it assumes an amygdaloidal stamp. These minerals also occur

in veins, and are most abundant in the red amygdaloid, to which

they impart a reticulated or porphyritic appearance, as they chance

to occur in veins or crystals. Geodes of calcedony are seen also con-

tainmg drusy crystals of quartz and of zeolite, enclosing crystals of

carbonate of lime. I have seen veins of crystalline quartz splitting

in the centre, in a direction parallel to the sides, containing all these

minerals on their inner surfaces. Agates are sometimes, but rarely,

found imbedded; greyish crystals of glass of felspar are met with in

the semi-compact varieties; also small nodules of ‘a compact cream

coloured opaque zeolite with a faint tinge of buff, and marked with

concentric annular delineations, resembling in shape those in orbicular

granite.*

Marched this morning, (July 9th,) on the new route to Hukh, a

From Bijapore to Place about twelve miles S. E. from Bijapore.

Peg. The brown soil, arising from the disintegration

of the subjacent trap continued about a mile, when it was succeeded

by the régur, strewed with abundance of grey kanker in small nodules.

* Some of these nodules are earthy, and have a powerful argillaceous odour. The

most compact have a hardness about seven (Moh’s) fracture semi-conchoidal, inclined

to splintery—opaque. Before the blowpipe they intumesce, and phosphoresce slightly.

They gelatinize when treated with nitric and muriatic acids. Some of them inclined

acicular, microscopic and minute crystals of a mineral resembling chabasite.

bee Buyapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 945

At about three miles from Bijapore, the kanker and iron ore conglomerate

occur in masses: the latter is used as a revétment to a small well into

which I descended, and found the water percolating through layers

of kanker, dark earth, and iron ore. The fissures were nearly vertical ;

direction N. 5 E., dip S. E. by E. Trap, generally covered by a bed

of reddish kanker, on which rests the cotton soil, passing into a reddish

amygdaloid, reticular and porphyritic, containing calc spar and zeolites,

continues to Hukli. Portions of its red clay basis intumesce, and

curl up before the blowpipe, indicating the existence of numberless

minute particles of zeolite disseminated throughout its substance.

With muriatic acid, it formed a gelatinous mass; in this respect resem-

bling the Silesian variety of basalt analyzed by M. Lowe of Vienna.

Wells of fresh water are of frequent occurrence. The same formation con-

tinues to Bagwari. Between Hukli and Bagwari, a branch of the Doni is

crossed, having black steep banks of cotton soil; this stream is a treache-

rous bed of saline and sluggish water, unfit for the use of man or beast.

The earth of its banks is highly impregnated with muriate of soda, as

shewn by the efflorescence on the surface, and by the adjacent salt

works. About seven miles from Hukli, between Musibinahal and Bag-

wari, I observed a flat topped hill, about a mile from the left of the road.

It was composed from base to summit of a tabular lateritic rock.

Cuboidal masses of the same crowned the summit, exactly resembling

the masses on the tops of the smooth laterite hills of Malabar and

Canara. Farther east, about a mile, runs a low ridge of hills with a

N. E. and 8. W. direction; the flat contour, and waving direction of

which powerfully reminded me of the laterite hills on the Western

Coast. I examined the end of the range, and found it to be of the

lateritic rock just alluded to; the rest also appear to be of the same rock.

About twelve miles to the south of these, rise two other flat topped

hills at Nagarwar, which I am assured by the natives, are of the same

rock. The small hill of Hori Math, near Ingliswar, celebrated as being

the site of the miraculous birth of the founder of the Jungum sect, is

entirely composed of the lateritic rock. These lateritic hills are re-

markable, as rising above the low trap elevations amid which they are

situated, and are the only hills of any height to be seen for miles around.

This circumstance, which is not of rare occurrence in other parts of

India, is evidently the result of the denudation of the subjacent trap,

946 Notes, principally Geological, from [No. 130.

the beds of laterite being once probably continuous over its surface.

The trap is seen in the vallies and nullahs at their base, on which the

lateritic rock rests in tabular, horizontal masses. A siliceous porphyri-

tic rock, having cavities lined with minute brown crystals, is associated

with this rock, and is found in loose blocks on the surface. ‘The imbed-

ding paste is a light coloured highly indurated jaspideous clay. Before

the blowpipe per se, the crystals lose their colourmg matter, but fuse

with carbonate of soda into a white enamel.

Went about two and a half miles to the east of Bagwari, to see the

_ quarries whence the compact blackish trap is dug,

Quarries of Bagwari. ft nen

used in building the walls of that town ; found the

quarry to be nothing more than a large assemblage of basalt en boules,

lying partly on, and partly imbedded in, the soil covering a long swell,

probably a basaltic dyke, through the surrounding trap. I searched in

vain for an excavation affording a section of the intrusion of the former.

The basalt is different in mineral structure from that seen passing

through the granite, gneiss, and slate of the Ceded Districts, the

Nizam’s dominions, Mysore, Malabar, and Canara. It is now amygda-

loidal and vesicular, and contains small globules of calcareous spar,

zeolites, and calcedony. The vesicles, however, are more usually empty :

some of them contain a brownish yellow earth into which I have ob- ~

served the zeolite to decay, and also calcareous spar, coloured with

the peroxidation of iron, which exists plentifully as the black pro-

toxide and carbonate. The fracture is conchoidal, fragments faintly —

translucent at the edges; streak, greyish white; melts before the blow- j

pipe into an intense green glass. It contains little amphibole, and !

appears to be composed almost entirely of augite and felspar. 3

The lateritic rock in the vicinity of Hori Math appears, generally, ;

Lateritic rock of Hori *@ COmtain more iron than the rock of Malabar

ath. and Canara, and is consequently of greater speci-

fic gravity. ‘The specimens I obtained did not contain lithomargic earth, —

nor so much quartz as the latter ; the tubular sinuosities are frequently j

lined, like those of the Malabar variety, with an ochreous earth arising %

from the decomposition of quartz and felspar, and tinged of various 4

shades of brown and yellow by the oxide of iron; this earth forms i

a compact paste, cementing more firmly the component parts of the rock “4

together ; it exactly resembles in this respect, portions of the Malabar ;

1842.] Biapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 947

laterite. It is not so soft interiorly. This paste adheres to the tongue,

and gives out an argillaceous odour when breathed on. The more com-

pact parts of the rock, forming the coating of the tubular cavities,

become magnetic before the blowpipe, and are converted into a dark

grey slag.

Proceeding in aS. E. diretion by Jawannaghi and Narsinghi, to Alcopa,

Frum Bepwarito Al. # village east of Umblanur, the road lies diago-

copa. nally across the low trap swells which have gene-

rally a S. W. direction, though their lines sometimes intersect each other

at obtuse and acute angles. The tops of the swells are mostly slightly

convex, though often terrace-like, and are composed of the more com-

pact and globular trap. In the banks of nullahs, the trap and amygda-

loid may be observed alternating, and passing into each other: when

they occur horizontally, the trap is generally the surface rock ; this may

be owing to its superior hardness, and capability of withstanding the

abrasions caused by the elements. The amygdaloid contains irregular

bits of decaying felspar and numberless vesicles, often filled with green

earth and crystals of carbonate of lime. ‘The former mineral, in moist

situations, assumes a black or deep brown colour in decomposition,

giving a speckled appearance to the rock, resembling that of the toad-

stone of England. Before the blowpipe, these dark spots are converted

into black slag. In the bed of a stream, a few hundred yards N. W.

from the village of Kunkal, I found slender prismatic crystals of carbonate

of lime fasciculated in sheaf-like forms, with dark pieces of chert in a

friable mass of the amygdaloid ; the radii of the calcareous crystals were

three inches in length, and of a faint amethystine hue.

About two miles to the north of this village, indications of a change

in the formation were seen in the angular bits of red pegmatitic

and quartz rock, that occur on the plain and in the beds of nullahs,

which become more frequent as the villages of Kunkal and Alcopa

are approached. A few hundred yards south of the latter, I found these

indications confirmed, and the quartz rock in situ, in tabular masses in

the bed of a nullah. Alcopa is situated near the south-eastern foot of

a slope, on the top of which the trap has the usual compact and globular

form ; while at the base it is tabular, schistose, and amygdaloidal. <A

few hundred yards to the south of this village, the trap formation ceases

at the foot of a low range of flat-topped hills of sandstone. In the hope

948 Notes, principally Geological, from [No. 130.

of discovering the line of termination, I spent several hours in searching

the beds of streams, and visiting the quarries in the neighbourhood, and

at last discovered it in the bed of a nullah, about three hundred yards

south of the village : here, after clearing away the gravel and detritus com-

posing the bed, I distinctly saw the trap overlying the sandstone, and

penetrating some of the numerous fissures that cleave the latter. I

had anticipated this fact from the circumstance of the little disturbance

in the latter rock, which occurs in tabular horizontal masses, having

a rhomboidal shape from being intersected by fissures with a varied

direction, but generally N. 65 W., crossed by others trending 8S. 20 W.

Where the trap had penetrated them, I did not find the two rocks ad-

herent, or passing into each other; but perfectly distinct and separate,

and occasionally a thin calcareous seam intervening. Both the trap

and sandstone seem to be slightly altered by contact, the former be-

coming less crystalline and more earthy, but often extremely tough, and

splitting into small fragments, with numerous microscopic fissures in-

tersecting its structure. The colour of the sandstone, from a few lines

to several inches distant from the contact, is generally reddish, passing

into a deep reddish brown. There was no appearance of semi-fusion,

or intermixture, nor entangled masses of sandstone in the trap, a cir-

cumstance coinciding with the observations of Lord Greenock, in his

account of the phenomena displayed by the igneous rocks in the neigh-

bourhood of Edinburgh, in their relations to the secondary rocks: nor

did I observe any solidification in the former, as noticed by Professor

Hausmann, in the sandstone altered by heat near the blast furnaces at

the Steinrennerhutte in the Harz: on the contrary it was of a looser 4

texture than ordinary. In structure, from a loose and variegated grit, —

it approaches a compact quartz rock, containing disseminated portions L)

of decomposed felspar, which falling out, leave a number of minute a

oval cavities. This stone is much used in building by the villagers in q

preference to the trap. I saw no veins penetrating the sandstone; —

pegmatite occurs in scattered blocks : the situs of this rock cannot be —

far distant, judging from the sharpness of the angles of these fragments.

Proceeding in an easterly directions towards Talicota, the trap forma-

| z : ; h

Bedi Mecpato Taker tion extends to the ae oe Mudkeysur, three

coss from Alcopa, when it is succeeded by a

bluish grey compact limestone, which I first observed in the bed of a ~

1842. ] Byapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 949

nullah. No section occurred, shewing its contact with the sandstone ;

the surface of the country being covered with a thick stratum of soil,

but from the easterly dip of both rocks, it is evident that the limestone

is the uppermost. It continues the surface rock to the most easterly

point of my observation ; viz. Talicota. In a deep well at Munjghi,

a coss west from Talicota, the bed of the Doni river and the plain

in front of the Talicota fort gate, it occurs in stratified masses, with

a very slight dip, varying according to the rise of the plain. In the

well, the dip was only 23° E. 5 S. Dividing the limestone from the sur-

face to the bottom of the well was a fissure, a foot wide, direction

S. 5 W.., filled with a buff-coloured earthy kanker and angular frag-

ments of the limestone rock. The latter in mineral character resembles

the Cuddapah limestone, but is generally lighter in colour, varying from

dark blue to pale buff or cream, and has few traces of pyrites.

The minerals associated with it, are hematite in small nodules, often

occurring disseminated like strings of beads through its structure, which

falling out, leave regular lines of small holes that resemble the perfora-

tions of boring insects, and the tubular sinuosities in laterite. Angular

fragments of a buff-coloured jasper are strewed among those of the

limestone, and from their variolated exterior, appear to have been in

contact with the basalt, possibly limestone passing into jasper. I have

often noted the Cuddapah limestone passing into chert, from contact

with basaltic dykes. The softer and finer varieties of the cream-

coloured limestone found in the vicinity of Talicota, are well adapted

for lithographic purposes. Some of the specimens which I brought

hence, were sent down to the lithographic establishment at St. Thomas’s

Mount, and found to answer. There is also a fine laminar limestone

found in the bed of the river, with beautiful dendritic appearances

between the plates.* The plain of Talicota is averred by Ferishta to

have been the theatre of the overthrow of the Hindu empire of Bijanug-

ger in a. p. 1564; where Ram Raj, its sovereign, was totally defeated

* A specimen of this dendritic limestone was examined for me, by Dr. Wight,

who kindly afford me the following note: ‘‘‘The arborescent appearance in the

slate I think an organic remain. At least I find, when under a high magnifying

power, that the black lines can, with the point of a needle, be picked off without

touching the stone, as if the carbonaceous matter of the plant was still there.

I feel uncertain, however, whether to call the original a moss or a fucus, but think

the latter.’’

950 Notes, principally Geological, from [No. 130.

and slain by the combined armies of the four Mahomedan kings of the

Deccan ; viz. those of Bijapore, Golconda, Bider, and Ahmednugger.

Few, if any, of the present Hindu inhabitants of the place, however,

had any tradition of this having been the site of the battle; and even

Mahomedan historians differ, placing it farther south. Talicota is now,

(1838,) the capital of a small territory held in jaghire from the British,

by a Mahratta chief of the Rastia family, named Bala Sahib. It is

situated in a plain on the left bank of the Doni river, which flows into

the Kistnah, and separates the jaghire from the Mudibhat talook. The

river is about 150 yards broad, and was easily fordable when I crossed

it in the month of July. The banks are steep and clayey ; the bed, as

before mentioned, consists of great slabs of laminar limestone. ‘Talicota

is erroneously placed in some maps on the right bank of the stream.

Besides the town walls, which are of stone, it possesses an inner fort, or

citadel, in which the palace of the Rastia, a high stone house with small

windows and loopholes, is situated. ‘The palace has nothing but a

guarded gateway to distinguish it from the substantial dwellings of the

Bunnias and Lingayet merchants of the place. Near it, is the holy

and celebrated Mahomedan shrine of the Five Saints, “‘ Durgah-i-punj-

Pir.’ The pettah is large and spacious, and has a broad street, in

which are the shops of the Jain venders of brass-ware, numerous calico

printers, dyers, &c., for whom the place is noted.. There is a small

private Jaina shrine here, into which I was shewn by the Jaina merchant

who accompanied me. It contained several white marble images of the

principal Tirthunkars, brought from the north, (Uttara Dés,) together

with the Pancha Purmestri in brass. There was also a brazen bas-

relief of all the twenty-four Tirthunkars, the gigantic Ardeswara stand-

ing naked in the midst of the saintly group. The following is an ap-

proximative statement of the population of the town :—

Mussulmans, principally weavers and soldiers, Ri Jane 0 508

Vaisya Comptis, grain and provision sellers, ba tie 125

Mahratta dyers and cloth printers, bb ote ee 500

Lingayet cloth merchants, .. vil a ue .- 1,000

= weavers, .. ait ay a we vhs 250

Bs oil-makers, e. oe zt Me a 50

Kunbis, agriculturists, as. i bis me .. 1,000

Carried over, fe an las a .. | 4,426

1842.] Bijapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 951

Brought over, Bs 83 Ws ug .. 4,425

Mahratta tailors, a EF or $y tk wit 250

Bs saddlers, .. et bg ay : 50

Brahmins of the Smarta and Vaishnavam sects, .. <4 500

Jains of the Vaisya sect, sit ui ie, ou de 15

a », Chsetriya sect, .. ane #. af i 25

,», Suryonsh Chsetriya sect, ut ae uf 25

Jain Upadi, or inferior priest, a a HG ig ]

Total,.:.. Ne Hy ws Su a RS Pie

Besides the above, there is a body of one hundred Mahratta horse and

sibundies, maintained by Rastia; and a floating population of that

wandering class of grain merchants, the Brinjaris, with whom the

bazar was crowded. ‘The revenue of the jaghire is estimated at about

10,000 rupees per annum. At the time I visited the place, Talicota

was in charge of Nana Sahib Rastia. Bala Shahib, his elder brother,

was engaged in a religious pilgrimage to Gungapur, on the banks of the

Bima.

I observed the limestone to the 8. W. of Talicota nearly five miles.

From Talicota to Mu- About two miles farther in the same direc-

dibhal. tion, the overlying trap occurs in the bed of

a nullah, a little to the E. of the village of Gonahal, and continues for

about a mile, when sandstone, in isomorphous masses, forms the sur-

face rock, and is also seen in the bed of a nullah, in which lay angular

blocks of both the above-mentioned rocks and fragments of the red

pegmatitic stone. ‘Trap prevails between Gonahal and Contogi: it is

seen a little to the west of the latter village, overlying the sandstone in

the bed of a nullah. The latter rock is here observed to separate into

contorted laminar flakes of a reddish hue and friable structure near the

line of junction : the former is earthy in texture, as before observed. A

few feet from the junction, the sandstone resumes its usual texture and

colour. Between the flakes calcareous incrustations have taken place.

Between Contogi and Mudibhal, trap and amygdaloid are the surface

rocks. Immediately to the west of the latter place, rises a low ridge

of finely grained sandstone, where the quarries for millstones, for which

Mudibhal has long been known in this quarter, are situated. The

rock lies immediately under a stratum of régur, in tabular masses, in-

952 Notes, principally Geological, from [No. 130.

tersected by vertical fissures running E. and W., and crossed by others

at right angles : horizontal fissures also occur, dipping at about one and

half to the E., these afford great facilities to the Wudras in excavating

masses for pillars. A sort of pickaxe, wedge, heavy hammers, and

levers are the only implements used: blasting is had recourse to, to

split the larger blocks into pieces for the millstones. The masses of

rock, though red, and variegated near the surface, are generally white

and crystalline in the centre, having decaying portions of felspar dis-

seminated. The millstones are shaped on the spot, and exported to

the surrounding districts and to the Nizam’s territories. They fetch

from four to sixteen annas each; fire is not used to separate the masses,

as in granitic rocks.

A little west from the sandstone hills, the red felspar rock, with

From Mudibhal to the Mica interspersed, occurs in unstratified knolls

north bank of the Kistnah. and masses. This continues to Hallighirry,

whence the formation to the Kistnah is gneiss, with a few blocks of the

granite protruding. A dyke of the crystalline greenstone occurs be-

tween Lepghirri and Hallighi, E. and W. direction. The Hindus

rarely employ the overlying trap for building, preferring to bring sand-

stone or granite from a considerable distance. This is shewn in the

old Hindu temple in Bijapore and villages in the vicinity of Contogi.

East of Mudibhal the Idgah hill affords a good specimen of the globular

trap ; it resembles the greenstone dykes of the Ceded Districts, at a dis-

tance, in colour and contour; but the mimeral character of the rock

differs in containing little hornblende : it is tough, much less crystalline,

and contains zeolite and calcedony imbedded in nodules, It decays

into a deep red earth.

Crossed the Kistnah on the 15th July to Danoor and halted. Went

Fei eerie mareat hie to see the junction of the Malpurba and Kist-

confluence of the Kistnah nah on the 16th, about two and half miles west

and Malpurba. ,

from Danoor. Crossed the Malpurba, about —

200 yards broad, in a basket boat to the Delta, on the apex of which is q

situated the celebrated temple to the Lingum, in which Baswapa, the

founder of the Jungum sect, finally disappeared, according to the version

of his priests. The temple is evidently of great antiquity, small and

not remarkable for beauty. I have a strong impression, that it was

built by the Jains, from some peculiar symbols that have escaped the

1842.] Bijapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 953

mutilating hands of their opponents, such as the two elephants with

elevated trunks over Lachmi, &c. ‘The temple faces the east, and

the sacred Ling is covered by a hollow silvered head of Mahadeo,

which was taken off for my inspection: expanded behind it, rises the

silvered hood of a Cobra de capello, forming a canopy to the whole.

There is nothing remarkable about the Ling, which is a small one

blackened by libations of oil, milk, &c. I was not near enough to see

the depression, or mark, said to have been left on it at the place Bas-

wana was absorbed. Facing the Ling, in the ante-room, are two Baswa-

nas, or sacred bulls. At the point of the Delta stands an Acacia tree.

The two rivers were flowing with considerable rapidity, and their tur-

bid waters mingled in curling eddies near a small temple, almost sub-

merged in the waves, containing a Ling. The three Maths of the three

Swamis here are in a dilapidated condition ; that of Sencri Bharti is in

the best state of repair. A brahmin performing ¢apas on a tiger skin,

sat in a state of religious abstraction in one of the cells. The Sthalla

Puranam of the place is in thethands of Ragovindra Achari, one of the three

Matha-mudras whom I saw here; the names of the others are Sencri

Bhat and Binda Achari. There are two Sassanams, one inthe N. wall of

the enclosure, the other near the ferry of the Malpurba in Hala Canara.

Rode from Cuddywal to Hunnagund, about five miles westerly.

Jain temple at Hunna- There is a Jain temple situated in the S. E.

gund, extremity of a short and low range of hills; it

is in ruins; the Gopar had been prostrated, and the sculptures con-

siderably defaced. ‘The temple fronts the east, and the doorways are

flanked by mace-bearers in relief, with female figures on either side.

The walls are decorated exteriorly with various sculptures : baya-

déres, lions, elephants, &c. in alto relievo, and present a mass of

elaborate carving. Bas reliefs of naked Tirthunkars are interspersed,

the larger in a standing, the smaller in a sitting, posture. The ex-

treme length of the arms of the former, which hang loosely down by

their sides reaching below the knees, reminded me of the description of

those of Rob Roy. The sanctum had been rifled of its idols, but I

observed a large one reared up in one of the entrances, which possibly

had been abstracted thence, as it has evidently suffered displacement.

It is an erect naked figure in high relief, executed on a block of fine

sandstone, with the short curly locks, (resembling a Welsh wig,) elongat-

6 1

954 Notes, principally Geological, from [No. 130.

ed ears, and peculiar contour, that characterize the Jaina saints: from

the hood of the Cobra extended like a canopy over his head, I judge

the image to be that of Purswanath. The features and other parts

have suffered mutilation. ‘The interior of the place, fouled by bats and

other animals, is supported by massive stone pillars, generally square,

with tori: the ends of the architraves are carved into lion’s heads, &c.

The whole is of a light red sandstone brought from Himallya, few coss

off. There is an inscription in the wall of the doorway; another slab

bearing an inscription in Hala Canara lies broken near the thresh-

old. The earth and rubbish have accumulated up to the knee of

some of the images. The range on which the temple stands, is a

bed of elevated jaspery rock with contorted lamine, and similar in

appearance to that forming the copper-mountain ridge of Bellary. Direc-

tion N. W., dip 60 to 70 N. E.

From Sassenhal and Jumlapur to Nundapur, the road passes over

From Sassenhal to the the N. W. extremity of the Idlapur schistose

#umnbyddra, elevations, before noticed. From Jumlapur,

where the chlorite slate is seen at the usual angle of elevation, the

ground rises for about a mile, when a narrow greenstone dyke is

crossed, running E. 10 §. About 40 yards farther, the main dyke is

traversed, running in an almost similar direction, which covers the

summit and descent of the elevation with globular and angular frag-

ments, almost as far as Nundapur, a distance of three miles. At the

base of the elevation on which this village is situated, the slate is seen

in the bed of the nullah, dipping at an angle of 60 N. 45 E., 7. e. from

the dyke. The schists on the western side of the dyke, observed yes-

terday at Sassenhal, dip at an angle of 72 to the S. W., i. e. from the

dyke. The greenstone differs not from that usually seen in the Ceded

Districts, being crystalline or porphyritic near the centre, imbedding

crystals of a greenish felspar, and becoming more compact as it ap-

proaches the edges: amphibole and felspar intimately mixed, are its

chief constituents. Near its eastern flank these minerals separate, and

it passes into a sienite, which is exceedingly tough under the hammer :

the felspar crystals fast decomposing, form a compact paste. The

chlorite slate, in the immediate vicinity of these plutonic rocks, loses its

fine slaty character, becomes thick-bedded, compact, and of darker colour,

and is penetrated in every direction by contorted quartzose veins, the

1842. ] Byapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 955

planes of which seem almost as various as their flexures. At the distance

of a furlong and 100 yards S. E. from Nundapur, a red felspathic dyke

occurs in the gneiss, almost concealed by a superincumbent mass of

friable kanker: small crystals of a scaly graphite, with a shining steel-

like lustre, occur disseminated in this vein. The gneiss alternates with

chloritic slate and beds of a red felspar rock: its lamine are much con-

torted, and have here an easterly direction. One mile and a furlong in

the same direction from Nundapur, the bed of a stream is crossed,

where a dyke of a compact reddish felspar rock (Eurite ?) cuts the gneiss

in a direction of N. 60 E., flanked by a thick bed of reddish felspathic

granite, containing both mica and chlorite in lamellz, and a little quartz.

This rock and the gneiss are much weathered. Six furlongs hence, the

gneiss assumes a granitoidal form, appearing in rounded blocks with

concentric exfoliations. Three miles from Nundapur, a trap dyke

crosses the gneiss, running westerly ; and another, at four miles five

furlongs, having a similar direction. A furlong from this, a large dyke

of the red euritic rock, about 200 yards broad, occurs in the same direc-

tion, flanked by a bed of the red felspathic rock, large beds of kanker

accompanying the intrusion of the dyke. I saw an immense bed of

this calcareous rock, lying as a flat table on the gneiss near Manadhal.

From this place to Kannaghirry, a distance of eleven miles one furlong,

gneiss, granitoidal gneiss, forming gentle elevations, and scattered sur-

face blocks occur; the associated schists of chlorite and mica are less

seen. A trap dyke occurs at the distance of five miles five furlongs

from the former village ; direction W. 15 N. -

In the bed of the stream, forming in part the fosse of the fort of

Kannaghirry, gneiss is seen alternating with mica and hornblende

schists, both thick bedded and laminar. On the N. E. flank of the

fort, a dyke of pegmatite, with a close small grained sub-crystalline

structure, is seen passing through the gneiss, and in a direction parallel

with that of the laminz. In the latter rock, a vein, (five inches broad,)

of large crystals of felspar and quartz running N. 25 E., exhibits a dis-

location to the E. of seven inches. A fissure traverses it for some dis-

tance longitudinally, running also into the schist. The walls of the

fissure are lined by quartz passing into hornstone.

About four miles North by West from this, near the village of Ha-

numanhal, I saw on the road side a monument of a Hirlu, or a hero

956 Notes, principally Geological, from [No. 130.

slain in battle, evidently of high antiquity. It consisted of a slab of

gneiss placed in a slanting position, on the surface of which a male and

female figure were rudely sculptured in bas relief: the former was armed

and in the attitude of combat; the latter, with uplifted hands, seemed in

the act of throwing herself into his arms for protection. The relations

and descendants place flowers and offerings of oil and milk, as offerings to

the manes of the brave: the pious passenger deposits a stone, of which

a large heap at the foot threatens to overwhelm the monument and the

hero altogether. It is probable, many of the tumuli of loose stones ob-

served in many parts of India, cover similar antiques. |

I shall conclude these notes, with a few observations on what I term

the great overlying trap formation of Central

and Western India, the southern limit of which

has been just described, in contra-distinction to the hills and dykes of

greenstone associated with the granite, gneiss, and metamorphic schists

of Southern India, which I take to be a distinct and more ancient rock.*

The overlying trap formation has a south-westerly course ; its southern

margin terminating, according to Mr. Fraser, near Malwan, in latitude

15° 53’ N. and longitude 73° 47’ E. on the Western Coast of the

Peninsula, and its northern limit between Bulsar and Gundavie below

Surat, between the 20th and 21st degrees of North latitude. Its

boundaries at Gundavie, according to Dr. Lush, are strata of clay

containing kanker. Proceeding southerly on the sea coast between

Bassein and Surat, horizontal strata of sandstone are seen resting upon

it, supposed to be identical with the fossiliferous rock of Kattywar, and

which may be accounted as the newest sandstone formation of India. Still

farther south at Bombay, it is fringed by a recent formation of coral and

shells; and N. of Malwan, it meets with the greenstone, granite and sienite

of Southern India. ‘Thus the western extremity of this formation occupies

in its breadth, an extent of sea coast approaching five degrees of latitude.

Proceeding inland in a N. E. direction from the vicinity of Malwan, its

southern boundary may be described by a line drawn thence through

Concluding Remarks.

* This opinion is chiefly grounded on the relative position, age of associated rocks,

and mineralogical distinctions, which are very striking. The zeolites, chalcedonies,

green earth, olivine and cale spars so abundant in the formation just described, are

never or rarely seen in the trap a little to the S. of the Kistnah. The latter is never

seen overlying fossiliferous rocks in continuous sheets, but occurs as dykes in granite

and the older stratified formations.

1842.] Biyapore to Bellary via Kannighirri. 957

Merritch and Gurdinny, a village about 40 miles S. E. from the city of

Bijapore to Bider; thence north of Hydrabad to Nagpore; and from

Nagpore north-easterly towards Sohagepore and Sagur to the 82d degree

of East longitude, as observed by Franklin and Coulthard. At Gur-

dinny it rests on granite, a broad pegmatitic zone intervening. A little

to the east of Gurdinny, at Mudibhal, on a crystalline sandstone; and

at Nagpore on granite. Its north-eastern limit has not been accurately

defined ; straggling coulées of a similar trap, (containing olivine, calce-

donies and agates,) have however been traced by the Rev. Mr. Everest

as high as Gwalior, which lies in lat. 26° 15’ N. and lon. 78° 1’ E.

It is said to extend still farther toward the east up to the Rajmahal

hills: though it would appear that its continuity here becomes broken

up. Assuming Gwalior as its north-east corner, we will return towards

the Western Coast by the northern limit, passing from Gwalior in a

south-westerly direction to Neemuch ; whence taking a direction more

southerly to Dohud, as traced by Captain Dangerfield, it passes by the

east of Baroda to the sea near Bulsar, a little to the south of Surat. On

this last line the trap was found, at Sagur, to rest on shell limestone, and

on the limestone, greenstone, quartz, argillaceous, and talcose rocks of

Oodipore. At Bulsar, as before stated, itis bounded by strata of clay

and kanker.*

_ Such is the unparalleled extent of this vast sheet of trap, covering a

space, with some interruption, of 250,000 square miles.

Since writing the above, I have had the pleasure of perusing Col.

Sykes’s admirable paper on this great trappean region, and perceive

that he assigns to it an area of from 200,000 to 250,000 square miles

only ; but adds, however, that it appears to him that the above are

not the absolute limits of the trap. My own observations, taken

during journies to Bijapore, Bider and Culberga, will have served to

trace its S. W. boundaries more distinctly than has hitherto been done.

* It is probable that the amygdaloidal trap found overlying a bed of limestone, con-

taining oysters, limnz, small melanie, &c. at Peddapungali near Rajahmundry, and

discovered by Col. Cullen, is an outlier of the great overlying trap formation.

958

= ound

Ancient Inscription found at Aden. Communicated to the Asiatic

Society by the Government of India. With a plate.

No. 29 of 1842.

From Captain 8. B. Hatnrs, Political Agent at Aden,

To J. P. WiLtLouGHBY, Esq.

Secretary to Government of Bombay, dated 29th September, 1842.

Political Department.

Sir,—I have the pleasure to forward to you the accompanying copy

of an ancient inscription recently discovered in Aden, by the work-

people employed in excavating the new road leading up from the

Custom House.

2d. It is an interesting fact, that though Aden in its most flourish-

ing era was the principal sea-port of the ancient Hymyari kings, that

no Hymyaritic inscriptions previous to this have ever been discovered,

either in the ruins of the ancient town, or its immediate vicinity ;

though on the shores of Hadramaut, and inland as far as Sana, many

beautifully executed inscriptions have been found, and transmitted

to Bombay. In every other case, however, the characters have been

found on oblong marble blocks, generally forming part of a gateway,

as at Nukbel Hajar, on the Hadramaut Coast; whereas, in the spe-

cimen now brought to light from a depth of twenty feet beneath the

present surface of Aden, we have a circular slab of pure, and very

compact white marble, with a raised rim round it, and apparently

forming part of an altar. The inscription is not so well executed as

many others that I have seen, but it is perfectly clear, without flaw

or injury. In removing the stone, part was unfortunately broken off

by the work people.

3d. The antiquity of this specimen may very safely be dated from

the first year of the Hijera, when the last of the Hymyari princes

reigned in Yemen. After the conversion of the Sabeeans to the Moslem

faith, the altars erected to their gods were overthrown, and the reli-

gion of Islam universally prevailed. The character gradually became

lost, as the Kufic writing spread over the southern and _ hitherto

unconquered country of Yemen and Nedjran, and is now extinct. The

learned professor, Gesenius of Germany, has succeeded in decyphering

{

26 “Sept” 1842 }

f , 2

rif 2esscon from Wit oStone

sf 3S BHaines.

Ihe libic al Ggend

re: and Fl: Dept

ie Che. eens ety

af Pw!

1842.] Ancient Inscription found at Aden. 959

and translating a small part of one inscription found by the officers

of the “ Palinurus,’ during the survey of the South Coast, and it is only

to be hoped, that this specimen may afford an additional clue to assist

him in his valuable and highly interesting researches, regarding a

nation that has been so utterly swept away.

4th. The inscription, it will be perceived, is a fac-simile, being an

impression from the stone, and its accuracy therefore may be depend-

ed upon. I have the honour to be, &c.

Political Agent's Office, Aden, (Signed) S. B. Haines,

29th September, 1842. Political Agent.

(True Copy.)

(Signed) J. P. WintovcusBy,

Secretary to Government.

(True Copy.)

P. MELVILL,

Assistant Secretary to the Government of India.

“Meteors observed at Allahabad on the 10th of August, 1842. By

| Capt. SHoRTREDE, Ist Assistant, Grand Trigonometrical Survey

of India.

The following observations were made at Allahabad, for the purpose

‘of comparing them with corresponding observations to be made at

‘Agra, but the gentleman at whose suggestion the observations were

undertaken, was unable, from sickness, to take an active part in the

business. Though the primary object was thus frustrated, it may be

worth while to record these observations, with a view of calling the

attention of those who may have opportunities of making similar

‘Observations about the 10th of August and 13th of November next.

_ The first step towards a knowledge of these meteors is a large

7. of facts, and it is not to be overlooked, that in this country

we have advantages for such observations which are scarcely equalled

™m any other part of the world, owing to the general clearness of

‘our sky, the extent over which observations can be made, and the

facility of intercourse by our common language, and the post routes

everywhere,

960 Meteors observed at Allahabad, 10th August, 1842. [No. 130.

The observations themselves are very easily made when a person

knows exactly what he has to do, and does not allow himself to be

distracted by attempting too much. Besides general attention, the

most useful qualification I believe to be, the ability readily to estimate

altitudes at sight. I know by experience, that persons in the habit of

such observations, may train themselves to estimate altitudes at sight

within 2° of the truth, for I have practised it along with another person,

proving our estimates by an altitude and azimuth instrument. In

the present observations, the altitudes I believe to be within 5° of the

truth, and the azimuths within 15°. But as the meteors come some-

times very quickly after each other, there is no time for deliberation,

and it becomes necessary to write down at once whatever is to be

recorded, so as to be ready for the next.

In order to judge of the azimuths, 1 had my cot put in an open

place, and laid duly East and West, because I had a straight road, with

well marked objects in that direction. I lay on my back, and had

a faint oil light on the ground, just sufficient to let me see my watch

and what I was writing. I wrote lying on my back, and holding the

paper over my head, and in this way saw several meteors which other-

wise would have passed unnoticed.

It is an obvious fact, to whatever conclusions it may ultimately lead,

that a considerable majority of these meteors have a Westerly course

in or near to the Zodiac. Such being the case, it is desirable that some

observers should be situated as nearly as may be at right angles to the

Zodiac, and at considerable distances from each other, in order that

the errors in estimating the altitudes have the least possible effect on

the computed heights from the surface of the Earth.

In order that meteors observed at distant places may be readily

identified, it is desirable that observers should set their watches either

to mean or to apparent time, by means of an astronomical observation,

or by a well-set sundial. Provided it be distinctly stated, whether

the watch shews mean or apparent time, it is of no great importance

which is used ; though as a general rule, apparent time is the most con-

venient for meteorological observations, because the tides, &c. of the

atmosphere, like those of the ocean, have a direct relation to the appa

rent, rather than to the mean course of the sun. ‘

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963

Memorandum on the “ Bora Chung,” of Bootan. By A. CAMPBELL,

Esq., Superintendent, Darjeeling.

Fukeergunge, right bank of the Teesta, January 25, 1843.

The announcement of any extraordinary fact connected with the

-habits of men or the lower animals, produces three states of mind in

the mass of those addressed ; Ist, an unenquiring and implicit cre-

dence ; 2nd, wonder, without any lasting attention to the matter narra-

ted; and 3rd, sceptical disbelief. I have no doubt that the notice of the

*‘ Bora Chung”, by Dr. Pearson, in Vol. VIII. of the Journal of the

Asiatic Society, p. 551, produced all these states, in a great number of

readers, for 1 have heard many express themselves to this effect ; and I

confess, that although I did not disbelieve the account of this fish’s ha-

bits, I have been very anxious to make further inquiry into them. When

in Bootan last year, it was out of my power to do so, but this year

I have been more fortunate; and the following is the substance of the

information I have gained :—The “ Bora Chung” is not found on the

right bank, or Rungpoor side, of the Teesta ; it is confined to the Bootan

side. It inhabits jheels and slow running streams near the hills, living

principally in the banks, into which it penetrates from one foot to five

or six. The tubes leading from the water into the banks are general-

ly a few inches below the surface of the water, and consequently filled

with water; they are sometimes of no greater diameter than sufficient

to receive the fish, sometimes they are a foot wide; when of the smaller

size, they terminate in a basin where the fish remains, returning to the

water at pleasure. The usual mode of catching them is by introducing

the hand under water into these recesses; two fish are generally found

together, and they lie coiled up horizontally, resembling a wheel. They

are eaten by the people of the Bootan Dooars, and are quite whole-

some. It is not believed that they bore their own holes, or form their

resting basins, but that they occupy the abandoned locations of land

crabs. When in the waterpool or streams, they always remain close

to the margin, and constantly move out and in, of their holes. They

never leave the water, nor can they move on the grass more than any

other fish. They are supposed to breed in the recesses described.

964 Memorandum on the ‘‘ Bora Chung,” of Bootan. _[No. 1380.

I have not as yet succeeded in getting specimens of the “ Bora

Chung,” but expect to do so. I saw those sent from Darjeeling to

Calcutta for Dr. M’Clelland. They were each about twelve inches

long, of a dark brown colour, and scaly. If Dr. M’Clelland described

them, they must be sufficiently known to Naturalists ; but they may not

have reached that gentleman; or, if so, their fate has been similar to

that of fourteen species of fish collected in the Bootan Dooars last

year, and forwarded by me to Calcutta for Dr. M. I have not had

any acknowledgment of their receipt, and I conclude, therefore, that

they never reached him.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

(Friday Evening, 7th October, 1842.)

Dr. J. Haperuin in the chair.

W. H. Exciort, Esq., C. S., proposed at the former Meeting, was ballotted for,

and unanimously elected a Member of the Society.

Ordered,—That the usual communication of his election be made to Mr. Exxiort,

and that he be furnished with the rules of the Society for his guidance.

Library.

The following Books were presented :—

Books received for the Meeting of the Asiatic Society, on the 7th October, 1842.

The Calcutta Christian Observer, September and October, 1842. New series, Vol.

iii. Nos. 83 and 34. Presented by the editors.

The Calcutta Christian Spectator, July 1842. Vol. ili. No.7. Presented by the

editors.

The Calcutta Literary Gleaner, October 1842. Vol. i. No. 8. Presented by the

editors.

Proceedings of the London Electrical Society, 1841-42. Part iv. Presented by the

Society.

Wilson’s Antiquities and Coins of Afghanistan. London, 1841, 4to. (7 copies.)

Presented by the author.

Wilson’s Sanskrit Grammar. London, 184], 8vo. (4 copies.) Presented by the

author.

Ibraheem’s Grammar of the Persian Language. London, 184], 4to.

Ballantyne’s Grammar of the Marhatta Language. London, 1839, 4to.

Ballantyne’s Elements of Hindi and Braj Bhakha Grammar. London, 1839, 4to.

Ferishta, (in Persian), fol. 2 vols.

1842.] Asiatic Society. 965

Read letter from Moulvie Aspoottan, of 6th instant, submitting a copy of reprint

of the 2nd Volume of the ‘‘ Futawa Alumgiri,”’ for inspection, and soliciting orders

for the delivery of the copies to the Mohafiz of the Asiatic Society.

The vol. made over to the Moulvie of the Society for examination and report.

Read a letter of 31st March, 1842, from Cuas. V. Waker, Esq. Honorary Secy.

Electrical Society, presenting a copy of part 4th of the Proceedings of the Society,

and requesting notice of its safe arrival, and of any regular channel through which

to receive the future numbers.

Ordered,—That the thanks of the Society be communicated to the Electrical

Society, and that Messrs. Atten & Co. of London, be named to Mr. Wa ker,

as the channel for the receipt and transmission of all future numbers to the Asiatic

Society.

Read letter from Mr. V. Trecear, of 8th September last, suggesting with reference

to a Report of a Committee of Scientific Men appointed to consider the weights and

measures at London, who recommend the decimal system, that a similar reform be

proposed in Indian Coins, &c. ; also suggesting the change of title of the Society from

that of the Asiatic Society of Bengal to the Asiatic Society of India.

Ordered,—That the first suggestion be referred to a Member of the Society com-

petent to the task, to report on the feasibility or otherwise of the proposed introduc-

tion in India, to enable the Society to judge if it could go up to the Government

with the proposal ; and that as regards the second, the Society is of opinion, that the

change was not desirable.

Read letter from Dr. J. Hzseruwin, of 7th instant, intimating that according to the

request of the President, he had examined the MS. work prepared by Dr. Wise,

entitled *‘ A Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine,”’ that the publication

would form a most valuable addition to dur store of knowledge, and might become a

very useful auxiliary in many respects in the Researches of India; but that he was

of opinion the Society should not publish the work at its own expence, but rather

subscribe as liberally as it may think right for a certain number of copies.

Referred to the Committee of Papers.

Read the following letter of 7th instant, and enclosures from Major W. Hough.

To H. Torrens, Esq., Secretary to the Asiatic Society.

S1r—I do myself the honor to request you will submit a ‘‘Chinese Life Preserver,’’ to

the President and Members of the Asiatic Society, to meet this evening, together with

the accompanying drawing, and explanatory paper. I shall be glad if it meets with the

approbation of the Society, and that it may, by its public notice, be brought into

general use. I have the honor, to be, Sir,

Calcutta, Spence’s Hotel, Your obedient servant,

7th October, 1842. (Signed) W. Hoven, Major.

966 Asiatic Society. . [No. 130.

Report* of a Special Board of Officers assembled at Barrackpoor on the 23rd Sep-

tember 1842, by order of Major General Littler, Commanding, to test and report upon

two Bamboo Floats, or Life Preservers, submitted by Major W. Hough, with a view

to their being used, under the sanction of Government, in fleets of Troop-boats, when

proceeding on the river, for the preservation of lives, in case of wrecks, or other

accidents.

President.

Captain R. Smith, 28th Regt. N. I.

Members.

Captain Powell, M. B. and Capt. Tierney, 28th Regt. N. I.

The Committee have duly tested the Bamboo Floats submitted to them, and are

of opinion, that in the event of a wreck or other accident, the use of the small one

would save the life of any man who was unable to swim, “ if properly fastened on,”’ as

it is sufficiently buoyant to keep the head and part of the neck above water, without

any exertion on his part.

The large Float is capable of supporting four people by merely placing their hands

on it, which causes it to sink six inches, and will bear the weight of three persons

sitting upon it; but this plan appears objectionable, as it tilts up in every direction

and throws them off, which would be very dangerous to those who could not swim;

but were there two or three practised swimmers to guide and keep it steady, it might

be capable of saving women and children.

These floats ought to be made of very dry kaguzee bamboos, each piece to have

two or more knots, according to the size, which will make them the more buoyant.

A small ‘“ Jhalee,’? or Frame-work, introduced over the centre square of the large

floats, upon which women and children might be placed, would tend to the preserva-

tion of life. ; (Signed) Ratpu. Smitu, Capt. and President.

JoHN PowELt, Capt. and Member.

E. T. Tierney, Capt. and Member.

(Signed) J. H. Lirtter, M. General,

Commanding at Barrackpoor.

(True Copy,) W. Hoven, Major.

Note from C. B. GREENLaw, Esq.

Secretary to the Marine Board.

My pear Houeu,—Many thanks for the Life Float. I think it the most admirable

I ever saw. No ship ought to go to sea from any place where bamboos are procur-

able, without a quantity of them on board. Yours &c.

(Signed) C.B. GREENLAW.

(True Copy.) W. Hovueu, Major.

Government House, 7th October, 1842.

[Extract.| Dear Sir,—‘‘1 am directed by the Hon’ble the Deputy Governor of

Bengal, to thank you for the inspection of the Life Preserver, of which he highly ap-

proves. |

* A copy sent by the General to the Commander-in-Chief.

1842. ] Asiatic Society. 967

If you will have the goodness to forward it with an official letter to the Secretary

to Government, it will be adopted by Government.’’ (Signed) H. Sporriswoopks,

Yo Major W. Hoven, Calcutta. Military Secretary.

(True Copy.) W. Hoven.

Origin of the use.

“In the year 1730, I was passenger in a ship from Batavia to China, 400 tons,

(the Pridaz, Francisco Xavier, Commander,) freighted by English, Chinese, and

Portuguese. Near the Coast of China we met with a Tyfoon, (Taufong), which carried

away all our masts, bowsprit, and rudder; six feet water in the hold — expecting

every moment the ship would founder. The English and Portuguese stood in their

shirts only, ready to be thrown off; but the Chinese-merchants came upon deck in a

bamboo habit, which had lain ready in their chests against such dangers, and it was

thus constructed; four bamboos, two before and two behind their bodies, were placed

horizontally, and projected about twenty-eight inches. These were crossed on each

side by two others, and the whole properly secured, leaving a space for their bodies ;

so that they had only to put it over their heads, and tie the same securely, which was

done in two minutes, and we were satisfied they could not possibly sink. The shape

is given below.’’—From a letter to the Author of the Seaman’s Preservative. Annual

In 1834, the above was published by me, but not in a form to attract general atten-

tion. It occurred to me that I might save the two minutes, above noticed, by forming

the ‘* Life Preserver,’’ at once, into two squares, ready for immediate use.

It seems to be adapted for use by fleets of Troop-boats, proceeding up or down any

river, or in the case of Troop-transports, or indeed, for ships generally, for either

boats or ships wrecked in the middle of a river, or at sea, or coast, or ashore, it will

render safe many valuable lives. The soldier or sailor, may place it under his cot or

hammock. If made on a larger scale, it might be the means of saving boxes, contain-

ing valuables or papers, now, often lost in boats proceeding up the Ganges, &c.

The loss last month of two officers, sixty-eight men, six women, twelve children, of

H, M’s. 50th and 62nd Regiments, and a great number of natives, suggested to me to

request Major General Littler, commanding the Division, to test its use before a Com-

mittee, which assembled in his presence. I since submitted it to Government for im-

mediate adoption, a division of the 9th Lancers being on the eve of departure from

Calcutta to Allahabad by water. I had often tested its utility myself, but I thought

968 Asiatic Society. [No. 1380.

that a formal report would be more satisfactory; and it has been reported to His

Excellency Sir Jasper Nicolls, Commander-in-Chief in India.

W. Hoven, Major.

Calcutta, 7th October, 1842.

The Chinese ‘‘ Life Preserver,’”’ as modified by Major Houcu. First known to the

English in 1730, vide Annual Register, Vol. 1, 1761, p, 141.—‘* Useful Projects.”’

B.andC. Thearmsthrown

over both squares.

A Placed over the head.

May be used as above

represented; or with

fo an angle to the front.

x NN

YQAYEZ

6s SOO

~ + Y

Yj,

To be made of kaguzee bamboos. The knots to be cut just at the ends; if in the

middle between two knots, water would get in and make them less buoyant. The

frame of eight bamboos is fastened by string at the angles, and in the centre of the

sides, and should be tarred, or dammered over, to prevent the string becoming rotten.

There should be a strong wooden pin to fasten the bamboos at the angles. The above

is made with two knots in the inner square, of large bamboos, the outer may be

of common bamboo. Those of three knots would support three or fourmen. Smaller

might be made for children. By fastening a rope to the float, and then to the arm,

or round the body, it never can drift away. W, Houeu, Major.

Calcutta, 7th October, 1842.

Read the following letter addressed to the Secretary by M. Garcin de Tassy.

MoNSIEUR, Paris, 53 Rue St. André des Arts, ce 9, Juillet 1842.

Sous les auspices de mon honorable ami M. J. B. Tassin, qui m’a fait l’éloge de vo-

tre caractére serviable, je prends la liberté de m’addresser 4 vous pour vous exprimer

le desir que j’ai d’obtenir une Biographie originale des Poetes Hindous, siun pareil

ouvrage existe. Le Bhakta mdi, dont M. W. Price a publie de nombreux extraits,

peut jusqu’a un certain point remplacer cet, ouvrage, puisque la plupart des chefs des

sectes Hindous dont il y est questions ont auteurs de poésies Hindous. Mais jen’ai

pas cet ouvrage complet; s’il existait a Calcutta et qu’on peut en avoir une copie,

je vous serais bien obligé de me la procurer. Pourriez-vous aussi me procurer quel-

1842. ] Asiatic Society. 969

ques poésies de Kerbir accompagniés d’une traduction en Urdu, ou du moins de

quelques notes, interlineaires, ou marginales, soit en Urdu, soit en Hindi ou en

Persan? Vous n’ignorez pas que ces poésies, tres remarquables du reste, sont fort dif-

ficiles 4 entendre. J’ai un MS. complet du Bijak qui en est la collection, mais

une commentaire ou une traduction me serait souvent fort utile. Y aurait-il enfin

moyen d’avoir un commentaire Hindi, ou une traduction Urdd du célébre Ramayaun

de Tulsidas qui a ete imprimé plusieurs fois 4 Calcutta? J’acquitterais de la

maniére que vous voudriez bien m’indiquer les frais que vous feriez pour moi, Sl

vous avez la bonté de vous charger de ces recherches, ainsi que je l’ai fait dans le

temps envers l’excellent M. J. Prinsep qui eut la bonté de faire copier pour moi

plusieurs MSS. de la Société Asiatique. A cette occasion je dois vous dire qu'il

y en aun, je crois, dont on ne m’a jamais reclamé les frais de copie. Si vous en

avez connaissance, je serais bien aise de m’acquitter et je m’empresserais de la faire

au premier avis. |

Les renseigments que je prends la liberte de vous demander et les nouvelles copies

que je solicite sont destinies 4 augmenter les materiaux du 2d volume de mon Histoire

de la Literature Hindouis et Hindoustani. La partie Hindoui est sans nul doute la

plus interessante. Malheureusement c’est surtout celle qui laisse le plus a desirer.

Vous contribuerez a rendre mon ouvrage plus complet sous ce point de vue si vous

voulez bien continuer d’avoir pour moi la meme bienveillance dont m’honorait M. J.

Prinsep.

De mon cété je m’estimerais heureux de vous étre bon a quelque chose, tant a vous

en particulier, qu’a tous les membres de la Société Asiatique de Calcutta, dans vos

rapports avec 1’Institutde France, ou avec la Société Asiatique que dont je suis Vice

President. J’ai l’honneur d’etre

Monsieur,

Votre bien dévoué serviteur,

GaARCIN DE Tassy.

Read the following Report from the Curator :—

S1r,—On the present occasion, I have little to Report to the Meeting.

A fine, nearly full-grown, male of the white-browed Gibbon, or Hoolock, ( Hylo-

bates hoolock, Harlan, ) has been received from Barrackpore, its skin has been mount-

ed, and the entire skeleton has beea set up. The deep black colour of this specimen

contrasts strikingly with that of the mingled brown and blackish female noticed in the

Society’s Journal, Vol. X, 838, while the latter is much darker than in that styled H.

choromandus by Mr. Ogilby, as this, in its turn, is deep-coloured in comparison with

the pale skin obtained by Dr. Walker, which I exhibited at a former Meeting of the

Society.

By C. S. Gullevie, Esq., the Society has been presented with a small collection

of very interesting mammalia and birds, procured upon the Munipore Hills, on the

eastern frontier of Bengal. The following species are comprised, of which those new

to us I mark, as usual, by prefixing an asterisk.

Sciurus bicolor ; an individual renewing its coat, and acquiring its hyemal dress,

the hairs of which are longer, finer and less glistening, and of a considerably paler

colour, than those of its summer garb, insomuch that the animal assumes a variegated

appearance during the period of transition, the change commencing on the croup.

970 Asiatic Society. [No. 130.

*Sc. erythrogaster (?), Nobis, N. S.? Size of the British Squirrel, or a little

larger, and having a much longer tail. Entire upper-surface glistening deep reddish-

black, minutely grizzled with light fulvous or yellowish-brown, each hair having

thus two small annulations: the whole under-parts, from the throat, and inside of the

limbs, a rather dark, but not intense, reddish-maronne: feet black with little trace

of annulation; the fulvous predominating most about the head: tail similar to the

back for the basal third, then gradually less grizzled, and the terminal half black,

almost without grizzling; moderately bushy: whiskers black: ears not pencillated.

Length nine or ten inches; the tail without its hair as much more, and with it up-

wards of two inches additional; tarsus, to end of claw of longest toe, two inches and

a quarter.

* Buceros Nipalensis, Hodgson, As. Res. XVIII, 178: a magnificent pair, male

and female, of this splendid species, — the male having the head, neck, and breast,

uniform rust-colour, paling on the crown, and the belly and thighs deep reddish bay.

Picus strictus (?), Horsfield, Zin. Trans. XIII, 176; P. Sultaneus, Hodgson; P.

Strenuus (?) Gould. I have doubtfully followed Mr. Jerdon in referring this species

to P. strictus, Horsfield, which is very briefly described (Joc. cit. ), and although the

latter part of the statement ‘‘ Pileus maris coccineus, feemine aurantius,’’ does not

apply, inasmuch as the female of this Indian bird (which I have obtained in the

vicinity of Calcutta) has the occiput black with round white spots. I am tolerably

confident of its being the strenuus of Gould, included by Dr. Horsfield in his Cata-

logue of Assamese birds procured by Dr. McClelland; and there is a figure of it

among the latter naturalist’s drawings of his specimens.

Polyplectron chinquis.

From Dr. Spry,

Four specimens of a Draco, from Tenasserim. |

From Mr. Peter Virre,

Hemidactylus: a species new to the collection, taken in Calcutta; the individual

having a double tail.

Numerous specimens of various kinds have also been collected and set up, but not

any requiring particular notice.

I am, Sir,

Yours obediently,

Epwarp Biytu.

P. S.—The Mungoose from the Neilghierries, noticed in my last Report (p. 880),

appears to be the Herpestes fusca, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 55: it is less allied

to Mr. Hodgson’s H. auropunctata (which I have just received from that naturalist),

than I had anticipated.—E. B.

The President forwarded for the Museum of the Society, two specimens of Orni-

thorynchus Paradoxus, received by Mr. C. R. Prinser, from Van Diemen’s Land.

Re RG ns

VES porn

| f a Sbygeles frrtuewilis,

, ‘ ‘| *

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

A Seventu Memoir on the Law of Storms in India; being Tue

Catcutta Hurricane of 3rd and 4th June 1842. By Henry

Pipprineron, Esa.

On the 3rd June 1842, Calcutta was visited by a tremendous

hurricane, of which the centre passed over the city. It came from

the South-east, and seems to have reached, with interruptions and

divisions, as far inland as Dinagepore, Purneah, Monghyr, Purulia

and Midnapore; beyond which we can trace only irregularities, such

as we may suppose, to occur by the last efforts of the impetus of a

storm.

The damage done in Calcutta alone, and to the shipping on the river,

very few of which escaped some injury, was immense. Ships were

blown and drifted from Calcutta to Cossipore, where two or three

were sunk; many were sunk or driven on shore at’ Calcutta; and

near Kedgeree, the Globe and Symmetry were totally lost.

The opportunity was not one to be neglected, and I made every

effort to procure information by a public request in the papers, and

by every other means I could think of. Iam happy to say I was

most cordially seconded by all classes, and have thus collected a

highly valuable mass of documents, which we may perhaps pro-

-nounce by far the completest record of the course of a storm, which

has yet been published. I beg to tender my best thanks to the gen-

_tlemen who have so kindly assisted the enquiry. I believe I have

acknowledged, individually, every report which reached me ; but

No. 1381. New Srrizs, No. 47. GL

972 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

should I in any one instance have omitted to do so, I request the

party to believe that this is wholly unintentional, and arises from my

having no other time than the intervals of business, and hours of

rest or relaxation, to devote to the research.

I now give the different documents, observing that I have invari-

ably abridged them by retrenching all matter, and even phrases and

words, which do not strictly relate to our subject. The Logs of ships

from Ceylon and the Andamans to the Sand Heads, are naturally the

first class, as tracing the storm from seaward, and shewing the state

of the weather in the Bay.

SECTION I.

SHIPS IN THE BAY OF BENGAL.

Extract from the Log of the Barque Joun Craic, Captain G.

Pettingall, from Algoa Bay to Calcutta, reduced to civil time.

30th May, 1842.—At 10 a. m. a heavy squall, wind W. S. W.

Noon latitude 5° 49! N., long. 84° 42’ E., p. m. strong gales W. S. W.,

Thermometer 80°, Barometer 29.5.

31st May.—Throughout strong and hard gale W. S. W. Noon la-

titude 9° 7'N., longitude 85° 5’ E. Thermometer 84, Barometer 29.4.

ist June-—Heavy gales W.S. W. and hazy weather throughout.

Noon latitude 11° 45’ N., longitude 84° 23' E. Thermometer 85°,

Barometer 29.3.

Qnd June.—Heavy gales W. S. W. Towards midnight S. W. for a

few hours. Noon latitude 14° 17’ N., longitude 83° 34’ E. Thermo-

meter 85°, Barometer 29.2. Under close-reefed top. sails for the last

two or three days.

37rd June.—Fresh gales W. S. W. and S. W. Latitude 16° 34’ N.

longitude 82° 53’ E. 4 p.m. made land about Coringa, wind South.

4th June.—Steady breezes. Latitude noon 17° 50’ N., longitude

84° 0' BE.

1842. ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 973

Abridged Log of the Ship Mark PaumeEr, Capt. Blenkinsop, bound

to Calcutia, reduced to civil time.

Wednesday, \st June.—She was at Noon in 3° 49’ N., longitude

82° 25’ E., witha strong S. W. by W. breeze and clear weather, with

all sail set. To midnight the same, wind S. W. by S.

2d June.—The same fair monsoon at S. W. with hazy weather

from noon; latitude 6° 39’ N., longitude 85° 14’ E. continuing till

midnight.

3d June.—a-. mM. the same. Noon latitude 10° 8’ N., longitude

85° 42’ East; arrived off Jaggernath by 7 v. M. carrying fine mon-

soon throughout.

Abridged Log of the Ship Jusstx Locan, towards Calcutta, reduced

to civil time. .

3ls¢ May.—At noon latitude 2° 48’ N., Barometer 29.84, Ther-

mometer 84. p. m. fine clear weather, wind W.S. W., 8 knot breeze.

Ist June—Fresh and squally, wind W. S. W., latitude 6° 14’,

Barometer 29.62. Thermometer 85. p. M. strong breeze S. W. pre-

paring for bad weather, heavy cross sea. Midnight finer, made

more sail.

2nd June.—a. m. light winds to noon. Latitude 7° 55’. Barome-

ter 29.75. Thermometer 87°. p.m. variable, and S. W. at 10 p. m.

when squally and blowing fresh.

3d June.—a. M. to noon strong breezes S. W. Noon latitude 10° 60’

N. Barometer 29.60.

I was unable to obtain the longitudes to this vessel’s log, but they

are of little importance, as she was doubtless about on the usual

track.

Abridged Log of the Bark Juurer, bound to Calcutta, reduced to

civil time.

lst June.—Strong breeze W. S. W. (8 and 9 knots,) and fine

weather. Noon latitude 4° 26’ N., longitude 85° 0’, the same till mid-

night.

974 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 1381.

2d June.—a. m. the same wind W.S. W. and fine, 8 and 9 knots.

Noon latitude 89° 57’ N. longitude 85° 12’ E. pv. m. the same.

3d June.—The same. Noon latitude 13° 21’ N. longitude 84° 40’.

4th June.—The same, latitude 16° 48’ N. longitude 85° 0’.

eee ee

Abridged Log of the Bark Aucustus, Captain G. Purchase, from

Mauritius to Calcutta, reduced to civil time.

27th May.—Noon latitude 18° 45’ N. longitude 85° 35’ E. Mode-

rate breezes, 2 and 3 knots and cloudy. Barometer* 29.54, ‘Thermo-

meter 89°. pv. m. to midnight light and variable winds. S. W. to S. E.

28th May.—9 a.m. wind Easterly and light. Noon latitude 19° 16

N., longitude chronometer 85° 53’ E. Barometer 29,58. S. Westerly

current. p. m. variable E. by S. to S. E. at 7, but then increasing a

little. 5 p.m. saw Manickapatam Pagoda bearing N. W. by N. Mid-

night light airs.

29th May.—4 a. m. calm, saw Black Pagoda N. N. W. five

leagues. Noon light breezes and clear, latitude 19° 39’, longitude chro-

nometer 86° 18’, Barometer 29.57; slight Northerly current. vp. m.

moderate N. E. to E. by N. and N. E. winds. 8 p. m. cloudy, light-

ning to Southward and N. N. W. Midnight light winds and clear.

30th May.—4 a.m. moderate N. N. E. breezes and clear, increasing

to five knots at noon, very cloudy to theS. E. with thunder. Latitude

19° 1’, longitude chron. 86° 39’ E. Barom. 29.34, strong S. Westerly

current. 1 a. m. squally N. N. E. At5, North, at 9, N. E. heavy

squalls and showers towards midnight.

3lst May.—4 a. m. the same. weather; 6 a.m. fresh gales; close

reefing. Noon more moderaie. Wind from 5 a.m. to noon N. N. E.

to N. E. Latitude 18° 38’ N., longitude chron. 87° 17’ East, Baro-

meter 29.23. p.m. wind N. E. veering to E.by N. At 7 a.m. strong

breezes, heavy squalls and much lightning.

lst June.—a.m. wind E. by N. and weather as before. At 11, wind

N. N. W. strong breezes and cloudy. Latitude 19° 18’ N. longitude

* Captain Purchase having favoured me with a comparison, his Barometer is cor-

rected to that of the Surveyor General’s Office by subtracing 0° 16’ from its indi-

cations.

1842. | A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. — 975

86° 23’ E. Barometer 29.19’ p.m. fresh gales and heavy squalls

N. N. W. At ll p.m. N. W. by N. strong gales, much lightning, and

heavy rain.

2d June—6 a.m. wind N. W. At 9 and to noon W. by N.

dark cloudy weather, strong gales and much rain. No observations.

Barometer 29.24. p.m. the same ; under close reefed top-sails. 1 Pp. m.

wind West. At 7 p.m. wind W.S. W. to S. W. at midnight, when

fresh gales and cloudy.

3d June.—4 a. M. the same soundings, 26 fathoms mud; 6, saw the

Black Pagoda N. W. Noon False Point Light House N. W. 4 or 5

miles. Barometer 29.30. p.m. wind W. S. W. Fresh breezes and

fine to the Pilot.

(see cee

Abridged Log of the Barque Panrurea, Captain Marman, bound

to Calcutta, reduced to civil time.

Sunday, 29th May.—3 a. m. to noon calm. Latitude 18° 54’ N.

p. M. to midnight light Northerly winds.

30th May.—a. m. to noon, light Northerly winds. Latitude 18° 57’.

N. p.m. Northerly breezes with hazy weather, and some lightning.

3lst May.—N. N. E. winds freshening. Noon no observations. P. M.

freshening to a heavy gale from N. N. E. 2 p. m. hove to under elose

reefed main top-sail, heavy sea from the Easinard.

* Ist June.—Gale continuing from midnight. Noon no observations.

Pp. M. wind veered round to the Westward. Blowing hard at West.

2d June.—a. mM. moderated ; daylight bore up and made all sail.

Wind W. S. W. course N. by W. pvp. m. wind S. W. course, N. E.

. by E., moderate breeze , 5h. 30m. p.m. saw Ganjam bearing W. N.

W; 10, a heavy squall from N. W.

3d June.—-a. M. fine. Noon latitude 20° 8' N.

Abridged Log of the Barque Joan Wiuu1am Dare, Captain Ross,

Srom Calcutta bound to Penang, reduced to civil time.

26th May 1842.—The John William Dare \eft the Pilot at 2 p. m.

on the 26th May. At pv. m. the outer light bore N. W. 2 N. working

to windward with light variable breezes.

976 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

27th May.—Light airs to noon, when latitude 20° 38’ N. p.m. light

one and two knot breezes S. S. E., S. by E., and S. E. to midnight.

28th May.—Calms and clear weather, current to the N. E. at the

rate of two miles per hour. Noon latitude 20° 32' N. pe. m. light

airs to midnight with cloudy weather.

29th May.—Light breeze from N. E. at 8 a. m. Noon latitude 29°

46’ N. Barometer 29.50. Pp. m. moderate breeze N. E. by E. freshening

to midnight, when going six knots.

30th May.—Moderate 6 knot breeze, N. E. by E. to noon and

squally ; latitude 17° 56’, Barometer 29.50 and falling. ». m. fresh

breezes N. E. and squally, increasing to a gale at S. E. by E. at 6

rp. mM. At 12,8. S. E. heavy cross sea. Barometer at 6 p. m. 29.80;

at 8, hove to.

31st May.—2 a.M. wind about South, 6 a. m. a little more moderate,

10 increasing again. Noon no observations, wind about South. No ob-

servation, Barometer 29.20. 1 p. m. wind S. W. byS. ll v.m.S. by W.

7 P.M. more moderate, heavy cross swell from W. S. W. to midnight.

lst June.—2 p.m. heavy squalls and heavy S. W. swell. 10 4. m.

bore up; ship being leaky and lascars worn out. Noon no observations,

Barometer 29.10 and falling. ve. m. wind W. N. W. increasing gale,

hove to again. Midnight heavy weather. Barometer 28.80.

2d June.—a. mM. wind W.N. W. fresh gales and heavy squalls. No

observation ; current (or drift) three miles per hour. Barometer 29.0.

p.m. fresh gales W. N. W. and dark hazy weather to midnight. Ba-

rometer 29.00.

3d June.—a. M. made a little sail. At 7, wind S.S. W. Noon no

observations. P.M. fresh gales S. W. and cloudy.

Ath June.—a. M. to noon the same weather, wind about S. W. by 8S.

latitude 19° 12’ N. longitude 90° 33’ E. Barometer 29.10. ». m. wind

S. S. W. to midnight.

5th June.—Noon latitude 20° 0’ N. longitude 89° 3’ E. reached

the Pilot station at 10 a. m. on the 6th.*

* The Brig Moulmein, Captain Pratt, from Singapore to Madras, had light winds

and fine weather in latitude 4° 24’ N. to the East of Acheen Head on the 29th May.

On the 30th, a heavy North-westerly swell with Diamond Point W. N. W. Variable

winds and calms on the 31st, and from Ist June, beat through the Bengal passage

against a strong S. W. Monsoon, which lasted through the 2nd and 3rd June.

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 977

Letter from Captain Buckton, commanding Brig “ ALGERINE.”

Srr,—Upon perusal of the “ Englishman” of the 6th instant, I ob-

serve your request, ‘‘ for any information respecting the late storm,”

that this city has been visited with.

Should my observations upon the Eeaicierdinnes weather, which

I encountered in the Bay of Bengal, between the 19th May and 4th

June, tend to throw any further light upon the Law of Storms than is

at present known, I shall feel glad that the constant attention which

I paid to the signs of the weather, and the indications of a most excel-

lent Marine Barometer (by Troughton and Sons,) will have slightly

availed the interests of science.

The 18th May, in Jatitude 8° 5’ N. longitude 97° 50’ E. com-

menced with light Westerly winds, increasing towards midnight with

thick cloudy weather. At 9h. 30m. a. m. experienced a very heavy

squall from the N. W., with torrents of rain, loud peals of thunder

and vivid forked lightning ; the electric fluid struck on the wet deck, —

hissing as it bounded forward and over to leeward ; and the force of

the wind so great, that, although every sail was furled, we lay lee gun-

wale under. This squall lasted until near noon, and was succeeded

by a fresh breeze from the Westward, and which continued with

thick cloudy weather until noon of the 23rd, when, in latitude 6° 16’

N. longitude 97° 20' East, the wind gradually veered round to S. W.

and W. S. W. increasing to a double reefed topsail breeze, carrying

us into latitude 8° 50’ North, longitude 93° 35’ East; during the

whole of the time the Barometer ranged between 29.20 down to 29.0

At 3 a.m. of the 26th, the wind drew round to W. by S., blowing

strong, with a high confused sea. Barometer down to 28.80, latitude

9° 20' N., longitude 93° 11’ East; at 2 a. m. 27th, the wind suddenly

veered round in a heavy squall to N. W., then to N. E., and back

again to N. N. W., with very heavy rain, little thunder, but most

vivid and constant lightning ; the Barometer falling to 28.70, latitude

9° 26’ N., longitude 92° 35’ E.

On 28th, in latitude 10° 0' N., Jongitude 92° 26’ East, the sky

became a perfect dense mass of black clouds with the scud flying

rapidly past from N. E., 8. E., and W. 8S. W., the wind light, and

978 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India, [No. 1381.

the sea rising in bubbles, as if the wind was blowing from every point

of the compass, hissing and rising up in bubble like a boiling caul-

dron. Here the Barometer fell to 28.60; this being excessively

low for so low a latitude, induced us to make every preparation for

severe weather. From this time until the Ist June, latitude 15° 25’

N., longitude 87° 58! E. experienced an increasing gale steady from

S.S. W. to S. W. by W. with much lightning, and a very heavy

appearance all round. The Barometer rising and falling according

to the strength of the squalls, or the preponderance of rain from

28° 70’ to 28° 56’. On the 2nd, (civil time,) the gale increased so as

to oblige us to lay to, the Barometer having fallen to 28.45, (latitude

17° 20’ N., longitude 87° 6’ E.) At 9 a. m. experienced a cross sea,

setting in from 8. W., N. W., and N. E., the former preponderating ;

the rain pouring down in torrents, the gale increasing, and the squalls

blowing with fearful violence from W.S. W. and shifting suddenly

from that to N. W., N. N. W., and as far as North; the Barometer

gradually falling until it came down to 28.18; at midnight more

moderate, the Barometer up to 28.36. Steady gale from S. W. by W.

decreasing towards noon. 3 p.m. when latitude 19° 10’, longitude 86°

42', so as to enable us to make sail until 11h. 30m. p. m. of Friday,

when the Barometer again fell to 28.20 during a most severe squall from

N. W. False Point was then bearing about N. W. 12 miles; here we

were obliged to stand to the S. Eastward for two hours, when we again

made sail, and on the following night, at 10 p. m. we were anchored

off the tail of Saugor Sand, the wind very steady from S. Westward

and decreasing, the Barometer having risen to 28.50. From this

time until our arrival at Calcutta, on the morning of the 7th, we had

fresh breezes from S. W. mostly; the Barometer rising to 28.85.

Cuar.es BuckrTon,

Commander of the Brig Algerine.

Abridged Log of the Barque ArteL, Captain Burt, from Singapore

bound to Calcutta, reduced to civil time.

The Ariel passed the Nicobars on the 21st and 22d May, working

against a strong monsoon until the 26th May, when she was at noon

1842, | A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in {ndia. 979

in latitude 10° 49’ N. longitude per chron. 90° 30'E. Barometer 29.69*.

Thermometer 85°. Increasing S. W. breezes and cloudy weather.

Pp. M. strong monsoon. At midnight increasing breeze S. W. and very

squally.

27th May.—7 a.m. steady breeze S. W. Noon strong monsoon and

cloudy. Latitude account 12° 47’ N. longitude 89° 07’ E. Barometer

29.56. Thermometer 89°. p. m. moderate breezes W. by S. but squally

appearances. At 8 p. m. light breezes, and cloudy at midnight.

28th May.—Daylight fresh breezes and cloudy, wind variable. At

8 a. M. a severe squall, and the wind shifting suddenly from N. E..,to

West, ship was taken aback and thrown on her beamends. Lost the

gig and several sails. At 10, squall abated. Noon, continued heavy

squalls, with thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Wind continually

veering, (it is not noted between what points,) and a troubled sea on.

No observation. Latitude account 13° 57’ N. longitude 89° 42’ E.

Barometer 29.49. Thermometer 89. p. m. severe, heavy, continued

squalls, with thunder, lightning and rain. Barometer from 29.49 to

29.59, wind veering from N. E. to N. W. and West, preparing for bad

weather ; sunset more moderate ; midnight strong winds and variable,

as before.

29th May.—Daylight strong gales with heavy rains and a heavy

sea ; noon the same, with continued squalls, thunder, lightning and

rain ; wind marked as variable from North to West. Latitude account

13° 59’ N. longitude account 90° 7’ E. Barometer 29.44. Thermome-

ter 88° p. m. the same, moderating at intervals, but increasing again ;

wind from West to W. by S. and W. S. W. at midnight.

30th May.—Daylight hard gales W. S. W. and heavy rain ; noon

more moderate. Latitude observation 13° 39’ N. longitude 88° 58’ E.

Barometer 29.41. Thermometer 86. p.m. lying to under storm stay-

sails; wind W.S. W.; midnight more moderate, and sea considerably

fallen.

3lst May.—Daylight moderate W.S. W. At 8, a severe squall.

Noon strong gale. Latitude account 14° Ol’ N. longitude account

89° 13’. Barometer 29° 38’. Thermometer 86°. p. m. strong gale and

very heavy squalls at times. Barometer still at 29° 38’, lying to

under storm staysails. Midnight clearing a little.

* Corrected by comparison with that of the Surveyor General’s Office.

6 ™M

980 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

Ist June.—Daylight strong steady gales S. S. W.; 9, severe squalls.

Noon strong gales. Latitude account 14° 37’ N. longitude 89° 18’ East.

Barometer 29.41. Thermometer 85°. p. m. strong gale to midnight,

wind about S. S. W.

2d June.—Daylight weather as before; wind apparently West to

S. S. W. Noon moderating. Latitude observation 15° 03’ N. longitude

89° 02' E. Barometer 29.38. Thermometer 84°. p.m. to midnight

strong gales S. W., but less sea.

3d June.—Daylight the same, more sea. Noon latitude 16° 21’ N.

longitude 87° 29’ E. Barometer 29.31. Thermometer 893 7’. P. m.

to midnight strong gales S. W. going from 5 to 8 knots N. W.

4th June.—Noon latitude 18° 44’ N. longitude 85° 56’ E. Barome-

ter 29.34. Thermometer 92. Fine weather. At 4 p. m. saw Gan-

jam, and hence had the usual variations in the monsoon at this season

to the Pilot.

Abridged Log of the Brig ArEtuusa, Captain Jas. Clarke, from

Calcutta towards Madras, reduced to civil time. Forwarded by

Captain Biden.

30th May.—v. m. strong breezes from the S. W. and cloudy wea-

ther, with a heavy swell are noted, increasing at sunset, and at 11

p. mM. ‘ experienced a heavy fall in the Barometer” is stated, though

how much is not said, nor is the Barometer height given.

31st May.—Increasing gales S. W. by W.., high sea breaking over

the Brig. Daylight strong gales. 10 a. m. more moderate. Noon brisk

breezes and strong gales. Latitude observation 14° 20'N., longitude

84° 29' E. p.m. strong gales S. W. by W. and high sea. At 6,

wore ship to the W. N. W. having hitherto been standing to the

S.S. E. Midnight the same weather, wind 8.5. E.

lst June.—8 a. m. weather the same. Noon latitude by observation

13° 49’ N., longitude 84° 5’ E., wind W.S. W. from 2 a.m. Pp. m.

strong gales and high sea. Wind S. W. by W. and 8.58. W. to mid-

night.

2nd June.-—-The same weather to noon, with wind S. W. Latitude

1 4° 22’ N. longitude 83° 24’ E. moderating a little. Midnight varying

to South.

Ee ee

nies Nig ees? aa

ae ere

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 981

3rd June.—Same weather, wind from 8. 8. W. to S. W. at noon,

Latitude 14° 21’ N. 82° 53’ E. |

This vessel’s log is given for 4th, 5th and 6th, but it is evident, as

by the foregoing extracts, that she had only a heavy monsoon.

Abridged Log of the Barque NorFouk, Capiain Jrom Calcutta

to Mauritius, civil time.

27th May.—Noon latitude 20° 15’ N. longitude 88° 54’ E.

28th May.—At noon latitude 19° 40’ N. longitude 88° 5’ E. Light

winds, and fine till midnight.

29th May.—At 8 a. m. increasing winds N. E. Noon latitude 18° 82’

N. longitude 87° 15’ E. Steady breeze N. by E. to midnight, when

squally with passing showers.

30th May.—At 8, increasing winds N. N. W. At noon N. W. lati-

tude 17° 00' longitude 87° 00’ E. going 6 knots to the S. i W. 2 p.m.

heavy squalls from the N. W. increasing to midnight; preparing for

bad weather.

3lst May.—a. m. strong winds and heavy squalls N. W. 6 a. m.

more moderate. Noon brisk wind, varying from West to North* till

midnight. Latitude at noon 15° 20’, N. longitude 88° 10’. E. Midnight

cloudy with squalls.

lst June.—a. m. wind marked 8. W. Strong breeze and cloudy,

with a heavy swell from the S. W. Noon squally. Latitude 14°35’ N.,

longitude 89° 25’ E. Midnight brisk gales and cloudy.

2nd June.—Throughout brisk gales S. W. and cloudy. Noon lati-

tude 15° 10’, longitude 88° 40’ E.

SECTION II.

Eastern Shores of the Bay, with Burrisal and Dacca.

Dr. Hinton, Civil Surgeon of Akyab, in an account of the storm of

the 14th and 15th May, on the Eastern shores of the Bay, which with

that of December 1841, will form the subject of another memoir now

in preparation, sends the following memorandum relative to that of

June, which we are now investigating.

“ Since writing the above, I have seen in the Englishman a notice

* So in the log.

982 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

of the severe storm in Calcutta, on the 3rd June, which was not felt

here, but about forty miles to the southward, in Combermere Bay,

a large row-boat was capsized owing to a tremendous sea, com-

pared by one who experienced it, and was well able to judge, as

equalling the sea off the Cape of Good Hope. A second row-boat being

in company, went to the assistance of the drowning men, and through

the strenuous exertions of W. D. Brown, Esq. not only were nineteen

lives saved, but the boat righted and brought into Akyab harbour.

The following is Mr. Brown’s note :—

Abstract of the Weather from \st to 5th June 1842, drawn up by

W. D. Brown, Esq. Marine Assistant to the Commissioner of Ar-

vacan at Kyook Phyoo, 1842.

ls¢ June.—For several previous days weather very oppressive, sky

overcast. Barometer unsteady.

2d June.—Daylight Barometer 29.60. Thermometer 82°. 9 a. m.

left Kyook Phyoo in a row-boat for Akyab, wind blowing fresh from

the S. W. with rain. 11 a.m. passed Cape Elizabeth, heavy sea on ;

11h. 30m. wind came round ina heavy squall to the N. W., took in

almost every foot of sail, the sudden and violent change of wind

caused a tremendous sea, requiring two men to steer. ] Pp. M. running

for Nundigree Creek, overtook another row-boat which had left

Kyook Phyoo two hours in advance of me, found her capsized with

nineteen men on her bottom, saved them, righted and baled her

out, and brought to for the night in the channel. Midnight blew

very heavy from W. and W. 8. W. all night.

3d June.—Daylight went in search of ten of the crew of the cap-

sized boat, wind blowing strong from W. 5S. W.; after some time, found

them, having swam to two islands on spars, &c., then proceeded on with

wind right aft up the Kenain-known passage, with a succession of

squalls and rain all day, and anchored at evening.

4th June.—Daylight made sail, and crossed Hunter’s Bay, where

the sea resembled the surf at Madras during a gale, and ran up the

Meabong Channel ; squalls and rain having continued all day, and

anchored at evening.

Sth June.—Daylight strong westerly winds with rain. 7h. 30m.

A. M. very heavy squall. 7h. 45m. weighed, and reached Akyab at

Sh. 30m, a. M.

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 983

Chittagong.

From Chittagong I have been favoured by R. Trotter, Esq. B. C.S.

with the following letter and register ; and in reply to some enquiries,

with the note which follows the register :—

*‘ T have the pleasure to send you the accompanying Table, contain-

ing a few particulars regarding the state of the weather here during

the late hurricane in Calcutta. I find my Sympiesometer a very deli-

cate instrument, indicating approaching changes. It fell to 28.70

during the violent squall on the 3d, about 3h. 30m. p. m.

Rain Gages.

Mr. Wind and Weather.

Trotter’s

Sympie- | Barometer

someter by

June.| Adie at |by Dollond

Mr. Sconce’s.

9a.M.[9P.M.| 9a.M.

9a.M. 9 a. M. to to to A. M. P.M.

p.M.|9A.M.| 9A.M

Wed. |Ther. Ther. Inches.

MS226 2818418230: 206) yi. nee 0.00

Thurs. ,

2 |82.4 .80/81 .210| ‘Total. 0.00 |Cloudy- |Westward to South.

0.36 S. E.

Fri. S. Westerly, rainy,

92° 2.27 S. Ely. jat330 p.m. a very

3 | 80 246) .79:. 200 Total. 0.469 |Rainy. |violent squall from

7 3.19 Stormy. |S. W. much rain.

a yey, South & S. Westl

‘ YS) 3 out - Westly.

4 180.4 .82/79 .202/ ‘otal. 2.968 Sys at night, after Elo.

82 y: ing from S. W. a

Sun. heavy squall from

.98 N. W.

59 {80.8 .90)78 .202 Total. 4.483 | Ditto.

.98 Heavy rain from W.

Mon

94 ~=18

6 | 80 ,88 rhe ee) Foal 1,666 |S. Ely. |South & S. Westly.

7 ,

a ere | ee ee |S

Rain Gages.

by Dollond.

* The attached Thermometer stands 2° higher than the above observations.

+ The Barometer stands about 2-10th below the standard in Calcutta.

N. B. I cannot account for the great difference of the results of the Rain Gages ; that used by me

is a plain tin box, of which the cubical contents are ascertained. The observations of 4th and 5th

were checked by actual measurement.

984 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

Noacolly. :

Dr. Baker, Civil Surgeon of Noacolly, latitude 22° 48' N. longitude

91° 04’ E. has forwarded to me the following report.

I have the pleasure to furnish you with the following remarks on

the state of the weather in this quarter, about the period of the occur-

rence of the late gale in Calcutta and its neighbourhood :—

Towards the end of May, the heat had been very oppressive. Them.

91° at the highest range, being higher by one degree than I have

ever observed it during a residence of many years at this station; the

atmosphere exhibited that white hazy appearance, which, as you ob-

serve, is noticed in conjunction with earthquakes, and a similar ob-

servation was made here regarding it.

On Friday night the 3d instant, it began to blow from the Eastward,

and continued increasing until it blew “ half a gale” during the 4th

and 5th, the wind gradually veering round to the S. E., from whence

it continued steady for the last two days, when it subsided. The weather

was squally and attended with rain, not very heavy, and at no time

could it be said to blow a complete gale, nor had we any inundation.

I am sorry that I cannot give you the Barometrical changes,

not being furnished with the necessary instrument; nor did I

take any precise notes on the state of the weather during the

period in question; but I can vouch for the general accuracy of

the above statement, from which it would appear, that the centre

of the gale was far to the West of this station. Noacolly is situ-

ated about four miles from the North shore of the great embou-

chure of the ‘‘ Megna,” and opposite to the Island of Hatteah. My

correspondents at Chittagong say nothing of the gale in that quarter.

Burrisaul is due West from Noacally, distance about fifty miles.

Noacouiy, (BuLiooaH,) J. BAKER,

15th June, 1842. Civil Surgeon.

In reply to some inquiries, Dr. Baker adds as follows :—

“I regret that I am unable to give the precise information which

you require, relative to the changes of the wind. I can only state

generally, that it commenced from the East, and the E. by South, blow-

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 985

ing pretty steadily from that quarter during the first two days, then

veering to the S. E. and South gradually, as I mentioned in my

former communication. There was nothing so remarkable in the vio-

lence of the weather, as to attract my particular attention to minu-

tize ; had it blown a gale, I should have been more minute in my obser-

vations. I think, from the dates I gave you, the stormy weather

must have set in earlier by two or three days here than it did in

Calcutta, and continued for a longer period, lasting with us three days.

I hear there was only a squall or two felt at Chittagong about the

period, so that apparently the gale, did not extend very far to the

Eastward. At Burrisaul, West of this place, it appears to have been

more violent. At Chittagong, to the East, more moderate than here.”

Burvisal.

From Burrisal, Mr. Ince of the Salt Agency, has obliged me with

the following remarks, made by himself and a friend at that sta-

tion :—

‘“‘ For several days the heat had been very great. On the S5lst May

1842, we had rain, which cooled the air a little; a strong wind all day

from the Eastward.

lst June.—Heavy rain with squalls from S. E., towards evening it

got more to the East, and blew very hard all night, not much rain.

2d June.—Still blowing a perfect gale from the East with drizzling

rain ; continued so all night. .

3d June.—At 4 past 2 in the morning, the wind got to E. S. E. and

blew fearfully, river rose to within a few feet of the Bund ; compounds

nearly under water, every appearance of an inundation; towards

evening it became milder, and the wind appeared inclined to settle at

due South, but during the whole night the gale continued, but not

quite so violent.

Ath June.—Wind at South, but still very high, tremendous gusts

during the whole night.

5th June.—Wind still very high, getting more to the Westward.

6th June.—Clearing up, but wind still very high ; a vast deal of da-

mage has no doubt been done, but all the reports have not yet come

986 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 131.

in ; fortunate it was that it did not occur during the springs, for with the

strong Easterly wind, nothing could have saved us from inundation.

We have since had some very heavy rain, particularly on the 10th.”

Dacca.

From Dacca the only Report I have obtained, was sent me by an

anonymous Correspondent, who will I hope, accept my best thanks for it.

“‘In case no fuller account of the late storm, as experienced at Dacca

may have been received, the following remarks I made at the time are

forwarded for Mr. Piddington’s use. The storm was not in any way

so violent at Dacca, as it appears to have been in Calcutta. As letters

from Chittagong, of the 5th, make no mention of any storm, it

probably did not extend much further to the Eastward.

3d June.—Heavy rain, wind East, but not particularly strong.

Thermometer at 10 a. m. 80°, and air cool.

4th June——Wind from South East and South, very strong in

gusts, continued rain and heavy squalls. Thermometer 83° at 10 a. m.

5th June.—Wind from South, and more moderate, continued

rain, Thermometer at 10 a. m. 84°. At half past 3 pv. m. wind

changed to South West with a violent squall, the wind stronger at

this time than at any other period during the storm. Wind re-

turned in a very short time to the old quarter, or South East, stormy

night with heavy rain. Monday, wind abated S. 8. West. Thermo-

meter at a. m. 80°. It will be observed that the storm did not

reach Dacca till the 4th, and that though the rain continued without

intermission, the temperature of the air increased, instead of becoming

cooler, as would have been the case under ordinary circumstances.

The wind came round by the South.

SECTION IiI.

On the Western Coast of the Bay, from Madras to Kedgeree, we

have the following data.

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 987

MADRAS BAROMETRICAL REGISTER.

Extracts from the Meteorological Journal, kept at the Madras

Observatory, Fort St. George.

Barometer. Thermometer.

pate. |——

ee Gee | os

S8a.m. | 4p.m. | 102.m.| 8a. um. | 4P.m. 10 P.M.

(ees eames | een

1842.

May 28th] 29.876 | 29.742 | 29.776 | 926) 92.4 89.5

, 29th} 29.776] .. 29.736 | 87.2 ”, 90.0

» 30th} 29.752 | 29.670 | 29.742 | 87.5 92.71 92.0

» Bist 29.752 | 29.668 | 29.7321 989.0! 928] 908

June Ist| 29.718 | 29.616 | 29.674| 885! 963) 929

» 2d| 29.708 | 29.610 | 29.672 | 90.1 943) 91.9

» 3d} 29.718) 29.616 | 29.670} 89.01 963) 92.4

» 4th 20730 | a 29.626 | 88.6 a | 88.3

ee | ere Gee | ee eee

» 5th} 29.506 | 29.322 | 29.364 90.0 90.8 38.1

(True Copy,) CHAS. BIDEN.

At Covelong the weather, by the Log of the Ship Ino of White-

haven, was fine.

The Brig Futieh Rohoman, lying in Poondy Road, between Ganjam

and Manikpatam, (latitude about 19° 35’ N.) experienced on the Ist,

2nd, and 3rd June, strong W. N. W. breezes, preventing her from

receiving cargo.

ee eee

From Dr. CUMBERLAND, Civil Surgeon, Pooree.

I have the pleasure to send you an account of the weather expe-

rienced at Pooree, during the latter part of May, and the early part

of the present month. I regret it is not in my power to add the

barometrical changes, as I have no instrument.—N. B. The obser-

vations were made about 400 yards from the sea.

22d May.—Commenced with the usual strong S. W. breezes pre-

valent at this season at Pooree. The weather was sultry, Therm. 90°.

988 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

At 5 vp. M. heavy clouds accumulated in N. W. At 53 p. m. wind

N. W. Therm. 84°. At 64 p.m. wind suddenly shifted to S. W.

and blew for half an hour, as if from a furnace, it was so hot ; and

the thermometer rapidly rose to 90°. A few drops of rain fell.—(N. B.

To the S. W. was the open sea about 400 yards off.) The wind then

continued variable for about an hour, frequently shifting suddenly

in a most remarkable manner, from N. W. to S. W., blowing gently

from either quarter for a few minutes. At 74 p. m. the clouds broke, —

and the threatened storm appeared to pass away to the Northward ;

the usual cool S. W. breeze succeeding the hot one, changing however

during the night to S. E. From this time until theeend of the

month, the weather was generally sultry and oppressive ; the highest

range of the thermometer was 90° 25’, the lowest 79°; the winds were

variable, but chiefly from S. E. during the day, with squalls from

N. W. in the evening, and the nights calm. Thunder and lightning,

but no rain, accompanied the squalls until the 30th and 3lst, when

nearly an inch of rain fell. On the last day, the wind was from the

N., and the sky overcast.

lst June.—Wind from N. cloudy, rain, lightning; rain 0.10. Ther-

mometer 83°, lowest 79.°

2d June.—Wind N. to N. W. cloudy, rain 0.20. Thermometer

83°, lowest 78°.

3d June.—Cloudy, wind from N. W. to S. W. at night calm, and

towards morning S. W., rain 0.10. Thermometer 87°, lowest 84°.

4th June.—Cloudy, wind S. W. At 7p. m. thunder, lightning,

and rain from N. W., rain 0.05. Thermometer 90°, lowest 82°.

5th June.—Early part of day, wind N. W. with rain. At 10 a.m.

S. W. cloudy, fresh breeze. At 4 pv. m. blowing almost a gale. At6

A. M. moderate, rain 0.30. Thermometer 87°, lowest 83°.

6th June.—Wind S. W. rain at 6 p. m. heavy squall from N. W.

with thunder, lightning and rain. Thermometer 86°, lowest 76°, rain

0 inches 85 tenths.

7th June.—S. W. cloudy, at night N. W., rain 0.05.

I may here remark, that the surf has been higher during the pre-

sent month, than I ever witnessed it before at this season. The above

may be useful, as shewing the extent of the storm which did so much

damage in Calcutta on the 3d instant. During the night of the 3d,

eee ise a :

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India, 989

when the storm was at its highest with you, we were lwxurdating in a

sultry calm.

R. B. CUMBERLAND.

From A. Minto Esa. C. S., Cuttack.

I scarcely should have thought it of any use to forward the few

imperfect remarks about the weather on the early part of this month,

as noted by me; but as you expressed a wish to procure all the infor-

mation possible, I give you mine, such as it is.

lst June.—Continued rain nearly all day, calm.

2d June.—Partial heavy showers, calm.

od June.— Partial heavy showers; during the night rain fell heavy,

with strong wind from the Southward, which did not continue above

an hour.

I may observe, that the wind was considered by me merely a puff,

such as frequently accompanies falls of rain; I was in bed at the

time, and thought it uncommon; the hour I should say was about

midnight.

A. MINTO.

The following ts the Report from Balasore by the Master

Attendant.

I beg leave to forward a copy of my log kept at Balasore. We have

had no gales, but a good fall of rain; only a slight Bank was percepti-

ble to the Eastward on the 3lst May.

9am. SPM. 5 Pp. M.

28th May, Barometer, 29.69 29.65 29.60

1842, Thermometer, 88° 90° 892°

No wind, air very oppressive at a. m.; light airs from S. E. vp. m.

Barometer, 22.70 29.64 29.60

et May, Thermometer, 884° 904° 90°

Very close indeed, as yesterday, and slight airs from N. E. and cloudy.

Barometer, 29.63 29.60 29.58

v0th May, a aed 883° BOS 89°

990 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

Slight air from N. E. with heavy clouds to Eastward, wind chang-

ing to S. E. p. mu.

Barometer, 29.54 29.50 29.48

31st May, Thermometer, 86° 84° 84°

N. Easterly winds, with cloudy weather and rain throughout.

1 7 Barometer, 29.40 29.37 29.36

st June, Thermometer, 982° 83° 823°

Wind from N. E. to N. W., with heavy rain throughout, and very

heavy clouds.

Barometer, 29.33 29.28 29.27

Thermometer, 82° 822° 8l°

Wind from N. W. with heavy rain and gusts of wind throughout,

with low flying clouds.

2d June,

Barometer, 29.25 29.25 29.23

ee aes 3 gle 814° g2°

Wind N. E. to N. W., with heavy rain and gusts of wind 5 p. Mm.;

at 10 p. m. wind from S. W. in strong gusts, a double reefed topsail

breeze with rain throughout.

Barometer, 29.32 29.29 29.29

Thermometer, 82° 64° 83°

Clearing up, wind S. W. rather Southerly inclined at times, with

rain in passing clouds.

N. B.—Barometer always ranges lowest at 5 p. m. and about that

time indicates a change or otherwise; on the 5th Barometer 29.50,

Thermometer 84°. —

Ath June,

A. BOND, M. A.

In reply to some inquiries of mine as to the é/mes of the changes of

the wind, Mr. Bond says, “ I have the pleasure to enclose the times

of change of wind as nearly as possible for the three days required

in June; viz. Ist, 2nd, 3rd.”

lst June 1842.—Wind N. E. till 4 past 5 p. m., when it changed to

N. W. with heavy rain throughout, and heavy clouds, remaining ra-

ther stationary from N. W.

2nd June.—Wind N. W, and rather more Westerly inclined towards

evening, with strong gusts of wind, and heavy rain throughout, and

low flying clouds from N. E.

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 991

3rd June.—Wind at 8 p. m., veering from N. W. to N. E., with

heavy rain; at noon wind N. W.; at 2 p.m. W. N. W., and from that

time gradually veering round to West; and at 10 p.m. S. W. with

very strong gusts of wind ; a good double reefed top-sail breeze with

rain throughout.

N. B.—After sunset throughout both Monsoons the winds are

more Westerly. N. E. Monsoon at sunset veering to North; 3 a. m.

N. W.; 8S. W. Monsoon at sunset veering to South ; at 3 a. um. S. W.;

the only exception is when it blows strong at the commencement of

either of the Monsoons.

H. C. Pilot and Light Vessels.

I have obtained through the zealous aid of my friend, Captain Clap-

perton, Acting Master Attendant, very full returns from all the H.C.

Pilot and Light Vessels, which will be found embodied in the general

Tabular statement, and duly referred to in the summary at the con-

clusion.

From A.C. BARWELL, Esq. Salt Agent, Hidgelce.

State of the Thermometer and Sympiesometer kept by a gentleman

at this station, from the Ist to the 6th June inclusive. 4

Date = o | Sympie-

1842. | 2% | someter. Rove

re ee | ee | EE eR SE SD TER SE

June Ist,) 85 | 29.400 |Cloudy and heavy showers all day from E.

sash see .290 |Ditto ditto and strong breezes E. and

N. E.

ae au.) Os -050 (Ditto and constant ditto from N. and

N. W. varying to S. W.; at4 p.m.

ew th,|...80 .350 |‘Showery and clearing up, wind S. W.,

» Oth, 804 050 ‘Squally and heavy showers from S. W.,

» 6th, 82 | 500 meat now and then, drizzling rain S. W.

The gale here, I imagine, was not in violence to be compared with

what took place in Calcutta and its neighbourhood, and was attended

with very little mischief.

A. C. BARWELL,

Agent, Hidgelee Department.

992 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

From Mr. M. P. Dyzr, H. C. P. S.

The following Remarks were made off Kedgeree, from 29th May

to the 8th June, premising that the weather prior to the 29th was

extremely close and oppressive, and Thermometer 95° in shade.

Date. Bar. Wind. Remarks.

——— ee)

May 29th, | 29.40 S.toN. KE. (3 p.m N. E. squall and change

of weather.

oth... 99.35 E. to N. E. |Light squalls with rain.

serkeat si (1 Fam WAS es N. E. Squally with rain; threatening.

June Ist, | 29.30 N. E. More moderate.

pay 2s 1} BOWLS N by E. [Strong gales, and threatening

with heavy rain.

,» ord, | 28.73 |N.W. to W. |Heavy gales with intervals and

heavy rain.

» Ath, | 29.00 Ss. W. Strong breezes and moderating.

Oth, ..).329.20 S. W. Moderate, but dull and hazy.

35. Oth, *29.25 S. W. Do. do. squalls of rain.

biol ath “4 OOg5 S. W Do. do. do. do.

ORL, by noon the weather cleared

a et N. W. to E. \ A. M. heavy N. Wester, and

off, and wind S.

The extraordinary feature in this gale is, the strength of it being

from the Northward and the Westward, instead of being from the East.-

ward, as is usually the case; and of course you are aware of the sun

being vertical, and moon in apogee, to which, and the extraordi-

nary rarefaction prior, the gale may be attributed ; in fact, from the

extraordinary lowness of the Barometer and N. E. winds, I, as early

as the 3lst May, brought my Ship, the Diamond, back from Saugor

to Kedgeree, where we rode out the gale. It was the shift of wind

from N. W. to W. that drove the Globe and Symmetry from their

anchors, as it then blew with great violence. I have no further

remark to make, but that the latter part of the gale the Thermometer

was down to about 82°.

JOHN DYER,

Master Pilot.

eee

1842.) A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 993

In reply to a letter addressed to Mr. Dyer, as to the times of the

change, he says, ‘‘ The change in question took place from midnight on

the 2nd to the evening of the 3rd June, from N. by E. to S. W.

eighteen hours.”

3rd June.

4a.m. N.N. W.

8 a.m. N. W.

oe oe Ss Ww. \ Hardest part of the gale.

6. p.m. S. W. Moderating.

J. DYER.

SECTION IV.

From Kedgeree to, and at, Calcutta.

The Steamer Forses was lying at Mud Point, the N. W. extreme

of Saugor Island, and Capt. Higgins has obliged me mith the

following account of the storm there :—

I proceed to give you a few observations relating to the late gale ;

but as I unfortunately had no Barometer on board at the time, (or

rather it was rendered useless by an accident,) I fear the facts here

stated will be of little use to you. During the whole of Thursday

the 2nd, it blew strong from the N. E., with occasional squalls of

rain, and the appearance of the sky and clouds was continually

changing ; at times promising a complete clear-up, and again giving

every appearance of a gale. At sunset the wind came to N.N. E.

and it rained smartly at times till midnight, when it commenced to

blow in squalls at North. At 2 a. m. on the 3rd, we had a very

severe squall, and from that time the gale increased in force, but

blowing very steadily from North. A 10 a. m. the wind came

round to N. N. W., still increasing in force, and coming on in squalls,

each harder and more furious than the last. Noon, the wind at

N. W., awful heavy squalls. 2P~.m.W.N.W. At4v.™M. wind at

West, one of the heaviest ; I think ¢he heaviest and longest squall

that we had during the whole of the gale. 6 P. m. wind at W.S. W.,

squalls still very heavy, but moderating a little. 8 p.m. wind S. W.

994 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

still moderating, but the rain increasing. 10 pv. m. wind S. W., but

the gale evidently broken. Midnight heavy S. W. monsoon breeze

and squalls.

We were steaming between Diamond Harbour and Mud Point

on the 2nd; and on the 3rd, the day of the gale, we rode off Mud

Point.

From the appearance of the clouds and the direction of the wind

on the 2nd, I fully expected the gale would have come on from the

Eastward ; indeed at sunset on the 2nd, it looked quite fine to the

Westward, the sun setting behind a bank of still looking fine weather

clouds; dnd the only appearance of bad weather being from the

Northward and Eastward ; yet from that very point [the Westward ]

that looked so promising on the 2nd, did we have the heaviest of the

gale the next day.*

JOHN HIGGINS,

Comdg. Steamer Forbes.

Log of the Barque Fairu18, Captain Garrett; from Captain Biden.

The Barque Fazriie, Captain E. Garrett, left Calcutta at 7 a. m.

2nd June, and was at anchor off Hooghly Point at 7 p. m., having the

wind North, and at midnight strong gales and cloudy, with thick

rain.

37rd June.—a. m. hard gales North with thick rain, making all

snug, and riding with 100 fathoms and 50 fathoms of cable upon two

anchors. 3 a. M. wind N. W. 2 p. m. about West, increasing gales.

Midnight 8S. W.: The lowest indication of the Barometer 28.30 is said

to have been at 2 p. m. on the 3rd June.

Ath June.—a. m. wind S. Westerly heavy gales, moderating at 6 a. m.

At Garden Reach, from 3 to 5 miles south of Calcutta, I have been

favoured nith the following valuable Notes of the Storm by my

Sriend, Wits EaRrxeE, Esq.

I send you a copy of some very rough notes taken at the Gardens

on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th June, which, with one doubtful exception

* Being in the Southern half of the storm circle, Capt. Higgins necessarily had the

winds from the Westward; though he saw the storm coming in a body from the

Eastward, as will be perceived by looking at the Chart.

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 995

(an error probably) may be taken, as giving pretty nearly the

directions of the gale at the times of observation. I have no Baro-

meter, but a Sympiesometer, (one of Adie’s own make, which belonged

to the Duke of York, that was lost in the May gale of 1833) that is

very sensitive, and indicates relatively, all the diurnal, &c. changes ;

but it stands I believe from half an inch to perhaps 2 of an inch below

what it ought to do, from defect of fluid I suppose. I have never had

the error tested by a standard perfect Sympiesometer.

For instance, this morning at Sh. 43m. a. M. it stood at 29.14 when

regulated by its attached Ther., which was at the same time at 81.8,

when I suppose a perfect one would have indicated 29.70, or upwards.

So you can make the requisite allowances, or if it were in the least

worth while, have the error of our Sympiesometer ascertained.

We have so many trees about us, and in and about the Company’s

Garden opposite to us, that the exact direction of the wind cannot be

ascertained. One of our trees, a mahogany one, lies with its head

I think somewhere in a S. 5. E. direction, opposite Bishop’s College ;

house front standing nearly due North and South.

Qnd June, 1842.—Thursday very strong N. E. to N. E. by E.

wind; throughout the night cloudy, with some little rain 5 30 a. m.

Thermometer outside in the North Verandah under 80°. Inside

Thermometer 79° 6’, attached to Sympiesometer, which stood at 28.52.

At 7 45 a.™. ditto weather with dark lowering clouds in the East.

Thermometer 81°., Sympiesometer 28.52. Outside Thermometer 81°.

Heavy showers of rain at intervals during the day, and continued

high N. E. wind ; no rain at night, of moment.

37rd June.—Friday during the early part (night) extremely bois-

terous wind ; half a gale from the N. E.; some slight rain towards

the morning. 5 45. a. m. inside Thermometer 79° 5’. Sympiesometer

28.25, 6 30 a. m. continual heavy rain, with high wind from

_ the N. W.;* very dark, no thunder heard ; and scarcely any lightning

seen during the prevalence, for the last five days, of the N. E.

breeze. 7 50 a. m. continued stormy wind N. E. to N. N. E., with

occasional rain; at times seems to increase. 9 40 a. m. wind rather

More northerly. Stronger with heavy beating rain, and so it has been

* Note by Mr. Earle. I think this is an error, it should be N. E. ;

996 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 131.

for the last 20 to 25 hours. Ther. attached 79° 4’. Symp. 28.12. 10h. 40m.

a.m. Ther. 79°, Symp. 28.04. Wind and rain increasing latterly, and

at present it is a veritable gale; though not so violent yet as that of

May 1838. 5 a.m. Ther. 79° 1’, Symp. 27.99, gale and storm unabated.

11-40 a.m. Ther. 79° 4’, Symp. 27.92. N.N. E. gale continues, rather

increasing, with heavy rain. 11-50 a. mw. Thermometer 79° 5’, Symp.

27.85, Symp. still falling. O 7 pv. m. Ther. 79° 4’, Symp. 27.83,

gale increasing. Mr. Willis’s black Schooner on her beam ends, fear

she will be swamped. 0.10 p. m. both Mr. Willis’s Schooner and his

large (20 tons) Saugor boat sunk at their anchors. 0.25 vp. m. Ther-

mometer 79° 3’, Symp. 27.74, or the red fluid sunk into the bend of

the tube, its height difficult to read off, but the upper surface of the

fluid in the bulb stood at 0.30 to 33 Pp. m. about Symp. 28.12, read off

in a rough guess way by the eye. A very raging and furious storm,

and which must, I fear, do dreadful mischief to the shipping, boats, &c.

0-37 p. m. rain heavier than it has been, quite obscuring the view,

wind seems now N. by W. 0-45 p.m. extremely heavy rain, with

continued furious blasts of wind. 0-40 to 45, Thermometer 80°,

Symp. 28.13; at upper surface of fluid in the bulb. About near 1] P. m.

storm still more violent, Ther. 79° 2’ and surface of fluid in the bulb

about Ther. 78° 3’, Symp. 28.135, breathing as tt were, or fluctuating

with the blasts.* 1-15 to 1-25 gusts of wind still more furious I think,

Thermometer 79° 0’, Symp. upper surface of fluid in the bulb 28.135,

to 138. Rain as heavy as before, wind apparently about N. by W. 2-15

p.M., during the last 20 to 25 minutes the storm has abated; the wind

just now is only pretty fresh from the N. West, with moderate rain,

Symp. as it was. At 4-15 p.m. there has been some rain, wind blowing

fresh now from the W. to W. S. W., with some rain. 4-15 Symp.

in a fix, unmoveable, or at least unchanged. 4-30 p. m. heavy rain

with strong gale from W. S. W. 6-380 to 6-40 Pp. m. excessively

heavy rain with stormy wind from the W. by S. to W. S. W.,

* The italics here are mine. The meteorologist will be struck with the analogy be-

tween this remark and that of Professor Barlow upon the water Barometer, as also the -

remarks of intelligent Captains, which so frequently occur in my Memoirs, and in the |

works of Mr. Redfield and Col. Reid, on the oscillation of the mercury in the gusts of a

storm: see also at p. 978 the log of the Algerine, where this phenomenon is again

noticed.—H. P,

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 997

afterwards bearing to S. S. W., which gale continued more or less

all night, although perhaps raging not so fiercely as it did between

0-30 and 2.0 p. m. Sympiesometer so far as observed up to 10 Pp. m.

and later, seemed still in its fixed low state.

4th June.—Saturday, 6-0 a. m. a stiff gale with little rain, still

blowing from the S. S. W.; and the same, but in greater degree

prevailed during the (past) night, and without very heavy rain.

6-30 a. m. Thermometer 78° 6’, Symp. 28.64 alive again! 7-5 a. m.

Thermometer 78° 7’, Symp. 28.66, height of upper surface of fluid in

the bulb 28.07, and was during the height of the gale 28.13 to 28.14,

as well as I could estimate it by the eye, without applying a rule or

scale. 8-15 a. m. Thermometer 80°, Symp. 28.67. 8-15 a. m. strong

S. S. W. breeze, little or no rain. Squally and rainy at intervals

during the day, with very strong wind from the 8S. 8. W. 7-15

p. m. Thermometer 80° 2’, Symp. 28.685, a strong S. W. or S. S. W.

wind, with occasional hard squalls or bursts continued throughout the

night.

EXTRACTS FROM THE NEWSPAPERS.

The following are the heights of the Glasses during the Gale of the

30th instant, on board the Barque Marcarer THomeson, Capt.

Thuriell, lying at Calcutta.

Sympiesometer. Barometer.

June 2nd, 10 p.m. 28.70 June 3rd, 7 a. M. 28.95

3rd, 7 A.M. 28.35 3 10 28.70

i 8 eer) ete a 12 28.50

- 10 » 28.05 44 1 p. mM. 28.30

a ll seuiN at wD so 130 28.22

$ 1 27.50 a 3 *28.32

its 030 p.m. 27.30 “3 ) 28.25

a ¥ 7.30 3 7 28.60

Ei 130 ,, 27.35 1 9 28.80

1” 230 ,, 27.40 a 10 28.85

A 5 a | aaOw a 12 28.99

e 6 95 28.00 June 4th, 7 A..Me 29,20

. BAO 4, (28.20

= 9 aa: ee

2). 10, 9 28:60

* 28,22 is probably meant here.—H. P.

998 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 131.

Log of the Persian during the Gale.

‘ Extract from the Bark Persian’s Log, June 3d—Commenced

with strong N. N. E. winds, dark cloudy weather, and heavy rain.

Lying at No. 7, Company’s Moorings off Calcutta. Barometer 28.40.

Sympiesometer 28.0, had fallen 2-10ths through the night. 10 a.m.

increasing to hard gale. About noon a hurricane, the tier ahead adrift,

the Regina coming into our larboard bow, carrying away jib-boom, and

long boat, and sweeping us with her, and dragging the moorings. We

drove into the David Malcolm’s hause, carried away the larboard bul-

warks, stancheons, &c., and stove the gig. About 1 p. m. it lulled, found

the Barometer had falled 3-10ths to 28.10, Sympiesometer 27.60 ; gota

stream cable ashore and hove taut. 2-30 p. m. light S. W. wind and

rain ; 3, increasing fast, our bowsprit locked in with David Malcolm’s

masts and another ship’s. 4, got clear by letting go, and cutting stays,

&c. &c., swung along side the Warrior, when the stream cable parted,

and we drove up the river striking the ground, till the main rigging

caught the Regina’s cathead ; got hawsers from our main and mizen

masts to her bow; she being aground, cut the main rigging and swung

alongside and lashed. 8 p. m. found the Bar. risen 4-10ths or 28.40,

Sympiesometer 28.00, but blowing hard as ever ; dark dismal night,

with heavy rain. Midnight moderating ; glass the same.

‘June 4th.—Commenced with strong S. W. gales, blowing in

squalls, with showers of rain; found the ship at daylight nearly a

complete wreck. The glass has been gradually rising all day, and at 9

p. M. stood Barometer 28.80, Sympiesometer 28.60. Midnight blowing

hard, with showers of rain. .

‘The Persian lay outside the Regina, taking the ground at half

tide till 1 ep. m. Monday, the 6th June, when after considerable diffi-

culty a Harbour Master and boats were got, and the vessel moored in :

the stream to her own anchors and cables.’— Englishman, June 9. |

Range of Barometer on board the Barque Davip Mavcoxm.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ENGLISHMAN.

Dear Str,—In your editorial remarks in your paper of yesterday, :

I observe you call on Ship Captains for the variations of the Barome- —

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. G99

trical column, as also notes from their Log Books. As I fancy the

latter is not of so much importance as the former, our good ships in

the river having generally fared pretty considerably the worse for

it, and our Log Books, I presume, being much about the same, there-

fore, I have the pleasure to send you one of your requests, as noted

under |

I am, dear Sir, your’s obediently,

R. M.

Englishman, 9th June 1842.]

Range of the Barometer on board the Barque Daviy Matcoum,

during the late Gale.

Thursday noon,............+. 29.35

¥ AUD, wie SOY 29.24

ii 9 £4.18." 9120.20

Pridays ses) VOMal mess. sie. (2010

ONO Se niae wetdlod, 29.07

is PO C6S ORAL. f 29.00

BOM. --+- 28.87

gilt of aaigdasotig! Aoids : 98.77

i UY. O12 orndon’?. 2 °28.70

» eee 12 30 PM. .... 28.58

ss BO Voges atarpale 28.48

i 1B0 RE. Le 128.40

3 BATE PAE ABE 23.32 time of parting.

a Beit, Wee, eee 28.30

a Guabaternn oie 28.35

» 7 : 28.50

% Stee ie 28.70

5 OA GUE Mancitet. a 28.80

10 - 28.90

peice dGls eA tees le, att 29.5

patmnday, <... \\ Giannis iaiele sid. 29.15

Bettie eek OLite Beaeth, abe. 29.20

pyres! (kD noone 0s ya: 29.20

UMS SALOON, © als alle ocsie. ds. ¢ ole-s 29.45

1000 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

Storm of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th June, 1842.—Notes by H. Piddington,

published in the Englishman and Hurkaru Newspapers.

During the latter part of May the weather was excessively close

and oppressive, particularly during the nights. It was on the 27th

that we had the first North-Wester, after which the weather was

calm.

Generally, before this the white hazy appearance of the sky was

very remarkable, and in countries subject to earthquakes would have

been called earthquake weather, i. e. shocks would have been expected.

On the \st June.—At 6 a. m., the Barometer had fallen from

29.625, at which it had previously been (the usual average of May

being about 29.72) to 29.465. The wind was E. N. E. in variable

puffs, scud rising from heavy nimbi and cumuli to the Eastward, and

flying fast from about due East to West. Clear, and rather dark

blue sky, with light cirrhi and strata above the scud. Cloudy and

squally during the day, and threatening a heavy S. Easter* about

noon, which seems to have fallen to the Eastward, for it did not

reach us. The scud not remarkable in the afternoon, but always

coming from E. and S. E., a thick bank hanging to the Eastward.

2Qud June.—After midnight, squally from the East, with rain.

Daylight heavy and rapid scud from N. E., wind rising and falling,

Bar. at 5-30 a. m. 29.355.

Wind rising and falling very remarkably, at varying intervals of

15, 17 and 5 minutes, with the peculiar moaning noise which accom-

panies high and variable winds.

At 10 a. m., Wind N. E. by N. strong squalls, and Bar. 29.355.

Noon 29.355, strong N. E. gale, rapid white scud, with breaks of

dark blue sky and masses of white cumuli.

2 p. M., squalls at intervals, Bar. 29.265, calms and squalls to 7 Pp. m.

when Bar. 29.245, but light puffs and calms till 10 p. m.,t and

towards midnight, when Bar. about 29.17, squalls increasing from

N. E.

* L use this term to express a heavy burst of wind and rain from that quarter, such

as we have from the North-west, and which lasts from half an hour to 3 or 4 hours.

t This is another of the frequent, and indeed almost constant, instances in which

these hurricanes appear to moderate for a few hours after their commencement.

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1001

3rd June.—By 7 a.m., heavy squalls and rain from N. E. At 5-30

A. m., Barometer 29.065. Thermometer 84°, hard gale with heavy

squalls, scud rapidly flying from N. N. E. and N. E. by N.

Barometer.

At 6-15 a. M., heavy gusts about N. N.E. .. f -2 29.075

8 » ditto N. E. by N. Ne te ae -- 29.035

8-45 ,, ditto is as as ay -- 29.015

9-15 ,, ditto B ae Ife y: -- 28.995

10 » ditto F ip $4 #4 -- 28.905

10-30 ,, ditto i we a -. 28.865

11 5, ditto Thermometer 83° N. ® E.. uy ™ 26730

11-30 ,, ditto 3 P wf ahi 24 28-715

11-45 ,, ditto FY ee as a -- 28.675

Noon ,, ditto ae N.N. E... £, .- 28.625

0-35 P.M... oa -- 28.475

Tremendous hurricane site at LN. E. 5 N. ik N. 'N. E.

1-5 Longer intervals between the squalls, though yet very

heavy, .. De i. f a! es -- 28.370

1.30 At times almost calm with moderate breezes, .. -. 28.345

1-45 Calm, a a% a 34 Ue

2-0 Calm, Fs B oe ue | 28.315

2-30 Ditto scud indistinct, eat if driving at ‘all, from E. N.

E. to W. S. W., .. Js Are a % -. 28.285

3 p. M. Calm ; scud from East, but very slow and indistinct, a

light air from East, with drizzling rain, Ng .. 28.279

At this time I drove out on the Esplanade. The appearance of the

sky was very remarkable. In the zenith the haze was so thick that

the direction of the scud could not be determined, but to the East and

N. E. it was slowly moving, as before, to the West and S. W. while

in the South, from thick heavy masses of clouds, the scud was rising

and flying to the North and N. H.! Barometer.

3-30 A light squall and drizzling rain about S. W... —. . 28.275

4.20 Breeze from S. W. increasing fast, (the scud having be-

gan to move from the South about 3-20,) with squalls

and drizzling rain from the S. W.., a : « » 20.200

5 p. M. Heavy gusts from S. S. W. to S. W. Scud as rapid

from S. W. as before from N. E., Ps wi 2 28.320

1002 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India, [No. 131.

5-30 Tremendous gusts S. W., ve -- Barometer. 28.385

6 Pp. M., ie ef <> ‘f 3 te .- 28.525

6-30 Terrific squalls, .. Zz. wr sft ahs -- 28.580

7 a Pditiet 4; “e : = = .. 28.650

7-30 Very heavy, but more moderate ilies the gusts, .. 28.710

8 Heavy gusts again, S. W., we A A -. 28.755

8-30 ditto, oe : a ae ae ols .- 28.815

9 Heavy gusts, bil more moderate in the intervals, .. 28.850

9-30 Moderating, but with sudden and severe gusts, -- 28.895

10 Sudden gusts, .. : a ap if -- 28.925

10.30 ditto, wind perhaps S. S. w. ing 2 # -- 28.985

10-45 ditto, still with severe gusts, .. < if -- 28.995

11-50 ditto, 48 ; od if -- 29.000

Ath June.—At2a.m., Ne a still arbiis gale S.W., 29.015

At 4 a. M. strong monsoon gale, ©... : at -. 29.045

6-10 Strong breezes, but at intervals nearly etic of -- 29.105

10-20 Calm, with breezes at times from the S. W., .. -. 29.215

From this time till Sunday, the Barometer was slowly rising to

about 29.38, with at times a variable ‘ monsoon gale’ from S. W., with

intervals of calm, and at others blowing hard in squalls with rain.

From the shift of wind—though in the absence of documents, and

on shore, an opinion of the kind is liable to error—I should take this

storm to have come up on a track of about S. E. by E. to the N. W.

by W.,* in which case, and taking into account the heavy monsoon

which was coming up with it, great fears of an inundation about Bur-

risal and Backergunge may be entertained. From the previous state

of the weather, I am impressed with the idea, that it may, not impro-

bably, have been also a storm crossing over to us from the China seas,

which has occurred before. My Barometer, I should say, is corrected

to that of the Surveyor General’s Office.

The following are the Barometrical and other observations from

the Surveyor General’s Office at Calcutta, from the 26th May, when

the gradual depression below the monthly average to which I have

alluded at page 1000 commenced, until the 10th June, when about the

same pressure again returned.

* I was three points wrong in this estimate, the track being from S. S. E. to

N. N. W. See Summary.

“nll

A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

1005

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1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1007

SECTION V.

From Calcutta Inland.

Letter from R. J. Homfray, Esq. Midnapoor, Lat. 22° 25' N.

Ton. 87° 25' E.

“I had no barometer, so am unable to enlighten you on that

point. I have delayed answering your letter, that I might inform

you of the results to the westward of this station, as from the pub-

lished accounts of its effects in Calcutta, I was disposed to consider

its force less here, and probably more so, as it extended westerly,

and which I find to be the case, as on the Subbunreeka river, which

separates Bengal from Orissa, and lies in some directions fifty miles,

and in other twenty-five miles from hence, its effects were not felt,

and only existed in refreshing rain. At daylight on Friday the 3rd

instant, heavy squalls following in rapid succession ; wind from the

N. E., rain plentiful and without interruption, but apparently not

falling heavily. Mid-day same, thermometer 78°, strong wind in hard

puffs and plenty of scud, wind from N. E., lulled after mid-day till

between tivo and three o'clock, when it came on again from the W.,

blowing stronger and stronger, with heavy gusts at short intervals all

night, with heavy and uninterrupted rain ; during the night I found the

wind atN.W. Saturday morning, daylight, moderated, rain by gage

since yesterday morning 6? inches, gradually moderated all day, wind

at S. W. thermometer mid-day 78°, occasionally no rain, the wind

- blowing strong till evening when it became nearly quiet, and put on

the usual appearance of monsoon weather. Sunday morning 5th,

rain since yesterday morning 11 inches. No trees of any consequence

fell, but 200 houses and upwards in the native part of the town came

down, and the verandah or portico of two gentlemen’s houses fell,

one having a North, and the other a Western aspect. No thunder or

lightning. R. J. HOMFRAY.

Pen ee ee

Chandernagore.

Observations on the storm of 2nd and 3rd June 1842, made at

Chandernagore, by J. St. Pourgain, Esq. Barometer corrected to

that of the Surveyor’s General’s Office by a subsequent comparison.*

* There is no difference in the level of the two places worth noticing.

1008 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

lst June.—Hot weather with fresh breeze from the N. E., squalls

and rain at times from the Eastward. Every thing announcing a

change of weather and the setting in of the rains. Barometer from

29.594 to 29.494, thermometer 84° to 82°.

2nd June.—Bad weather in squalls with rain at times, and blowing

fresh from N. West to East, Barometer 29.394, very cloudy, the wind

at times falling almost toa calm. At 11 a.m. worse weather, Barome-

ter 29.294. Rain at times, thermometer 80°.

3rd June.—Worse weather, heavy squalls from the N. E., and at 6

in the morning Barometer 29.194 and falling, Thermometer 80° blow-

ing hard with heavy squalls from N. E. to N. N. E., every thing

announcing a storm, heavy clouds flying from N. to South.

Barometer.

At 8, very heavy squalls from N. E........ ..eceeeeseeee 29.094

9, - ditto OLE 2S eo ee 28.994

10, a3 ditto bh TIME MOU Lee 28.894

Noon m3 ditto eee ere ere mee eh CEB re

dup iar vals ditto fT, DAW. U5 I ON BEmOF

Bai §, Si ditto (OEE AOI OF PR See Sg ie4t

Sd rynii syodeto-adibeg intae 4, stioagnesR HOM wees 28.494

42nd 4 sduia oc) pdiool) Yainy, oiuarnlek bane ae 28.394

Bld,oisi tvooledittolgtives somaya 28.344

61 ,, ssimulditta that ingp.nadin. 4) salem 28.344

Between 1 past 5 and 1 past 6 was the heaviest of the hurricane.

It was then blowing tremendously heavy in squalls from the N. E.

At 7-15, the barometer began to rise, being at 28.396, the wind terri-

ble and in gusts with longer intervals, but its violence undiminished.

At 8-15, the same gusts, as strong but less frequent from N. E. to

N. N. E., barometer 28.494, thermometer 78°.

Barometer.

9.15, the same, BS se oe OM a -- 28.594

11-15, ditto. ve As ae as ae -- 28.894

4th June.—2 a. M. weather more moderate, winds variable, and _

light from N. N. E. to S. W., with drizzling rain, cloudy and heavy

scud driving up from the Southward to the North. At 4 a. m. blow-

ing strong in short but heavy squalls from the S. W. Thermometer

78°. At 6, blowing very hard with terrible squalls from the S. W.

1842, ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1009

Barometer.

At 8, the same, as se -. 28.994

At 10, moderating, but at times dal: es the N. W.

with drizzling rain, ws a ‘ 4553 »., 29.194

At noon moderating, but at times squalls iy theS. W. 29.194

At 2, clearing up, but slight squalls still ; barometer rising gradually

from 29.294 to 29.394, thermometer 80°.

This is the heaviest hurricane that I have seen in this country after

a residence of 22 years; great damage done in the town to houses and

trees.

In reply to some inquiries Mr. St. Pourgain says, “ I assure you that

we had never the wind from S. E. or S. S. E.”

We have two reports from Chinsurah, the first from Mr. Sutherland,

Principal of Hoogly College, the second from Mr. Herklots, Prin-

cipal Sudder Ameen. Mr. Sutherland's letter is as follows :—

The wind appeared as nearly as I could judge to come from N. N.

E. on the commencement of the gale, which was about Friday noon.

We had rainy threatening weather on Thursday afternoon, and the

wind had been to the Northward a day or two before. The wind

seemed to me to veer several points ere it flew round to the S. E. and

E. S. E. on Saturday night, and there were frequent lulls. There was

a lull on Saturday morning and another on Saturday evening, the

rain was almost continuous, but most copious on Sunday night when

the gale had taken off. We had, early on Sunday night, some thun-

der and lightning. The upper verandahs of the College to the North

and East and South-east are blown completely in, the screens between

the windows are torn right out of the pillars, and several windows and

doors blown not merely in, but right out of the walls, sills and all.

The following are Mr. Herklot’s Registered Observations on the

Weather at Chinsurah, from the 30th May to the 9th June, 1842.

From Thursday the 26th to Sunday the 29th May, the ther-

mometer in the shade at 3 p. mM. was on each day, .. akks, AO0°

1010 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

May 30th, cloudy, ae Si bie ait - -no observation.

»» lst, ditto, wind East, .. Fe de 2p F083 909

June Ist, in the afternoon a shower, wind East, ae gd, £B6°

» 2nd, a little rain, strong East wind, .. -- no observation.

» ord, a tremendous gale from N. E.; beginning at 9 a. m.,

shifting to the North, in the afternoon returned to

East, at 5 p. mM. most furious, .. Bs ni ated APG

», Ath, the gale abated ; soft rain day and night, .. 40 HL BOP

»» Oth, rain and wind all day from S. E., .. et Shee EBO?

5, O6th, cloudy with little rain, wind S. W., ae oe) (B88

» Jth, ditto ditto W. and S., i iL bia (12 Heo

,, 8th, ditto ditto S... op iA a2 eat J, DAU GOR

», 9th, clear, with sunshine, wind S. ae ae are ithy ee

Norr.—liain very moderate, there was no lightning and thunder during the gale.

On the 3rd June there was scarcely any rise of the river at flood tide. On the 5th, the

river began to rise uncommonly, said to have been occasioned by an extraordinary

rise of the Adjye river at Cutwa.

Subsequent to the spring tides of the new moon on the 9th instant, the river has fall-

en a good deal.

P. HERKLOTS.

It will be remarked here, that while at Chandernagore the gale veer-

ed to S. W. after an interval of calm, it veered by the East at Chinsu-

rah. The two stations are four miles apart only, and lie nearly North

and South of each other, Chinsurah being to the Northward; I shall

further allude to this in tracing the course of the storm.

The following letter is from about latitude 24° 48' N. longitude

88° 50’ E. I was not able to learn the writer’s name, but I am

assured that this is not far from the true position of the factory.

Effects of the Gale.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ENGLISHMAN.

The gale commenced here on the morning of the 3d, with strong

Easterly winds increasing to a perfect hurricane. On the 4th, wind

veered a little to the Northward with occasional tremendous squalls ;

towards evening temporary lulls, but rain pouring in torrents. On

the 5th, wind veering about from E. to S. E. and South, blowing

tremendously with torrents of rain. The 6th, still blowing tremen-

1842.) A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1011

dously from S. S. W., and nearly due West ; towards evening the gale

subsided.

The effects are most dreadful, some of the concerns hereabout losing

all hope of one-half of what they expected, others one-third, &c. To

add to our disasters, the river took a most unexpected and sudden rise

of some 42 to 5 feet in as many days.

Banks of the Jumna, June 18, 1842.

P. S.—I hear that the gale was much less severe, higher up the river,

and towards Mymensing scarcely felt.

From Kissennuggur I have obtained, by the attention of Dr.

Fuller, Civil Surgeon, a report from its immediate neighbourhood,

and another was published in the Newspaper, which I give after that

of Dr. Fuller’s friend.

ee ee

The enclosed is the only tolerable account I can obtain for you, of the

late Storm.

2nd June.—At Kissennuggur, we had light rain, and the weather

very cloudy ; towards evening the wind rose and continued the whole

of Friday (3rd) from the N. KE. with wind and drizzling rain day and

night.

4th June.—Wind round to the Southward, and the storm less furi-

ous, drizzling continuing. No Calcutta dak in.

5th June.— Weather still very unfavorable, rain and wind all day,

and no Calcutta dak in; on the morning of the 6th, the wind had

ceased, but there was rain and very dark clouds, towards evening it

became fine. There is not a barometer at the station, consequently

I fear, that these rough notes will be of little use to you.

C. W. FULLER.

This Report is from a Factory, a short distance from Kissennuggur.

I did not observe the ¢2mes, when the wind varied as it appeared

to do every ten or fifteen minutes. The storm commenced on the

night of the 4th June, about ten or eleven o’clock, apparently

from N. N. W., in the course of the morning; it was S. W. by three or

1012. A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

four ep. m. of the 5th, which was the worst time of the gale with

us, it blew from 8S. 8S. W. for two or three hours, slightly veering

to S. E. About midnight of the 5th, the wind came round to the point

it began from, blew furiously for about an hour, and gradually subsid-

ed into a calm.

Hurrah, 4th July. R. DE COURCY.

Kissennuggur.

The gale commenced here on the evening of the 2nd instant from

due East, and continued from that point all the 3rd; on the 4th,

when it blew heaviest, it veered round to South, occasionally varying

to S. S. W., when at its hezght the wind blew from direct South. On

the 5th, it went round to S. East; and finished its fury on the 6th

from due Kast.

As I have already said, 9 inches of rain fell during the continuance

of the gale, but I am persuaded, that much more must have fallen,

for the force of the wind blew the rain in quite a horizontal direction,

consequently, much more rain must have fallen than the rain gauges

indicated.— Englishman, 18th June, 1842.

The Storm at Plassey, Lat. 23° 47’ N. Long. 88? 19' E.

We have been on the look out for letters from the Lower Provinces,

giving some account of the effects of the hurricane, but up to this time

nothing has been received. A letter of the 3d June, 54 p. m., from

near Plassey on the Bhaugretty, says:—

‘It has been blowing a ¢remendous gale to-day from N. E., it is —

now increasing. My Barometer is nearly down to 29 and falling—4th 5

June, 6 p.m. The gale continues, the wind has been from S. EK. —

to-day. I could not get a boat to cross yesterday, my dawk man may j

be more fortunate this evening. —Englishman, 18th June, 1842.

To Mr. Russell, B. C. 8. I am indebted for the following account of -

the Storm at Berhampoor, Latitude 24° 9' N. Longitude 88° 12! E. —

On the Ist, we had fine but warm weather, the Thermometer in —

the centre room of my house open to the N. and S. standing at day- —

break at 83°, and at 3 p. m. 95°, a few days before it had been at 98°. a

1842. ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1013

On the 2nd at 3 past 3 P. m., a storm with much rain from N. W.

unattended with thunder and lightning, the morning had been fine,

and so was the evening and early part of the night ; towards the morn-

ing of the 3rd, it became cloudy ; at day-break light wind from N. E.

and a little rain. At 7 a. m. wind increased and continued to blow

with great violence the whole day. About 10 p. m. the wind increased,

and blew with fearful violence until the morning of the 4th, when it fell

a little, but it still blew with great violence the whole day, with heavy

gusts and much rain, and continued so until 8 a. m. on the 5th, when

the wind veered round to S. W. or rather nearer W. and blew from

that quarter with great violence until next morning, the 6th, when it

died away ; but the rain did not cease until the afternoon, since then

the sky has been clear until this time, with Southerly wind.

C. D. RUSSELL.

In reply to some inquiries, Mr. Russell writes as follows :—

The storm commenced on the morning of the 3d with the wind

from N. E., but from 7 a. m. on that day until 8 a. m. on the 5th

(Sunday,) it blew steadily from the East, or a little North of East,

it then went round to S. W., and remained in that quarter until

it cleared up. The storm was most violent during the night of the 3d.

C. D. RUSSELL.

—

From Jungypore, Latitude 24° 28', Longitude 88° 08', we have the

JSollowing report to Government by Mr. Deputy Collector Smart.

2d June.—4 Pp. M. a smart shower of rain, with slight gale from

N.N. E.

3d June.—Raining slightly off and on all day, blowing in slight

puffs from N. N. E. 9 vp. m. blowing in tremendous gusts from the

same quarter and continued the whole night, with little rain.

4th June.—Blowing from the same quarter, and pouring in torrents

till 7 p.., when veered to the East, blowing furiously all night, with

plenty of rain.

5th June.—6. a. m. wind veered to 8. E.; 1 p. m. blowing from

8. S. E.

1014 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

6th June.—Wind veered to 8. S. W., gale abating, noon blowing in

subdued gusts from W.

The gale could not have been so severe here, as it appears to have

been in Calcutta ; not a tree or hut blown down. The most remark-

able feature was, the quantity of rain that fell. Lands which are in-

undated so late as August, are completely flooded. The river is rising

rapidly.

E. SMART, Deputy Collector.

Mr. Laufour, Magistrate of Dinagepore, Latitude 25° 07' N. Longi-

tude 89° 40’ E. has kindly sent me the following report of the

weather as experienced at that station.

2d June.—Heavy shower from the S. E. and E. S. E. at 5 p. m.

3d June.—Cloudy throughout, and towards evening every appear-

ance of a gale, which commenced about 10 o’clock, and continued

increasing throughout the night, with small rain, wind N. E.

Ath June.—Gale and rain continue without abatement, wind N. E.

and E. N. E., no abatement during the night.

5th June.—The gale moderating, the wind gradually drawing

round to the Southward of E., gradually declining in violence

throughout the day, and the whole country under water on Monday

morning. I have no means of giving you any Barometer returns ;

the quantity of rain which fell during the gale was from four to five

inches. It extended some distance North of this, as a friend of mine

was put down in his palkee between this and Titalyah ; the gale was

not felt at Darjeeling, where the weather however was wet. During

the gale, the wind never veered to the West. I suspect you will find

Titalyah to have been its northern terminus.

E. LAUTOUR, Magistrate.

I did not neglect Mr. Latour’s remark, and in reply to my applica-

tion, Mr. Montgomery, the Post Master, has been good enough to

send me the following account of the weather experienced there.

Titalyah is in latitude 26° 28' N. longitude 88° 25', or about

on the meridian of Calcutta.

In reply to your letter of the 15th instant, I beg leave to state, that

the weather here from the Ist till about one o’clock a.m. 4th, was

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1015

gloomy, with much rain, accompanied with squalls from the N. W.

and a great deal of thunder and lightning. About | p. m. on the

morning of the 4th, it blew almost a hurricane from the S. E., with

heavy rain, thunder, and lightning ; this continued for about two hours,

when it fell calm, but the rain still continuing to fall heavily till the

morning of the 5th.

I had no means of noting the temperature of the air during this

time, not having any instruments.

P. MONTGOMERY, Of/g. Post Master.

Mr. Martin, Magistrate of Purneah, latitude 25° 45' N. longitude

87° 23' E. has kindly sent me the following account of the weather

as experienced there.

The gale which caused so much disaster in Calcutta, set in here

about 7 a. M. on Saturday the 4th June, with strong squalls from the

North East, accompanied with driving sleet ; over-head the scud was

flying very fast, and without intermission. On the earth the wind

frequently moderated for short intervals during the day of the 4th,

but towards nightfall set in with increased violence from the same

point of the compass, blowing hard all night. For several days pre-

vious, the weather had been murky and oppressive, but we had no

Barometer to consult, and were not aware that a storm was im-

pending. On the morning of the 5th, the gale continued with unabated

rigor, and blowing from the same point, or N. E. so far as I can re-

member, but towards evening it veered a point or two to the East-

ward, still blowing with the same violence. Thus it continued till

5) or 6 p. m. of the evening of the 6th, when the storm appeared to

be breaking, and the clouds to rise all round. On the morning of the

7th, the wind had quite abated, though the clouds were still heavy,

and boded much rain. Suddenly about 7 a. m., a strong North-

wester sprung up with extraordinary violence, and it blew as hard as

ever for about an hour and half, accompanied by a deluge of rain.

I don’t remember that the wind ever came from the South-east,

as stated in the Calcutta newspapers.

E. MARTIN, Magistrate.

Purneah, July 1842.

1016 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

Soorajgunge, latitude 24° 26' N. longitude 89° 42' E. Memorandum

From his register by J. Martin, Esq.

2d June.—Appearances of bad weather, squally, large and heavy

clouds surrounding the horizon.

3d June.—At 2 a. m., gale commenced blowing from the Eastward,

followed almost immediately by a torrent of rain, the wind increasing

every hour. 7

4th June.—The wind shifting from E. to E. S. E., and blowing

with the same violence as the day previous.

5th June.—At 8 a. M., the wind suddenly shifted from E. 8S. E.

to S. W. after a momentary calm, blowing almost a hurricane the

whole day and night.

6th June.—Weather the same at noon, the winds abated a little,

and at 5 p. m. shifted from S. W. to W., the storm having subsided

into a light Westerly breeze.

From Kunjirpore Factory, Bhauguipore Zillah, a few miles E. by N.

or E. N. E. of the station, lat. about 25° 12’ N. long. 87° 09' E., I

have received from Mr. A. Pinard, the following Memorandum on

the gale of the 3rd to 6th June 1842 :-—

3d June.—At 6. a. m. wind South, weather threatening from that

quarter, dreadful heat, large drops of rain falling scantily. At 4 p.m.

wind from the North, and from the same quarter all night.

Ath June.—Wind has veered to N. E., blowing fresh with drizzling

rain, Ther. 82°. At 10, wind came to E. N. E., heavy rain and blow-

ing strong till noon, when the wind came back to N. E., and the rain

ceased, Ther. 81°. At 2 p. m. wind E. N, E., heavy rain and wind,

Ther. 82°. At midnight the gale was at its height; wind E.N. E.,

the rain reduced to mist by the force of the wind.

5th June.—At 5 or 6 a. m., the same wind and weather, Ther. 79°.

At 10, wind from the North, heavy wind and rain, Ther. 78°. At noon

wind N. W., heavy rain, wind not so strong, Ther. 79°. At 4 p. m.,

wind W. N. W., heavy rain at 6 p. m., wind veered to West, still

blowing strong, and heavy rain.

Se ee eee

Oe ae oe

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1017

6th June.—Wind West, drizzling rain, dark cloudy weather, wind

almost calm or very light at times. At 6p. m., the weather was fine.

The river began to rise from the 4th by the heavy rains on the

mountains to the South of Bhaugulpore, and great mischief was done.

I regret much that I had no Barometer.

A. PINARD.

Bancoorah, latitude 23° 14' N. longitude 87° 10' E.

Dr. Cheek, Civil Surgeon, gives me the following valuable accounts

of the storm, the first being his own, and the second procured from

Mungulpore, a station about fifteen miles to the N. by E. of Bancoo-

rah.

My pear Sr1r.—Yours of the 22d, duly reached me on Saturday

last, and you would have heard from me before on the subject of the

late terrific gale, could I have given a report worth your having.

I feel deeply interested, I am sure, in the inquiry you have in hand,

it is a subject of importance to all. I had lent my Barometer to my

friend Hannyngton at Purulea; he I am pretty sure has sent his

report.

On the 2nd, we had rather high wind nearly all day from the East-

ward, with occasional heavy showers. At about 4 p. m. the wind came

round to the North with great violence and with heavy showers,

blowing nearly from the same quarter all night. On the 3rd, it was W.

N. W., with heavy gusts and continued rain. About 5 p. m. it came to

the S. W., and from that quarter continued till the 4th, blowing tre-

mendously, with thick small rain. 5th, wind in the same quarter, with

heavy rain till the afternoon, when it was less severe, the wind coming

round to the South. On the 6th, wind South, with heavy rain. 7th

we had fine weather which continued to the 14th. Night of 14th,

a severe North-wester. From that time to this we have scarcely

seen the sun; we have had gusts of wind with heavy showers till

to-day. I have never seen such weather at this time. I do very

much regret my report is not more scientific, the reason I have stated,

not having had my Barometer.

G. N. CHEEK.

1018 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 1381.

Bancoorah, July 16, 1842.

My pear Srr,—As I promised, I wrote to Mr. Erskine, who

during the late gale was near the Raneegunge coal mines on the

Damooda, in reply he states as follows :—

I got your note with Piddington’s, which I forwarded to my brother.

I don’t believe he has kept a memorandum of the weather. I generally

do, but am not particular about the hour. Here is a copy of what I

have, if it beof any use. At Munglepore 23° 33’ N. 87° 13’ E. from the

26th May, we had strong Easterly winds, which continued very regular

to the 30th, when it began to be cloudy ; the moon was very “ watery

looking,” with a circle round her. On the 31st, the wind was more

Northerly, and cloudy.

1st June.—Easterly wind, heavy white scuds, with a dark blue sky.

2d June.—Strong N. E. winds, in puffs, with occasional showers, in

the day clear, evening light winds.

3d June.—Strong N. E. wind and scud with rain, with slight in-

termissions, and getting stronger and more Northerly; gale, and rain

all night.

4th June.—Strong Northerly gales and incessant rain, wind veering

to the Westward, but no intermission of rain, all night Westerly gales.

5th June.—Wind South-westerly, more moderate, and rain abating ;

at noon Westerly gale again and very heavy showers ; evening S. W.

wind, rain more moderate, clearing up at midnight after a heavy

thunder storm with rain.

6th June.—Southerly winds, heavy clouds but no rain, fair all day,

wind changeable from S. W. to S. E.

7th June.—Southerly airs, clear and sunny, and we had little rain

- till it began again on the 15th to fall regularly.”

G. N. CHEEK.

Monghyr— Newspaper Report.

A Ga.re.—We have had an opportunity of perusing a letter dated

the 9th instant, from Monghyr, which mentions, that on the 31st

ultimo, the station was visited with strong breezes from the S. E.,

which gradually wore round to the N. E., and at times to the N. N. E.

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1019

increasing in force until the 4th instant, when it subsided. From

the extent of injury done, it would appear that the strength of the

storm there was not at all equal to that felt in Calcutta; as the letter

in question observes, that with the exception of a few native boats

having been driven on shore, and some of the branches broken off

the trees in the fort, no other damage worthy of record had been

sustained. Many boats had, however, been lost between that station

and Bhaugulpoor. It was also stated, that Monghyr and the surround-

ing districts had experienced several slight shocks of earthquakes

during the month of May, but none of them would seem to have been

unusually severe —Hurkaru.

Messrs. Willis and Earle, from letters of thetr Correspondents, have

obliged me mith the following.

Mr. Bluett, who manages a factory for us about forty miles from

Monghyr, nine miles from Surrajgurrah on the Ganges, at Lucky

Serai, reports a severe earthquake there on the 23d May, and sub-

sequently very hot and oppressive weather with Easterly winds ; and

then in date of June 6th, says, ‘‘ We have at last had rain, and

enough ofit too. Itsetin on Friday, 3rd June, and all Saturday and

Sunday it rained hard, and blew almost constantly from the North-

ward, it cleared up about midnight on the oth instant.” ‘The river,

Kewl (or Queule, 2 mountain stream from the Curruckpore hills,)

rose suddenly two feet higher than last year, running a foot over

Lucky Serai village, or higher than has been known many years.

Mr. E. Morgan from Monghyr, in date of the 8th June, writes,

“‘ A few days ago, there was a short but strong dry storm, which

sunk about twenty boats near this. I think the rains may be said

to have set in on the 3rd instant; from that to the night of the 5th

instant, there was heavy rain and a strong gale, so that I think more

boats must be lost. On the 6th, 7th, and to-day, there has been rain.”

From Mr. Palmer of Monghyr, latitude 25° 23' N. longitude 86° 38'

E. I have received the following interesting detail of the weather at

that station about the time of the storm.

The whole of this season, I mean from January, has been rather a

remarkable one, and very different from that which I have observed

6 R

1020 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

at this station for the last seven years. The annual passing showers of

January and February did not visit us. March and April, though

generally one stream of strong N. W. and N. E. winds, approached

us with somewhat less fury, and with a secession of a day or two

intervening between the gusts. May was sultry in the day without

the usual hot-winds, but attended with a cooler feeling by midnight,

until near the 19th, when the air became heavy and oppressive to

a degree, and the sky had a peculiar hue about the time of the setting

of the sun; this continued until the morning of the 2lst, and though

we look forward to some kind of coolness, or a light air about dawn,

it was the reverse this morning, a lethargic sensation seemed to hang

about one until quarter after nine, when the earth was observed to

tremble and rock from E. to W. for half a minute, vibrating those

wall shades only in ¢hat line; when, as if a second shock, though I

could perceive no stop, came from the direction of N. and S. affecting

the wall shades again in that line; the last undulation appeared the

strongest, this was repeated three times each with less force. On the

23rd, two more slight shocks were felt, since which period up to the

night of the second of June, the sky assumed every evening an ashy

- colour, blended with tints of a salmony hue, and very oppressively hot.

A strange effect it appeared to have on all trees in either blossom or

young fruit. Asa proof of this, the whole of the fruit in my garden

was stunted in its size, with a kind of harsh flavor, though free from

any worm ; the blossoms falling off in a manner as if each leaf was

partially baked to make it crisp. The star-apple flowered three.

times, and fruited twice in May and June, and several kinds of plants

seemed to shrink and stay their growth. As Iam no Botanist, and

but a bad Agriculturist or Horticulturist, I cannot, I regret to say, give © 4

you a better relation.

The night of the 2nd June and the whole of that day, there was

not sufficient air to move a single leaf; it was so oppressive, that I

observed the very air produced from the punkah, when pulled, de-

scended hot, and this oppression continued apparently in an increased

ratio until about two o’clock in the morning of the 3rd, when the first

burst of wind came on from the N. W.; so sudden and so rapid was its

progress, that nothing I could write, could explain the rapidity of the

change, when it chopped round to N. E. in awful gusts, such as I

1842. } A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1021

have never before witnessed, accompanied with a deluge of rain ;

this continued without intermission for three days, (3rd, 4th and 5th,)

rain pouring in torrents, and the wind with awful force playing from

the W. to N. E. and 8. E. The first gust of the W. wind, no doubt

with the assistance of the rain, had a tendency to raise the waters of

the Ganges, which it did to néar five feet the first night. There ap-

peared but little thunder or lightning during the whole time.

I have but one remark more to make. I have observed these awful

visitations, commonly known by the name of the May gale, visit us

with the greatest severity every ninth year. Its annual visitation is

severe enough; but those which follow in nznéhs, are accompanied with

greater disasters to the shipping and the country than the annual ones.

On this subject, and its peculiarities, I have drawn up a paper, which

I believe wil] be made public.*

PETER PALMER.

Sooree in Beerbhoom. Latitude 23° 54' N. longitude 87° 32' E.

Mr. Saunders, in a report to Mr. Masters of La Martiniere College,

which he obligingly desired might be communicated to me, gives the

following account of the weather :—

Ist June.—Was a bright sun-shiny day.

2d June.—Drizzling rain in the morning up to 2 or 3 p. M., wind I

believe Easterly, heavy showers during the night.

3d June.—Overcast in the morning, with drizzling rain at inter-

vals. At about 5 p. m. it began to rain sharp, and soon after dark

very heavily, with high wind from the N. E., incessant rain all night,

and all day of the—

4th June.—With strong wind in the same direction up to 9 Pp. .,

when I went to bed; during the night the wind shifted round to

the West. It was in that direction about 2 or 3 in the morning

of the—

sth June,—Rain continuing throughout incessant and very heavy.

At about 2 p. m., the wind shifted more to the North, say N. W. At

5D p. M., the wind and rain moderated, but it continued all night, and

morning of the—

* Mr. Palmer will confer a great obligation on meteorologists by this publication.

—H. P.

1022. A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

6th June,---It was calm. I have no Barometer, the gale was strong-

est on the morning of the 5th, after the wind had shifted to the

Westward, say between 4 and 7 a.m. Observed no calm, rain and

wind incessant from the evening of the 3d to the evening of the

Sth ; one tree in my court-yard blown down. A tall palm, about three

feet in circumference, was blown down during the night of the 4th,

or rather morning of the 5th, most probably before 7 a. m. of the 5th,

lying E. by N. and roots W. by 8S. Heavy rain. All the country

overflowed, mud walls washed down ; but no roofs blown off, and no

thunder and lightning.

Between | and 4 p. m. of the 3d, it was gloomy drizzling weather,

with not much wind ; what there was came from N. E.

Purulia, latitude 23° 20' N. longitude 86° 24’ E.

From Captain Hannyngton, Ist Assistant to the Governor General’s

Agent, S. W. Frontier, Maunboom, I have received a valuable report,

and he has subsequently ascertained the difference of level between his

station, Purulia, and Calcutta, so as to enable me to apply the barome-

trical correction, reducing the observations to the same level as those

taken at Calcutta. Purulia being 6723 feet above the level of Calcutta,

the correction becomes 0.676. additive, to his observations, to reduce

them to the standard of ours, which has been done in printing his

table, by adding a second column to them, headed ‘‘ Corrected to the

level of Calcutta.”

* See

1023

A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

1842.]

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1024. <A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 1381.

In reply to some inquiries, of which the purport will be seen by the

answers, Captain Hannyngton says, “In making observations on the

late storm, I was anxious to note .any sudden shifts of wind, and

unless they occurred during the nights, (which I have no reason to

think probable,) I feel tolerably certain that none such took place.

The changes were so gradual, that I could not fix the times to any

satisfactory degree of accuracy.

‘““The weather here became unsettled and gloomy on the Ist June,

and on the 2d, we had a fresh breeze from the East, with nearly con-

stant rain. It would seem, that the storm travelled from Calcutta to

this place, and lost much of its force in the transit. We had a strong

gale, but nothing more; no trees or houses were blown down.”

The following reports embracing, as they do, a large zone from

Tipperah to Assam, and thence to the West, through Oude, to

Almora, Kurnaul, and Bombay ; and in the South at Sumbulpore,

&c., will be read with interest, as comprising good accounts of the

effects of these storms, beyond their strict limits.

It is not intended to assume here, that all the phenomena re-

corded, were the effect of the storm, but that some of them may be

well supposed to be so, and the whole are worthy of being noted,

as giving some idea of what occurs inland, over a large tract of

country, on these occasions. The indications of the Barometer at

Bombay, and at Deesa, are evidently proofs, that the atmosphere

was affected even at this great distance.

From Comillah, Lat. 23° 28' N. Long. 91° 2’ E. by Dr. Foaker,

Civil Surgeon.

Deeming it of consequence that you should be informed how far the

storm that lately raged at Calcutta, extended in this direction, I have

the pleasure of informing you, that from the best information I can

collect, Dacca appears to be the nearest place at which it was felt, for it

did not extend to Doudkandy, a thanah at the mouth of the river

Goomty, 32 miles from this in a Westerly direction, nor was it felt

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1025

for many miles to the South of this district, nor, as I am informed, at

Chittagong.

On the night of the 3d of June, we had a severe squall attended

with heavy rain from the N. W., veering round to the South; but this

was nothing out of the common course, as we had been visited with

similar ones for weeks before; in fact, we have had a succession of

stormy and rainy weather since 25th of February, from which time

until this date, (the 23d,) 3 feet 4 inches 2-8ths of rain have fallen,

and during the entire year 7 feet 1] inches 5-8ths. I am not able to

give any information regarding the Barometer, as there is not one in

the station. The Thermometer here on the Ist, 2d, and 3d, varied

from 87° to 88°.

T. FOAKER,

Comillah, June 23, 1842. Assistant Surgeon.

A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

1026

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1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1027

Rungpoor, Upper Assam from Mr. J. Owen, Assistant Assam

Company.

Situated on one of the Naga Hills, East of Jaipoor, Upper Assam,

and distant 12 or 14 miles, at an elevation of nearly 1500 feet above

the level of the sea, observed

June Ist. Hot sultry day, slight S.S. W. breeze.

,» 2d. Rain from 6 a. m. to noon ; wind throughout variable.

» 3d. Hot sultry day. Slight S. S. W. breezes.

» Ath. Very hot day, wind variable.

» 5th. Ditto ditto,

, Oth. Rain at noon. Fresh breeze from the Southward and

Westward. J. OWEN.

Darjeeling. Latitude 27° 7’ N. Longitude 88° 21' E. from Dr. Camp-

bell, Resident. N. B.—Elevation about 7,000 feet.

“ I beg leave to furnish the following particulars from memory, of the

state of the weather at this place during the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

About midnight of the 2nd, it commenced blowing strong gusts from

the N. W., and continued to do so all day of the 3rd, accompanied by

showers. On the 4th, we had stormy weather and rain, the wind

blowing from the S. E., and the weather continued unchanged during

the whole of the 5th; although the wind was strong throughout the

greater part of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, it did not amount to a storm, at

least it was not such a storm as we experienced here on the 4th and

5th of May 1840.”

Mozuffurpore in Tirhoot. Lat. 26° 8' N. Long. 85° 31' E.

A memorandum from my friend, Mr. Samuells, Magistrate of

Tirhoot, says,

** After much inquiry, I cannot learn that there is any person in the

district who keeps a meteorological register, or indeed any memoranda

of the weather. My recollection, however, of the state of the weather

at the time of your great storm, agrees precisely with that ofthe Doctor,

and who moreover tells me, that he has invariably remarked the same

appearances in the weather here during the May and October gales

in the Bay of Bengal. The weather, according to our recollection, was

1028 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

hazy, the sky covered with light fleecy clouds, and there were light

airs, with occasional gentle breezes from the East, the quarter from

which the wind almost invariably blows in Behar during the rainy

season. The force of the gale would appear to have expended itself

among the Rajmahal hills.

Tirhoot, Amooah. Latitude 26° 33' N. Longitude 85° 24' E. from

J. B. Higginson, Esq.

Knowing that you gladly receive any information respecting winds

and weather during the late hurricane, I send the following extract

of a letter from Amooah in Tirhoot :—

“ During |the late dreadful storm you had in Calcutta, we had a

steady, but rather strong easterly wind, with dark hazy, sultry and

very oppressivé, weather, with every appearance of bad weather setting

in; and although the light scud went with the wind, the upper dark

masses of clouds were whirling about in a most extraordinary man-

ner, but driving towards the S. E. The sun was not visible for two

days.”

Gya. Latitude 24° 47' N. Longitude 85° 12' E.

I have been favoured with a report from this station from W. St.

Quintin, Esq. the Magistrate, as follows :—

21st May.—At 20 minutes before 9 o’clock a. m., we had two smart

shocks of Earthquake, from West to East; for some days before, and

after this, the sky had a white, thick, hazy appearance. The heat

of the weather was very oppressive. Thermometer never under 90°,

and after at 95° in the house, and 115° in the shade of the outside

verandah.

22nd May.—Hot, thick, and cloudy, slight rain, wind, storm and

thunder. Wind Westerly.

23rd, Cloudy and hot wind from the West.

24th ,, Dreadful heat, wind S, W.

25th ,, Ditto,

26th ,, Ditto, wind N.S. E. and W.

27th ,, Ditto, wind W. and N.

28th ,, Ditto, :

1842. ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1029

29:h =~, ~—ODitto,

30th ,, Cloudy and windy, in gusts from the E., and cloudy.

3lst ,, Ditto.

lst June.— Ditto.

2nd ,, Ditto, clouds driving about in all directions, and wind

very gusty.

3rd__,, Cooler, cloudy, slight rain, wind S. E., cloudy.

4th ,, Rainy and cool strong S. E. wind, very gusty and cloudy.

5th ,, Steady rain in the morning, very cool S. E. wind, and

strong Easterly in the evening.

6th ,, Cool and cloudy, East wind at, mid-day a strong, hot,

damp Westerly wind set in.

7th ,, Strong Westerly hot, damp wind.

Patna. Latitude 25° 37' N. Longitude 85°15! E.

From E. C. Ravenshaw, Esq. C. S.—‘‘ Observing in the papers that

you wish to be informed of the places to which the storm of the 3rd

instant did not reach, I beg to mention, that we had no storm at

Patna, but only a slight fall of rain (-— of an inch) on the 4th from

the East. On the 10th, however, we had a violent storm from the

West, at 8 p. m.; it lasted about two hours. There was very little

thunder, at least it was not very loud, but blew with great violence,

up-rooting several trees in my compound. My pluviometer was upset

and broken, so I cannot state the amount of rain, but it must have

been two inches I think.”

E. C. RAVENSHAW.

From Ghazeepoor, Latitude 25° 35' N. Longitude 83° 33' E. by Lieut.

Sherwill, Revenue Survey, on the Ganges between Camnpoor and

Dinapoor.

30th May, 1842.—Steady Westerly wind in forenoon. In after-

noon, strong East wind and cloudy.

31st May.—Strong East wind all day, and cloudy.

lst June.—Strong Easterly wind until 3 p.m., when the wind sud-

_ denly ceased, heavy clouds commenced rising in the West ; at half past

| 3 P.M. a furious hurricane burst forth from the West, which lasted

1030 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

for three hours ; during the whole of the first hour, the atmosphere was

perfectly darkened with dust and clouds, so dark, that nothing was

visible, the hand was scarcely visible when held against the sky, the

sky itself was barely discernible from the earth, so complete was the

darkness. At 4 p.m. or one hour after the first commencement of the

storm, heavy rain fell, the wind increased in violence, and the noise and

roaring of this wind was perfectly awful and terrific; the water of the

Ganges was driven far over low sand banks that a few minutes before

had been perfectly dry. The hurricane, for I can call it nothing less,

was at its height about 6 Pp. m., when it subsided as suddenly as it had

commenced ; all was then quiet and refreshed, for, before the com-

mencement, the air was heavy, and the heat almost insupportable.

The Manjee of my boat would not proceed, saying he was certain

something was about to take place. I expected a return of the earth-

quake, which was felt at Cawnpoor, Dinapoor, and Chunar on

the 2lst May, 1842. The East wind set in again immediately

the storm had passed away, and blew steadily all night ; my position

during the storm was about fifteen miles to the S. W. by W. of

Ghazeepoor. At Ghazeepoor, the storm was seen travelling on the

South bank of the river, (right bank,) distant a few miles to the South.

It was seen about 4 Pp. m. travelling due East.

2nd June.—On the morning of the 2nd, the wind blew steadily

from the East until 11 a. m., when it increased and blew a heavy

gale for one hour; at noon it. veered round to the North, and con-

tinued blowing a steady stiff breeze till sun-set, when it failed

entirely.

3rd and Ath June.—Fine weather, moderate East wind and showers.

5th June.—Steady East wind ; at 7 p.m. a furious Easterly gale set

in, which blew for two hours. Heavy lightning to the N. W., where

was collected a heavy bank of clouds, which disappeared during the

night. I was then about fifteen miles to the S. E. of Ghazeepoor.

6th June.—At noon, a heavy Northerly gale commenced, and blew j

for two hours. The wind was excessively boisterous, the heavens over-

ast with dark clouds. Position about ten miles North of Ghazeepoor.

7th and 8th June.—Steady Westerly wind all day, fine weather.

W. S. SHERWILL, Lieut. R. A.

Surveyor.

iw. o

1842.} A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1031

Journal kept at Lehra, in the Goruckpoor district. Latitude

about 27° 0' N. Longitude 83° 30' E.

Ist June—At daybreak a few clouds in the North, 8 a. m., rain

from the North ; thunder and lightning and heavy rain. Noon cloudy,

slight rain at intervals, light E. wind. Evening fine, with many

clouds, light E. wind.

2nd June.—Light showers during the past night. Morning steady

rain, light E. wind. Noon, cloudy. Evening fine, with a few clouds

3rd June.—Light Easterly wind, a few clouds, very sultry.

4th June.—Wind East, but scarcely perceptible all day. Morn-

ing, a few clouds. Noon cloudy. Evening, nearly cloudless.

5th June.—Rain during the past night. Morning, heavy rain.

Noon cloudy. Evening nearly cloudless. Wind East all day, but so

slight, as to be hardly perceptible.

6th June.—Heavy rain during the latter part of the past night.

Morning, cloudy. Noon and evening, a few clouds, light East wind

all day.

7th June.—To the 20th; the wind was almost without exception

Easterly and light, the weather more or less cloudy, and a few drops

of rain occasionally fell. From the 8rd to the 20th, the heat was very

oppresssive. ‘The last was a day of nearly continued rain.

Allahabad. Latitude 25° 27' N. Longitude 81° 50' E. Lieut. Chamier,

Ordnance Department.

I should observe, that this account is from memory ; you will there-

fore be able to estimate its value, and reject it, should more authen-

tic accounts reach you from this station. I have added an extract

from my register of the Thermometer (Fahrenheit’s,) in case it should

be of any use.

Memo.—On the morning of the 2nd instant, about 8-30, large

masses of clouds formed in the N. W., and came rolling up ina S. E.

direction. About 9, the wind blew with considerable violence from

the N. W., and so darkened the air by raising the dust, that it was im-

possible to see across the room. In half an hour, a heavy shower of rain

fell ; the wind gradually subsided, and by 11 o’clock a. m., the storm

had cleared off. A few small trees were blown down, but I have not

heard of any other damage being done. Since the storm, the wind

has remained pretty steady at W. and N. W.

[No. 131.

A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

1032

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A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

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1033* = A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 13}.

Extract from the Meteorological Register, kept at the Lucknow

Time of|-———-——|— —————_—_—_—|_ — ——-.

Barometer.

Date and

Observa-| 4; S

tion. o | ako

‘o | Fe

= las

June 2d

Hem,| 0 0

0 46| 29.128) 90.4

2 45 142) 90.3

4 45 150} 89.5

6 45 195] 89.3

8 45 260) 89.1

10 45) 223/89.6

p.m 045 234! 89 O

2 45 174|90 5

4 44 148) 90.7

6 44 140} 90.7

8 47 187| 89.6

10 45 192} 88.5

June 3d

0 45| 29.174) 88.0

2 47 178) 87.4

4 45 178) 87.3

6 45 204| 88.0

8 45 250) 90.0

10 44 246) 91.0

p.m 047 202) 91.8

2 46 146) 92.0

4 45 114| 91.8

6 44 120} 92.1

8 45 146] 91.4

10 45 176) 91,7

June 4th

12 46} 29.150) 91.2

14 45 142) 90.2

16 45 138] 88.8

18 45 151) 88.2

20 45 176| 91.4

22 45 175) 93.5

0 47 135) 93.0

2 46} 083/ 93.2

4 46| 079) 94.0

6 44 084) 93.3

8 44 138} 92.0

10 44 188) 91.2

ee ee

Mean height of the Barometer during the week previous to the storm, 29.332.

Observatory.

Thermometer.

Strength

-15} 10 |Cumuii, ...

Pitt Biblio Bibi

be et tt ett ed bd tb

Obl

Cloud.

REMARKS,

Description.

er | ee,

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Lightning flashing

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10 |Cumuli.

10 \Cumuli.

10 |Cumuli.

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and cumuli.

7 \Cumuli and eum.

10 |Cirri. [strati.

9 |Cumuli & cirri.

8 |Cumuli & cirri.

8 |\Cumuli & cirri.

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10 | Cirri.

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6 |Cumuli.

6 |\Cumuli.

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8 | Ditto ditto.

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creme ney | acme | See Re ce eee 7

A SS EE | emeemees exces | ees Sa Ee Te Soe | AA SS Ae Le SS en Ses SLR ee |)

R. WILCOX

1842. ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1033

Agra. Lat. 27° 12' N. Long. 77° 56' E. from Dr. Balfour, Surgeon

to the Hon’ble the Lieut. Governor of the N. W. Provinces.

een. if. |e. \

Spas yee = 72" | ss) 2

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(28| 912 | 23.08]W. N.| 93 | 28.91] NW.

| 29; 922 , ,, O3|N. W.; 942 | ,, 87 INNW Nuring three days nothing very remarkable

ed in the weather, the ordinary hot wind of

a 30) 93 », OOIN. W.| 944 | ,, 84} NW. the season blowing.

(3i| 94 | 28.911N. W.| 95 | ,, 74] NW.

( 1) 943 3, 82\N. W.| 96 » 62 | NW. last. Wind very strong and rather gusty, almost

| a gale, during the night shifted to East and

2| 94 » 86] S. 943 | ,, 73 E. blew fresh; 9 30 of 2nd wind at South,

; shortly afterwards backing to East, at which

@} 3) 93 », 891 E. 933 | ,,75 | Ey. it continued steady.

5 4 3rd. Cloudy during forenoon.

> | 4} 983 », 85} Ey. | 94 | ,, 70 |NWy.|5th. Cloudy and rain drops in morning; at 5

| Pp. M. wind toS. with squalls and again settled

5} 933 », 83) W. | 943 | ,,72 | W. | at Westward.

| 6th. Shower for two minutes from N, W. at

L 6 933 | ,, 86S. W.} 94 | ,, 72 | noon.

The temperature is taken in a room, where is neither punka nor

tatties ; the direction of the wind in the tables is that at the time of ob-

servation, and may not be correct to a point, but it is nearly so. Of the

shift on the night of the Ist, I can give no further account than I

have entered in my notes. I was struck with it at the time as curi-

ous, succeeding to such a strong N. W. wind with a falling glass.

I commence the tables from the 28th ultimo, to shew the steady

fall of the Sympiesometer. On that day it stood at the average for the

month ; viz. 29° 08' a. m., and 28° 93’ p. m., the day before, however,

it was as high as 29° 04’, and after the 6th, it continued to rise till the

1lth, when it reached 29° 15’, and has since gradually fallen to about

29, indicative I hope of the approach of the rains. As Agra is about 500

feet, (1 believe) above the sea, allowance must be made for that height

in comparing these tables with others; to aid this, I give the average

for the month of April here compared with the same in Calcutta ;

should a longer series of averages be desirable, I can give you the

same for two years nearly.

1034 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

Morning. 4p. M.

PCB wien aie, td a wie eraioas. ois «teres Wie

Calcutta; <.s.: 29° Jaen 2. es. 20 oe

Dit, «aie oe 2 —.59' — .64

JOHN BALFOUR,

Assist. Surgeon, Agra.

Dadoopoor in the Protected Sikh States. Latitude 30° 12' 12'’ N. Lon-

gitude 77° 23' 45" E., from 28th May to 6th June, 1842. From

Capt. W. E. Baker, Engineers.

The height of Dadoopoor above the level of the sea is from 900 to

1000 feet, but in consequence of a small quantity of air having got

into the barometer tube, a correction of +-0.083, should be applied,

besides that for temperature and elevation.

W. E. BAKER,

Bengal Engineers.

‘

;

A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1035

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1036 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. (No. 131.

Almorah. Latitude 29°.35' N. Longitude 79° 40' E. from J. H.

Batten, Esq. Assistant Commissioner of Revenue, Kemaon.

This valuable and graphic account of what seems to be the ultimate

effect of the storm, which I owe to the polite attention of Mr. Batten,

will be perused by the Meteorologist with much interest.

‘“‘ As storms are frequent in the hills, (though this year has been

excessively dry,) and the great rains are generally preceded by the

“ chota burs4t” at the end of May or beginning of June, I did not make

any particular observations at the time of your storm; but as the

smallest information as to the weather at that period would appear to

be valuable, I beg to send you these few lines.

“The weather at Almorah, during all May, was unpleasantly warm

Jor the hills. Up to the 18th May, the Thermometer in the house ~

shewed a maximum heat of 75°, and a minimum of 73°, and I often ©

saw the mercury at noon day 74°, and at midnight still standing un-

moved at74°. After the 18th, the heat began to increase, and from

that day till the 30th, the minimum height of the mercury was 75°, |

and the maximum was sometimes, though rarely, as high as 80°;

but for the greater number of days it attained to 77°. On the 21st,

there occurred a dry North-wester at evening, and from the numer-

ous ploughed fields which surround the station, arose a regular storm —

of dust, such as is seen on a larger scale in the plains. During the )

whole month, the atmosphere was unusually thick and hazy, and the ~

mountains, only two miles distant in a horizontal direction, were —

obscured from view. During the hot dry weather in the hills, this |

hazy appearance is usual, and whenever the haze becomes very thick ‘

indeed, at the horizon, rain may generally be expected to follow.

Here and there slight rain did fall, and the appearance of the clouds,

piled up in cumuli at the horizon from S. E. to S. W., from which a con- :

stant scud issued and passed over towards the Snowy range, was highly

electrical. During the Jast week of the month, the wind which had ~

been at S. W., with dry N. Westers occurring nearly every evening,

changed to the N. E., E., and S. E. On the 30th and 31st, the wea-

ther was very sultry, and the haze extraordinarily thick. On the

3lst, from 4 p.m. to 6 pv. m., there was a fine fall of rain, the wind

veering from N. W. to N. E. On that evening, the Thermometer in ‘

the house fell from 80° to 72°; and in the verandah it was as low as Mi

1842. ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1037

70° ; the mists now began to flit on the hill sides. Wednesday the

Ist of June was very sultry, the Thermometer in the house 80°, all

day sky cloudy, and the near atmosphere hazy to a degree. At 8 P.m.

the wind became a gale from the N. W., and brought with it a flood

of rain, which lasted for two hours with tremendous violence, excavat-

ing deep ravines in the hill side, and changing the shallow mountain

streams into deep and tumultuous torrents. ‘The 2nd and 3rd were

cloudy without much wind, and a fine showereof rain fell on each

day. Maximum of Thermometer 75° in the house, wind veering

from S. W. to N. W., and round by N. to E. Saturday the 4th was

a very sultry, and hazy day, but from 9 Pp. m., the wind blew with

great violence from N. E. to S. E., lightning vivid, with constant loud

thunder, and rain fell in torrents. The weather cleared at 10 a. mM. on

the 5th, and from that time till yesterday, the 15th, there only occur-

red at Almorah, (to which place my observations are strictly confin-

ed,) one smart shower on the afternoon of the 10th; the sultry haze

returned with strong W. and S. W. winds, and the Thermometer

latterly attained to a height of from 77° to 81° in the house. At last,

yesterday the 15th, the heat seemed to have attained its climax. But

as the scud of clouds still continued to be blown strongly from the

West, I hardly expected rain, though the lightning was vivid from

heavy cumuli at the S. E. corner of the horizon. Between 8 and

10 p. m., however, the wind changed to N. W. and round’ by N. and

N. E. to E.and S E., and at the latter hour fhe rains set in with a

vengeance. ‘Thunder and lightning all night, with strong winds and

constant pouring of water from the heavens. To-day the rain is

steady, and the misty clouds are rolling about the hills, and into the

windows. Thermometer at noon in house 72°. My house is the lowest

in the station, and is about 5,260 feet above the sea. Common Baro.

meters with the usual scale of degrees, are of course of no use here.

I see by the Delhi Gazette of the 11th, that on the 3rd instant

there was no storm at Bareilly, and that a heavy storm without rain

occurred at that place on Wednesday the Ist, and that the rainy

weather which we had up here was, from the appearance of the sky,

Suspected. I also perceive, that the Bareilly correspondent of the

Delhi Gazette describes the height of the Thermometer on the 30th

ultimo as 96°, with tatties and punkahs ; so that even with our usual

1038 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 1381.

heat, at that time at Almorah, there was a difference in our favor of

15 degrees. The highest point of ground in the Cantonments of

Almorah is, I may mention, about 5,500 feet above the sea.

J. H. BATTEN.

STORM REPORT, Dresa NEaR Poonaun, 41H JuLy 1842.

Extract from the Meteorological Register, 2nd or Queen’s Royal Re-

giment, for June 1842.

Date. | Hour. | Ther. bie Weather.

°o .

Junel|6 a. m. | 86 |S. W.|Morning overcast; watery to the S. W., soft breeze.

» |9 P.M. | 98 |S. W.|Mid-day, fresh breezes

» |6 p.m. | 97 |S. W./Clear (fresh or strong breezes may be here supposed.)

$3 p. M. | 96 | West|High winds with dust.

», 2.\6 a. M. | 86 |South |Overcast, fresh soft breeze with watery fleecy clouds.

- p. M. | 97 {South |High winds, with volumes of dust.

t Pp: mM. | 99 |S. W.|Ditto.

= Pp. M. | 92 |N. W.|Fresh breezes and clear.

" [clouds.

» 3/6 A. M. | 87 |South |Few drops of rain at 4 a. M., overcast watery bank and

La P. M 97 |South |Fresh breezes, (cloudy may be here supposed. )

t P.M 97 |South |Squally, clouds to the Southward

a P. M 93 |South | Hard gales and squails,* with heavy dark clouds and

{volumes of dust.

», 4.|6 A. M 86 |South |Fresh breezes and cloudy.

3 P. M 96 |S. W.| Ditto.

ss P. M 95 |South |Banks.

P. M 94 |S. E. |Strong gales and clear.

COWS GHwogn OCnwn ONWRm OnWHD OMRWDH ©

» »./6 a. Me | 86 {South |Fresh breezes and cloudy.

Ls P. M 98 |South |Strong breezes and cloudy.

ei P. M 97 |South |Light banks.

v Pp. M. | 94 |South |Strong gales.

,, 6.|6 a. m 86 |South |Strong breezes, and very cloudy.

fe P. M 96 {South |Ditto ditto.

. P. M 96 |South |Banks and clouds.

A P. M 92 |S. W.|Strong gales.

,, 7.(6 a4. m. | 86 |S. W./Fresh soft breezes, and very cloudy.

1 P. M 95 |S. W.|Strong breezes.

os P. M 94 |S, W./Thick dust, haze, strong breezes

he P. M 91 |S. W.|Fresh gales.

Full Moon.—From this period the wind continued ~

in the S. W. for more than a week, with the usual

weather of the season. ;

kK. B. A. HUNTER,

Assistant Surgeon, in Medical charge 2nd or

Queen’s Royal Regiment.

N. B.—The direction of the wind not to be depended upon exactly to a point, and —

any change of direction between the periods of observation not noticed.

During the hot season, high winds from the S. and S. W. always darken the air, |

more or less, with dust, and particularly at the commencement of the S. W. monsoon, —

* This was so heavy, that we entertained great fears at the time for the Shipping in Bombay and _

on the East coast. va

= 8 SS eee

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1089

The late Storm at Calcutta.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BOMBAY TIMES.

Sr1r,—Mr. Piddington of Calcutta being very anxious, it appears, to

obtain all the information he can, relative to the state of the weather

in all parts of India, about the period of the recent storm, I beg to

furnish him, through your journal, with the following notes from my

Weather-Book, and only regret that they are not more detailed :—

State of the weather at Chowpatty, (3 miles from the fort of Bom-

bay,) from the Ist to the 6th of June 1842.

lst. June.—Morning, sky overcast ; temperature very sultry ; wind,

N. W.—Day cloudy and hot.—Evening, sky overcast; sultry; wind

N. W.

2nd June.—Morning, sky overcast; wind N. W.—Day very hot

and oppressive; hazy and cloudy. Thermometer 90° at 12 o'clock.

— Evening, sky overcast ; black and lowering appearance in the S. W.

quarter; wind blowing strongly from N. W.

37rd June.—Morning, sky overcast; wind N. W.—Day hot, cloudy

and hazy.—-Evening, sky overcast; wind N. W.—A heavy shower

of rain fell in the fort district last night.

4th June.—Morning, sky overcast; a slight shower of rain after

5 o'clock ; wind N. W.—Day hot, cloudy and hazy. —Evening, cloudy ;

wind N. E. temperature very sultry; a few smal] showers of rain.

Some rain fell last night.

Sth June.—Morning, sky overcast ; sultry ; wind N. W.—Day hot

_ and cloudy, with a thin haze ; a few showers of rain.— Evening, cloudy

and very sultry ; wind N. E.

6th June.—Morning, sky overcast; sultry; a little rain; wind

easterly.— Day, very hot. Thermometer 92 degrees at 2 o’clock.—

Evening, cloudy ; fine showers of rain ; temperature oppressively close

and sultry ; wind N. W.

The most remarkable change observed by me during the above

period, was that of the wind, which was North-westerly during the

mornings, till the 5th; when it veered to the East—its usual direction

at that time of the day; and this circumstance, as well as its blowing

1040 <A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Siormsin India. (No. 1381.

for two evenings, (the 4th and 5th,) from the North East, led me to

anticipate, in common with others, a serious disturbance to the equili-

brium of our atmospheric system.

Your’s obediently,

Chowpatty, 22d June, 1842. BOREAS.

The Calcutta Hurricane of the 3rd and 4th June, 1842.

When we promised in our last to revert to this subject, we were

under the impression, that we should have been able to lay our hands

on a larger body of facts, to have placed beside those supplied by Mr.

Piddington, than that wherewith we have as yet had it in our power

to supply ourselves: we despair not as further returns come in, yet to

obtain information bearing on that collected at Calcutta. We subjoin

an extract from the register of the Bombay Observatory for the 2nd,

ord, 4th, and 6th of June,—the 5th being Sunday, when no observa-

tions were made. On the Ist, the Barometer had not departed from

its usual average. On the 2nd, it had fallen somewhat, but that not

much ; and it was on the morning of the 3rd that it first began to as-

sume symptoms of extreme irregularity. This state of matters conti- —

nued all over the 4th. By the 6th, the instrument had assumed its }

ordinary monsoon level. As formerly stated, the belief amongst the :

natives was universal, that a tempest might be looked for about the

5th; nothing came, however, and the falling of the instrument was

generally, and too correctly, assumed to have been occasioned by a

tempest raging at a distance.

Barometer uncorrected.

Time. 2nd. ord. Ath. 6th.

6 A.M. 29.608 29.596 29.530 29.610

7 -630 618 -560 .620

8 .656 .634 572 .638

9 .660 .640 .592 .656

94 .664 -636 092 .660.

10 .664 .636 092 .664

103 .656 .636 092 -664

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1041

Time. 2nd. ord. Ath. 6th.

Il 29.650 29.616 29.592 29.664

0 .636 616 .580 .656

1 p.m. .620 .608 570 .644

2 612 594 048 .630

2 608 586 542 not obsd.

30 -600 076 540 ditto.

34 .600 576 532 ditto.

4 .600 .560 532 ditto.

43 600 558 532 .616

5 .596 Dae 536 .616

54 .600 558 038 not obsd.

6 .608 558 532 .624

7 614 -560 532 not obsd.

8 .624 572 .562 ditto.

9 .626 580 .562 ditto.

93 .620 .576 .562 ditto.

10 .620 .576 562 ditto.

[ Bombay Times, June 22, 1842.

Lohurduggah, Ramghur district. Latitude 23° 28' N. Longitude

84° 50! E.

“The storm of the 3rd did not reach this length. We had a few

pufis of wind all round the compass, with tolerably heavy showers all

day, but nothing more.”

22nd June, 1842. T. M. TAYLOR.

Sumbulpoor. Lat. 21° 33! N. Long. 83° 47' E. from Messrs. Willis

and Earle, Calcutta, June 24, 1842.

In a letter of June 20th, received this day from Mr. C. L. Babbing-

ton of Sumbulpore, in answer to somé inquiries made of him in our

letter of the 15th instant, he says,

“With regard to the late gale we did not experience its effects

here. The rains were ushered in on the Ist instant, also on the 2d

and 4th by the usual North-westers, which only lasted a few hours

1042. A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

each time, and nothing particular in the state of the atmosphere, ex-

cept that the rains did not set in with the usual masses of white

clouds, which generally collect for three days previous, but merely as

though a heavy shower might be expected.”

JAS. WILLIS.

For the sake of easier and comparative reference, I have now, as in

my former memoirs, arranged in tables, abbreviated notices of all the

effects of the storms which the logs and reports offer, from about the

middle of the Bay to Monghyr, Purneah, Dinagepore, &c. where the

different storms appear to have broken up, and to have only been felt

in those squalls of one or more hour’s duration, which are called North-

westers, North-easters, &c., according to the quarter from which they

come. I have not carried the tables beyond the limits of the true rota-

tory storms, not considering it worth while to do so, and as rather

complicating them for purposes of reference. In the summary which

follows them, where the storms are tracked in detail, and the facts and

arguments upon which the various results are founded are alluded to,

and laid down, farther reference to that portion of the documents which

relates to those places which were out of the limits of the storm will

be made.

1043

A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India.

1842.]

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1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1077

SUMMARY AND RESULTS.

I shall now endeavour to deduce from the evidence afforded by the

foregoing documents and tables :—

1. The origin and track of the Storm.

2. Its circular (or other) motion.

3. Its rate of travelling.

4. Other phenomena.

I. 11.— The Origin and Track of the Storm, with its circular motion,

mill be best considered together.

If we look in our table of the 20th instant, at the logs of the Algerine

and Arzel, p. 977 and 978, we shall find that in the S. E. part of the

Bay, or between latitude 10° and 14° N. and longitude 90° and 923

E* over a space of 290 miles, the distance of the two vessels apart,

some atmospheric disturbance was apparently taking place, and

over a considerable extent. This was continued on the following days,

but seems to have been nothing more, at least with them, than the

setting in of the monsoon ; for on the 3lst May, the Ariel, Algerine,

and Norfolk were all, as will be seen, about in the middle of the

Bay, and within a circle of 100 miles in diameter, with variable

winds and squally weather from North to N. W., West, and S. W.

The Arethusa four degrees further to the Westward had a strong

monsoon. Up to the Ist June, indeed, these ships had nothing but a

strong monsoon. It was mof then with them that the storm began,

and the only trace we find of it in the Bay, beyond the Sand Heads, is

with the John William Dare, which vessel being bound to Penang,

got as far as about latitude 17° N., and about on the line from the

Light Vessel to Cape Negrais, on her route from the Sand Heads, but

was obliged to put back on the Ist June. She had a smart N.

Easterly breeze in latitude 17° 56’ and longitude about 93° 30’, or

about 250 miles S. E. by S. from the Light Vessel at the Sand

Heads, on the 30th May ; and running to the Southward and Eastward

with this breeze it became a 8. Easterly, S. S. Easterly, and eventu-

* I use round numbers here; the tracks of the two vessels are given upon the

Chart.

1078 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

ally a Southerly gale on the 3st, with a heavy cross sea ; her Barome-

ter falling from 29.50 on the 30th to 29.30 on the 3lst, when she hove

to. If this was the beginning of the rotatory storm, which I have

called the Cawvery’s storm, (see Chart,) as it may well have been, this

change of wind is exactly what should have occurred, and the fall of

the Barometer and heavy cross sea confirm the probability, that it

was the North Eastern part of the vortex which she met with.

The Norfolk, which was four degrees to the W. by S. of the John

William Dare, had also threatening weather, with wind from the N.

N. W. becoming N. W., as she ran to the Southward, she being on the

S. W. quadrant of the storm, if there was one. At the Sand Heads

and False Point, we find by the logs of the Pilot Vessels, that the

winds and weather were gloomy, squally, and threatening a gale from:

the Eastward, with their Barometers falling (Coleroon and Beacon’s),

while to the Southward we find the Algerine and Ariel with heavy

weather (or the monsoon ?) from the W.S. W. and S.S. W. This

state of winds and weather all over the Bay is also, it will be noted,

that which we might suppose to occur at the first part of a rotatory

motion occasioned perhaps by a struggle between the N. East and S. W.

monsoon, which last, as we see by the log of the John Craig, was appa-

rently blowing strongly up from latitude 6° N. We cannot assign any

place for the centre of the storm, but if there was one, it was doubtless

between the position of the John William Dare, Point Negrais, and

the Norfolk.

31st May.—It was at noon blowing half a gale from N. E. by N.

to N., increasing to a gale from N. N. W., and to a hurricane at mid-

night, with the H. C. P. V. Cauvery, which stood to sea from her

station off False Point and to the S. E. of it, off Conjong Bay,* where

she hove to. With the Light Vessels also a gale had set in from

EK. to E. N. E., though at Kedgeree, the weather was only threatening,

and at Calcutta there was nothing remarkable, as to the wind and —

weather, to common observers ; though the Barometer had: fallen from

the average of 29.64. to 29.50. |

The ship Augustus had the commencement of this storm, (which as

felt most strongly by the False Point station vessel, we may call the

* In the Charts, Codgone Bay.

1842. ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1079

Cauvery’s storm,) from the N. E., but it must have been of small ex-

tent, for it did not reach the Panthea, which vessel was about 90

miles due West of the Augustus at noon ; and hence we may also de-

duce, that the Easterly gale felt by the outer Light Vessel was also not

truly a part of it, but probably the combined effect of the Monsoon,

the disturbed weather felt in the middle of the bay by the John Wil-

liam Dare and Norfolk, &c., and of the outskirts of this small vortex

I have placed the centre of the Cawvery’s storm in latitude 18° 20’ N.

longitude 87° 53’ E. ; but it may have been farther to the Southward,.

for no log was kept of her run to sea, nor of her drift when hove to. It

was the 3d before she got back to sight the land off Ganjam.

lst June.—From midnight the Cauvery was still drifting to the

South, with a hurricane from North to N. N. W., which veered by

noon (as the centre passed to the Northward of her position,) to the

N. W. to W. at 8p.m.andS. W. at midnight. Thisstorm may have

exhausted itself before it reached the shore, though the Panthea felt

the N. E. gale of its N. W. quadrant; but we have unfortunately no

account from Ganjam or Pondy, about, or to the South of which

places it would have reached the shore if its centre landed upon the

coast. At Pooree it was only felt as heavy rain on the 31st.

The Augustus on this day had the wind veering from the E. by N.

to N. W. by N., confirming the evidence derived from the Cauvery’s

log, of its having really been a small storm. I have therefore marked

a small circle for it, with the Cauvery’s place at noon upon the

Chart.

We may thus fairly allow that this was a separate storm of small

extent, preceding ‘that of which the centre passed over Calcutta, by

about 62 hours. Whether it also was the one which appears to

have been originating with the John William Dare, on the 30th of

May, or whether her storm of that date gave rise to both this and the

Calcutta storm, we do not know. I am inclined to think, that the

J. W. Dare’s storm was the Cauvery’s hurricane, because if its track

had been more Northerly, it would have brought the centre closer to

the John William Dare, than she seems to have had it. We have,

however, no right to conclude, that a rotatory storm does not at any

part of its progress separate into two or more storms, since (see Capt.

Tapley’s report, 3rd Memoir, Journal of the Asiatic Society, Vol. X.

1080 <A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

p- 1,011,) they certainly zclude whirlwinds which are separate from,

although included in the main body of the storm, and our Calcutta

storm certainly separated into others on subsequent days.

lst June.—We have no data on this day from which we could with

any degree of probability assign any fixed centre for our Calcutta storm

of the 3rd, and indeed I am of opinion, that it was only now forming

itself,* in the Northern part of the Bay.

For we find that at Chittagong and Noacolly, they had no signs of

a gale, Barometrical or of other kinds. At Burrisal, they had, it is

true, heavy rain and squalls from S. E. veering to E. in the evening

and blowing, hard all night ; but this may scarcely be considered, I

think, as more than an indication of the commencement of an atmos-

pheric disturbance at least till midnight ; and as I have before remark-

ed, we must allow of a commencement somewhere. A part of this

S. Easterly gale and rain may indeed have been owing to the Caw-

very’s hurricane which was now, at midnight, as just described, at its

height ; but then we find that it certainly did not reach to the North-

ward and Eastward so far as the Floating Light, Saugor and Céleroon,

all three of which had moderate weather (the Sawgor even at day-

light ‘‘ every appearance of fine weather ;”) this must wholly preclude

our considering this Burrisal commencement as any part of the Caw-

very’s hurricane.

2d June.—We find, first as to the ships in the middle of the Bay,

from 15° to 17° 20' N. (Norfolk, Ariel, and Alyerine,) they had, as has

occurred before, a heavy monsoon blowing across the Bay, the swell of

which seems also now just to have reached the Arracan Coast, produc-

* I have before remarked, that these storms must begin somewhere. I may add

here, that they must also begin somehow and somewhen, i. e. we must find (or allow)

for their commencement, place, cause, and time,—if we can. We may suppose

that when a rotatory storm forms, it begins at the centre increasing outwardly—or at

the circumference—or in parts of either? and these parts may be even at different

distances from the central space, and that, when the rota is formed by one set of

forces, another may begin to operate to move it onwards, and that its first progress

may be slow while the vortex is spreading? We may also suppose, since, we know

nothing on the subject, that the same force which produces the rotation, produces also

the progression ? One of the first effects of the strong rotation and progression must be

to draw in other currents of air, or to throw them outwardly, and to influence those

already existing, that is to say, it may draw in by its progressive motion while it

throws others out by its rotatory (centrifugal) force ?

1842.}° A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1081

ing the heavy swell and N. W. squall, described there in Captain

Brown and Dr. Hinton’s reports.

Farther northward in the Bay, we find the John William Dare,

(which vessel had done all she could to get to the N. W., since she bore

up on the Ist in about latitude 18° North,) with her Barometer falling

to 29.00, and a strong W. N. W. gale; but she does not appear to

have been within the true circle of the storm, which hereabouts and

at this time was only perhaps slightly influencing the true S. W.

monsoon by its Southern quadrants. We have thus no data in the

middle of the northern part of the Bay, nor on its Eastern shores ; and

on its Western side from 15° to 173° N., and towards the meridian of

False Point we have nothing inthe logsof the Ariel, Algerine,and Norfolk,

but a strong or heavy monsoon. We must thus infer that the Calcutta

storm commences, for us, with the log of the Beacon, the outer Light Ves-

sel at noon, where with her and at Calcutta there was a gale at N. E.,*

and that it was of small extent, and yet very irregular, (perhaps still

forming ?) for though the Beacon had a steady gale at N. E., the Hope

Light Vessel, 25 miles to the N. N. W. of her, seems to have had it

very variable and Easterly, and at Kedgeree and on the river it was

mostly between North and N. N.E. throughout the day, settling at N.

E. at noon at Kedgeree. To seaward, the Cawvery off False Point, and

the Augustus and Panthea off the Black Pagoda and Ganjam, had the

storm of the Ist moderating and running into the monsoon from S. W.

and S. S. W. to West. The Cawvery was at this time (noon) about the

same distance to the S. W. or S. S. W. of the Beacon, that Calcutta

is to the North of her station, and the centre of the storm to give

the Beacon the wind at N. E., must have been about on the latitude

of False Point, which would have given the Cauvery a Northerly

(N. by E. to N. N. W.) wind, and not one from the S. W., which

she now had. We find indeed that it was nearly midnight when she

had winds from the N. W., that is when the Cawvery’s hurricane

had sufficiently left her to allow the Calcutta one to be felt, though

it was now very severe with the Coleroon, which vessel was obliged to

run out, and almost met the centre coming up, as the rapid change

from E. N. E. to W. S. W., or 16 points in the 24 hours, or less time

* Which moderated in the evening at Calcutta, but increased again towards mid-

night.

1082 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

fully shews. At Kedgeree also by sunset, the gale was N., ‘‘ blowing

hard,’ and at 9 p. m. a hard gale, steady at N.

The Coleroon’s log will give us the nearest approximation to the

place of the centre of the Calcutta storm at noon this-day. This vessel,

lying at anchor close to the Beacon, parted at 2 a. m., and stood to

sea to the S. E. with the wind at E. N. E. heaving to probably, about

30 miles to the S. E. of the Beacon, where she had the wind at North

at noon, and the Beacon had it at N. E. This would give about

an KE. by N. or E. N. E. wind at Calcutta, but as the gale there

moderated greatly from noon towards evening, we may suppose its

true circumference to have scarcely reached that city at this time, or at

most, that this was but the exterior of it, as at False Point, which place

is about as far to the West of this spot as Calcutta is to the North of

it. To seaward, i. e. to the S. Eastward and Southward also, the

circumference cannot fairly be said to extend to the radius which

it would require (140 miles) to include Calcutta. At Burrisal, to the

N. N. E. of this centre, they had an Easterly gale with rain, which

is what should occur on the N. E. quadrant of these storms, with

moreover the effect of the deflected S. W. monsoon from the Ara-

can coast which must be allowed for.

The point, thus, for the centre of the Calcutta storm at noon on the

2d June, may not unfairly be taken as in latitude 20° 30’ N., longitude

82° 20’ L.; and as the centre passed over Calcutta at, say 2-30 Pp. m.

on the following day, and the distance between these two spots is

140 miles, this will give 140 miles in 262 hours, or a rate of 5.3 miles

per hour for the track of the storm upon a N. N. W. course,* taking

it to have followed a strait line ; and measuring back on this line, the

distance travelled over from noon to 2h. 30m. Pp. m., we have the point

which I have marked, 123 miles S. S. E. of Calcutta, for the place of

the centre on the 3d June at noon.

It will be noticed by the table, that just at the time of the gale

and shift of wind at Calcutta on the 3rd, the same phenomenon took

place at Midnapore, which is 70 miles to the W. b. S. This requires

a separate consideration. The first supposition is, that the calm space

of the storm might be as muchas 70 miles in breadth (?) but this con-

* My newspaper estimate says, about aNWbW. course. This was judged of by the

shift of wind, as well, as that could be ascertained, in the middle of a town.

. —_——

1842.) A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1083

tradicted in too many ways for us to admit it. For, first, if we

say that the storm was moving at the rate we have estimated, 5.3

miles per hour, and that the calm lasted at Calcutta, at the most

from lh, 30m. p.m. to 3h. 30m. Pp. m., or two hours, this would give,

say, 11 miles for the diameter of the calm space ; and that it was not

more, is corroborated by the fact, that, to the southward, the Barque

Fairlie, at Hooghly Point, 25 miles to the SS. Westward of Cal-

cutta, and at the towns of Chandernagore and Chinsurah, 17 and 20

niles to the northward, no mention* is made of any calm interval ; so

that our estimate of 11 miles for the utmost breadth of the centre is

not far wrong. Again, to the Southward of Hoogly Point, to Kedgeree

and Saugor, which are about the same distance from Calcutta, in

that direction, that Midnapore is to the W. b S., no calm took place.

We are thus obliged to allow, that at Midnapore, there was a separate

vortex of small extent, for it appears by Mr. Homfray’s report, that it

was not felt along the valley of the Subunreeka, which he says,

averages about 40 miles to the Southward of that stations.t

And this fact again precludes our considering it as any relic of the

Cauvery’s storm just described, even if the interval of time, and the

want of any trace inland of this storm, did not also wholly make

this supposition improbable. The interval of time is from the 3lst

at midnight, when the Cauvery, then about 100 miles to the S. S. E.

of False Point, had a hurricane at North, the centre of it being

not far to the Eastward of her, to about 2 p. m. on the 3d, or 62 hours ;

and the distance from the estimated place of the centre to Midnapore,

would not be more than 240 miles. Midnapore also bears about

North a little Westerly from this supposed centre. To have reached

that station, the storm must have travelled about ona North course up

between the Light and Pilot Vessels and Balasore, and passed close to

Kedgeree. Not only there is no trace of this at Kedgeree, but the veer-

ing of the wind, from North to a hurricane at N. N. W. and ending

at West, must have been that of a storm travelling from the S. E.

* Mr. Earle, in his excellent account of the storm at Garden Reach, see p. 996, men-

| tions no calm; but that, from a hurricane at about N. b. W. it became “blowing pretty

fresh at N. W.”’ before it again blew a hurricane from S. W. and W.S.W. He was

_ only 4 or 5 miles from Government House.

) tT Speaking no doubt of the road distance. I find that by Mr. Tassin’s map it ave-

rages about 30 only.

1084. A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

We have thus shewn, that the Midnapore vortex was nof the

Calcutta one, and that it was not the Cauvery’s storm. We must

therefore consider it as a separate one, and generated in the neigh-

bourhood ; in other words, as an independent eddy from our greater

one, for though heavy, no great mischief was done.

We must now, in endeavouring to ascertain the track of the storm

between the 3rd and 4th June, consider, that at noon on the 3d, (giv-

ing it, as I have done on the Chart, only a radius of 90 miles, or a

diameter of 180) its N. Western and Western quadrants, were then

impinging against the range of low hills which form the outliers and

parallel ranges of the Vindyha range* called to the North Eastward,

(or those to the South of Bhaugulpore on our Chart,) the Curruckpore,

further South the Pachete, and to the South of the Subunreeka river

the Balasore hills. We do not know the height of these, but some of

them may not be much short of 1500 or 1800 feet, the station of

Purulia being, by Barometrical admeasurement, 670 feet above Cal-

cutta: perhaps we may take 1000 feet as an average height, and W.

N. W. as the average direction of the longest vallies? These ranges

are separated, as will be seen, by the valleys through which the feeders

of the Soobunreeka, Roopnarain, and Dummooda rivers find their

way, and must, doubtless, with the transverse ridges and valleys, cause

much disturbance, and consequent irregularity, to a storm. It is cer-

tain, that buildings and groves of trees do so to the small whirlwinds,

and from strict analogy we may assume, that 500 or 1000 feet of hills

or ascents, with breaks and intervals amongst them, may do the same

with larger ones.

If thus, as above said, we take a radius of 90 miles, and strike with it

a circle of 180 miles in diameter on an accurate Chart,t we shall find

as below :—

By reports the wind was,

At The wind should be by estimate about

SAICULA, wes ce ewe ete ING ING Eee cen te ct» ot mane SURREY mene

Beacon Light Vesselass ss Wa 3 UN. cs os 2 oc 0 eo reee

Kedgeree,.s'7 So ee UN. WS Oe, ee ene A ate

* This is the bending of the Vindyha chain to the South, to join the Coromandel

range, as sketched on my map in the First Memoir, Journal of the Asiatic Society,

vol. 8, p. 636, and also on the Chart to the present Memoir.

+ My Chart is not quite accurate. ‘lhe tangents in the first column are laid down ~

from Commander Lloyd’s Survey of 1840.

6 eee ae

1842. ] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1085

By reports the wind was,

At The wind should be by estimate about

Mud Point, E.N.E. 9 miles

mom, loedeerce,...... .. .N. W. by W.........N. W.

At sea, to the S. E. of the

Light Vessel (Log of the

TS Pe 0" a Oe em

Aen. a'eieinie = Nes Nolen ee.+ 005.) Nia We

i oleic csi OY Penne a cis ss, about SS. KH.”

Kissennagur,.... .- -.-- Hast.............. N.E. to East.

I have not included here such places as Berhampore, &c., because

they are on the verge of the circle or out of it, and at Bancoorah we

have the anomaly of the wind at W.N. W., with that already noticed

in the Midnapore vortex. It will be seen that the rest of the tangents

agree well enought to form a circle of, say 180 miles in diameter.

Towards the stations situated not far from the first rising of the

spurs of the Sub-Himalaya, as Dinagepore and Poornea, we find that

on this day the gale commenced at the most Easterly of these two,

Dinagepore, which is about on the meridian of Calcutta, but 153 miles

to the North of it, at 10 p. m.; but at Titalayah which is really on the

ascent, and 81 miles further North, nothing was felt on this day, or on

the succeeding.

We have now to consider the course of the storm from noon of the

3rd to noon of the 4th. We find that by noon of the 4th, it had

quitted Calcutta entirely, and that it was

At Chandernagore,.... .... Variable N. N. E. to S. W.

», Chinsurah, ............ Abating.

Both these places being then towards the verge of our supposed

circle, and in its retreating S. E. quarter.

* The report says, ‘“‘ E. S. E, at 2-30 a. mM. veering to South, and moderating in the

evening. Now this may be called veering 6 points in 16 hours, and as from 2-30 a. M.

to noon there are 94 hours, this would give 34 points of veering to noon, or from E. S.

E. to S.S. E.4 E. We do not know that it did veer at equal rates, in equal times,

and probably did not.”’

¢ lsay here, ‘‘well enough’’ adverting to the difficulties which, as I have pointed out

in former memoirs, always exist in determining what was the true direction of the

wind ; how that direction was influenced at the surface of the earth by local causes ;

and finally, the great probability that the wind at the circumference is often not a tan-

gent, but aspiral curve. This I have endeavoured to shew on the diagrams and in

the title, and Midnapore circles.—See also Col. Reids and Mr. Kedfield’s works.

1086 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

At Kissennuggur, .......... S. to S. S. W.

»» Plassey, gale from ...... S. E.

», Sooree, strong wind.. ... N. E. changing to W. at night.

»» Berhampore, .. 2.0.0.3. E. or a little to the N. of it.

. Mungulpore, .... +0.» »- Northerly gales, veering to the

Westward.

These are also accurate enough for a part of the circle of the Cal-

cutta storm, but it will be seen, there was evidently also at this

time one, if not two other smaller vortices, one to the West and the

other to the East of the main, or centre, or Calcutta one; for the wind

was also at this time, noon of the 4th,

At Bancoorah, blowing tremendously from.. about S. W.

bi Partdliany! mead biel. ce CR ae .--- N. W. gale throughout.

To the Eastward we have :—

At Dacca, very strong in gusts,...... S. E. to S. S E.

At Soorajegunge, shifting from...... East to E. S. E.

Banks of the Juboona, veering a little to Northward of East, with

lulls,—which also shew that the vortex, which on the following day

certainly passed over Soorajegunge factory at 8 a. m., was now forming,

or had formed, and was travelling up, as I have marked it on the

diagram. At Dinagepore we find the gale continuing, and at Purneah,

farther to the Westward, it is marked as commencing in strong squalls

from the N. E.

On the 5th, we have, as before stated, a vortex passing over

Soorajegunge factory at 8 a. m., the effects of both this and of the

Jungypore storm being felt at the factory on the banks of the Juboona.

At Bhaugulpore we have also the wind veering so rapidly from E.

N. E. in the morning to West in the evening, as to shew that a vortex

was passing close to the Eastward of that place; and at Berhampore,

and Rungpore there are also indications of the passage of a third.

We shall take these in the order I have named them. We have then

for the Soorajegunge storm,—

At Soorajegunge, .. .. At 8a. mM. shift of wind from E. S.E. toS. W.

65 miles to the West by N.; wind veering

about from East to S. E. and South.

,, Dinagepore,.. .. .. Declining at S. E.

», Dacca,......... .. South, S. W., and S. E with squalls.

Big ea Juboona, +

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1087

It will be seen by the diagram that these tangents (or parts of

spirals) form part of a circular storm, which we must observe was evi-

dently checked to the Eastward (see Comillah report,) by the Cachar

hills, and disturbed by, and mixed up to the Westward with the other

vortices, and perhaps to the Southward and South Westward with

the S. W. monsoon, which at the Sandheads, and probably from thence

over to Chittagong, had now fairly set in, as it had at this last station.

About and at Bhaugulpore, (my report being from a factory within

a few miles of the station. I have used this name, as that of a well

known spot easily found,) we have the wind as follows:—

Bhaugulpore—From midnight E. N. E. heavy gale at its height ;

at ]0 a. m. North ; noon N. W. ; and at 6 vp. mM. West.

At Monghyr, we have for the 4th and 5th, just such phenomena

as might be expected from the confused action which would arise at

the junction of two circular storms. On both days, it is described as

veering from West to S. E. and N. E., with torrents of rain. At Suraj-

gurrah factory, 40 miles to the WbS. of Monghyr, we find the wind to

have been blowing almost constantly ‘‘ from the Northward,” which

we may take to be any point, orall the points, between N. W. and N.

E. ; and at Purneah, which is 40 miles to the N.N.E. of Bhaugulpore,

and not far from whence the winds would be deflected by the hills, we

find it was a continued gale from N. E., but veering a little to the East-

ward in the evening. Tothe W.andN. W. (Tirhoot and Ghazeepore, )

the storm did not reach ; but at Lucknow the Barometer between the

28th May and the 6th June, was affected 0.2 of an inch. We should also

bear in mind, that this Bhaugulpore storm, if it was that of Calcutta,

had to force its way over the Curruckpore hills, the range which forms

the Southern barrier of the valley of the Ganges as far as Rajmahl, so

that the irregularities may have arisen also from various streams of air

pouring through the different defiles, as they could find a passage.*

The third vortex seems to have been a small one to the West of

Jungypore, where on this day we have the wind which had been on

_ the 4th a heavy gale at N. N.E., veering to East and blowing furious-

ly all night, on the 5th veered at 6 a.m. to S. E., and by 1 Pp. m. to

S. S. E. ; though at Berhampore, only 5 miles to the S. by E. of it, the

wind was S. W. in the afternoon, having changed to that point from

* See Note at p. 1089.

1088 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 181.

8 a. mM. in the morning, when it was Easterly. If we say even ESE.

and that it changed by the South, as it must have done, this was

a veering of 10 points in 6 or 8 hours at most; and at Jungypore it

was not much less, being, say, from S. E. at 6 a. m., to S. S. E. at 1

p. M., or 10 points in 7 hours. It is true that, as shewn by the arrows,

the N. N. E. gale of the 4th at Jungypore might be allowed for as

an anomaly arising out of the double effect of the Calcutta and

Soorajgunge vortices, with perhaps other local causes with which

we are unacquainted ; but then we find that this rapid veering was

taking place just at the time that the same took place at Bhaugul-

pore, which is 100 miles to the N. W. of Jungypore, and as before

stated, separated from it by the Curruckpore hills. There must then

have necessarily been two vortices, and I have so marked them.

We have only for the 6th, the different gales abating in the, quarters

they should do if they arose from the passage of a circular storm, and

farther to the South and South Westward, calms or light monsoon

weather, which does not call for any remark, and we may consider that

on this day, all direct traces of the storms as circular ones cease. The

secondary effect of this great atmospheric disturbance over most of the

Bengal provinces were, it will be seen, felt as far as Almora; and the

Barometer was probably more or less affected all over India, though

unfortunately we have only good observations at Calcutta, Madras,

Bombay, Poona, Lucknow, Purulia and Dadoopore, and none for the

N. E. angle (Assam.) For the Eastern frontier, from Cachar to

Tenasserim, where observations would have been very interesting, we

have only those of Chittagong and Akyab.

Il1.— The rate of Travelling.

That already laid down from the Sand Heads to Calcutta of 5.3 per

hour between the 2nd and 3rd is, I think, the only one for which we

have any fair grounds of inference ; for we cannot afterwards take

upon ourselves to say, what influence each vortex might have had

upon the other. )

1V.—Other Phenomena.

The reports from Gya, and from Amooah in Tirhoot, that is to

the East and N. E. of the limits of the storm, should not be passed

1842. | A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1089

_ over without notice, for we may fairly say from them, that though the

storm was not felt there at the surface of the earth it was distinctly

seen over head in the “ clouds driving about in all directions and

winds very gusty” of the Gya report, and the more express ‘‘ upper

dark masses of clouds whirling about in a most extraordinary manner,

but driving towards the N. E.’’ of that from Amooah. From the

nature of the ground,—Gya being perhaps at least 800 feet, and

Amooah 500 feet above the level of Calcutta,—the storm had already

been lifted by the intervening hills, and thus received an upward im-

pulse.* We know of no force to propagate it again downwards,

particularly as having discharged so much of its rain, and meeting the

warm air of the N. Western Provinces after the dry season, it was

probably thereabouts less dense than the lower strata. The whole seems,

from Mr. Batten’s graphic report from Almora, to have been driven en

masse against the flanks of the hills to the N. W., producing the

thunder storms and the phenomenon described at the intervening

stations.

The situation of Gya should also be mentioned with reference to this

-phenomenon. It lies, as marked on our Chart, in latitude 24° 49’ N.,

longitude 85° 5’ E.,and is thus 125 miles to the W. by S. of Bhaugul-

pore. Before reaching Gya, however, in a direct line from Calcutta, the

range of the Ramghur hills, which bounds the valley of the Damooda

on the North side and at Hazareebaugh rises to 1100 feet in height, has

to be passed over, after which the ground descends before rising again

from the hills, forming the valley of the Sone river, so that we may

suppose this part of the storm to have been raised by the Hazaree-

baugh range, high enough to allow it to pass over Gya. ?*

* The following is an extract from a private letter of Mr. Redfield’s to me, relating

to this view of the subject:—

* It will not be surprising, if we find that the regular exhibition of the gale or hurri-

cane on the surface of the Bay of Bengal, and the adjacent coasts, is more or less dis-

turbed or interfered with by the influence of the wooded countries, and particularly the

high lands to the East and North of this arm of the sea, over which elevations the wind

must pass before it can be felt upon the Bay or the Peninsula. In most other coun-

tries this sheltering influence appears to be great, often lifting one side of the gale, or

a part thereof, above the surface of the sea; so that this side of the gale is only noticed

by its influence on the Barometer, or by the rain which may attend it. Much irregu-

larity also prevails in this and other cases in the extent of the quiescent centre of the

gale, and in the strength and shifts of the violent winds near to the borders of this

centre, and they have been knuwn to shift backward and forward in fitful and irregu-

lar changes.’

1090 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. {No. 131.

Amooah may be considered as situated at the foot of the glacis,

which descends from the secondary ranges of the Himalayas, and at

a point about which the circular storms from Calcutta upwards, and

the gale blowing from the Kastward along the foot of the hills may

have met, and thus have occasioned the ‘‘ whirling about’ noticed in

the report.

The most remarkable of the results of our enquiries is the explana-

tion which is afforded us, by the clear and exact reports from Soora-

jegunge and Bhaugulpore, and by the curious accounts of the

whirling and driving about of the clouds at Gya and Amooah of a

phenomenon which is often puzzling to account for; that of ‘‘ winds

continually veering,” which happens so often in furious tempests, not

only at the centre, where it may well be looked for, but also at the

circumference of storms. It is clear, or at least in the highest degree

probable, that this arises from the interference of two storms, the cur-

rents of which, perhaps variously affected in their course, meet at certain

points, and thus cause the continued veering or vibrating of the wind.

In the present memoir, we have in the log of the Algerine, at p. 978,

an instance of this occurring at sea, which may have been the effect of

the monsoon, and on shore at Monghyr, and at the factory on the

banks of the Jaboona, at which places, as to the two last, we know,

that this cause existed.*

I have adverted, p. 1087, to the influence which the Cachar hills, (the

ranges to the Eastward of Dacca,) may have had upon the Sooraje-

gunge storm, but there is another consideration to be borne in mind

here, which is, that both from the effect of the S. W. monsoon, as well as

that of the storm, the winds would necessarily become more Southerly

along the Eastern limits of the plains, which for our purpose we may take

to be marked by the course of the Burrampooter to lat. 26° N., and

more Westerly along the foot of the Eastern and Western ranges of the

Nepal hills, or parallel to the line of the stations of Rungpore, Dinaje-

pore, and Purneah. We may indeed, from Dacca to Purneah, consider

* Supposing their cause to have operated with less intensity, and in more time as.

at the circumferences of great circles of 500 or 1000 miles in diameter, we should

probably have the same phenomenon, then called ‘* variable winds, with a cross swell

for the last 48 hours,’’ which we so frequently meet with in Log books. See also Col.

Reid’s Chapter V. on Variable Winds.

1842. | A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1091

that the gales experienced were as much owing to the monsoon as to

the local effects of the hurricane. In my first Memoir, I have given a

Chart fully explaining how this should occur, and really did occur on

these same days in 1839, (8rd to 7th June,) at the setting in

of the S.W. moonsoon of that year, which I find has been quoted

by Professor Dove of Berlin, as exactly tallying with his theory

of the causes of these atmospheric disturbances.* The object of

our present researches is not so much to trace out the causes of

storms, as to chronicle exactly the facts and other evidence; but

I allude to this as necessary to be held in remembrance by those who

may follow mein the attempts which I make to shew the causes of

apparent anomalies when they occur.

REsuuLtT.

To those who may not have the time to go through the foregoing

details and summary of our evidence, the following brief notes of the

Resuuts of our inquiries relative to this remarkable storm may be

acceptable. I have endeavoured to distinguish in them clearly the

degree of certainty to which I think each separate head is entitled.

It appears then that,

1. From the 28th to the 3lst May there seems to have been, in the

S. Eastern and Eastern parts of the Bay, some considerable atmos-

pheric disturbance, probably accompanying the setting in of the S. W.

monsoon ; but as far as we are informed, nothing which could be cer-

tainly called a rotatory storm, though it is highly probable that the

John William Dare experienced on the 30th May the Eastern qua-

drant of the Cawvery’s storm noticed in the next paragraph.

2. But on the 3lst May, by which time the Barometer at Calcutta,

where the weather was fine, had already fallen 0.14 below the average,

the H. C. P. Vessel Cauvery had a true rotatory gale increasing to

a hurricane at midnight of between that day and the next, and

moderating at noon of the Ist June. This storm, which I have called

* See Scientific Memoirs by Taylor.

1092 A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

“the Cauvery’s storm,” veered with her from N. E. by N. to S. W. in

about 36 hours, or nearly a point an hour. It was perhaps felt by the

Light Vessels to the N. E. and N. of her, and certainly by}the Aw-

gustus and Panthea coming up from the South, but was of no great

extent. It may possibly have originated with’ the John William Dare

on the 30th, about four degrees to the W. S. W. of False Point, but

we have no distinct proof of this. It did not reach the shore about

Pooree except as heavy rain.

3. The Cauvery’s storm was moderating at noon on the Ist and to

midnight when it had wholly ceased, and it was noon of the 2nd June,

before we can say that the Calcutta storm had fairly commenced with

the Light Vessels and partly at Calcutta. It was met at sea this day

to the S. E. of the Light Vessels by the H. C. P. V. Coleroon, which

had parted and stood to sea from the outer Light Vessel’s station.

4. The Light Vessels’ and Coleroon’s Log fix the place of the centre,

(for the Calcutta storm was then on the 2nd a true rotatory one,) very

well, as being at noon about 60 miles to the S. E. of the Light Vessel.

5. The passage of the hurricane over Calcutta, fixes the place of its

centre for the 3rd at about 123 miles to the S. S. E. of Calcutta at

noon that day. It determines also pretty exactly its line of track

from the 2nd at noon to the 3rd, and its rate of travelling at about

128 miles in 24 hours, or 5.3 miles per hour. Its diameter seems to

have been about 180 or 190 miles.

6. About the same time that the centre of the Calcutta storm

passed that city, the centre of a separate storm passed also over the

station of Midnapore, about 70 miles to the W. by S. of Calcutta.

This was of smal] extent, and not violent enough to do any consider-

able mischief. It seems to have been a sort of eddy storm, occasioned

by the combined influences of the False Point storm, and the monsoon

and the outer verge of the Calcutta storm.

7. That there were on the 4th two more vortexes or circular storms |

blowing, the one to the Westward about Bancoorah and Purulia, and |

the other between Soorajegunge factory and Dacca to the Eastward.

The Calcutta storm is still traceable on this day, making in all three

distinct rotatory storms, and these storms, with the general Easterly gale

caused by the combined effect of the Northern quadrants of the

storms, and of the S. W. monsoon deflected from the ranges of hills:

1842.] A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 1093

on the Eastern frontier along the base of the Himalayas, was felt

along the line of the Northern frontier from Dinajepore to Purneah ;

but not to so great an elevation as Titalayah, which is about 1,000 or

1,200 feet above the level of Calcutta, and 50 miles farther North than

Dinajepore.

8. That on the 5th, there were also three distinct revolving storms,

' one at Soorajegunge, over which a centre passed between 8 and 9 a. m.,

and two others at Bhaugulpore and Jungypore, close to which centres

must also have passed. The Bhaugulpore one was not that of Cal-

cutta, and that of Jungypore may be supposed to be made up of this

last and the influence of the Soorajegunge storm.

9. On the 6th, the storms were all breaking up and moderating.

10. That where the circumferences of the various circles met, and

particularly on the 5th, there was a continual “veering about of the

wind,” though blowing a full storm.

il. That at some places, as Gya and Amooah in Tirhoot, the storm

though not felt as one at the surface, was distinctly seem overhead,

driving the clouds about in all directions.

12. That at the line of stations along the base of the Northern

hills, the storms felt were not rotatory ones, but probably composed of

the Northern quadrants of these circular storms to the South, and the

great Easterly current formed by the deflection of the S. W. mon-

soon from the Arracan, Cachar, and Bootan hills, as shewn in my

first Memoir for the storm of June, 1839.

13. That the greatest intensity of the various storms was that at

Calcutta, for they are no where spoken of, nor are any facts recorded,

which would lead us to suppose, that they were at any place the furious

hurricane, which during some hours the storm undoubtedly was at

Calcutta.

CoNnCLUSION.

I will not omit here one remark, to which I request the attention, as

well of those who have kindly assisted our researches as those who

might, but have not done so; and this is, that all will consider how

much has here been demonstrated, and inferred from evidence literally

collected piecemeal, and of which each separate part would have been

comparatively valueless, if not aiding to form the whole. There can

’

1094. <A Seventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 131.

be, I think, no stronger proof than this of the utility of every man’s

notes and remarks, how little important soever he may imagine them

to be, and (a notion which I fear yet prevails sufficiently to deter

many from assisting us, though well disposed to do so,) the value of

every plain common sense account of the weather, whether within or

without the limits of a storm. I repeat here again, that all observa-

tions are of value to us; that scientific ones are of course the best, but

that the plain ones are often quite as useful at certain points, and

that as our science is as yet in its infancy, our main business is to

collect and register evidence. It will be observed, and it is a striking

proof of what I have just said, that two of the most important deduc-

tions we have obtained in this investigation, have been proved by three

simple unscientific statements of this kind. Mr. Martin of Sooraje-

gunge factory, and Mr. A. Pinard of Kunjirpore factory near Bhaugul-

pore, with the Newspaper notice from Jungypore, the author of which

I do not know. From these we have been enabled fully to establish

the highly curious fact, that a violent hurricane, with a strong mon-

soon setting in at about right angles to its course, sometimes breaks

up into several smaller storms, none of them equalling the main one

in fury, but all obeying the law of rotation. These reports also

explain a phenomenon, the cause of which we suspected before, but

of which we had no distinct proofs. I mean those instances in which

what is usually described both at sea and on shore as “wind con-_

tinually veering” takes place, though we have full evidence, that the

places are at a distance from the centre of the storm, and this again

leads us to the strongest confirmation of Col. Reid’s theory of the

variable winds. I trust it is unnecessary after such instances to repeat,

that all observations may be of use.

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1095

A Monograph of the Indian and Malayan species of Cuculide, or

Birds of the Cuckoo family. By Evwarp Buiyru, Curator of the

Asiatic Society.

[Continued from p. 928. |

95. Ph. longicaudatus, Nobis, J. A. S., X, 923; perhaps Ph.

Crawfurdit, Gray, mentioned in Mr. Eyton’s catalogue of a collec-

lection of Malayan birds, P. Z. S., 1839, p. 105; or it may be the

Melias Diardi of Lesson, which I have reason to suspect is allied.

(Lonc-Ta1LED Maxona.) Length of a fine specimen twenty-three

inches, of which the middle tail-feathers occupy sixteen inches and

three quarters, the outermost ten inches less; wing six inches, the

tertiaries overpassing the primaries half an inch more; bill to forehead

(through the feathers) nearly an inch and three-eighths, and an

inch and a half to gape; tarse nearly an inch and three-eighths.

General colour dark greenish-grey ; the wings and tail shining dark

green, with a white tip to each tail-feather; front of the neck and

breast, paler, passing into whitish on the throat and immediately around

the naked space encircling the eye, these whitish feathers having

dark shafts, which terminate in a slightly prolonged hair-like bristle ;

small anterior portion of the lores black, and the bare orbital space

moderately developed, and papillose. Beak bright green, and legs

apparently have been greenish. This bird is common in the Tenas-

serim provinces, and always seen in pairs. It would appear also

to be not rare in Nepal, and from the M.S. name monticolus ap-

plied to it by Mr. Hodgson, may be presumed to affect upland

forests. Should it be the Ph. Crawfurdii of Mr. Gray, of which I

have seen no description, it would also inhabit the Malay pen-

insula.

26. Ph. Jerdoni, Nobis: Xanclostomus viridirostris, Jerdon, Madr.

Journ. XI, 223;— not Ph. viridirostris, Eyton, P. Z. S. 1839,

p- 105, which is the Rhinortha rufescens (?,) of this Monograph.

(Fork-FEATHERED Maxxona.) Length about fifteen inches, of which

the tail is nine inches, its outermost feathers four inches and a quarter

less ; wing five inches and three-eighths ; bill to forehead (through

_ the feathers) an inch and one-eighth, and to gape an inch and a

1096 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 131.

quarter ; tarse an inch and a quarter. “ Irides fine blood-red ; small

naked eye-spot cobalt-blue; bill beautiful apple-green; legs and

feet greenish-black.” Upper-parts coloured exactly as in the pre-

ceding species, but less greyish on the head, which is distinctly

though faintly glossed with green, nor is there any whitish towards

the nostrils or bordering the contracted naked orbital space above:

under-parts dusky-greyish, stained with ferruginous about the breast,

and the feathers of the throat and fore-neck dusky at base, and

furcate, from having their terminal webs much longer than the shaft,

this lengthened portion being pale greyish, contrasting with the rest.

In most particulars this bird agrees with Dr. Latham’s description

of his Madagascar Cuckoo, Gen. Hist. III. 270, (the Serisomus cris-

fatus, Swainson, or Coucou huppé de Madagascar of Buffon,) which

Lavaillant states is also found in some parts of India, and in Senegal ;

Dr. Latham adding, that “I find a similar one among the drawings of

Mr. Daniell, found in Ceylon, and there called Handee Kootah.” No

doubt the present species is alluded to in both cases.

Mr. Jerdon informs us that it “‘is found all over the [Indian] pe-

ninsula, but it is an uncommon bird, except in some few localities. I

have seen it in thick bamboo jungles at the bottom of the Conoor

pass, in thick hedges and trees in the Carnatic, and in bushy jungle in

the Deccan. It wanders about from tree to tree, or works its way

through the thick hedges, and feeds on various large insects, such as

Grasshoppers, Maniides, and the like ; also on caterpillars and other —

larve. It makes its way with great adroitness through the thick

prickly hedges and bushes it delights to frequent.”

These are all the Asiatic species of Malkoha which I am able to of-

fer any description of, though aware of the existence of others, of which |

some, perhaps, may be identified with certain of the foregoing. Such

are Ph. Crawfurdii of Gray, and Melias Diardz of Lesson, both

of which are not improbably my longicaudatus ; and Mr. G. R. Gray

adds, among his Phenicophaine, a Calobates radiceus, Temminck,

Pi. Col. 588, and a Taccocua Leschenaultii of Lesson, one or both of |

which may be exclusively African, though more probably inhabiting :

the Malay countries. There is also a Phanicopheus lucidus, Vigors;

mentioned as an inhabitant of Sumatra in Dr. Horsfield’s list, J.

A. S.; X. 56.

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 1097

Next in order ranges a remarkable form, which combines the gene-

ral contour and short and curved inner hind-claw of the preceding,

with the beak (and, in at least one instance, the spinous plumage) of

the Coucals (Centropus). Itis the Zanclostomus of Mr. Swainson.

27. Z. Javanicus: Pheenicopheus Javanicus, Horsfield, Lin. Trans.

XIII, pt. I. p. 178, and figured in the Zoological Researches in Java ;

Coccyzus rubrtrosiris, Drapiez, Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat. 1V, 558 ;

C. chrysogaster, Temminck, apud Horsfield, ‘‘ Catalogue of Javanese

Birds” prefixed to Zoological Researches in Java ; Chalybeate Cuckoo,

‘Latham, Gen. Hist. III, 304, but not the Var. A.” appended to this.*

(Bay-BREASTED S1IRKEER.) ‘‘ Entire length eighteen inches, nearly

eleven of which are occupied by the middle tail-feathers. The upper

parts generally are greenish-gray, having a metallic lustre, which

is stronger on the upper part of the tail, and on the extremity of

the wings, where the tint is saturated inclining to black. The head

is of a lighter tint, inclining to plumbeous, and without any lustre ;

having a small naked mamillary space surrounding the eyes. The

base of the bill is surrounded with vibrissz, straggling, and pointing

forward and backward. ‘The cheeks, the throat, the neck anteriorly,

the vent, and the thighs, have a ferruginous-chestnut tint, which

on the latter is darker, inclining to rufous; the lower part of the

breast and the abdomen have the plumbeous colour of the head more

diluted, and slightly variegated with chestnut. The bill is red and

shining; the naked space about the eyes yellowish, and the feet are

black. About half an inch of the extremity of the tail-feathers is

tipped with white: and the irides have also a whitish hue.

‘* This bird is found in the society of different Coucals, at the con-

fines of large forests, in plains covered with low shrubs and solitary

trees. It resembles the Phrenotriz Temia (Crypsirina varians]

in its habits and manners. ‘The shortness of its wing permits only

of interrupted flights. It is not found in great abundance in Java,

being chiefly observed about noon, and it is remarkable for the beauty

RE Length sixteen inches. Bill long, rather bent, and black; plumage above brown;

Spurious wing white; beneath, with the under wing-coverts, from the breast to the vent,

pale rufous ; quills and inner webs white, from the base to the middle ; tail cuneiform,

the two middle feathers four inches long [evidently a mistake], the outer one two

inches and a half, all of them tipped with white, and the inner webs barred with the

Same.’” Very doubtful as appertaining to the present genus.

vad

“AM

1098 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 131.

of its form.” (Horsrie.p.) This species has also been received from

Borneo, and from the Malay peninsula; the presumed female differing

in having the breast-patch brownish instead of plumbeous.

28. Z. Calorenchus (calorhynchus ?); Pheenicopheeus calorenchus,

Temminck, Col. 347. (RED-HEADED S1RKEER). Thus briefly no-

ticed in Griffith’s English edition of Cuvier’s Régne Animal, VII,

465, and there placed next to the preceding species. ‘‘ Black ; head and

neck, red ; crown, iron-grey ; bill yellow, red, and black” —the admix-

ture of the last perhaps an indication of immaturity. Inhabits Java:

29. Z. Sirkee, Jerdon: Eudynamys (!) Sirkee, Hardwicke and

Gray ; Sirkeer Cuckoo, Latham, Gen. Hist. III, 267; Ceniropus

cuculotides, C. W. Smith, J. A. S., X, 659, (INDIAN SrRKEER).

The only specimen of this I have to describe from is probably a

female, rather small in its dimensions, with the buff plumage of the

under-parts almost confined to the lower part of the breast. Length

about fifteen inches, of which the middle tail-feathers measure nine

inches, and the outermost two inches and a half less; wing six

inches ; bill to forehead (through the feathers) an inch and a quarter,

and an inch and a half to gape, its greatest vertical depth seven-

sixteenths of an inch ; tarse above an inch and a half. General hue

of the upper parts ashy-brown, with a gloss of green, the shafts of the

feathers dark-coloured and spinous, more especially on the head, neck,

and breast: under parts paler, slightly tinged with fulvous on the

throat and fore-neck; the lower part of the breast, with the thighs,

wholly fulvous or buff; vent and lower tail-coverts dusky glossed

with green ; the middle pair of tail-feathers coloured like the back,

and the rest successively darker and more largely tipped with white:

on the tertiaries, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, are numerous

cross-rays which appear or not according as the light falis on them : bill

coral-red, tipped with yellow, and some black at the lateral margin of

the upper mandible. Mr. Jerdon describes the bill of the fresh bird,

as “‘cherry-red yellowish at tip; feet plumbeous; irides reddish-

brown. Length sixteen to seventeen inches; wing six inches and a

quarter ; tail nine inches and a half.” The entire under-parts are

represented uniform fulvous in Hardwicke and Gray’s figure ; and the

black remaining on the sides of the upper mandible in the specimen

before me (presented by Mr. Jerdon) is doubtless a sign of nonage.

a) aa ee

1842, ] Malayan species of Cuculide. 1099

Mr. Jerdon remarks having “‘ seen this bird in bushy ground on the

_ top of the Neilghierries, but in no other locality till lately met with

‘in a hilly and low jungly district, near Jaulnah. It has the same

wandering habits, and the same kind of food,” as the Phenicopheus

Jerdont. Mr. C. W. Smith records having “‘ met with this species

at the Bherah lake, in the Gorruckpore district, where it appeared to

be pretty common, but I have not,” he remarks, “seen it elsewhere.

It greatly resembled the Mahooka (Centropus Phillipensis) in its

manner of running and flying.”

There now only remain the Coucals (Centropus, Iliger, v. Cory-

donyx Vieillot, v. Polophilus, Leach), which are at once distinguish-

ed by their long and straight inner hind-claw and rigid spinous

plumage, though of one species (C. afinis) Dr. Horsfield writes—

“ungue hallucis arcuato,” which would seem to intimate its true sta-

tion to be in the preceding group. The structure of their feet indicates

ground-habits, and they are mostly seen walking upon the ground.

One species appears to be very common throughout India and the

adjacent countries to the east and south.

30. C. Phillipensis, Cuvier: Corydonyx pyrrhopterus, Vieillot ;

Cent. bubutus, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. 1, p. 180, and

Cuculus bubutus, Raffles, Ib¢d, pt. II, p. 286; Chestnut Cuckoo,

Latham, Gen. Hist. III, 243, on which is founded Cent. castanop-

terus, Stephens’ Shaw’s Zoology, XIV, 215; Polophilus Sinensis 2

Shaw’s Zoology, 1X, 51. (Common Inpran Covucat.) Length of a

fine male eighteen inches and a half, by twenty-three inches in ex-

tent ; wing eight inches ; and middle tail feathers nine inches, the outer-

most three inches shorter: bill to forehead (through the feathers) an

inch and a half, and tarse two inches, the long hind-claw above an

inch. Irides crimson: bill and feet black. This handsome bird has

the mantle and wings bright rufous, and the rest of the plumage black

glossed with purple and greenish, the latter prevailing on the ear-

coverts and tail, and the former elsewhere : its feathers are but slightly

spinous, and chiefly so on the crown and fore-neck ; sexes alike. The

young in first plumage vary remarkably, as illustrated by two speci-

mens with imperfectly developed feathers which I have recently ob-

tained. One is essentially similar to the adult, but the feathers are

shorter and of flimsy texture, the colours dull, the black or dusky

1100 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 131.

fading to brown on the lores and chin, there is no rufous on the mid-

dle of the back, and the scapularies, tertiaries, and wing-coverts, are

suffused with fuscous ; irides pale dusky ; this proved a male, and on

no part of it is there asingle cross-band. A female of the same age ac-

cords in size and in the texture of its feathers, but in colouring is widely

different ; the irides are dull blue, and the bill flesh-coloured, except

the upper half of the superior mandible, along its ridge, which is dus-

ky ; the other young specimen having the beak almost wholly dusky,

except at the lower part of the under mandible at base: general

colour of the upper parts black, barred with bright rufous; of the

under parts greyish-dusky, barred with white ; tail glossy green-black,

with narrow white bars: the crown spotted with rufous, paling and

merely tipped with rufous on the occiput and neck; and the wings

in particular very beautifully barred black and rufous, the latter

becoming obsolete on the exposed portion of the tertiaries: lores

and above the eye whitish. Another female moulting from this

barred dress into the adult livery has such feathers as remain

of the former different from those of the last described speci-

men; its unchanged scapularies being rufous-brown without bar-

rings, much duller rufous than the new ones; the primaries, secon-

daries, and tertiaries, that remain, are barred with lighter dusky than

in the other; and the only unchanged tail-feather (one of the middle

pair) is crossed with eleven undulating narrow pale fulvescent bars.

This specimen had been intermediate in colouring to the two others.

In this barred dress it is the Centropus fasciatus, C.W. Smith, J. A. S.

X, 659, and also Dr. Latham’s alleged variety of his Antiguan Cuckoo,

(Gen. Hist. 111, 247), upon which Shaw has founded his Polophalus

Stnensis ; but while Dr. Latham correctly describes the form, plum-

age, and habits of the present species, under the designation Chesinut

Coucal, he gives an alleged representation of the latter, evidently

copied from one of Gen. Hardwicke’s drawings, which may possibly

represent a distinct species described as follows :—

“‘One of these [Chestnut Coucals] in the collection of drawings

of Gen. Hardwicke, was eighteen inches in length; the head, neck,

and under-parts ash-coloured, streaked with white as far as the breast ;

over the eye a whitish stripe; belly and thighs marked with transverse

lines of white; tail plain black, not greatly cuneiform, though much

1842. ] Malayan species of Cuculide. 1101

rounded ; wings as in the others. This was met with at Cawnpore in

April, and is said to be a bird of the first year,” which I greatly

doubt.* ?

The C. Phillipensits is common to all south-eastern Asia and its

islands, but has been suspected not to occur in western India, though,

in the peninsula, Mr. Jerdon describes it as “ a common and univer-

sally spread bird, frequenting wooded and cultivated grounds, in all

parts. and found also in the more open spaces of thick jungles. It is

often seen in thick hedges, also in woody nullahs, and in low bushy

tracts. It feeds on the ground chiefly, walking and running with

great. facility,t and picking up various large insects, centipedes,

lizards, and even scorpions and small snakes. It may often be seen

walking along the bank of a dry tank, a bund of a paddy-field, and

being a remarkably slow and stupid bird, and of slow flight, it is

occasionally run down, or even caught by the hand, in sufficiently

open ground. <A good Shikra (Acctpiter Dussumiert) will also

easily strike it down.

“The Mahooka has a deep sonorous call, something like ‘ whoot

whoot, whoot, which is often heard in a thick bush or hedge, while

the bird itself remains unseen”; — a dull, heavy sound, which, as

Dr. Horsfield remarks, has suggested nearly the same name for the

birds of this genus in many distant countries: it is Bubut with the

Javanese ; Houhou in Egypt; and Toulow in Madagascar ;” to. which

may be added Kooka in Bengal, and Mahooka in southern India.

The young bird almost constantly repeats a strange hoarse sound

like a person choking (a sort of ‘ Guk, koh-koh’,) which is not pleasant

to hear. It is common in the vicinity of Calcutta, and Dr. McClel-

Jand remarks, that it is ‘“‘ very common in villages and cultivated

rice-fields in Assam, and in low inundated lands along the banks

of rivers. It delights in humid climates, as is proved by the vast

numbers of them which occur in the Soonderbuns; but I question

* It both steps with alternate motion of the feet, and hops in a rapid and scrambling

manner.—E. B.

+ From specimens obtained since the above was transcribed, more or less barred on

the upper-parts and mottled with whitish below, having also an ill defined superci-

liary streak, | now much incline to regard this Cawnpore specimen as a variety of C.

Phillipensis.—E. B.

1102 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 131

if they are to be found in India further northwest than Bengal.’’

Certainly no figure of it occurs in the late Sir A.’ Burnes’s collection

of drawings of the birds inhabiting the Indus territory, which is

tolerable proof of at least its rarity on the banks of that river. In

Burmah, China, and the Malay countries generally, it is very abun-

dant.

31. C. viridis: Polophilus viridis, Shaw ; Cuculus AAgyptius, var.

y> Latham, Ind. Orn. I. 213. Le Coucou Verd d’Antigue (of the

Philippines), Sonnerat, Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinee, p. 121. (GREEN

CoucaL.) Described as nearly of the size of the European Cuckoo,

The head, neck, breast and belly, obscure deep green, verging upon

black ; the wings of a deep reddish-brown ; and tail long and black :

bill black ; and feet tinged with the same. Irides black (?). Plumage

generally rigid, with the barbs of the feathers disunited (Sonnerat).

Apparently much allied to the last species, but of inferior size, and

differing somewhat in its colouring.

32. C. lepidus, Horsfield, Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. 1, p. 180: Cuculus

Tolu, apud Raffles, Zbzd, pt. II, p. 285. (PaLEe-BREASTED CovcaL.)

In the catalogue of Javanese birds prefixed to his Zoological Re-

searches in Java, Dr. Horsfield marks this species as ‘to be cancell-

ed”; yet in his enumeration of the species procured by Dr. McClelland

in Assam, this name for one of them is retained, with the remark,

that “‘ Mr. McClelland’s specimen is comparatively of a large size, but

agrees in all particulars with the Cent. lepidus of Java.’ (Proc.

Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 166.) Now, in a note to the Researches in Java,

the same naturalist writes — ‘‘ I consider this small group to consist

of the following species, agreeably to M. Cuvier’s arrangement, as

given in the Régne Animal, I. 426, in the note: — 1. Cuculus

Egyptius and Senegalensis, which are united by M. Cuvier, — 2.

C. Phillipensis, Cuv.,—3. C. nigrorufus, Cuv.,—4. C. Tolu,” (which

is far from being a complete enumeration of the extra-Indian

species now well ascertained) ; and it may be, therefore, that at

the period of writing this, Dr. Horsfield followed Sir Stamford

Raffles in considering depidus as identical with Yolu, and certainly

the description of the latter accords so nearly with a specimen before

me, that I should not be surprised at their being identical, though, if

so, it is remarkable that Dr. Horsfield should formerly have marked

—_— ~ | —:

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculide. 1103

the name Jepidus as to be cancelled, without (as in other cases)

placing the prior specific name in the opposite column. With regard

to Dr. McClelland’s Assamese bird, of which but one specimen was

obtained, an excellent coloured figure of it is now in his possession,

which has enabled me to identify with it, beyond doubt; a specimen

procured at Chyebassa by Lieut. Tickell. The following is the original

description by Dr. Horsfield: ‘“‘ Length twelve inches. The crown,

neck, scapularies, and secondaries, dusky, the shafts longitudinally

margined on each side with white: wing-coverts dusky or of a bay

colour, with white shafts: primaries also bay, and tipped with

dusky: the tail-feathers black, with a whitish terminal band, and

with their coverts barred with ferruginous: throat, fore-neck, breast,

and belly, white.” Sir Stamford Raffles remarks that-‘‘ the colours

of this bird vary considerably at different ages. When young it is of

a greenish black, with rufous wings. As it becomes older, the belly

becomes whiter, the shafts of the feathers on the head and back acquire

a light colour, and the upper feathers of the tail become barred with

grey. It lives on insects, is chiefly observed on the ground, and has a

weak flight.”

The single specimen before me is fortunately in a transitional state

of plumage, which enables me to assert that its changes are analogous

to those of the preceding species. The dark first plumage is mention-

ed by Raffles, and the present specimen is a young male exchanging

its barred dress for the adult garb, which latter is far advanced to-

wards completion. Length fourteen inches, of which the tail measures

eight inches and a quarter, its outermost feathers four inches less ;

wing six inches ; bill to forehead (through the feathers) an inch, and

to gape an inch and a quarter; tarse an inch and five-eighths, and

long hind-claw an inch and one-eighth, being (as Sir Stamford

Raffles notices) proportionally longer than in C. Phillipensis. Bill

pale horny, darker along the ridge of the upper mandible ; and feet

dusky-leaden : irides carmine. Wings rufous-chestnut, less dark than

in the preceding species, and tipped with dusky; the tertiaries suf-

fused with fuscous, and such among them and of the secondaries as

remain unchanged, are brighter ferruginous barred on both webs with

black ; the new greater wing-coverts are each slightly margined with

a dusky line; the tail-feathers which have been renewed are wholly

1104 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 131.

glossy greenish-black, with obscure cross-strie appearing at particular

angles of reflection, but those which have»not been shed are barred

with rufous, for the terminal half in the middle pair, and on a succes-

sively smaller portion to the outermost ; the upper tail-coverts are

remarkably long, have a bright green gloss, and are more narrowly

barred to near their base with rufous ; the exposed whole upper sur-

face of the partially spread tail thus appearing barred, while the un-

barred part of the feathers is concealed by those which overlap them :

the head, neck, and sides of the breast, are fulvescent-brown, with

dusky lateral margins to the feathers, and rigid whitish stems, which

thicken a little towards the extremity; scapularies similarly white-

shafted, as also the fore-neck and breast, whereon the dusky lateral

margins disappear ; throat and middle of the breast and belly whitish ;

the flanks dusky ; and sides, thighs, and lower tail-coverts, pale ful-

vescent with numerous blackish cross-rays: the new unbarred tail-

feathers retain a whitish tip.

This appears to be a species of rare occurrence in India, as Dr.

McClelland’s Assamese specimen, and that here described from Chye-

bassa in Central India, are the only instances of its having been ob-

tained with which I am acquainted. It would seem to be more

common in the Malayan Archipelago.

33. C. Bengalensis, Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 114, — Gen. Hist. III,

248. (Pyamy Coucat.) Another rare species which is thus described

by Latham. “ This is a trifle larger than a Lark Leight inches long,

Drapiez]. Bill dusky ; head, neck, back, and wing-coverts ferrugi-

nous, marked with short white lines, bounded by black, pointing

downwards; belly yellowish-brown; quills reddish-brown, the first

and second primaries plain, the rest barred with black; tail very

long, and cuneiform ; its outer feathers dusky, with brown tips, the

other marked with bars of black, and narrow ones of brown; legs

black ; the inner hind-claw straight. Inhabits Bengal”. In this brief

description may be recognised, with little hesitation, a transitional

state of plumage analogous to that described of the two last species,

and style of marking similar to that of C. lepidus. Mr. Jerdon,

in his Supplement, remarks— “‘ On the authority of Mr. Elliot,

I insert this as a peninsular species, that gentleman having observed

it in the Southern Mahratta country.”

1842.) Malayan species of Cuculide. 1105

34. C. afinis, Horsfield , Lin. Trans. XIII, pt. 1, p. 180. Length

fourteen inches and a half. Plumage black, wings ferruginous; the

scapularies soot-coloured, with white shafts; outer tail-feathers having

a white terminal band; hind-claw curved. Inhabits Java, and is

there termed Bubut-allang-allang”’. Horsfield.*

I have now analysed, to the best of my ability, and to the full ex-

tent of the means at my disposal, the formidable array of names

presented to the consideration of the student of oriental Cuculide ;

and I trust that I have effected something towards reducing the

supernumeraries to the rank of synonyms: aided by European libra-

ries and collections, I could of course have rendered the monograph

more complete, but, as it is, [ think, I have been fortunate in verifying

the species of my predecessors, and particularly those of Latham, nearly

all of which assigned to this region of the globe have, I think, been

satisfactorily here identified. In every practicable instance, I have

drawn up original descriptions, sufficiently detailed, I trust, to ensure

the recognition of the species without doubt or difficulty ; and this

much required pioneering accomplished, it remains for those, who have

the opportunity, to verify and enrich our knowledge of this interesting

group of birds, by observing and recording their observations on their

habits, distribution, &c., but especially on all that concerns their pro-

pagation, whether they incubate their own eggs, or to what other

birds they consign the charge of them, and a variety of curious par-

ticulars connected therewith. I had long been of opinion, from various

* Here may be noticed the Cuculus Sinensis and C. paradsieus of Latham, res-

pectively founded on le Coucou bleu de la Chine, en langue Chinoise, San-hai, and

le Coucou a longs brins, of Brisson and Buffon, described by the former of these two

naturalists from drawings by a M. Poivre, wherein there can be no doubt that the

reversed outer toe was a fancy of the artist, and that the species delineated were Pica

(Cyanocorax ) erythrorhynchus, — which Dr. Cantor saw at Chusan,—and one of the

Racket-tailed Drongos, probably Edolius grandis. Dr. Latham also describes a three-

toed Asiatic Cuckoo, ‘‘ supposed to inhabit India, and in the collection of Lady Clive.

I find it also,’ he adds, ‘‘among the drawings of Gen. Davies taken from one in the

collection of Mr. Thompson. Length eight inches or more. Bill nearly an inch,

brown-black; nostrils scarcely conspicuous, being in great part covered by a mem-

brane: general colour of the plumage dirty brown-black, inclining to lead-colour on

the rump; sides of the chin, and throat, grey, mottled with black in short dashes ;

belly lead-colour ; tail-coverts nearly black ; tail the same, with a blue grey tinge, the

outer feathers black on the inner web; on the outer white, with a black serrated streak

indenting the white like a saw; shape of the tail cuneiform. It has only three toes,

two placed forwards and one backward: legs brown.”’

1106 A Monograph of the Indian and (No. 181!

data, that much more than the usual period intervened between the

successive deposition of the eggs of the European Cuckoo, and that

this was the reason it did not incubate its own, when the idea receiv-

ed confirmation, while the inference based upon it fell to the ground,

on learning the remarkable circumstances connected with the propa-

gation of the nearly allied Piayas (Cureus, Boié, Erythrophrys,

Swainson,) of North America, wherein it has now been ascertained

that the eggs are, for the most part, incubated by the parents, though

so long a time elapses between the successive laying of them, that a

newly laid egg, a hard-set one, a callow nestling, and another ready

to fly, may be found together in the same nest, while other more ad-

vanced young ones still keep to the neighbouring branches. The whole _

account is, indeed, so strange and surprising, that I shall follow Mr.

Yarrell in quoting the details from Mr. Audubon’s fifth volume.

“¢ Whilst at Charlestown in South Carolina,” narrates Mr. Audubon,

“‘ in the early part of June, 1837, I was invited by J. S. Rhett, Esq.,

residing in the suburbs of that city, to visit his grounds for the pur-

pose of viewing the nest of the yellow-billed Cuckoo [Cur. Ameri-

canus|. This I did in company with my friend Dr. S. Wilson, and

we found ourselves highly gratified, as we were enabled to make the

following observations :—

“¢ A nest, which was placed near the centre of a tree of moderate size,

was reached by a son of the gentleman on whose ground we were. One

of the old birds, which was sitting upon it, left its situation only when

within a few inches of the climber’s hand, and silently glided off to

another tree close by. Two young Cuckoos, nearly ready to fly, scram-

bled off from their tenement among the branches of the tree, and were

caught by us after a while. The nest was taken, and carefully handed

to me. It still contained three young Cuckoos, all of different sizes,

the smallest apparently just hatched, the next in size probably several

days old, while the largest, covered with pen-feathers, would have

been able to leave the nest in about a week. ‘There were also in

the nest two eggs, one containing a chick, the other fresh or lately

laid. The two young birds which escaped from the nest, clung so

firmly to the branches by their feet, that our attempts to dislodge them

were of no avail, and we were obliged to reach them with the hand.

On now looking at all these young birds, our surprise was indeed

1842.] Malayan species of Cuculde. 1107

great, as no two of them were of the same size, which clearly shewed

that they had been hatchéd at different periods, and I should have

supposed the largest to have been fully three weeks older than any

of the rest. Mr. Rhett assured us, that he had observed the same in

another nest placed in a tree within a few paces of his house, and

which he also shewed to us. He stated that eleven young Cuckoos

had been successively hatched and reared in it, by the same pair

of old birds, in one season, and that young birds and eggs were to be

seen in it at the same time for many weeks in succession.

“On thinking since of this strange fact, I have felt most anxious

to discover how many eggs the Cuckoo of Europe drops in one season.

If it, as I suspect, produces, like the American bird, not less than

eight or ten, or what may be called the amount of two broods in a

season*, this circumstance would connect the two species in a still

more intimate manner than theoretical writers have supposed them to

be allied. Having mentioned these circumstances to my friend, Dr.

T. M. Brewer, and requested him to pay particular attention to these

birds while breeding, he has sent me the following note :— ‘ The fact

you intimated to me last July I have myself observed. The female

evidently commences incubation immediately after laying her first

egg. Thus I have found in the nests of both species of our Cuckoos

one egg quite fresh, while in another the chick will be just bursting

the shell; and again, I have found an egg just about to be hatched

while others are already so, and some of the young even able to fly.’”

It is well known that domestic pigeons will not unfrequently lay

again, before their previous pair of young are fit to leave the nest, in

which case, I believe, they generally oust the latter as soon as they

ean, though continuing to feed them: but a more analogous fact to

that presented by the North American Cuckoos was announced by myself

in 1833, as cited by Mr. Yarrell, respecting the propagation of the

common Barn Owl (Strix flammea), —a bird common here, as

well as in England and North America, where Mr. Audubon has

* A pair of Blackbirds on the large islet of St. James’s Park, London, being the

only ones at the place, and the hen so remarkably tame, that there could be no doubt

of her identity throughout the season, reared and brought off four broods of young

m one year, the three first consisting of five each, and the last of two only, seventeen

m all; as many as in a Partridge’s single brood, the latter only laying a second

hme when some accident had happened to the first brood.—E. B.

1108 A Monograph of the Indian and - [No. 1381.

since observed the same of it, — and which, in like manner, continues

to lay both while hatching and rearing its excluded progeny of different

ages.

Moreover, what is still more remarkable, in connexion with the facts

already stated, it appears that these Cuculine birds of North America

do sometimes lay in the nests of other birds; while, like their Eu-

ropean relative, they devour all the eggs they find: in opposition to

which, may be cited a statement by Mr. Gray, that the European

Cuckoo does not uniformly desert her offspring to the extent that

has been supposed ; but, on the contrary, ‘‘ though she leaves the

eggs to be hatched by another bird, sometimes at least she takes care

of the young bird and feeds it after it leaves the nest, and teaches

it to fly’*, as he declares to have personally witnessed in one instance.

This much, however, is certain, that a large proportion of the young

Cuckoos hatched in England do not see the light till after the parent-

birds had left the country: and whatever may be the cause of the

singularly early migration of this species, which retires southward

at the hottest period of the year, while other migratory species (as

observed in captivity,) are directly prompted by decline of tempera-

ture to undertake their long journeyt, it has been plausibly enough

suggested that it must be in reference to this that the Cuckoo is en-

dowed with the instinct of burthening other species with the charge

of its offspring ; and it is worthy of remark (though I do not know that

the analogy has been before adduced), that in the common British

Swift (Cypselus murarius), which also quits for Southern climes

remarkably early, though not so very soon as the adult Cuckoos, the

migrative impulse is oftentimes sufficiently intense to impel the parent-

* Proc. Zool. Soc., 1836, p 104.

ft Having kept numerous migratory birds through the winter in England, I have

repeatedly had opportunities of observing that the instinctive impulse to depart

was thus incited, becoming moderate, in general, during mild weather, and en-

hanced with cold: the birds flapping and fluttering their wings, with beak pointed —

upwards, and often violently dashing against the roof of their prison, during the

evening and night (being very rarely thus agitated in the day time), and con-

tinuing to evince this migrative restlessness, at intervals, throughout the winter.

Food has nothing to do with it, and one of the most extraordinary circumstances

connected with migration is, that the same individuals return to their exact former

abode the following season, even captive birds turned loose having repeatedly

been known to come back to their place of confinement; and this notwithstanding

they travel by night, and perform aérial voyages of such vast extent!

1842. | Malayan species of Cuculide. 1109

birds to abandon their helpless later broods to starvation! Whether

the instances adverted to by M. Audubon of the egg of the American

Piayas being found in other bird’s nests happened at a late period

of the season, would be not uninteresting to ascertain.

But there is a remarkable genus of Sturno-fringillidous birds in the

New World, the Molothrus of Mr. Swainson, consisting of one species

in North America, and another (recently discovered by Mr. Darwin)

in the Southern continent, both of which have been ascertained to

resemble the typical Cuculd in entrusting their eggs to the care of

other birds*; and a very interesting and minute account of the

Northern species (M. pecoris, the ‘“‘ Cow Bunting” of Wilson,) by

Mr. Ord, — the friend of Alexander Wilson, and continuator of

his American Ornithology, — will be found in Loudon’s Magazine

of Natural History for February, 1836 (having been elicited, indeed,

by some remarks which I formerly published on the habits of the

British Cuckoo). From this article it appears, that Wilson was mis-

taken in his statement that ‘‘ the Cow-bird continues to be seen so late

as the middle of June; after which we see no more of them until

about the beginning or middle of October”. Mr. Ord asserting that

they are common in Pennsylvania in July, from which I suppose

may be inferred that after that time they disappear — it being just

the period at which the adult Cuckoos quit England, and thus

affording, if true, a remarkable analogy tending to support the hypo-

thesis before noticed.

Conducted, however, to this result by studying the parasitic birds

of temperate and Northern climates, it becomes desirable to ascertain

how far the circumstances connected with the propagation of those

of tropical countries may tend to confirm or overthrow such gener-

-alizations as are based exclusively upon the former; and in India

| especially, a wide field (in this as in everything else) is open to our

‘investigation, hitherto quite unexplored, and certainly one which

* A strange oversight, in fact an abominable bit of careless writing, occurs in

Mr. Swainson’s notice of the habits of the Cuckoos, in his Habits and Instincts of

Animals (p. 19), published in the series of Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopedia. Passing

from the British species, whereof he iterates the current erroneous statement that

it invariably selects the nests of insectivorous birds to deposit its egg in, he re-

marks —‘‘ the North American Cuckoos, however, being of a different species, more

frequently lay their eggs in the nests of the Cow-pen birds (Molothrus pecoris),”

&e.!!! Fine Ornithological doctrine this from Magister Artis !

1110 A Monograph of the Indian and [No. 131.

from the variety of species and genera of Cuculide which have been

here deseribed, is very likely to disclose some new phases or modiii-

cations of procedure elucidative of the enquiry for what ultimate

purpose do certain birds of this family, as also the American Molo-

thrahs, consign the charge of their progeny to alien species. Already,

it is well ascertained that the Coél — a permanently resident species

—- is parasitic, which is opposed to the hypothesis founded on the mi-

gratory habits of the Northern species, and I particularly recommend

the study of all that relates to the propagation of this very common

bird to those who may have the opportunity of making observations,

as also that of another common species — the Centropus Phillipensis,

besides which the Cuculus fugaz appears to be everywhere abundant,

and in Bengal the C. (Oxylophus) edolius. The Malkohas and

their allies are much more common in the Malay countries than in

India, and they are also particularly worthy of investigation: but the

truth is that, in every instance, carefully recorded and trustworthy

observations are needed, for their intrinsic interest as well as for sup-

plying materials upon which to generalize; and I trust that by fur-

nishing a Monograph of the known species, I remove one principal

difficulty on the part of many willing observers, who may oftentimes

have been discouraged and deterred by the difficulty of ascertaining

what bird it is they have been noticing, apart from which knowledge —

there is comparatively little satisfaction in noting down traits of —

habit, whence numberless curious discoveries may be said to die still. —

born, which otherwise might be turned to account.

The strictly parasitic Cuckoos (at least the British species, and ;

it may be inferred the rest), together with the American Molothrahs,

do not pair, as no object would be attained by their doing so, nor are

they polygamous in the ordinary sense of the term, but the sexes are

promiscuous in their intercourse; whence a number of males may

occasionally be seen chasing a single female at any period of the breed-

ing season: and with regard to the Molothrahs, these are gregarious

at all times, each female withdrawing herself from the flock and setting

out in quest of other birds’ nests when she wants to lay ; the which —

I mention, to notice a very curious observation by Mr. Nuttall (which

I give from memory), to the effect that in the nearly allied genus

of Troopials (Agelazus, Veillot), in which the Molothrahs are still

1842. | Malayan species of Cuculide. 1111

often classed, and which also live in flocks, but construct a number

of nests in society, the relative proportion of the sexes in the several

breeding groups is extremely irregular, as if these birds also did not

separate off into pairs. This alleged circumstance might be advan-

tageously borne in mind when studying the habits of the Keelbills

(Crotophaga) of tropical America, those very curious gregarious

Cuculide of the West Indies and adjacent countries, of which the

best account yet published is given in the Annals of Natural History

for November, 1839.

Among the variety of curious phenomena presented in the Natural

History of the European Cuckoo, it is remarkable that this bird

devours what eggs there may be in a nest into which she introduces

her own, so that any eggs that may be found together with that of the

Cuckoo, have been laid subsequently to the deposition of the latter* :

nevertheless, it appears that she spares that of her own species, or

perhaps her own previous egg, as many instances have been recorded

of two Cuckoo's eggs being found together, in general unaccompanied

by those of the rightful owners of the nest. Hence, I incline to the

opinion that she hastens to disburthen herself of her own egg, being

very liable to be disturbed and driven from the nest by its legitimate

possessors ; and that then, if continuing unmolested, she picks out any

other eggs there may be, but that when finding another laid by her

own species, she is unable to distinguish that from her own, and so

leaves both. From many experiments which I have tried with a

view to elucidate this matter, I have found that, generally, in each

case when a strange egg is put into a nest before the owner of it had

begun to lay, that nest is deserted, — if it be placed along with the

owner's eggs, it is very commonly ejected, — but, if substituted for

the latter, then the duped bird will either incubate it alone, as the

case may be, or lay other eggs to it, and sit on all. It is a question to

be determined whether the egg of any Cuculine bird be ever found

in nests with a domed top, as has been asserted, whereinto the bird

could not have laid it, but must have placed it with the foot or bill ;

and what renders it unlikely that this should ever be the case with

the British Cuckoo, and such others as resemble it in displaying

* See Mag. Nat. Hfst. 1835, p. 334.

1112 Avatars of Vishnoo. [No. 131.

the same particular instinct, is that the young Cuckoo could not well

in them eject its nest-mates, as described by Jenner and Montagu.

What other parasitic species do this is also desirable to ascertain.

In physical connexion with the tardy development of the eggs of

the European Cuckoo, and it may be presumed the North American

Piayas, the remarkably small size of the parts subservient to genera-

tion in both sexes has been remarked, whence also the diminutive

size of the egg (of at least Cuculus canorus, adapting it to that of

the nests into which it is laid). Whether aught analogous occurs

in the anatomy of the Molothrahs, I have not seen stated; and ob-

servations of the kind are needed as regards other Cuculide.

In fine, I may here remark that what knowledge we now possess

of the general Ornithology of India, is particularly deficient in infor-

mation concerning the nests and eggs of species, a knowledge of which

is often of essential assistance in tracing the affinities of genera: and

I would particularly recommend our few observers to bestow especial]

attention upon this department of Ornithology, and hint to them that

a collection of eggs, with the species to which they belong very care-

fully ascertained, and of such nests as are conveniently transmissible,

would be regarded as a valuable acquisition to the Museum which

I have the honour to superintend.

THE AVATARS OF VISHNOO.

An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. By E. C.

Ravensnaw, Esq. C. 8S.

Ist INcARNATION oF VisHNOO, oR Murtcn Avatar.

It came to pass in the Kreta Yug, (or Golden Age,) that Bramah sprang

from the navel of Vishnoo, and was placed by the deity in Suttya-locum.

Brahma being instructed in all things by Vishnoo, began the work of

creation. He first called into existence the five elements: earth, air, fire,

water, and ether (akash.)

2nd. The “nine Praja-puttee,” (or nine Lords of the creation) ; viz.

Broogoo, Mareechee, Uttré, Duksha, Kurdama, Poolastea, Poolaha, Un-

gerasa, (Ungeyra?) and Kruttoo.

oop aa ee ee ee

1842.] An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. 1113

Mareechee had a son, named Kaseapah, who took unto him four wives,

alled Aditi,* Diti, Kurdooma and Venata. The first brought forth Indra

and thirty-three krore of deotas. The second brought forth giants, (or Asoo-

ras) named Somak-asoor, or Hayagreeva, (meaning horse-face or centaur,)

Jumbah, Miah, &c. The third wife brought forth serpents; viz. Adeeshaha

or Ununta, (the 1000-mouthed serpent,) Tukshaka, Vasookee, Karkotaka,

Padoomah, Maha Padoomah, Sunka, &c.. The fourth wife bore two sons;

viz. Arroon and Garrooda.

It came to pass that Somak-asoor, (the centaur,) rebelled against Brah-

ma, and having come to Suttya-locum, forcibly carried away the four

Vedas, and plunged with them into the sea. Owing to this loss darkness

and confusion overshadowed the earth. Then Bramah arose, and assem-

bling all the deities, proceeded to Tsherabdee, or the milky sea, where he

offered up prayers and supplications to Vishnoo, that he would cause the

Vedas to be restored. The deity rising from the milky ocean, promised to

accede to their wishes. He immediately assumed the form of a large alliga-

tor and plunged into the depths of the ocean, where having killed Somak-

asoor, he returned and delivered the four Vedas to Brahma.

2np INCARNATION OR Koorma AVATAR.

Uttré (the 3rd of the Prujaputtee) had a son named Doorvasa who, havy-

ing performed his devotions for one year at Maha Meroo, ascended to

heaven (Swurga-locum,) and blessing Indra, presented to him a garland of

flowers called Parejatum. The deity having benignantly accepted the

offering, placed it on the head of the white elephant called Iravut, who

took it off his head with his trunk and trod it under his feet. Doorvasa

at this sight became very wrath, and he cursed Indra and all rich people,

because they regarded not the offerings of the poor. In consequence of

this imprecation, poverty fell upon Indra and his court. The sky with-

held its rain, and famine and pestilence stalked abroad.

Then Indra and all the deotas went to Brahma, the four-headed god,

and beseeched him that he would take pity on their miserable condition.

Brahma replied, that it was not in his power to assist them, but that he

should be happy to accompany them to Vishnoo. The party accordingly

proceeded to the sea of milk, and invoked Vishnoo, who hearing their

supplications, appeared before them with four hands, and riding on the

back of Garooda. He said, “‘ The nature of your appeal is known to me, go

* Daughter of Duksha.

1114 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. [No. 181.

bring hither the mountain Mundara for a piston and the serpent Vasookee

or a rope.” The deities and giants flew to the mountain and removed

it from its foundations, but were unable to convey it to the shore of the

ocean. Then came Vishnoo to their assistance, and transported it to the

centre of the milky sea, when he assumed the form of a Coormava, (or

Tortoise,) plunged under the sinking mountain, and supported it on his

back. Then the serpent Vasookee was twisted round the mountain for a

rope, and the giants holding the head while deotas held the tail, they be-

gan to churn the milky ocean.* ;

It came to pass, that the venom of the serpent issued out of his mouth

like a flame of fire, and the deotas and giants suspended their labour for

fear of it. Then Roodra (Seva) spoke to them, exhorting them to fear

nothing, and after offering up a prayer to the almighty Vishnoo, he swal-

lowed the poison. The churning was resumed, and the following things

were produced from the froth of the ocean. Ist A woman named Jaistoo-

devee or poverty, who on appearing asked, “‘ Where am I to reside?” The

deotas answered, ‘“‘Go where people are ever quarrelling, and sleep in the

morning and evening time.” 2d. Another female named Varoonee then ap-

peared, of exceeding beauty. Andeshaha, (the 1000-mouthed serpent, ) im-

mediaty carried her off to Naga-locum. 3d. The ocean brought forth the

Apsaras, or celestial choiristers, named Remba, Woorvase, Manake, &c. who

were ordered to repair to Swerga-locum to entertain the deotas with dan-

cing and singing. 4th. A white Elephant called Iravatum. 5th. A Horse

called Oocheestravas. 6th. A physician called Dunwantry. 7th. The

flowery tree Parijatum or Kulpa Vrikookshan. 8th, A wishing Cow named

Kamadanoo, who gave to her possessor whatever he wished. The latter

six articles were appropriated by Indra on the eleventh day of the moon.

On the morning of the twelfth day, Stremaha Lutchoomy, the goddess of

plenty and good fortune, arose from the ocean. Her appearance was hailed

with acclamation by the Host of Heaven. The angels struck their sitars,

the Apsaras danced and sang, and the deotas poured flowers on her head,

and a flood of light like moon-beams irradiated her person. The goddess

enquired in what way she could serve them. Indra answered, “ Oh, god-

dess dwell ever in the bosom of Vishnoo and exert your influence to pre-

serve us from all evil and distress, and bestow on us the riches and abun-

dance of the three worlds.” The goddess intimated her acquiescence.

Then Vishnoo rose from the ocean and accepted her for his spouse. The

ninth and last product of the ocean was the amrootum, (or nectar.) The

deotas and asoors began to quarrel about its possession, when Vishnoo

* Churning in India is universally performed by twirling the churn staff backwards and forwards

with a rope.

1842.] An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. 1115

having transformed himself into a beautiful damsel of sixteen years of age,

called Mahany, appeared before them, and offered to divide the amrootum

among them. On their consenting to this proposition, he commanded the

deotas to be on one side, and the asoors on the other. She commenced by

distributing to the deotas their share first. Rahoo, one of the asoors, had

purposely neglected to obey the order to stand on one side, and had kept his

place among the gods between the sun and moon; and thus received the

share of a deota. The sun and moon, however, immediately informed.

Mahany, that he was an asoor. Upon which Vishnoo enraged at his

deceit, assumed his proper form, hurled his chukrum,* or quoit, at the throat

of Rahoo, and severed his head from his body. But having drunk the

amrootum, or water of immortality, he could not die, and by way of

revenge, he has since that time occasioned periodically the eclipse of the

sun and moon.

3rD INCARNATION, OR VaR AVATAR.

There are four gates to the palace of Vishnoo in Vicoontum; at the west

gate are stationed two heralds, named Jayau and Vijaya. It came to pass,

that four penitents, called Sanaca, Janandanah, Sanotcoomara and Sanot-

soojatah, arrived at the gate with the intention of offering up praises

and thanksgiving at the feet of Vishnoo. The two heralds, however, re-

fused to give them admittance, upon which the penitents cursed them,

saying, “ You shall be born again, and become asoors.” The heralds

enquired how long they were to continue in thai form. “If you will be

friends to Vishnoo, seven generations ; if foes, three—choose!” The heralds

preferring the latter, were born to the wife of Kascapah, named Diti, and

were named Herunea-kasepoo and Herunea-aksha. The former became

a mighty giant; he rolled the earth up as a mat, and went to dwell with

the 1000-mouthed serpent in Patal-locum. Then Brahma, Indra, and all the

deotas being terrified at his doings, came to the milky sea, and invoked

-Vishnoo, who appeared before them, and on learning what had happened,

assumed the form of a wild boar, and penetrating into Patal-locum,

killed Heranea-kasepoo with his tusks, raised the earth on the face of

the waters, and restored it to its former condition.

4TH IncarNaTIoN, OR NursincH AVATAR.

Heranea-aksha enraged at the death of his brother, in order to revenge

himself on Vishnoo, proceeded to the mountain Meroo, where he fasted

* Like that used by the Seiks.

eel

1116 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. ([No. 131.

and prayed 10,000 years to Siva. The god pleased with his devotion,

promised to grant him whatever he wished. The giant replied, “ Let

me not be subject to death by the hands of deotas or asoors, of men or

angels, (gundarva,) cows, etsha, (musicians,) animals, birds, siddas (peni-

tents,) saddeas, vedevudarus, kinnarus, kimpoorooshus, by the sword, by

disease, by the cursing of resheess, Siva answered—“ Be it so.” The giant

immediately stalked to Swerga-locum, conquered Indra and all the deotas,

turned them out of heaven, and became master of paradise and the earth.

He then took unto himself a wife Siva, named Kalleyane, (the daughter of

Ootanapada,) who bore him a son, named Plumahalada. When arrived

at the proper age, the child was sent by his father to the learned Shookra-

chary, to be educated in the sciences. When his education was completed,

he was brought back to his father, and stood in his presence with be-

coming respect. The father pleased at his appearance and manners,

received him very kindly, and having kissed him, and enquired what

he had learnt. The young man replied, “By the glory of Vishnoo,

who is the creator of all worlds, from whom I derive my being, and

whose perfection is the object of my meditation, I will endeavour”—

“Stop,” vociferated the giant, inflamed with anger, “‘ What means this?

Bring me Shookra-chary!’”’ On the appearance of the sage, he exclaimed,

‘‘Am I not master of the three worlds by the auspices of Siva, and have

you not dared to teach my son to worship Vishnoo who slew my brother ?

Bind him hand and foot.” Here Plumhalada interceded, saying, “ Father!

you do him wrong. He did not teach me to pray to the almighty

Vishnoo, but to Siva, or you. The fault is mine, not his.” Heranea-aksha

admiring his answer, pardoned Shookra-chary; but said, “ In future you

must pray either to me or Siva.’’ Shookra-chary also told him to obey

his father. Plumhalada. answered, and said, “ Vishnoo is greater than

Brahma, Sunkara, and all the other deotas, why therefore should I pay

reverence to those who are only his servants? I who have obtained

favor in sight of him, who is the Lord of Lords.” Upon hearing these

words, the enraged Heranea-aksha commanded his attendants to flay his

son, cut him in pieces with their swords, and cast him into the fire. But

neither the whip, the sword, or the fire had any effect; he stood unhurt,

being supported by the glory of Vishnoo. Then Heranea-aksha asked his

son, saying, ‘‘ Where is Vishnoo ? what is he? shew him to me, and I will

overpower him, as I did all the other deotas.” Plumhalada answered and

said, ‘He is Narayanah, the spirit moving on the waters. He is Vau-

soodeva, the spirit animating all created beings. He is Vishnoo, (the

anima mundi,) the soul which pervades the material universe.” ‘If that

is the case,” replied the enraged Heranea-aksha, striking a pillar, ‘‘ Shew me

1842.] An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. PRT?

Vishnoo in this pillar, or I will stab you to the heart with my dagger.”

Immediately a terrible noise, like that of the loudest thunder issued from

the pillar, the giants were struck senseless and the stars of heaven fell

down like flowers from the tree, and the deotas all trembled. The pillar

was rent in twain from top to bottom, and from the midst thereof issued

Nara-singha, a beast having the head and neck of a lion, and the body of

a man. He had three eyes which sparkled like flames, very long teeth, and

1000 hands, each armed with a different kind of weapon. The eyebrows

and eye-lids of Herunea-aksha were immediately consumed by the flames

that issued from the eyes of the almighty Vishnoo. Though daunted and

trembling, the giant defended himself with his dagger, but Vishnoo seized

him by the head and feet, and laying him across his lap, tore open his belly

with his claws, and made his entrails into a necklace. Then all the deotas

poured flowers of the Parejatum on the head of the victorious Vishnoo.

The Gundarvas, Kennaras, and Ethas played on various musical instru-

ments, while the Apsaras danced. Luchmee brought the fruits of the earth

to appease his hunger, and sat down upon his knee. Then Vishnoo sent

for Plumhalada, and made him king over all the giants. He restored the

deotas to Swerga-locum, from whence they had been expelled by Herunea-

aksha, and disappearing, went to the milky sea.

5tu Incarnation, oR VamMAN AVATAR.

_ Verochanah, the son of Plumhalada, had a son named Boli, who was king

of the three worlds; during his reign all was peace and prosperity ; the corn

grew spontaneously; the cows yielded their milk without pressing the udder;

the trees produced fruit in all seasons, and Indra and the Asta-dik-palakas*

(or lords of eight corners of the world,) attended at the gate of his palace.

Caseapah and his wife being desirous to see their son Indra restored to the

sovereignty of the three worlds, paid adoration to Vishnoo for 10,000 years.

The deity pleased with their piety, told them to ask for whatever they

wished. Caseapah replied, ‘‘I wish you to be born to me as a son by the

name of Oopa-Indra, when you must conquer Boli, and deliver the three

worlds to Indra.” Vishnoo accordingly became incarnate as the son of

Caseapah, and day by day increased in wisdom and in stature. It came

to pass, that Boli held a yoga, or burning sacrifice ; upon the celebration of

this ceremony, the son of Caseapah transformed himself into a dwarf, called

Vamana, and walked before the king, who being pleased with him, told

him to ask a favor. Vamana replied, ‘‘ Be pleased to give me three steps

* Vide separate account of these.

1118 An abstract Translation from the Pudm& Pooran. ([No. 131.

of ground on which to make a burning sacrifice.” Shookra-chary, the

priest, observed,” “Oh, king! this is not a Brahmin, but is the Almighty God

in disguise ; therefore do not grant his request, he will cause you to re-

pent the gift.” Boli rejoined, ‘‘ If as you say, he is indeed the Almighty,

it will be better to propitiate him with this small charity, than to refuse his

request. I who am lord of the three worlds can well afford so trifling a

gift.” He accordingly gave Vamana permission to measure three steps of

ground, upon which the body of the dwarf began to expand, and his sta-

ture increased to the height of 75,000 laks of leagues, one foot covered the

whole earth, the other filled the sky. Vamana then asked Boli, “ where

shall I place my other foot.” ‘On my head,” said Boli. Accordingly the

foot that was in the sky was placed on the head of Boli, and Vishnoo press-

ing it downwards, descended with Boli through the earth to Patal-locum,

where leaving Boli, he returned and re-instated Indra in the sovereignty of

the three worlds.

6TH INCARNATION, OR Parasoo-Ram AvatTAR.

- Brugoo, (the first of the nine Prajaputty,) had a son named Jamadugny,

who having paid his devotions for 1000 years to Indra, found favor in his

sight, and was permitted to ask for any thing he wanted, Jamadugny then —

requested that he might be put in possession of Kama-danoo, (the wishing ~

cow, which was produced from the churned ocean.) ‘The cow was accord-

ingly brought to him, and by her aid he acquired great wealth and hap- —

piness. He took unto himself a wife named Ranooka-devy, who was the —

daughter of Ranooka. In order to obtain a son, Jamadugny prepared a :

pootra-kaumastey ag, or burning sacrifice to Indra. The deity pleased i

ith the offering, promised him that Vishnoo should be born to him as a __

son ; accordingly his wife conceived and brought forth a son, and called his —

name Rama. At ten years of age, he was sent to Salagram, for the purpose

of being consecrated to the worship of Vishnoo. He there met with Ka-

seapoo, one of the nine Prajaputty, who being pleased with his attentions

and piety, gave him a prayer called ‘‘ Vishnavee.”

In the mean time a king named Karteveerean Arjoon, the son of Hahaya,

reigned in the city of Joteshmate on the banks of the Narmada, (Nurbudda?)

He had 1000 hands, and a wife called Madooravane. One day he went

with his wife and concubines to bathe in the river Nurmada, and placed —

500 of his hands as a wall in the water, while with the other 500 hands he

played with his women. It came to pass, that Ravanah a giant, arrived

at a place lower down the river; after bathing, he erected in the river an

image of clay, and began to worship it. Owing to the sports of king Arjoon

1842.] An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. 1119

and his women, the waters of the river swelled and became troubled, so that

the idol, with the flowers and incense, were upset and carried down the

stream. Ravanah sent messengers to ascertain the cause of this commotion

of the waters; on hearing the cause, he was inflamed with anger and went

up to fight against Arjoon, but the latter overcame him, and put him in

prison for 10,000 years; after the lapse of this period, Arjoon was ordered

by Brahma to release him.

It came to pass, that the king paid a visit to Jamadugny, who received

him very kindly, and served him and all his retinue with rare and excellent

food. The king inquired, whence he procured such delicious provender.

The penitent replied, that the Kamadanoo furnished him with every thing.

The king then begged the penitent to give him the wonderful cow, but

Jamadugny replied, that it belonged to Indra, and that it was not therefore

in his power. Then the king forcibly seized Kamadanoo, but she resisted,

and with her horns and feet killed: many of the royal retinue. The king en-

raged at his failure, stabbed Jamadugny with his dagger, and returned to

his capital.

Ramah, the son of Jumadugne, having finished his education at Sala-

gram, and having received an axe from Vishnoo as a reward for his

piety, returned to his father’s house, where he beheld his corpse.

Hearing the manner in which he had been slain, he shouldered his axe

and went to the city of Joteshmati, and standing upon the gate, sent

word to the king, that a Brahmin was come to fight with him. The

king hearing this, sent 100 kinkaras to chastise him, but he killed

them all with his axe. The king then came out himself, but Parasoo-

Ramah, (or axe-bearing Ramah,) immediately cut off his 1000 hands,

and then killed him with the axe; after which he laid about him right

and left, declaring that he would not suffer the world any longer to

be polluted with the Kshatrea caste. He performed the tarpenum, (or

ceremony of anathema,) in the blood of the Kshatreeas, by mingling

their blood with gingle (?) seed in the earth, and crying confusion to the

nakedness of their fathers and grand-fathers. This ceremony was per-

formed at Lamantaka Punchakum (or the five streams) near Kooroo-

Kshatrum, where he also made a burnt offering called auroovamadum,

and presented the 750,000 kos of land, which composed the country

of the Kshatreeas, as a charitable gift unto the Brahmins. He then

prepared to offer up his thanksgiving to Vishnoo, but was prevented

by a Brahmin, who said, “You have given this land to the Brahmins,

and have no title to make use of that which is no longer your own,

20, and appear not again within its limits.’—Parasoo-Ramah enraged

at this treatment, cursed him, and said, “ You will not be able to retain

1120 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. [No. 1381.

dominion over this land.” He then departed to the mountain Badari-

castreeamun.

7tH Incarnation, OR Ram Avatar.

Aditi, the daughter of Duksha, and wife of Caseapah had a son, named

Viouswatah, who was one of the twelve suns. The latter had a son named

Swaembhoo Munoo, who worshipped Vishnoo 10,000 years on the

banks of the river Goomtee. Vishnoo then appeared to him, and told

him to make a request, Swaembhoo Munoo accordingly besought him that

he would be born to him as a son for three generations ; Vishnoo consent-

ing, disappeared.

It came to pass that in the Tretu Yoog, Swaembhoo Munoo was

born to king Ujan in the city of Ayodeea, (Oude,) and was named

Dasarada. He married Cosilliah, the daughter of the king of Cosala

(Cosillah*) and Soomitry, the daughter of the king of Maugada, and

Kykae, the daughter of king Kikiah. Not being blessed with a son

by any of his wives, he, by the advice of Vasista, the penitent, made a

burning sacrifice, called Pootra-kamasty, (son-wishing.) During the cere-

mony, there appeared in the midst of the flames a very handsome youth,

with a golden cup in his hand full of panes (?) or rice milk. He spoke to

Dasarada, ordering him to divide the contents of the cup among his three

wives, who accordingly each drank their share of the celestial liquor, and

immediately became pregnant. After ten months, Cosala brought forth

Rama. Soomitry had two sons, Luchmun and Satroogna; and Kykae

Bharata, they were all named by Vasistah. It came to pass when they

were grown up, and were educated in the arts and sciences, that there

came to Dasarada a penitent, named Vesoova Mitra, who requested

him to allow his sons, Ramah and Luchmun, to attend at a burning

sacrifice, in order that the giants might be deterred from interrupting the

ceremony. The king ordered his sons to accompany the penitent, who

taught them two arts, called bula and utte-bula.

The giants, of whom the penitent was apprehensive, were named

Mareecha and Satbahoo, the sons of Tatakes, (the daughter of the angel

Sookatoo,) and Sinda, her husband. After the death of their father, the

two sons united together to mock and jest at a penitent called Ugusteah,

who being very much provoked cursed them, and transformed them

into giants. These giants to revenge themselves on the race of penitents,

were in the habit of disturbing their devotions, and obstructing their

* There is a river of this name, which rises near Almorah, and unites with the Ram Gunga

below Moradabad.

;

1842. ] An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. 1121

burning sacrifices. Vesoova Mitra being anxious to get rid of such trouble-

some neighbours, desired Ramah and Luchmun to killthem. The brothers

accordingly sallied forth, and encountering the giants, slew them with the

edge of the sword, and cast them into the sea.

Visoova Mitra then celebrated his burning sacrifice, after which he pro-

ceeded with the two brothers towards Mithoola Nuggur. It came to pass

as they journeyed along, that Rama observing on the road-side a stone

statue of a woman, asked the penitent what it was. Visoova Mitra repli-

ed, “Once upon a time there was a very handsome young woman named

Ahiliah, who was the wife of the famous penitent Goutema. She com-

mitted adultery with Indra, and Goutema discovering her infidelity, trans-

formed her into stone.” Ramah on hearing this, touched the statue with

his foot, and it immediately became an animated and breathing form.

From thence they came to the city of Mithoola, the capital of king Janaka.

It is necessary to premise, that this king having no children, ordered that

a piece of ground should be dug up, and prepared for the burning sacrifice

of Pootra-kamesty. The labourers on digging the ground, discovered a very

curious golden bow, inlaid with nine sorts of precious stones, which they

brought to the king, who opening it, found therein a beautiful virgin, by

name Setah, who shone pre-eminently among the maidens, as the moon

among the stars. (Velut inter ignes. Luna mores.) Janaka presented

her to his wife, who treated her with great kindness. A few days after,

the queen brought forth a daughter by name Oormulla. When the two

virgins had arrived at a marriagable age, the king issued a proclamation,

saying, that ‘‘ Whoever is able to string the bow of Roodra Danoosoo, to

him will I give my daughters in marriage.”

Now the history of the bow was in this wise: “ Visoova Kurmah, the

carpenter of the gods, had a son named Miah, who aided the giants in con-

structing the three cities called the Trepooras, situated in the three

worlds ; viz. heaven, earth, and orcus, or upper, middle, and lower worlds.

Then Miah and the giants began to annoy the deotas, kings and penitents,

by interrupting their devotions and burning sacrifices, (Yogaus;) at last,

all the gods went to Roodra, (Siva,) and solicited his aid. Roodra im-

mediately destroyed all the giants excepting Miah, who made a well filled

with the waters of immortality, into which he threw the bodies of the giants,

who were thereby restored to life, and again waged war with the gods.

As it was necessary to prevent the giants from again having recourse

to the well, Vishnoo transformed himself into a cow, and ordered Brahma

to assume the shape of a calf. Both then went to the spot apparently

to graze, but when arrived at the well, the calf fell in, and the cow in

apparent anxiety to rescue her offspring, tumbled in after it, and drank

1122 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. {No. 181.

up the living waters.” This object being effected, Roodra converted

mount Meroo into a bow, and took the serpent Vasookey for a string,

and Vishnoo for an arrow. The sun and moon formed the wheels of his

chariot, the four Vedas were his four horses, driven by Brahma as coachman,

and the ocean was his quiver of arrows. Thus armed, he charged the

giants, and fired the arrow Vishnoo into the midst of them, all fell dead

in a moment. Roodra made a present of the bow to Davarat, grand-father

of Janaka, and it has remained with the family ever since. Ramah being

made acquainted with the terms of the proclamation, took the bow in

his hands, easily bent it back, and adjusted the string, and fired the arrows

in rapid succession. The conditions being fulfilled, Janaka gave his

daughter Seta to Ramah, and his second daughter Oormulla to Luchmun;

after the celebration of the nuptials, the brothers set off on their return

to Oude. In the way they met Parasoo Ramah, who addressed Ramah,

saying, ‘‘ Your father Dasarada refused to fight with me, and ran away.

I hear your prowess is great. Let me see if you can bend this bow.”

Ramah said he would do his best, he then took the bow and bent it, and

discharged the arrows. Parasoo Ramah then said, “‘Oh Ramah,* you are

indeed very powerful, he who can bend this bow, can build a staircase to

heaven with the heads of kings.”

The brothers then proceeded on their journey, and arrived safely at

Oude with their wives, where they lived very happily with their parents.

Dasarada being now advanced in years, wished to place Ramah on the

throne; upon which his wife Kikia observed, ‘‘ Once upon a time when you

and I went out in a chariot to hunt in the vicinity of Jountopoor, a giant

named Sumbarasoor came to fight with you. If you remember well, you

discharged your arrows and drove the chariot. In the midst of the fight, the

linch-pin of one of the wheels fell out, and the chariot would have fallen

had I not put my finger in the place of the linch-pin, and kept it there

until you had killed the giant. For this service you desired that I would

ask some favor and it should be granted. I said that I had nothing to ask

for at that time, but that I would make a request at some future period, to

this, if youremember, you assented. The time is now arrived, and my

request is this, that you banish Ramah for fourteen years to the jungles,

and appoint my son Bhurata as king during that period.” Dasarada

being bound to perform his promises, granted her request. Then Ramah

and Luchmun with their wives departed from Oude, and came to the

city of Chitrakoot. When Dasarada heard that they had left Oude,

and gone into the jungles, he became exceeding sorrowful and died. Then

* Original obscure—supposed meaning.

1842.] An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. 1123

Bharata went to Chitrakoot, and informed his brothers of the event,

who returned with him and performed the funeral rites of the deceased.

After the ceremony, Rama being sorrowful, lay down his head upon Seta’s

lap and fell asleep. Jauntah, a son of Indra, having quizzed the penitent

Stootaseras about his huge head and uncouth figure, the latter transformed

him into a crow, and since that time he was called Kauk-asoor. This

crow being tantalised with the sight of one of Seta's breasts as she sat

supporting the sleeping Rama, alighted on her shoulder, and began

tearing the flesh with his beak. As Seta could not defend herself

without awakening Rama, she ‘bore it with resignation. Rama on

opening his eyes, saw the blood flowing from her breast like a river.

In his anger he prayed over the grass of the fields, and each blade became

an arrow and flew in the direction of the crow, who seeing no escape

from such a shower of missiles, threw himself at the feet of Rama

and implored his pardon, which Rama at last granted. The party then

arrived at a place called Purnasala, where they lived in a hut made of

leaves during about thirteen years.

Visravas, the grandson of Poolustea, one of the nine Pruja-puttee, mar-

ried Kakesey, the grand-daughter of Sookasa, and daughter of Soomaly.

One night lying with her husband, Kakesey conceived and bore a son, and

called his name Ravana. JHe had ten heads and twenty hands. Another

night she conceived a son named Koombhakurna, and a daughter named

Soorpanaky. On a third night she conceived Vebeshun, who became a

devotee of Vishnoo. Ravana and Koombhakurna went to the mountain

Himavunta to worship Roodra. To prove his devotion, Ravana cut off his

own ten heads with his sword, and presented them as an offering to Roodra

instead of fruits and flowers. Seva appeared before him and said, ‘‘ Whatever

” answered Ra-

vana, “ that I may not be subject to death by the hands of gods or asoors,

_ angels or devils.” Roodra replied, “ Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”

_ Then Ravana waged war against the gods and penitents, who being sorely

pressed, went to Vishnoo and implored his assistance. In the mean time

Soorpanaky, the sister of Ravana, went to Rama at Purnasala, and request-

ed him to marry her. Instead of complying with her request, he cut off

her nose and ears, and sent her away. She accordingly departed, crying

aloud, to a place called Janakasthan, the residence of the giants Khara, Doo-

shana, and Treserus, who had an army of 14,000 strong. She shewed

thou askest, that will I give unto thee.” ‘I pray thee,’

them her wounds, and solicited revenge. The giants then arose with one

accord, and fought against Rama, who slew them with the edge of the

‘sword. Soorpanaky then fied to her brother Ravana, and informed him of

what had happened. Ravana immediately ordered the giant Mareecha to

1124 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. ([No. 131.

transform himself into a deer, and to appear before Seta, Rama, and Luch-

mun. The giant obeyed. Seta on beholding the deer asked Rama to catch

it, and bring it to her to play with. Rama said, “It is a giant and nota deer,

however, I will try to catch it for you.” Taking his bow and arrows, he

followed the deer, which ran away as Rama approached. When out of sight

of the hut, Rama shot the deer with an arrow, when the giant resumed

his shape, and crying out ‘Oh Seta! Oh Luchmun!” gave up the ghost.

Seta hearing this, and believing it to be the voice of her husband, desired

Luchmun to go and see what was the matter. He said it was only the

giant, crying out on being killed by Rama. Seta not being satisfied, again

begged him to go; so he went. Ravana immediately appeared before Seta

in the form of a dervise, (or kulundur,) and asked for alms; on her bringing

him what he required, he seized her in his arms, placed her on his chariot,

and carried her away to Lunka. On the road a large kite attacked Ravana,

who, however, having placed Seta under a tree called Sensoopah, in the

orchard called Usoka, succeeded in wounding the kite.

In the mean time Rama and Luchmun returned to the hut, and not

being able to find Seta any where, they were overcome with grief. Coming

to the place where the kite lay half-dead, the kite told them that Ravana

had carried her off to Lunka. They then came under the shadow of a large

tree, from the branches of which the giant Kubunda tried to seize them for

his prey, but the brothers slew him. At last they arrived at the dwelling

of a woman named Sabary, who offered them fruits, and hearing their tale,

said, she would introduce them to her friend Soogreva, lord of the mon-

keys, who would be able to assist them in recovering Seta. On the appear-

ance of Soogreva, Rama asked him why he lived in such a place where

there were no people to be seen. Soogreva answered, ‘“ My history is

this; Vrooksha Ragasoo my father, once went to Nymes-arenneam, where

there are two tanks. There is one of them in which if any man bathe he

will be transformed into a woman, and in the other, if a woman bathe she

is transformed into a man. My father plunged into the first, and rose there-

from a beautiful woman. Indra and the Sun both descended from Heaven ~

to make love to her; by the one she had a son named Vauly, and by the

other myself. Soogreva, my father, then bathed in the second tank, and re-

sumed his manhood. On arriving at Kiskinda, he appointed my brother

Vauly king, and then went to the mountain Himavunta. My brother hap-

pened to kill a giant named Magavee, by cutting him in two pieces, which

he threw at the penitent Muttunga Maha Moony, who with his eyes shut

was praying on the mountain Reshia Mooga Purvatum. At this unpleasant

interruption, the saint opened his eyes and cursed Vauly, saying, ‘ If he ever

comes here, his head shall be broken in a thousand pieces.’ After this it came

1842. | An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. B25

to pass, that my brother fought with the giant Doondoobhy, and entered into

a large cave in a mountain. My brother ordered me to remain at the en-

trance until he came; I waited a very long time, at last seeing blood come

out of the cave like a stream of water, and thinking Vauly had been killed, I

was sore afraid, and rolling alarge stone before the entrance of the cave,

I returned to Kiskinda. My brother after having killed the giant came to

the mouth of the cave, and kicked away the stone I had placed there. Not

finding me on the outside he was very angry, and on arriving at Kiskin-'

da, turned me out of the city; since which time I have lived in these moun-

tains. Now if you will kill my brother Vauly, I will engage to recover

your lost Seta.’’ Then Rama went up against Vauly, and slew him and

placed Soogreva on the throne of Kiskinda, (i. e. Bijanugur, according to

the tradition of the Natives on the spot.) Then Soogreva summoned be-

fore him his prime minister Hunooman of the monkey tribe, gave him the

signet ring of Rama, and commanded him to assemble the generals of the

Vanoras, (or monkeys); viz. Ungada, the son of Vauly; Jambavunta, lord

of the bears, who was born of a groan of Brahma; Neela, the son of fire,

&c., and that he should march Southward, sending out parties of Vanno-

ras to the four quarters of the world to seek intelligence of Seta, and

return within one month, on pain of death.

Hunooman accordingly set out on his march to the south, but was

unsuccessful in his search. At last he entered a cave which was very dark,

but perceiving at the extremity a small light he advanced towards it,

and found a woman named Swaemprabha, (angel of light,) making devo-

tion. On telling her that he and his friends were very tired and thirsty,

she shewed them a rivulet running through the cave, and gave them fruit;

after they had refreshed themselves, she enquired who they were, and why

they had been wandering about her cave for the last forty-five days. On

being informed of the circumstances, she ordered them to shut their eyes,

and not to open them until she permitted them, when they would find a

large bird called Sumpaty, who would give them news regarding Seta. ‘lhey

obeyed her orders, and on opening their eyes at the appointed place, they

discovered Sumpaty, who said, “ Seta is at Lunka; I saw her with my own

eyes. You are now on the shore of the south sea, and the island of Lunka

is 150 leagues distant. If you can jump so far, you will see Seta sitting

under a tree in an orchard.” The party then consulted among themselves

as to who was the best jumper. Neela said he could only jump seventy-

five leagues. Nola thought he could accomplish 105. Jumbavunta said,

that being now advanced in years, he could not be sure of clearing

more than 135. Ungada believed that he could jump there, but was afraid

that he would not be able to jump back again.

1126 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. [No. 181.

This being the case, Hunooman took upon himself to perform the feat,

and accordingly sprang from the shore into the air, cleared the sea, and ©

alighted safely at Lunka, but he was immediately attacked by the goddess of

the island; however, he gave her such a violent blow on the breast that

she fell senseless; on recovering half an hour afterwards, she exclaimed,

“You have struck me as the thunder-bolt cleaves the earth, so will you

strike and conquer Lunka!” Then Hunooman transformed himself into a

small cat, and entering the capital of Lunka searched about everywhere for

Seta; at last he found her sitting under a Sensoopa tree in the orchard

Usoka, as Sumpaty had said. He then resumed his own shape, and pros-

trating himself at her feet, delivered to her the signet of Rama, and ac-

quainted her with the measures that had been taken to restore her to

liberty. Seta gave him an emerald ornament called Seromany to deliver

to Rama. The next day Hunooman began to tear up all the trees in the

orchard. The astonished gardeners fled to Ravana, and told him that a

wonderful monkey was tearing up trees by the roots, the leaves of

which even had defied the blast of the tempest. Ravana hearing this,

sent one lak of giants to kill him, but Hunooman slew them all. Rava-

na then sent the sons of his eight prime ministers with a large retinue,

but they shared the same fate. He next sent five generals with a large

force of disciplined troops, but with no better success. Ravana’s second

son, Ukshaya-koomar, a valiant hero next entered the lists, but he also bit

the dust. At last the eldest son, Indrajit, went forth to battle. He aimed

many arrows at Hunooman without effect, finally he aimed the sacred

arrow Bramhastrum, which overthrew Hunooman, who was immediately

seized, and carried to the presence of Ravana, who enquired who he was,

and why he came there. Hunooman replied, “ I am a servant of Rama,

who sent me to see Seta.’’ Ravana then asked him, why he had des-

troyed the orchard. He answered, ‘I did it in order to obtain an inter-

view with you; in order to tell you that if you do not deliver up Seta,

you will be slain by Rama, who has pledged himself to the penitents

to kill you with his own hand; otherwise I should have killed you

myself.” Ravana enraged at hearing these words, ordered his attendants

to execute him; but Vebeshun, the younger brother of Ravana, stepped

forward, and represented that it would be unjust to slay an ambassador,

but that some more lenient punishment might be inflicted. Ravana

admitting the propriety of this advice, ordered his attendants to bring

tar, wax, camphor, and oil cloth, and having twisted them round the tail

of Hunooman to set fire to it, and after carrying him through the town,

to thrust him out of the gate of the city. These orders were immediately —

carried into execution; but no sooner had they lighted his tail, than he —

1842. | An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. 1127

whisked it about from house to house, and set fire to the whole city,

and escaping from the gate ran to the sea shore and jumped back to the

place where he had left the army of the Vannoras. He then returned to

Kiskinda, and prostrating himself at the feet of Rama, acquainted him

with all the circumstances of his journey, and delivered the emerald he

had received from Seta.

The next day Rama, Luchmun, Soogreva, Hunoomon, Ungada, Neela,

Nala, Jumbovanta, Sooshana, (the doctor of the Vannoras,) Gajau, Gunda-

madana, Gavantsbha, Vrooshabha, Sarava, &c., with their respective Van-

nora forces, marched from the mountain Reshia Mooga Parvut to the shore

of thesouth sea. Vebeshun hearing that Rama had arrived at the opposite

coast, advised his brother Ravana to give up Seta, and make his peace with

Rama; but Ravana offended at his advice, turned him out of the city. He

sought refuge in the camp of Rama, who promised to place him on the

throne of Lunka.

Nala, the son of fire, then commenced to make a bridge over the sea.

He prayed to his father that all the great stones and other heavy articles

that were necessary for the work might be deprived of their weight, and

float on the sea. This prayer being granted, he soon completed the bridge

over which the troops marched to Lunka. Then the giant generals of Ra-

vana, named Dhoomraksha, Ukumpana, Vugra Dumsthraw, Prahusta,

Utteka, Mohakawe, Koombha, Nikoombha, &c., came and fought against

them, but were all slain in one day. In the night, however, Indrajit at-

tacked them furiously, with frequent discharges of all kinds of arrows, and

by hurling mountains on the heads of the Vannoras, great numbers of whom

were killed and wounded, so that Indrajit reported to his father that he had

killed them all.

Jumbovanta consulted with Sooshana, the doctor, what was to be done.

The latter replied, ‘“‘ There is a mountain near the North sea* called Sun-

jeevy, on which grow three kinds of shrubs named Sunjeevy-kurney, San-

dane-kurny, and Souselia-kurny ; send Hunooman to fetch them, otherwise

we shall all die.” Hunooman flew to the mountain, but after searching

on the four sides of the mountain, he was unable to find the shrubs, on ac-

count of the darkness of the night, so he took up the mountain in his arms

and brought it to Lunka before sunrise, for he was the son of the wind.

Then Sooshana, the doctor, gathered medicinal herbs and applied them to

the wounds of the Vannoras, who immediately awoke from the sleep of

death, and began to hurl the mountains on the houses of the enemy.

Koombhakurna, the youngest brother of Ravana, came out with a large

* Polar Sea, or Arabian?

1128 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. [No. 1381.

force to attack them, and fought for twenty-four hours without intermis-

sion, when the battle was terminated by the death of Koombha-kurna,

who was killed by an arrow from the bow of Rama.

On hearing the news of his brother’s death, Indrajit came forth with

an immense army, and waged such a war as never before had been wit-

nessed by deotas or giants; the arrows, mountains, trees, and all kinds

of missiles fell upon Rama’s army as the rains descend in the season of

the monsoon. At last Indrajit fell by the hand of Luchmun. As soon as

the intelligence reached Ravana, he sallied forth with his principal minis-

ters and disciplined troops, and fought seven days and nights with

Rama, who riding on the shoulders of Hunooman, discharged quivers

of arrows at the giant, and cut off several of his heads and hands,

but they immediately grew up as before. In the mean time Rama was

growing faint in the exertion, from the pain of a wound from one of

Ravana’s arrows, which had pierced through, and was sticking in his side,

from which blood flowed as fast as the water of the Red river. At this

critical period, a rut or chariot descended from heaven, sent by Indra,

driven by Matully, a skilful charioteer. Vebeshun at the same time inform-

ed Rama, that Ravana could not be slain until the cup of nectar which

he carried in his breast should be destroyed. On hearing this, Rama as-

cended the car, charged the enemy, and aimed an arrow of flaming fire,

called agnia-astrum, which flew like a thunderbolt, and split the breast-plate

of Ravana to pieces, and crushed the cup. He then aimed 101 arrows

to cut off the heads and hands of the giants, but again and again they

grew up before until all the nectar was dried up, which had been spilt over

his body. Then Rama discharged the arrow brumahstrum, which put an

end to his existence. The war being thus concluded, Vebeshun was placed

on the throne of Lunka. For the purification of Seta, a large fire was

prepared with camphor, tar, wax, sandal-wood, &c. Then Seta bathed her-

self in a stream, and adorning herself with ornaments and flowers, walked

three times round the blazing fire, and then on a signal given by Rama,

threw herself into the fire, which, however, was immediately transformed

into a man, who caught her in the palm of his hand, and presented her un-

injured to Rama, who having accepted her, they mounted the car Poos-

poca Vemanum, and with Luchmun, Soogreva, &c., returned to Ayodea-

nugur, (Oude,) where Rama dismissed his allies with numerous presents,

seated himself on the throne of his fathers, and ruled over the kingdom

for 10,000 years, when he departed to Vicoontum, his celestial abode.

8TH IncARNATION, OR Krisuwn AvaTAR.

MSS. Imperfect.

1842. ] An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. 1129

9TH INCARNATION, OR BoopH AVATAR,

The giant Tarukasoor had three sons, Viddoonmaly, Tarukaksha, and

Kamalaksha. In a battle between the gods and giants, Tarukasoor was

killed by Indra. The sons fasted and prayed for 1,000 years to Brahma,

who pleased with their devotion, told them to ask for whatever they

wished, and it should be granted. They replied, ‘‘ We wish in the first place,

for three moveable cities completely furnished with every article of luxury ;

and secondly, that we may not be subject to death by the hand of Gods,

Danavas, Yekshas, Rakus, Gandurvas, Sidda Saddia, Kinnara, Kimpoo-

roosha, Ooroga, &c.”

Bramha granted their request, with this proviso, that if the cities should

ever come in contact with each other, they should all be killed by a great

man. The three brothers then repaired to Mya, the architect of the giants,

who made for them three cities : one of gold, one of silver, and one of iron;

each city was 150 leagues square, adorned with palaces, gardens, and every

thing conducive to pleasure. The golden city was in the centre, the

silver one in the sky, and iron one on the earth. Thus by the blessings

of the Trinity and Mya, the giants enjoyed themselves exceedingly, and

amused themselves with tormenting the gods, penitents, &c. To complete

their power, the son of Tarakaksha obtained from Brahma a nectar

well, in which if a dead body were plunged, it would come out alive with

ten others equally powerful. By these means, the three brothers were

enabled to fight the gods with impunity, and overthrow them. Reduced

to extremity, they petitioned Brahma to save them from the effects of the

power he had granted to the giants. Brahma told them to go to Roodra,

who on their supplicating him, attacked the giants with such force, that

the field was covered with their dead. However, their wives came and

touched them with their hands, sprinkling water over their persons, and

they awoke from their sleep, for their wives being very virtuous women,

could give life to the dead. The giants on their recovery, renewed

their attacks upon the gods, who were again obliged to supplicate the

aid of Roodra. The latter replied, ‘‘ Unless the virtue of their wives be

corrupted, it is useless to kill them, because so long as their wives remain

virtuous, they will be able to restore them to life.” The gods then pro-

ceeded to Vicoont, and entreated Vishnoo to lend them his assistance,

to which he consented. It came to pass, that the wives ofthe Trepoora-

soors were dancing round the Uswuttum, which is the king of trees,

and endeavouring to obtain the fruit which hung from its lofty branches.

Vishnoo assuming the form of a priest, told them they would not be

able to procure the fruit unless they danced round the tree naked. On

1130 An abstract Translation from the Pudma Pooran. [No. 131.

their obeying his injunction, Vishnoo pervading the tree as he pervades

all things in heaven and earth, shook it with a noise like thunder; the

women being frightened clung naked round the tree, which immediately

assumed the form of a naked young man, in whose embraces they enjoyed

the fruit of their desires, but lost that virtue which gave immortality

to their husbands. Roodra immediately availed himself of their fall to

attack the giants, whom he destroyed together with their three cities.

Vishnoo incarnate as a naked man is called Boodda, who established

the science called Boodda Sastrum, which taught the abolition of the wor-

ship previously paid to the deota under the names of Vishnoo, Seva and

Brahma, and prescribed the adoration of the godhead under the name of

Boodda, and the observance of the new commandments contained in the

Boodda Sastrum. Vishnoo after the promulgation of this new covenant,

told the gods to rejoice and be glad, as their enemies had been destroyed,

and then disappearing, returned to Vicoont. Since that period, the religion

and science of Boodda have become prevalent in the world.

10TH AVATAR.

At the end of the Kalee Youg, Vishnoo will be born as a son to the

Brahmin Dhurman-bhooshum. He will have the face of a horse, and will

appear riding on horseback with a dagger in his hand, with which he

shall smite the wicked, but the good will be rewarded.

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

Specimens offered to the Asiatic Society of Bengal.* By Captain

Newso.p, fF. R. S. §c., Madras Army.

EGYPT.

No. 1. Crystallized gypsum, from the desert of Benihassan ; occurs in

; thin layers and seams in the marls and loose sandstones imme-

diately below the gravel and sands composing the surface.

It is also found in the nummulitic limestone, and generally

associated with muriate of soda.

2. Egyptian pebble, (variety of jasper), among the rolled pebbles

of quartz, chert, flinty slate, limestone, intermingled with a few

of the plutonic and hypogene rocks, that constitute the gravel

of the Egyptian desert.

3. Silicified wood, from the fossil forest near Cairo. Specimens

which I took thence to England were kindly examined for me

by Mr. Robert Brown, who pronounced all those, the cha-

racters of which were distinguishable, dictotyledonous, and none

coniferous. I have however since found, on a recent second

visit to the site, specimens of decidedly monocotyledonous

wood. The beds of loose and compact sandstone, and sandstone

conglomerate imbedding the silicified wood of the Egyptian

and Libyan deserts strongly resemble those of Pondicherry,

where the wood is also fossilized by silex, and both mono-

cotyledonous and dicotyledonous. They rest alike on marine

* This valuable collection has been duly received and placed in the Society’s

Museum.—Ep.

No. 132. New Ssrizs, No. 48. 7H

1132

4. Variety of Egyptian pebble.

. Nummulites, limestone of the Mokattem, used in the construc-_

odio cea |

Capt. Newbold’s Geological Specimens. [No. 132.

fossiliferous limestone ; in the age of which there may probably |

be some difference ; though neither of them can be very ancient. — |

tion of the Pyramids. It is singular that the oldest monu-

ments reared by the hands of man should be built chiefly”

of a rock of yesterday, in a geological point of view. Besides |

these nummulites, which are exceedingly numerous, and noticed

by Herodotus, who mistook them for petrified lentils eaten by

the workmen, there are embedded echini, spatangi, crabs, —

ostrea, fishes’ teeth, hippurites, turrilited shells, and numer- ;

ous others, both bivalved and univalved. From the back of

the great sphinx, itself excavated from the limestone of the

Libyan range in situ, was quarried a block imbedding a

fossil reed, hollow, jointed and striated exteriorly, nearly half

an inch diameter. Rows of flint, resembling, in the manner

in which they are imbedded, those of our chalk formations, and

beds of fossil ostrea, occur in the limestone of the Thebaid;

and the celebrated crystalloid, the morpholites or occellated

stones of Ehrenberg are scattered on the chalk-like soil of

Upper Egypt. Crystallized sulphur, bituminous lignite, mineral

bitumen and petroleum are found in the calcareous beds of

Ezzut. Sulphate of barytes near Cairo. Rock crystal, sele-—

nite, and rock salt, arragonite, calc spar and stalagmite are

pretty generally distributed. The largest and finest knowa

deposit of the latter, called orlental alabaster, is situated

near Benihassan.

. Iron slag from the ruins of Arsinoe; curious, as indicating

that this metal was reduced in Egypt, if not in the time of the

Pharaohs, at least during the Roman sway.

. Red porphyry—Mount Sinai.

- Iron ore from Hammamet—Desert of Thebaid.

. Shell limestone, tertiary, of Malta.

. Cellular basalt, from Aden. The whole of Aden, except a

few recent calcareous deposits, is a mass of lava passing into

trachyte, claystone porphyry, and pitchstone, penetrated by

dykes of a more recent lava. The town itself stands on

1842. | Capt. Newbold’s Geological Specimens. 1133

the floor of an extinct crater, surrounded by an irregular

fringe of black jagged peaks, save where a great gap on

a level with this floor, opens upon the sandy shore of the

Arabian sea. Another but narrower, gap cleaves the wall

from summit almost to its base in a North and Southerly di-

rection, affording a communication, jealously guarded, with the

harbour of Back Bay. It is stated that native quicksilver has

been found in the basalt of Aden by Dr. Malcolmson, in the

reddish vesicular lava which is seen at Steamer Point, and

which prevails pretty generally on the peninsula. It occurs

in minute globules, adhering to the side of the cavities of the

rock. Native quicksilver is found in primitive rocks, dark

fossiliferous slates associated with Jura limestone and trap in

the carboniferous series in small quantities. Its appearance

therefore in a volcanic rock, so recent as that of Aden, is novel

and interesting. I found abundance of rock salt, and a little

sulphate of lime in the basalt of one of the islets in Back Bay.

and pitchstone, calcedony, incrustations of carbonate of lime,

kunker or travertine in that of Aden. In some places, the basalt

is thinly coated with a powdery mineral of a sulphur yellow

colour, resembling the chloruret of iron, seen tinging the

lavas of Etna and Vesuvius near the summits. The basalt

of Aden resembles strongly the newer basalts of the Puy de

Dome, in Central France.

11. Granite, peninsula of Mount Sinai. This peninsula consists of

a central cluster of granite and porphyritic rocks, of which the

peaks of Sinai, Horeb, and St. Catherine are the nucleus,

rising through uplifted hypogene schists, penetrated and altered

by countless basaltic dykes; the whole are set, as in a frame-

work in the sandstone and limestone, which fringes the coasts.

Of the former is composed the celebrated mountain bell,

Gebel Nakhus ; the latter appears identical from its fossil and

mineral resemblance with that of the Mokattem and Libyan

ranges of Egypt, from which it is now separated by the coral

bedded waters of the Red Sea.

Indications of volcanic agency are said to exist near Ras Mahommed

at the South apex of the peninsula; and I have traced them from the

1134 Capt. Newbold’s Geological Specimens. [No. 132.

shores of the Red Sea by Gebel Ezzeit, and the semi-active volcano of

Gebel Tir, through the Straits of Babel Mandel to Aden. My friend

Lieut. Cruttenden, I. N., informs me, that volcanic rocks occur on

the opposite shore of Abyssinia.

The singular gulf of the Red Sea is on the direct line of this volca-

nic zone, the existence of which is doubtless connected with the pro-

fuse growth of its submarine zoophytic forests.

The limestone cliffs on each side, like those of Dover and Calais,

bear a striking petrological resemblance to each other; and, if we sup-

pose them to have been once continuous over the tract now covered by

the waters of the Red Sea, and engulphed, like the centre of the Val del

Bove, by some great subterraneous displacement of matter, we need

not go far to search for the sub-marine quarries, whence were derived

the materials of these curious and beautiful calcareous productions.»

The beds of limestone extend easterly, far beyond the borders of the

Red Sea into Arabia and the Holy Land, interrupted in a few places by

voleanic and plutonic rocks, and probably into Syria; where, in the

vicinity of Beyroot, I have seen a rock very much resembling the com~

pact, buff, waxy limestone of the Gebel Ataka range, flanking the

western shore of the Gulf of Suez. Mr. Weaver* states the compact

limestone rocks in the North of Arabia to be, in the mass, composed of

coral animalcules of the European chalk, of which Mr. Lonsdale found

about a thousand in a pound weight of rock, chiefly fragments of

minute corallines; others entire foraminifera and cytherine. These

animalcules, however, Mr. Lonsdale informed me, were not confined

to the chalk, but existed also in supra-cretaceous limestone ; hence they

cannot be received as deciding the question of continuity or identity

of strata. A large portion of the sands of the Libyan desert consists

of bryozoa, a marine animal resembling sand grains; marine shells

also occur in it, which may be regarded as additional proofs of their

pelagic origin: since they are distinct from those found in the rocks

whence the sands were derived.

Mr. Bowerbank has found vast numbers of foraminifera in the

Egyptian agate (Egyptian pebble, No. 2,) unequally distributed through

the layers composing the stone; but could not detect, in any of the

* London Philosophical Magazine, for April, May, and June, 1841.

1842. | Capt. Newbold’s Geological Specimens. 1135

numerous specimens he examined, any traces of the spongeous remains.

found in the agates of Europe and jaspers of India. The Egyptian

agate consists of small, irregular light coloured grains, imbedded in a

banded siliceous matrix.

The granites of Sinai and Syene, have their types in those of Southern

India: they are composed in general of felspar, quartz, hornblende

and a little mica, the felspar usually pale rose-coloured. They pass

from close grained to porphyritic. The rock said to be that struck by

Moses, lying in the valley of the Forty Martyrs at the base of Horeb,

is a mass of the ordinary granite, penetrated by a vein of smaller grained

granite, in which I found the narrow apertures through which the

monks of St. Catherine state the water to have gushed. The rock

‘is evidently not in situ, but a dislodged mass from the granitic heights.

that overlook the valley.

I regret having left behind me in England, specimens of the celebrat-

ed breccia di verde, trap, hypogene schists, serpentine, slate, and sand-

stones that prevail in the Thebaid, between Cosseir on the Red Sea and

the Nile: besides these and the formations already mentioned is a

rock, more recent than all, and still in progress of formation, (No. 12,)

found but as a littoral deposit, not only on the shores of the Red Sea,

but on those of the Mediterranean, to a great extent, though super-

ficial. On some parts of the eastern coast of Egypt, it has been

elevated above 100 feet above the level of the sea, and imbeds many

species of recent pelagic shells, corals, and, near the sea, bones of

camels, grains of sand, pebbles, &c. cemented together, by carbonate

of lime, into a rock varying from a friable mass loosely agglutinated,

to a compact travertine. (No. 12?) It occurs from an inch to several

feet in thickness. On the shores of Aden, fragments of lava are included ;

and on those of the Bosphorus; and at Smyrna, Mityline, and Rhodes, I

found fragments of limestone and other rocks in the vicinity: at the

last place also, pieces of ancient pottery elevated a few feet above the

level of the sea.

In addition to the foregoing specimens there is also a series of more from

Southern India, all of interest, and some highly instructive; but as the catalogue con-

tains but few observations, it will be printed amongst those of the Museum.—Ep.

1136

Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan.

By Lieut. Trant, of the Q. M. G. Dept.

(No. 365.)

To GrorGE, Swinton, Esq.

Secretary to Government, Political Department.

Str,—I am directed by the Right Honourable the Commander-in-

Chief to forward to you, for the information of Government, the en-

closed detailed report, under date the 12th ultimo, from Lieutenant

Trant, of the Quarter Master General’s Department, on the route from

Pakung Yeh in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan, pursued by a detachment

of British Troops under command of Captain Ross, of the Madras

Establishment, in March last.

When the document is no longer required, I have further to request,

you will return it to me for record in this office.

I have, &e. &e.

Qr. Mr. Gen.’s Office, (Signed) R. Stevenson,

Calcutia, 13th May, 1826. Qr. Mr. Gen. of the Army.

Amherst Harbour, 12th April, \826.

S1r,—Hostilities between the British and Burman Governments

having ceased, and the British Army being on the point of returning

to Prome, Major General Sir A. Campbell, K. C. B., directed Captain

Ross to proceed with the 18th Regiment M. N. I., 50 Pioneers, and

the elephants of the army to Pakung Yeh, across the Irrawaddy to

Sembeghewn, and then to march over the Arracan mountains to

Aeng.

At the same time, the Burman authorities deputed the Thanduck

Woon,* (a chief of some rank, who had commanded formerly the

province of Thanduck,) to accompany us as far as Aeng, and afford

every assistance in his power. Through his means, we were to procure

boats to cross us at Pakeng Yeh, and he was therefore sent on, in

advance, in order that no delay might take place when we should

arrive there.

* Named Mounza.

1842. ] Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh, sc: 1137

On the 6th March we left Yandaboo, and arriving at Pakeng Yeh

on the 13th, immediately commenced crossing the troops and baggage

in a few small canoes, the best that could be procured, but which con-

tained a very small load; the whole detachment could not therefore

be passed over to the opposite shore until the ensuing day. The river

was here about 1,500 yards wide, but the current not being very

rapid, we were enabled to swim the cattle over by fastening five or

six at a time to the sides of a boat; the elephants dashed boldly into

the stream, and guided by their mahouts, reached the opposite bank in

safety, after swimming more than a mile.

The spot where we landed was on a long flat below the level of

the natural bank of the river, and consequently under water during

the rainy season ; it was now laid out principally in tobacco fields,

which plant grows in this part of the country in great abundance and

perfection.

The town of Sembeghewn is four miles inland, but on the banks of

the river a long straggling village existed, inhabited principally by

those whom the advance of the British had obliged to abandon their

habitations, and who had not yet availed themselves of the oppor-

tunity offered them by the peace, of again returning to their habita-

tions. From these people we received every assistance ; they furnished

us with boats, and the women with baskets of vegetables and fish

came into camp and soon formed a little bazar.

Although we were ready to move on the morning of the 15th, the

dilatory manner in which the Commissariat Conductor delivered

our twenty days’ provisions to us, detained us till evening, when we

marched through Sembeghewn, and encamped on the opposite side.

Sembeghewn was once an extensive and flourishing town, contain-

ing 3000 inhabitants, but now not a single habitation existed, the

Burman army when retiring having burned it to the ground. The in-

habitants had not yet commenced rebuilding their huts ; here and there

they were prowling about among the embers of their houses, or from

the road-side looking at the passage of the troops, after we passed ;

however, part of our Commissariat was attacked, and three bullock

loads of rice taken; a musket was also taken from one of the Sepoys,

but I do not believe any blood was spilt. The people in the neigh-

_ bourhood of Sembeghewn are notorious for their thefts and robberies,

1138 Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh [No. 132.

and it must have been by a band of these marauders that the outrage

was committed.

The country round Sembeghewn is an open plain, very fertile and.

highly cultivated, principally with paddy; and in the neighbourhood:

of the town are many small gardens planted with plantain, mangoe-

and other fruit trees. Through the town runs the Cholain river, a:

stream, which during the rainy season, is of considerable size.

On the 16th, we marched to Cholain Mew, on a capital road made-

by the orders of Menderagie Praw; a brick wall about three feet.

high marked the breadth for a considerable distance, and over every

ravine, however small, a bridge has been erected. The country on _

both sides was laid out in rice fields as far as the eye could reach, and

thickly interspersed with inhabited villages; it is irrigated by means

of the Cholain river, which the inhabitants dam up and cause to flow

over the adjoining fields. Wells also are to be met with in great abun-

dance, and sacred groves with superb kioums* and pagodas, are seen

all along the road.

The suburbs of Cholain Mew had fallen a prey to the flames, as also

the city itself, and the only buildings saved from the conflagration

were the kioums, and other edifices appropriated to the purposes of

religion. This wanton act is said to have been committed without

the knowledge of the chieftains, by some of the disorganized bands of

the Burman army. Round Cholain Mew, are the remains of a lofty

brick wall, and in those places where it has fallen to decay, a capital

teak wood stockade was erected at the commencement of the war.

The situation of the work is very strong, and on two sides completely

defended by large jheels, whence by cutting a small bund, sufficient

water might be procured to form a wet ditch round the fortifications.

The brick portion of the latter is well worthy of remark, as offering a

more perfect specimen of ancient fortification in this country than any

other of the forts we have passed. One part of the wall, which seem-

ed to have suffered less from the ravages of time than the remainder,

particularly attracted my attention. Its outer height was fifty feet,

and inside it rose about thirty feet above the level of the town; and

this must be about six feet below the original elevation, the turrets *«

* Monasteries,

1842. | | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 11389

which formerly adorned the summit having fallen down. This great

height of brick work was only between three or four feet thick, sup-

ported by slight abutments every fifty yards, and it seemed quite

extraordinary, that so much of it still remained in many places

tottering on its base. Near the summit of the walls, were small aper-

tures intended to receive the beams by which platforms whence the

defender’s fire was sustained, and on enquiry I found these walls to

be long antecedent to the use of fire arms. The Thanduck Woon in-

forms me, that Cholain Mew is said to have been built 1500 years

ago, at the time Pagham Mew was the seat of Government, and that

it used frequently to be honored with the residence of the sovereign.

Menzaghee, the present Queen’s brother, occupied this post for seven

months, and only left it when the English army approached Pakeng

Yeh.

Cholain Mew contained 10,000 inhabitants, and is the chief town

of the district of Cholain, which consists of between five and six hun-

dred square miles, and has a population of 200,000 souls. Sixty-four

villages are scattered over this fertile tract, and furnished during the

war, 10,000' men as their quota to the army, of whom only one-half

returned.

The district of Cholain is governed by a Musghi. From Cholain

Mew the road branches off to Talak, and as it was the wish of Sir A.

Campbell, that Lieut. Bissett, Quarter Master General’s Department,

Madras, should proceed by that route with part of the force, I made

every enquiry respecting the possibility of this measure being carried

into effect, but the accounts were so very unsatisfactory, that it was

deemed proper to give up all idea of attempting it.*

I was informed that a foot-path existed over the mountains to Ta-

lak, occasionally frequented by a few itinerant merchants, and that

ponies and bullocks were the only beasts of burden by which the road

could be traversed. - A great scarcity of water exists for four marches,

so much so, that those who went that way, used always to carry a sup-

_ ply of water in bamboos-—the chance of finding crevices in the rocks,

_ or pools of water being very precarious, and if found, would not prove

sufficient for more than twenty or thirty men. The hills are very steep,

* There is a road from Phyng on the eastern of the Zooma mountains to Talak in

Arracan, but it is even at this time so indifferent, as not to be much used.

(oe

1140 Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh [No. 132.

and although the roads were naturally so very bad, the Burmans at the

time they expected an attack from us in that quarter, determined on

entirely destroying this medium of communication, and accordingly

scarped part of the road, in others felled trees across it, and so com-

pletely closed the passage, that for more than two years not a single

individual has passed that way. The Talak road was not followed

by either of the Burman armies, the Maha Bandoolah having march.

ed by Aeng, both in going to and returning from Arracan; and the

Arracan army after its defeat was so totally dispersed, that the men

which composed it striking into the mountains followed no regular

track, but took their chance of going straight over the hills. Taking

all these circumstances into consideration, as well as the risk a party

would run of a party being obliged to return at a time when the

British had left Ava, a circumstance, from the want of water and

coolies by no means unlikely to occur, Captain Ross determined not to

divide the detachment.

Many Mughs who had been forcibly seized by the Maha Bandoolah,

and brought captives from Arracan, availed themselves of the oppor-

tunity offered by our passage of again seeing their native land; and I

am told that a great number of Mughs are now scattered over Ava,

victims of the oppressive system of the Burmahs, who invariably drive

the natives of their conquered provinces from their country, and re-

people it with Burmahs.

On the morning of the I7th, we left Cholain Mew, and leaving the

high road to our right struck off considerably to the southward, in or-

der to encamp in the vicinity of water, none being procurable on the

main route at this season, except by making very long marches. For

four months of the year, during the monsoon, water is to be met. with,

and it was at the close of that season the Burman army passed.

Several thickly inhabited villages existed on both sides of the road,

and we passed through one of considerable size called Paung-lahong,

two miles beyond which we encamped, on the brink of a large jheel.

It was most gratifying to remark the confidence now reposed in us

by the villagers, so very different from the conduct hitherto pursued

by them since our arrival in Ava. No longer forsaking their houses

and flying with their families and effects into the jungle, they quietly

pursued their daily avocations, and only noticed our approach by

1842. | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1141

running to the road-side when we passed, and gazing with astonish-

ment at the first white faces they had ever seen.

The difference of soil between the east and west banks of the

Irrawaddy at this part of the country is very surprising. The east

barren, arid, and parched up, particularly in the neighbourhood of the

Petroleum Wells, produces not the slightest vegetation; scarcely a

blade of grass is to be met with ; whilst the west is fertile, well water-

ed, abounding with fine cattle, and excellent pasturage, and produc-

ing all the requisites of food. Sugar is extracted from the palmyra

tree in considerable quantity, and saltpetre is also manufactured.

Our road next day lay for some miles over an extensive plain laid

out in paddy fields, and bearing the traces of being completely inun-

dated during the monsoon. Indeed, I was informed, that the whole

country between this and the Irrawaddy, at that season of the year is

one continued sheet of water. After marching eight miles, we came

to the Mine river, a fine stream of water fordable about knee deep, and

forming the boundary between the districts of Cholain and Sehdine.

It derives its source from the Arracan mountains, and even at this

season presents sufficient water for small canoes, many of which were

plying up and down, mostly superintending the course of several rafts

of bamboos which are cut in the mountains, and thence floated down

to supply the inhabitants of the plains with materials for building

houses. A large and populous village stood on the bank of the river,

and we could discover many others lower down.

It being desirable that we should gain the foot of the hills as soon

as possible, we made very long marches, and this day marched fifteen

and a half miles. Our camp was pitched near a jheel at the town of

Sehdine, chief of a small district of the same name, containing about

10,000 inhabitants. The town had been burned by some of the pre-

datory bands, who had overrun this part of the kingdom.

On the 19th, we marched fourteen and a half miles through a high-

ly cultivated country, embellished with groves of palmyra and other

trees, and full of populous villages ; these obtained their water from a

smal] stream conducted by means of dams from the Mine river, and an-

swering the two-fold purpose of supplying the wants of the inhabitants

and irrigating the soil. At the village of Shoegoun, were many Shans,

who came out and offered us toddy, and here for the first time we saw

1142 Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh [No. 182.

some of the tribe of Kicaams.* The distances on the road to-day were

marked off at every dine by small upright posts surrounded by a rail-

ing. I measured the distance between several, and found it amount to

two miles and five furlongs ; but this varies considerably, as a coss or

dine in the mountain districts was often under two miles, whilst in the

plains, it generally exceeded three. I rather suspect that the Burman

distances are calculated rather by the time it takes to traverse them,

than by any fixed rule; at least I have constantly found it to be the

case, and in this instance particularly so. We halted at Kevensah near

the Mine river, astream of considerable magnitude, and here we for the

last time saw the plains of Ava. Before us was wild jungle and forest,

and in the distance, we could but just distinguish the blue summits of

the Arracan mountains.

About two miles beyond Kevensah, after crossing the Mine river

several times, we reached the lowest range of hills connected with the

Koma Pokaung range, and commenced ascending. Ina little valley

at their foot, a post was stuck in the ground, to denote to the pilgrims

and merchants who formerly frequented the road, that a chokey or a

watch-house existed there, whence they would derive protection against

the depredations of the robbers who infested the mountains. We had

now regained the high road to Aeng, and in several places could see

where it had been cut and levelled with no little trouble; it was in

capital repair, and at certain distances, were houses for the reception of

pilgrims going to worship at the Shoecotah Pagoda.t Many of these

houses had, been burned by accidentally catching fire from the long

grass which had lately been in flames. The trees were scorched, and

deprived of their foliage ; and the whole appearance of these hills was

as dry and as arid as could be. The jungle was not thick, and con-

sisted principally of the male bamboo, and a few other stunted trees.

Several small ponds, one or two containing a little muddy water, and

the rest dry, were on the road-side, and near one of them the Burmahs

formerly erected a small breastwork, the traces of which are almost

quite obliterated. Emerging from the jungle on the summit of a steep

ghaut, we at a mile distant perceived the Shoecotah ; built on the peak

of a very high and steep hill. The Pagoda and its Kioums had a

* Soin MSS. + Shwézetto.

1842. | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1148

beautiful appearance, and seemed quite a delightful spot when com-

pared with the cold but arid scenery around. At the foot of the hills,

the Mine river wound about in the most circuitous manner, and en-

riched a little verdant space of ground where a village formerly stood ;

the only spot like vegetation we could see around us, and where we

consequently pitched our camp. The Shoecotah* is held in the great-

est veneration by the Buddists, as containing the impression of Gaud-

ma’s feet; one of these is on the summit, and the other at the base of

the hill. These are railed in and covered over by splendidly carved

and gilt temples, and attended by Phoongees,t who inhabit the

Kioums,{ at the side and foot of the hills. Pilgrims from all parts of

the empire flock here to offer up their prayers, and as we entered the

valley, the repeated tollings of the bells indicated that some suppliant

was on the point of preferring his requests to the deity. The Burman

Government derives some profit from the Shoecotah, by exacting a tax

on the richer class of devotees, of from twenty to fifty rupees, accord-

ing to their rank, and they are then allowed to pray within the rail-

ing which surrounds the foot. No tax is Jevied on those suppliants

who content themselves with prayers outside the railing, but none are

allowed to enter the sacred precincts without paying the fine. The

unsettled state of the country of late has of course prevented the Pa-

goda being as much resorted to as formerly, and we found there but

very few devotees. The ascent to.the temple is by means of a flight

of stone steps, 970 in number, and is covered from the weather by a

wooden roof supported by numerous pillars.

During our march on the 2|st, we followed the course of the Mine

river for several miles, ascending almost imperceptibly the whole time,

and after crossing a low range of hills, entered a delightful valley

about a mile in width, watered by the Mine river, with numerous

habitations on its banks, occupied partly by the Kicaam tribe, and a

little further on stood Napeh Mew. The Thanduck Woon had been

appointed to the charge of the district of Napeh a short time before,

and had preceded us to take possession of his Government, and also

to procure some rice for the troops, as we thought it best to provide

against accidents by having a few days’ provisions to spare.

* Shwézetto. ¢ Priests. { Monasteries.

1144 Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh [ No. 132.

Napeh Mew is a very pretty and neat town, though of but inconsi-

derable size. It is situated on a rising ground, commanding the whole

plain, and rendering it a good military position; an old teak-wood

stockade encircled it, and out-side other small works had existed,

which until lately were occupied by a body of 3,000 men levied in

the neighbouring districts, and forming a corps of observation. After

the capture of Melloon, this force broke up, and part joined the enemy

at Pagham Mew, whose defeat it shared.

The district of Napeh contains twenty-four villages and 4,000 in-

habitants, of whom 300 were obliged to bear arms during the late

war, but they limited their warlike efforts to the care of their own

district. Napeh Mew is the last Burman town or village. Towards the

mountains, a few hamlets exist further on ; but are inhabited by those

Kicaams who have placed themselves under the authority of the

Burman Government. It was in the paddy ground belonging to one

of these villages, called Doh, that we encamped near a small rivulet

bearing the same name.

The inhabitants of the place at first were running off, but being

re-assured, returned and gave us a good opportunity of remarking the

difference between this tribe and the Burmahs.

In appearance the men are much inferior to their neighbours, their

countenances being flater, and not so regular as the Burmahs; the

dress also differs, and is very simple, a black cloth striped with red

and white is thrown over the shoulders, a black cloth is worn round

the loins, and a black jacket is occasionally used. They bind their

hair with a fillet of black or white cloth, and with a spear, a cross-

bow and a quiver full of arrows, a dah and a pouch to contain tobacco

and betel, their dress is complete. ‘The women merely wear a black

petticoat reaching to the knees, and adorn their necks and the hem of

their garments with cowries and glass beads ; all the menial offices of

the house devolve upon them; they procure water for the daily con-

sumption, pound paddy and dress the food of the men, who are gener-

ally employed in fishing or tilling the land. The young Kicaam girls

are rather pretty than otherwise, but a custom which has been handed

down to them by their ancestors, stamps many of them with the brand

of ugliness, and renders them most hideous objects. This consists in

tattooing the whole face in segments of circles with a blue mixture,

1842. | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1145

leaving the neck its natural colour, and thus giving them the appear-

ance of wearing masks, were it not that the deadly appearances of the

white spaces round the eyes and the livid colour of the lips indicated

the transformation to be indelible. These Kicaams* are a quiet, inof-

fensive set, and must be distinguished from the Kicaams of the moun-

tains, inasmuch as they have placed themselves under the Burman

Government, and are liable to be called upon for their quota of men in

case of war, and pay taxes, whereas the others are quite independent.

Residing in the most remote and unfrequented recesses of the moun-

tains, the Kicaams hold themselves aloof from, and are entirely in-

dependent of the rest of mankind, whom they consider their enemies

and lawful prey ; and acknowledging no sovereign, they herd together

in small parties of thirty and forty, and select some fertile spot

in the neighbourhood of a mountain stream, sufficiently large to cul-

tivate grain for their consumption. There they erect their miserable

dwellings, and with the produce of the land, consisting of rice and

turmeric, continue to subsist themselves. The rivers furnish them with

‘abundance of fish, and they will eat any animal, however disgusting

it may be. The origin of the Kicaams is lost in fiction, and of the

details of their early history the present race know little except from

vague traditions, verbally transmitted from one generation to the

next. They, however say, that in former days the plains of Ava and

Pegu were peopled by their race, and under the dominion of one

of their kings, when a horde of Tartars made a sudden irruption from

the northward, and overran the country. For some time the inter-

lopers kept the appearance of friendship with the aborigines of the soil,

but becoming daily more formidable, and having secured a footing in

the land they threw off the mask, and electing a king amongst them-

selves, declared themselves independent of the Kicaam king. The

Tartar chief then sent to the Kicaams and desired their allegiance,

stating, that it was contrary to the dictates of nature that two kings

should reign, or that two races of people should:exist in the same land,

and having deposed the Kicaam king, and put many of the chieftains

to death, obliged the others to seek for refuge in flight. The remain-

ing chieftains therefore with their attendant villages collecting all

* There are a great many of them in Arracan, who still observe the custom of

tattooing the face. They are called Kaiengs.

1146 Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh [No. 132.

their cattle and other valuables, availed themselves of the first op-

portunity of escaping from the thraldom in which they were held,

and fled to the lofty and remote mountains on the frontiers of Siam,

China, and Arracan, where they considered themselves safe from the

persecution of their conquerors, whom they left in undisputed posses-

sion of the plains. With them went some members of the royal

family, but in the course of time, from deaths and changes of

residence, all traces of them were lost, and the Kicaams of this part

of the country knew not whether any of the royal blood exist or not.

Divested as they now were of a common head to whom they could

look up for advice, they in each village selected from the community

one, who either from age or experience, was deemed worthy to be their

chief, and in this independent state they have since remained, each little

hamlet considering itself as perfectly distinct from those adjoining.

These small republics have since resisted all attempts at much in-

tercourse with their more civilized neighbours, and have preserved

unsullied their innate love of liberty and freedom.

Only one trace still exists of supreme authority, and this in the per-

son of the Passive, or head of their rude religion. This personage re-

sides near the source of the Mow river, on a mountain called the

Pyon, and by his descendants in the male and female line this office

of prophet or soothsayer is filled. Writing being unknown, their man-

dates are delivered verbally, and,implicitly obeyed ; to them every

dispute of importance is referred for arbitration, and in cases of sick-

ness or marriage, they are always consulted. The tenets of the Kicaam

faith are most simple ; they have no idea of the Supreme Being, nor have

they any tradition respecting the creation. They are the children of the

mountains, and nature alone has any claim on their feelings. In con-

sonance with, this idea, they consider that every thing which is useful

to them, or conduces to the luxuries of life, ought to be held in the

greatest veneration. The principal object of their adoration is a thick

bushy tree bearing a small berry, and called by them Sadbr¢. Under

the shade of its branches, they at certain seasons of the year assemble

with all the members of the family, and offer sacrifices of oxen and pigs,

on which they afterwards feast. Their cattle accompany them during

these (excursions, and partake in the respect paid to the tree, as being

the most useful of those blessings which have been so sparingly

1842. ] in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1147

bestowed upon them. Another object of adoration is the thunder-

bolt, or rather I should suppose the meteoric stone. Whenever a

thunder-storm occurs, the Kicaams watch with the utmost anxiety

the spot where the lightning strikes, and when the weather is again

calm, they proceed to the place they had marked, and examine all the

trees, to observe whether any had been scattered by lightning, or their

branches broken. Should they be so fortunate as to find one, they

immediately dig the ground under the injured bough, and commence

searching for the sacred stone, which is generally about the size of the

hand, and by them supposed to fall from heaven. This stone is sup-

posed to possess the most supernatural qualities, and its appearance is

hailed by the sacrifice of a hog and a bullock, ending in a feast ; after

which it is delivered over to the care of the passive, who keeps it as an

infallible talisman against every sort of disease.

Their ideas of the difference between good and evil consist in sup-

posing, that those who honour and respect their parents, take care of

their children and cattle, and eat most meat, and drink spirits to the

greatest excess, will be well provided for hereafter, and their souls

transferred into the bodies of oxen or pigs ; whilst those whose sensual

appetites are not so great, and who do not enjoy to the utmost all

the good things of the earth, which may be thrown in their way,

are considered unworthy of a future reward, looked down upon and

contemned. Although it is evident that the Kicaams partly profess

the doctrine of transmigration, yet it seems most extraordinary that

they should not only feel no compunction in killing their cattle, but

deem it a meritorious act. It must, however, be observed, that the

sanction of the Passive is necessary before an animal can be slain.

When any one dies, the event is hailed as a joyful circumstance,

and the relations give a grand feast to which all the village is invited,

when the degree of affection borne to the deceased is shewn by danc-

ing, eating, and drinking in prodigious quantity. Then, should the

defunct be a man of property, his body is burned, and the ashes being

collected are placed in a basket, and either taken to the mountain of

Keoungnatyne, near which we passed when marching from Shoecatah,

or to the mountain of Yehaartoung, and there deposited. The Jatter

mountain is very sacred and very lofty, ‘‘ for (to use the words of my

uncouth, uncivilized informant) from its summit the whole world

1148 Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh [No. 132.

could be seen.” Over the tombs of the chiefs a house is erected, and

people are left to watch and defend it from malevolent spirits, and a

log rudely carved to represent the deceased is laid there for the same

purpose. ‘The poor people, if not in the immediate neighbourhood of

Yahaartoung or Keoungnatyne, are buried any where in the vicinity

of their own village.

Matrimony with the Kicaams is purely a civil contract, unhallowed

by any religious ceremony. The contracting parties proceed in the

first instance to the Passive, whose advice is requested respecting the

match ; if his opinion is favourable, the bridegroom sends the parents

of the damsel a present composed of a pig, an ox, a spear, a tom-tom,

a dah, and calabash full of spirituous liquor distilled from rice. A

grand feast is then given, at which all the relations attend, and the

marriage is considered as solemnized.

Should the lady after marriage prove false to her marriage vows,

and the gay deceiver be discovered, he is obliged to present a hog, an

ox, and a spear to the injured husband, and a fine string of cowries to

adorn the neck of the fair one, who after this peace-offering is consi-

dered quite exonerated from any blame, and is re-admitted to her hus-

band’s favour, without her reputation being in the least degree tainted.

In the case of an illicit intercourse being discovered between two

young Kicaams, the man is obliged to pay a bullock to the girl ; but if

she becomes a mother, she claims him as her husband, and if he refuses,

another bullock is the penalty inflicted on him ; he takes the child into

his own charge, and the damsel is restored to her fair fame.

The virtue of a chieftain’s daughter is estimated at a much greater

value, no Jess than three bullocks being the fine for leading her astray

from the path of rectitude, and the same number, should the offender

refuse to make reparation by marriage. Marriage is not permitted in

nearer consanguinity than cousins, but incest, although a crime but

seldom heard of, is absolved by paying only one bullock to the father.

A divorce can be procured at the same expense.

If a murder is committed, the perpetrator is immediately seized by

the village chief, who obliges him to give up three of his friends or

relations as slaves to the family of the deceased, or ransom them at

the rate of thirty rupees a man, thus estimating human life at the

moderate sum of ninety rupees ; but if the murderer is unable to pay

1842. ] in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1149

the fine, or produce his sureties, he is himself kept in servitude.

Should he escape and take refuge in another village, the inhabitants

of it immediately return him, if they have a proper sense of propriety ;

but if they do not, and refuse to send the Kicaam back when demand-

ed, war is denounced against them, and their village destroyed. The

murderer if taken is recommitted to slavery, it being expressly recom-

mended them by the Passtve, not to shed the blood of each other.

Theft is not considered a very heinous crime, but should corn be

purloined, the offender is obliged to purchase his own freedom, either

by finding a substitute, or paying thirty rupees.

The Kicaams have no knowledge of medicine, but on the contrary,

appear to hold it in great contempt. When therefore a man is taken

ill, he is taken to the Passtve, who first partaking of a feast prepared

by the friends of the invalid, recites incantations over him, and uses

the meteoric stone as a charm against the ravages of the disease. If

these do not prove efficacious, the man is left to his fate, and no fur-

ther exertion made to save him.

Hospitality is a virtue which it is difficult to ascertain whether

they would put in practice or not ; shunning as they do all intercourse

with strangers, the manner in which one intruding on their haunts

would be received, seems rather problematical. They, however, state

that if a foreigner was to fall in with one of their villages, he would

not be ill-treated, but they did not recollect such a visit ever having

taken place.

From the wild cotton growing in the mountains, the Kicaam

women fabricate their own clothes, and even make enough to become

‘an article of traffic with the lowlanders. Silver is not procure in

the mountains, but iron ore is found in considerable quantity, and

with honey and dried fish, form their principal articles of trade;

these they carry into Arracan and Ava, and exchange for money,

or such articles of food and clothing, as their own wilds have denied

them.

With the use of fire-arms they are generally speaking unacquainted,

and seem to hold them in great awe; their own weapons are the

Spear, dah, and the cross-bow with a quiverfull of arrows. The latter

are made of bamboo, with the point hardened by fire, and doubly

barbed. They are deeply poisoned, and the slightest touch inflicts

1150 Report ona Route from Pakung Yeh [ No. 132.

instant death. This poison is vegetable, and procured by making an

incision in the bark of certain trees, and collecting the liquor which

exudes.

The frightful custom of tatooing the faces of the women, derives its

origin from a very curious story, and one that reflects much credit on

the inhabitants of the mountains. At the period when the Tartars

conquered the plains, and drove the Kicaams to the mountains, they

imposed an annual tribute on this persecuted race, and in default of

payment, used to seize the prettiest of the mountain beauties, and

collecting a considerable number, present them to their despotic sove-

reign, who selected from the groupe those whom he deemed worthy to

adorn his seraglio. ‘To such an extent was this monopoly at last car-

ried, that the Kicaams in order to save their race from extermination,

persuaded all the servile women to sacrifice those personal charms

which drew such a dangerous distinction on them, a proposition with

which they immediately and cheerfully complied, and tatooed their

faces.* When these hideous creatures were presented to the monarch,

he sent them back in great wrath, and ordered a fresh search to be

made for new objects to fill his haram. It, however, proved fruitless,

all the young girls had undergone the test of freedom, and none re-

mained unblemished, save old women and children. Foiled thus in

his attempt to destroy the happiness of the inoffensive Kicaams, the

tyrant turned his views elsewhere, and no longer molested them. The

custom, however, still remained, and it is only latterly that it is falling

into disuse, the women never tatooing till between thirty and forty

years of age, and then it is a mere matter of choice.

From the little I have seen of the Kicaams, I should suppose them

to be quiet, and entirely devoted to agricultural pursuits; but as those

individuals I have met with were mostly all living in a comparatively

civilized state under the British and Burman Governments, it would

not be a fair criterion to judge the generality by them, particularly as

all accounts agree in stating them to be savage, and addicted to plunder

and rapine. To judge, however, by their simple code of laws, they are

not by any means deficient in the knowledge of right and wrong, and

are quite aware of the footing on which men stand with each other.

* The precaution is certainly superfluous with the present generation,

1842. | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1151

I therefore doubt not but with lenity and kindness they might be

induced to mix with their more civilized neighbours, and become use-

ful members of society.

Clearing the village of Doh, we followed the bed of the Mine river,

and entered a deep Pass formed by the lofty mountains through which

this stream runs. Rising almost perpendicular to a great height, they

completely hemmed us in, and their summits and sides clothed with

trees, now of a verdant appearance, shielded us from the rays of the

sun, and rendered our march very pleasant and interesting.

On our road, we met several Kicaams with dried fish, which they

catch and dry here, and then take to their families. With the excep-

tion of these straygling individuals we saw not a soul, nor the recent

traces of any one during ten miles we marched through this dell.

We encamped at the first spot we could find which afforded sufficient

width to pitch a tent, and were so fortunate as to procure plenty of

forage, although I had been told we should find nothing for the cattle

but bamboo leaves. So far from that being the case, the vegetation as

we advanced, became more and more luxuriant ; the most delightful

variety of brilliant foliage hung over the stream, rills of water abound-

ed in the mountains, and large masses of rock, torn from their original

site by the mountain torrents, lay here and there in the bed of the

river, and occasionally damming the streams up, caused it to rush

down in waterfalls, giving the whole scene one of the wildest and most

romantic appearances imaginable. Our road this day, though far from

good, hung over the rocks and loose stones in the course of the stream,

and might in a short time, with but little trouble, be made passable

for wheel carriages; but during the rains I should suppose the force

and depth of the torrent would prevent a passage being effected.

After winding through the bed of our constant companion the Mine

river for four miles, we arrived at the post of Kaong, where two or

three good houses remained, which had been occupied by a Burman

picket. At this point the river divides into two branches, and the

road begins ascending the mountain, the ascent for a mile is extremely

abrupt, as it runs up a tongue of land proceeding from the main range,

and which is so very steep on the sides, that the road has necessarily

_ been made almost strait up the hill. When we had ascended a couple

of miles, we marched on the summit of the ridge, which was not more

1152 Iteport on a Route from Pakung Yeh [No. 132.

than fifteen or twenty feet wide, and the declivity on each side ex-

ceedingly abrupt. Across this part of the road a small stockade had

been erected, which completely enfiladed the path for a considerable

distance. This work was called Keonkrias, and was supplied with

water from a stream at the bottom of the valley ; it may have contain-

ed about 100 men.

Pushing on as rapidly as possible, we, after marching four miles

over a continued ascent, reached the fort on the highest point of the

mountains, and here the road, which for some distance had been as

good as could be wished, became very abrupt and much broken, the

rain having forced away great part of it. We had been marching

all day, and were it not for the refreshing shade thrown by the lofty

trees under which we passed, should have suffered much from the

heat, and want of water ; as it was, we were nota little fatigued when

we gained the summit of the mountains, and halted at a small stock-

ade called Nariengain. Our labours, however, were amply repaid

by the grand scene which opened on our view. Below in every

direction, rose immense mountains beautifully wooded from the sum-

mit down to the very base, and giving rise to the Mine river on

the East, and the Aeng river to the West, both of whose numerous

sources could be distinctly traced in the ravines falling from the

mountains. We were now exactly on our frontier line ; on one side

lay the British territory, and on the other the dominions of the king

of Ava, and had it not been that the weather was hazy, I am inform-

ed the view would have comprised the sea, and the plains of the

Irrawaddy.*

The little stockade of Nariengain is built on our line of demar-

cation, and in the event of future circumstances rendering it advis-

able to establish military posts on our frontier, would prove an ex-

cellent position, as it is the complete key of the Aeng road, and

commanding the ascent both from the Arracan and Ava sides, would

prevent the Burmahs availing themselves of many strong Passes,

where they might annoy and impede the advance of our troops.t

* Chedooba, Ramree, and various other islands on the Arracan side are distinctly

visible from this point, and is also the Irrawaddy river for many miles of its course.

+ Every officer who has inspected this Pass, will testify to the correctness of this

statement. °

1842. | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1153

Nature indeed could not have formed a more formidable, or easier-

to-be-defended barrier than the Arracan mountains, every step pre-

senting a Pass or hill, which might be defended by a handful of men

against hundreds, and the jungle offering a sure asylum to the van-

quished.

The water at Nariengain was so difficult of access, that the cattle

could not approach it; but it was of good quality, and in quantity

sufficient for our consumption. It is quite a mistaken idea, that

no water exists in these mountains, there being numerous springs in

all the hills; but these rising about half way from the summit where

the road runs, the difficulty of access to them is very great. This

might be avoided by cutting paths to and from them ; and digging re-

servoirs of sufficient size to water the cattle, would always ensure a

supply, as the spring in a short time would replenish them.*

At night we were enveloped in a cloud, and the air became much

colder, but having no thermometer, I could not ascertain the difference

of temperature, and the want of proper instruments in like manner

prevented my fixing the height of the mountains.

The great range is called the Komah Pokong Teoung,t and runs in

a direction about S. 20 W., falling to the East in a succession of paral-

lel ranges, and on the West more abruptly to the sea. The mountain

on which Nariengain is situated is named Morang-mateng-toung.

In early times the Kicaams used to prow] about this road in search of

plunder, and attack and murder any traveller they might chance to

meet with ; but as their numbers were never very great, the merchants

who formerly passed this way united their forces, and forming little

caravans of from 30 to 300 men, placed themselves beyond the power

of these savage marauders. A great trade was carried on before the

war between Arracan and Ava, in which it is said 40,000 people

were annually employed. The former country exported Indian and

European manufactures; such as velvets, broad cloths, piece goods,

silks, and muslins, and beetlenut, salt and other articles, the pro-

* This is most perfectly correct. For many years it was believed that Nariengain

was devoid of water. Captain Pemberton and others failed to find it, but when Captain

Bogle and a party visited it in January 1839, it was found in abundance, and of most

delicious quality.

t in Arracan, these mountains are named Yeohmatoung.

1154 Report on a Route from Pakung Yeh ) (No. 132.

duce of its own soil receiving in return ivory, silver, copper, palmyra

sugar, tobacco, oil, and lacquered boxes.*

It was principally to further this intercourse that the late king of

Ava, Mindraghee Prah, caused this superb road to be made, a work

which reflects the greatest credit not only on the liberal mind of him

who planned, but also on those who carried it into execution. The

labour bestowed upon it has been immense, as for nearly twenty miles

the road is cut out of the hill side to the width of between ten or

twelve feet, and that with the most judicious attention to the differ-

ent falls of the ground. The remains of a parapet formed of trunks of

trees are visible in many places, and it would be very advantageous

if something of the kind still existed, the precipices being most

terrific, and of such a depth, that if any animal lost his footing

and fell over, his loss would be inevitable. The Aeng road was first

commenced in 1816, under the superintendence of the Thanduck Woon,

and other chieftains, through whose territories it passed, the whole

plans in the first instance having been laid out by the Engineers of

the king. During the first two years, only 500 workmen were em-

ployed, but then the road having been completed nearly up to the

summit of the mountain, 200 more were added, who finished it as far

as Shoecatah, each man receiving seven rupees a month wages. But

what contributed more than any thing to the completion of the road

was, a most sensible rule enforced by the Burman Government, by

which in lieu of taxes on their merchandize, they obliged all the

travellers to carry with them working tools, and repair those parts of

the road which might require it, or facilitate the access to the water.t

Thus constant use, instead of spoiling the road, only improved it, and

it is only owing to the stagnation of commerce during the last two

years, and the consequent encroachment and the ravages of the mon-

soon, that any part of our route was bad,—for as the communication is

closed between May and January, the damage sustained during that

period must be annually repaired.

* The trade greatly increased after the peace, but has becoine almost extinct since

the accession of Tharrawady.

+ This road has within the last three years been very tolerably repaired, all the

bridges which had fallen into decay restored, and a new road of upwards of twenty

miles in length, has been constructed from the village of Aeng down the river toward

the sea, so that troops, &c. may be landed below the shallows.

1842. | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1155

We were unable to leave Nariengain till 10 o’clock on the 24th, the

road down the mountain having been completely blocked up by large

trees felled across at every few yards ; the descent for six furlongs was

exceedingly rapid, and brought us to a small open spot used as a halt-

ing place by travellers, and named Koaronkire.* Here a fine stream of

water issued from the hill, and being dammed up afforded great

refreshment to our jaded cattle. A little further on, was another

small stockade in a capital position, and defended by an abbattis

extending some distance down the road, which for two. miles more was

much impeded by trees ; and had it not been for the exertions of Lieut.

Davinire and his detachment of Pioneers, would have impeded us

considerably ; as it was, we did‘ not arrive at Jooadah,t though a dis-

tance of only six miles, until sunset. The latter part of the road was

through a bamboo jungle, and as we passed along, we heard the

screams of innumerable baboons, and observed the recent tracks of

many wild elephants.

On the 25th, we still continued descending the same tongue of land,

and after marching eleven miles{ arrived at Sarawah, on the banks of

the Aeng river. Thence to Aeng, where we marched on the 26th, was

fifteen miles, the road occasionally crossing the Aeng river, and several

other smaller streams; over the latter substantial wooden bridges

had been thrown, of sufficient breadth to admit any species of wheel

carriage, but time had so much impaired the wood, that they had

all fallen to decay,§ whilst those which age had spared, had been pur-

posely destroyed by the Burmahs. Six miles before entering Aeng, the

road leaves the hills, and from thence is superb, being quite level, and

about twenty feet wide.

Aeng when we entered it contained but few inhabitants, but

formerly it was of considerable size, and was the emporium of all

the trade between the two kingdoms.|| The tide runs past the village,

-but at this season of the year there is not water enough for boats

of any size within six miles of the wharf. We had been informed on

* The road from this landing place to the frontier line, five marches, is probably

much less difficult even for Artillery than the Bolan Pass.

t Wadait. { This part is by far the most difficult of any.

§ Lately repaired.

| It has since revived, and is now a place of some little sa a

1156 Report on a Route from Pukung Yeh [ No. 132.

leaving Yandaboo, that a depot of provisions had been formed at

Aeng, and had consequently only brought twenty days’ provisions

with us from Pokong Yeh, which were nearly expended ; but there were

no signs of any thing of the kind, and a small detachment of sepoys

who were stationed there, informed us they had only arrived ten days

before, and knew nothing about it. Captain Ross, therefore, direct-

ed me to proceed to the nearest military station, and report our

arrival. On the 28th, I arrived at “‘ Amherst Harbour,’ just in time

to stop the departure of a detachment under Major Auriol, European

Regt., and the boats and provisions belonging to it, destined to recon-

noitre the Aeng road, which being no longer necessary, Commodore

Hayes and Lieut. Col. Garnham, direeted the boats intended for their

conveyance to proceed with provisions for the 18th Regt. at Aeng, and

then bring them down to “ Amherst Harbour,” where transports would

be ready to receive them. On the 5th April, the detachment left Aeng,

having previously sent the elephants to Arracan, and on the 16th,

embarked for Madras.

It is very satisfactory to observe, that although during our march

from Sembeghewn we averaged more than ten miles a day, and were

much exposed to the sun, we only lost one man by death ; and that when

we entered Aeng, only three men were sufficiently unwell to be carri-

ed in doolies. ‘he loss in cattle only amounted toa few buliocks,

already jaded when we started, by the long march from Prome to

Yandaboo. We also lost four elephants, and one who was allowed by

his mahout to stray away.

The advantages of this fine road leading in twenty-five or thirty

marches to the capital of Ava, more than counterbalances the fatigue

and trouble likely to attend the passage of artillery over the mountains,

where in many places, from the great ascent, bullocks could be of no

use in dragging the guns, which must therefore be necessarily pulled

up by sheer force of arm. For the same reason, it would be impossible

to convey the Commissariat or other stores in carts.

That part of the road which requires most actual making, is for

eight miles in the bed of the Mine river, where the annual torrents are

continually changing the position of the rocks and stones; but this

could be easily remedied, as abundance of materials are at hand with

which a road might be made.

1842. | in Ava, to Aeng in Arracan. 1157

Some parts of the road on the mountain require a good deal of

repair and widening, and it would be requisite to sink tanks at the

watering places and cut paths to and from them; but taking every thing

into consideration, it is my opinion that a battalion of Pioneers sent

one week in advance, would render the road quite passable for an

army. The want of sufficient open ground to encamp in, would prove

an inconvenience, but does not exist for many marches.

The importance of the new road we were exploring, the circum-

stances of the country we passed through, never before having been

traversed by an European, and the manners of the natives we met

with, being but little known, have induced me to make this unusually

long report to you, in the hope that some of the information it con-

tains may perhaps hereafter prove useful, should the Aeng road again

-be passed by British troops.

I have &. &c.

(Signed) T. A. Tranrt,

, Lieut. H. M. 95th Regiment,

Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General.

To the Quarter Master General of the Army, Fort William.

Judical Department, the 7th November, 1837.

(True Copies,)

(Signed) F. J. Hauuipay,

Officiating Secretary to the Government of Bengal.

Capt. Manson’s Journal of a Visit to Melum and the Oonta Dhoora

Pass in Juwahir. Edited by J. H. Barren, Esa. C. S. for the

Journal of the Asiatic Society.

In our Proceedings for March 1842 will be found an account of

the recovery of a part of Captain Herbert’s Journal of the Mineralogi-

cal Survey in the Himalaya, and in those of August the kind offer

of our most zealous and able associate Mr. Batten, Assistant Com-

missioner in Kemaon, to edit Captain Manson’s Journal, which forms

part of Captain Herbert’s papers, which we need not add was most

gratefully accepted by the Society. The following paper is the one

which he there alludes to, and the reader, or the intending traveller,

will peruse it with the satisfaction of knowing that its details and its

- experience are fully confirmed by two more travellers in those danger-

ous regions.

1158 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [No. 132.

The scientific geologist and naturalist will perhaps at first regret

that they do not find more details falling in with their studies, but we

must beg of them to reffect that the writers and editors of such papers,

though they may lay no calm to scientific qualifications (so difficult

to acquire in India,) are nevertheless rendering a service of first rate

importance to the cause of science; and this is the important service of

pioneering We could say much on this subject, for few remember,

and many keep out of sight, what they owe to the humble and often

forgotten labours of those who have undertaken the thankless work of

chronicling a first exploration, or their first labours in a new branch of

science: but we may comprise it all in a single question. What

will not some future Humboldt, with guides like these ready to mark

out his path, be able to accomplish amongst the yet hidden wonders

of the stupendous mountains of India ?>—H. P.

15th September.—First march beyond Booee* up the bed of the

Specimens Radlim torrent; fall of the torrent very great ; di-

2% to dl. rection of it about N. and by E. About six miles

up, another stream falls into it, whose course is about KE. N. E. when

the former turned a little to the west of North.

N. B.—Crossed the stream over a snow-bed at the Saba (or Great)

Oodear. A specimen of red raspberry, ripe, and very pleasant to the

palate. Marched at 7h. 50m. and reached our ground at 4h. 5m.,

distance about twelve miles, road pretty good. No tent up; slept

under a large rock (or Oodeart); heavy rain during the night. At

6 p. M. thermometer 50°.

16th September.—7 a. M. thermometer 45°; barometer 20.250; t. m.

and air 52°; m. t. 45° 5’. Marched at 10h. 36m. a.m. The road con-

tinued for a mile up the bed of the torrent, the rock chiefly gneiss, little

or no granite ; ground on the right bank sloping, steep on the left, stra-

ta generally dipping to the N. E. ; commenced a short but steep ascent

from the torrent, passed through a few birch trees, (the only ones on

* In Webb’s map, (Indian Atlas, No. 66,) Bhooee on the left bank of the Goree river

is noted, above which to the north are also marked the Snowy Peaks, Nos. XVI, XVII,

and X VJ II of the Kumaon Survey, on the same side of that river ; but no mention ismade

of the Radlim river which joins the Goree opposite the Pass called Leepooke Than, or

Hurdol, and beneath the Peaks XVI and XVII. When the route by the Goree,

owing to the loss of bridges or an unusual fall of snow, or the carrying away of the road

is closed, the Juwahir Bhootias proceed to Radlim along the torrent of that name, and

so on towards Melum.—J. H. B.

+ Odhéar is a cave, or any arched recess in the rocks, and used by the Bhootias for

the shelter of themselves and sheep with their loads.—J. H. B.

pea a: —

, ee a es

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. : 1159

the road) ; the path then continued along the sloping side of the moun-

tain, ascending occasionally, with a little descent here and there. Ground

covered with the wild strawberry? (or potentilla.) Little or no rock

visible; gradually changing from gneiss to a kind of mica slate,

and from that into a greywacke and talcose clay slate. Arrived

at our tents at 2h. 45m. Pp. m., distance about five miles. The village

of Radlim, about two miles further on, consists of about twelve mows

(families—J. H. B.) The torrent to this had a northerly course,

and from this as far as visible to a large snow bed; its course™ is

about N. E.—4h. 15m. p.m. barometer 19.207; t. m. 54, air 50;

m. t. 49°, :

N. B.—Could procure only twenty-one coolies from the village.

A road leads from this up the bed of the torrent, four days’ journey

for loaded men, to the village of Sheebooht in Dhurma, but very bad

and dangerous.

17th September.—8 a. M. thermometer 42°, Marched at 9h. 32m.

Specimens A. M., and commenced a very steep ascent; the

peyis.o4. rock to the top of the Pass of Bircheegung, clay

slate, tale slate, and greywacke, and near the Pass, a few blocks of

quartz. The whole ascent occupied three and half hours; the higher

we ascended, we felt the difficulty of breathing greater, and consequent-

ly the fatigue of walking ; found I could not walk more than from ten

to twenty paces, according to the steepness of the ascent, my legs feel-

ing as if they would drop off. When two-thirds up the ascent, a snow

storm came on, (but the snow melted as fast as it fell to the ground, )

when the thermometer immediately fell to 32°. At the top of the Pass,

at 1 P. M. it was 30°. As we ascended, vegetation gradually decreased, —

and towards the summit of the Pass, wholly disappeared, and nothing

but broken fragments of clay and talc slate and quartz presented them-

selves to the eye. The Pass, judging from the time taken to ascend it,

and from all vegetation ceasing, must be at least 15,000 feet; but

owing to the lad who carried part of the apparatus belonging to

the barometer having preceded me some distance, I was unable to

* From the sketch and the text, it appears that the writer does not mean by course

and direction of the Radlim, the course of its current (for, that is in a southerly direc-

tion,) but the line of ascent along its bed, and towards its sources.—J. H. B.

t Seeboo.—J. H. B.

1160 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [No. 132.

set it up. The vegetables up the ascent consisted chiefly of a

species of potentilla and dwarf juniper, which did not rise more than

six inches from the ground. On the descent, the rocky fragments

continued much lower down than on the opposite side without ve-

getation. The descent occupied two and half hours near the bed of the

Goree river, whose course* here, towards Melum, is.about N. W. and

by N., when it takes a direction more to the N. Crossed a small

torrent near its junction with the Goree on a sanga. The tempera-

ture of the water was 46°, air 51°, and moist thermometer 48°. The

snow continued to fall for about two hours from 12 to 2 Pp. M., and for

about three-quarters down the descent, when thermometer rose to 40°;

towards the bottom of the descent, the neighbouring mountains cover-

ed with birch jungle and a species of dwarf rhododendron. Arrived

at the village of Tola, consisting of from thirty to forty houses at

4h. 25m. Pp. M., being about seven hours on the road; being one of the

most fatiguing marches I ever made. The rock down the descent,

chiefly clay slate. The sides of the mountains near Tola have a very

shattered and precipitous appearance.

18th September.—A halt, a fine clear day, 9 a. Mm. thermometer 49° ;

2 rp. M. air 62°, in sun 66°; moist thermometer 51°. In the sun covered

with wool (black,) and laid on a dark soil, it rose to 117°. Nunda °

Debee visible, bearing West. Two days journey from this village, a good

deal of level ground, well cultivated, in the neighbourhood of Tola.

The inhabitants dirty and ill-looking, and the village surrounded by

filth ; demand one rupee for six and half seers of attah, which at

Munsaree, six days’ journey the direct road, was procured at the rate

of twenty-four seers per rupee. They have here fine Tartar sheep, for

which they ask two rupees each; they have nearly twice the bulk

of a Plain sheep, and have long twisted horns.—4h. 15m. Pp. M. baro-

meter 20.235, air 765.5, moist thermometer 47°.

N. B.—Purchased three large Tartar sheep for two rupees each, two

of them a male and one female for breeding.f

* Vide note marked ¢ preceding page—J. H. B.

¢ Lieut. J. A. Weller, Executive Engineer and Officiating Assistant to the Com-

missioner of Kumaon, has just arrived from a tour to Juwahir, and has kindly added

some side notes to this Journal in addition to my own; besides very handsomely

placing parts of his own Journal at my disposal for the use of the Asiatic Society.—

J. H. B.

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1161

19th September.—7 a. M. thermometer 43° 5’, moist thermometer

39°. Very fine clear morning, towards noon became cloudy, and it

rained gently all the afternoon.

Picked up near the village specimens No. 55 to 61, most of them

Specimens containing copper (?) Some disseminated, some in

99 to 61. small veins, and some in pyrites. This ore seems

to occupy very generally the rocks up the bed of a small stream

which runs close to the south of the village; it does not appear in

any of the soft friable, slaty rock, which is the general rock, but in

that of the harder kinds, and in quartz.

20th September.—Halt ; morning cloudy, gentle rain during the

forenoon, cleared up a little towards 4 o'clock. At 2 Pp. m. thermometer

52° 5’, moist thermometer 48°. The ooah jhow* is just ripe here,

and is being cut. It is sown sometime in the month of May. Turnips

are grown here, but they are small and strong; they say they were

brought from Dhurma.

They say it is two days’ journey from Melum to the Pass, and from

thence four days to Neetee ; two alternate days no village to encamp

at, the whole road within our own boundary.}

They travel for five days from the bottom of the other side of the

Pass, before they come to any Tartar habitation. There is no chokee

near the Pass at present, to prevent any traveller approaching the

opposite side. There is a road from the Pass through the Tartar fron-

tier to Branse, fifteen days journey.

21st September.—Halt ; morning fair and clear, fresh snow on all

the high neighbouring peaks. 10 a. mM. thermometer 46°, thermo-

meter in sun 52°, hoar frost in the shade at this hour. Observed the

hour of noon to-day, and found our watches a quarter of an hour too fast.

The people here say, they are not subject to be visited by severe

_ storms at this season, (the Equinox,) and that only a little rain and

snow fall. There has blown, however, every day since our arrival here,

a very unpleasant cold wind, which sets in about 12 or 1 Pp. M., and

continues till near sunset. The Bhoteeahs here reside in the hot

* Ooa Jow, Hordeum celeste.—J. H. B.

¢ Not if Oonta Dhoora is our boundary; as that Pass has to be crossed to reach

Gertee, which is intermediate between Oonta Dhoora and Neetee. See Sketch No. 1.

— J. A, W.

1162 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [No. 132.

season at Saeen, and the Pudhan,* (an old man,) is a regular Jew in all

his dealings, even endeavouring to find out what will be offered for an

article before he himself will fix any price, even to the smallest trifles.

lh. 45m. Pp. M. ther. in open air 50° 5’. moist ther. 43° 5’, since 12 a. m.

it has gradually become cloudy and windy, and is now raining, but not

heavily. The grains, &c. grown here are ooah jhow, phapher,f tur-

nips, surson.}

22d September,—Fine day, but snow falling on the highest peaks.

Marched at 1 P. M., the road partly level along the side of the moun-

tain; numerous slips, and some parts precipitous and dangerous.

The rock between Tola and Boodnpér has a much less slaty structure

than that near the former village, but continues very metalliferous to

within about a mile of Bodnfer ; some of the specimens picked up con-

tain rather large crystals of copper (?) very well defined, but rather

scattered through the rock. The general character of the rock is

Specimens (I think) graywacke, some very hard, and specimens

Bhs? fe broken off with much difficulty. A good deal of

quartz was also observed along the road, &c. No. 67 is chiefly

composed of felspar. Some specimens procured in this march have

attached to thefn some well defined crystals of quartz, &c. The sides

of the mountains, whence all the rocks from which the specimens were

procured, have a very shattered appearance. There can be little doubt

of their containing some large deposits of ore, which might be discover-

ed, I should think, without much difficulty. On the road about half

way, found a large deposit of decomposed felspar, some veins of it

beautifully white.

Plants Collected.

Two species of juniper, one in seed, the other just coming into

flower. A shrub very like the sweet-briar, but with no smell. A

small herbaceous plant differing in appearance, but with the same scent

as the plant well known by the name of ‘old man,” or southernwood.

The gooseberry, just ripe. The currant, (no fruit.)

* Head of the village, Malgoogar—Lumberdar.— J. H. B.

t+ A species of Polygonum.—J. A. B.

{ Sinapis dichotoma—J. H. B.

1842. | , Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1163

The Bis.

The natives here have an idea, that people passing through a jungle

of this plant, (wolf’s-bane,) are subject to illness, becoming at times

wholly insensible ; but I was inclined to think this illness arose from

the quick circulation of the blood in the fatigue of ascending in a rare-

fied air ; and this day my supposition is apparently verified, for in try-

ing my pulse by a watch with a second hand, I found on standing still

after a little bit of steep ascent, that my pulse beat at the rate of 160

in a minute. A seapoy’s, (a hill man,) who was with me, beat at the

rate of 172. I found also, that in walking on level ground, my pulse

beat about 130. It is therefore most probable, that the great fatigue

experienced in climbing ascents at this height, is owing to the increas-

ed circulation of the blood.*

N. B.—Arrived at the village of Bodrfér, about five miles, at 4h. 40m.

p. M., (forty or fifty houses) situated in an open part of the valley with

numerous fields about. The valley of Mertoleet on the opposite side

of the river about half way. Crossed ona sanga rather a large stream

close below the village, the bed of it very wide, five or six punchakiest{

in the course of it. |

23rd September.—Thermometer at 10 a. mM. 56°, moist ther-

-mometer 41°. Early in the morning hoar frost on the ground,

and a film of ice, the thickness of a shilling, on the water in the su-

raee. Night and morning beautifully clear; not the smallest speck of

* It is singular that on the 29th May 1842, | walked nearly all the distance from

Doong across the Oonta Dhoora Pass, including the whole ascent and descent of the

Pass unaided, without feeling any unusual fatigue. ‘wo Booteas walked up the Pass

with me; five other Booteas, a hill servant, and a Mussulman of the plains, accom-

_ panied me (on jovoboos,) and no one of the party complained of, or appeared to feel

unusual oppression. I recrossed the Pass, walking, on the oth June, with exactly a

similar result.—J. A. W.

Lieut. Weller is not singular in his exemption from suffering in rarefied air; as

during a six years’ residence in the hills, I have found that the European travellers to

great heights are affected by, or free from, the painful effects of rarefaction in about

equal numbers. I myself am a great sufferer. ‘The generality of those affected find

their powers of motion and muscular exertion extraordinarily paralysed. ‘The natives

do not attribute the effects indiscriminately to ‘ nirbisi,’ or aconite—and indeed the worst

Oppression is felt above the reach of all vegetation. ‘ Bish ke howa’ (‘he poisoned

air) is the general expression for the cause of the oppression, though it is true that

certain plants are often quoted as the root of the evil.—J. H. B.

¢ Meaning below Murtolee village.—J. A. W.

~ Water mills.—J. H. B.

1164 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [ No. 132.

cloud visible. Marched at 1llh. 30m. a. m., descended to the river

over a sanga immediately below the village; the sanga, or rather the

stream, was seventeen paces wide, or about forty feet ; near the banks of

the stream the turf was very thick and short, and delightful to walk

on. About two miles came to a small village; five or six houses,

(Mépari,) close to which the gooseberry was growing, of which there

were two species, one with a smooth stalk, the other rough and bristly ;

saw no currant bushes.* The rocks, clay slate and greywacke, with a

good many masses and fragments of quartz, and as I approached the

village of Pachoo, the rock became of a reddish brown clay on the wea-

ther surface, but grey in the fracture; many of the fragments contain-

ed ore in some quantity ; all the fragments and masses have descended

from the height above. There are two villages called Pachoot on

either side of a large stream which comes down from the direction of

Specimens Nundee Debee,{ and which are crossed on a small

76 to 89. sanga. There are six or eight mows§ in the first,

and ten or twelve in the second, (which I was told paid forty rupees

a year to Bijee Sing.) These villages!| are about three miles below

Melum. Arrived at Melum at 4h. 45m. Pp. M., stopped a good while

on the road.{| Recrossed the Gooree immediately below Melum, which

is situated in an open spot of ground of some extent on the oppo-

site side. At about half a mile runs in a N. E. direction the Goonka,

up which lies the road to the Pass; the other stream, they say, was

the shortest course, being only one day’s journey.

N. B.—This stream below Milum, was only thirteen paces, or about

thirty-two feet across, having diminished in its breadth about eight feet.

The Goonka joins it about a mile below this.

* IT saw currants at Melum on the 25th May, the young fruit just out, Plants strong

and flourishing.—J. A. W.

t Pachoo on the north bank is rent free in ‘‘suda-burt”’ tenure, for the feeding of

pilgrims to Manessurouwer.—J. H. B.

Ganaghur on the south, Pachoo on the north bank of Pachoo River. A fair is held

here annually one day, in the raias.—J. A. W. i

{ The Peak of which appears (West) magnificently grand and near; from the north

bank of Pachoo River in ascending.—J. A. W.

§ ‘* Mowasahs,”’ or families.—J. H. B.

|| Have a very good extent of level culturable land along the right bank of the

Goree.—J. A. W,

‘li. e. From the N. E.—J.H. B.

1842, | Dhoora Pass in. Juwahir. 1165

Since leaving Tola, nothing like a tree has been visible, and the gene-

ral aspect of the country is consequently very barren. A very un-

pleasant strong southerly wind blew all day, and seems to be the pre-

vailing wind here, as the open parts or fronts of the houses here have

generally a northern aspect. ‘There is a high mountain at the back of

the village, which separates the two streams, which defends it perhaps

from the northerly winds, and on either side the mountains descend

within a quarter or half a mile, and the only opening is to the south.

The crows in this part appear to differ from the common crows; they

fly in pairs, are few in number; their note resembles that of the sea-

gull more than the crow,* to which in fact it bears not the slightest

similitude. There are a good many of the commont blue pigeon,

which fly in flocks near the villages. Saw one large snippet about half

way, and passed over a good deal of swampy ground, when I expected

almost to have flushed a woodcock,f{ as they are found sometimes near

Almora in the winter, and descend probably from this quarter. One of

our party, Mr. purchased a sheep with five horns at the village

of Boorfer, for two rupees and twelve annas; the owner asked one rupee

per horn for it. |

Plants.

1. Dwarf juniper with ripe berries, (black).—2. Ditto a few, not in

flower or fruit.—3. The shrub resembling the sweet-briar in fruit.—

4. The gooseberry in fruit, (two species).—5. A species of barberry

with leaf, not in flower or fruit.

24th September.—Halt 8 a. M., thermometer 37°; moist ther-

mometer 31°. Hoar frost on the ground, sun just on Milum, (fine

morning.) 12h. 20m. p.m. barometer 19.900, thermometer, moist 69°

thermométer, air 66° 5’, moist thermometer 42°. Bare thermometer

held in the hand to the rays of the sun 69°. 12h. 45m. thermometer

covered with black wool and laid on the ground in the sun rose to

* This is I believe the English chough. I saw them high up in the snow, and again

about 15 miles across Oonta Dhoora; some have red, some yellow feet and beaks. The

plumage is very soft, and of a deep purple black.—J. A. W.

¢ Far more like the wood pigeon. Black and white, and grey and white plumage.

But blue pigeons are also met with even higher than Melum.—J. A. W.

{ I constantly looked for woodcock, but never flushed one. From November to March

they are (some years more than others) very abundant round Almora, Petoraghur

and Lohooghaut. Fifty brace have been killed in a season by one Officer.—J. A. W.

1166 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [ No..:132.

122°. A party came in from Bhote, (or Tartary,) this forenoon, bring-

ing with them five ponies, three jubboes* and a flock of sheep. As they

approached the village, a party of musicians with tom-toms went out to

meet them, and serenade them in; four of the ponies had riders, the

fifth led. The party has been eighteen days coming from Gurtope.

They say the snow on the Pass is mid-deep.| In the afternoon stroll-

ed up the Goree, and at the distance of a mile and half, or perhaps

a little more, saw the snow-bed whence issues the Goree ; it has a large

high bank with a complete earthy appearance, which stretches across

the valley from one range of mountains to the other, (some hundred

feet,) and the river (the people say) is not seen above this; but at the

distance of perhaps about four or five miles, there is a small pool

of dark water which is very deep, and where the people sometimes

resort to bathe, (as a religious act.) One man who accompanied me in

my walk had bathed in it, but did not go deeper than his middle. To

this pool of water, of forty or fifty haths or cubits in extent, the bed

of snow continues uninterrupted, with an unequal surface, having

numerous undulations. No water is visible beyond the pool above

mentioned. There is a very small stream 2 or 300 yards on this side

the snow-bed on the right bank of the river, to which the snow-bed

* The cross breed of the Thibet yak and Hill cow, pronounced jooboos.—J. H. B.

+ Extractfrom Lieut. Weller’s Journal, May 25th, 1842.—<‘ I went to see the source

of the Goree River, about a mile N. W. from Milum. The river comes out in a small

but impetuous stream, at the foot of apparently a mass of dirt and gravel, some 300 feet

high, shaped like a half moon. ‘This is in reality a mass of dark coloured ice, (bottle

green colour,) extending Westward to a great distance, and covered with stones and

fragments of rock, which in fact form a succession of small hills. I went along this

scene of desolation for a long space, but could not nearly reach the end. Here and

there were circular and irregularly-shaped craters (as it were) from 50 to 500 feet

diameter at top, and some of them 150 feet deep. The ice was frequently visible on

the sides ; and at the bottom was a dirty sea-green coloured pool of water apparently

very deep. Into one of these craters I rolled down numerous large stones from off

the edge, and in a few seconds huge masses of ice rose from below, seemingly detach-

ed by the agitation of the water. The bases of the hills on either side, and frequently

far up their faces, are one succession of landslips, but from their distance I do not

believe it possible that the debris in the centre of the snow-bed valley can have fallen

there from the side hills. Query? May not a separate hill at some remote time, have

been gradually reduced by landslips, the Goree River and torrents in the rains car-

rying down the fallen earth and stones, and reducing the mass to what we now see?

Nagoo Boorha tells me, that his father (who lived to 98 years) remembered the source

of the Goree nearly opposite Milum, and Nagoo himself has seen the recession of the

snow-bed some 3 or 400 yards in the course of 40 years.’

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1167

reached in the memory of some of the oldest men of the village, but

it has gradually broken away, which may perhaps indicate some ame-

lioration of the temperature in this quarter.—The river runs past Milum

in a N. W.* direction, and towards the snow-bed nearly North.t

The man who came in from Gurtope, wore round his neck a pair

of goggles,{ made apparently of black horse hair, worn when crossing

over snow. For the coarse broad cloth which is carried to the fair at

Gurtope, they say they receive generally 25 rupees for the length

of two breadths, which ought to be about 3 yards ; allowing the cloth,

which is generally the case, to be 14 yard wide, little more than 8 rupees

per yard ; but it must be of the coarsest kind, and such perhaps as is

sold in Calcutta for 3 rupees per yard. The bones§ which are brought

by the Bhoteahs for sale at the fair held at Bageswur, it appears they

purchase at Gurtope, and consequently they are not found amongst

the Himalaya, which had formerly given an interest to these produc-

tions, but which must now, if the above account prove true, cease

altogether.

25th September.—Halt ; employed in getting a lesson from Herbert

in the use of the theodolite, and in preparing for our visit to the Oonta

Dhura Pass. Herbert and Cole too unwell to accompany Conway and

myself. Procured our bottle of gooseberries, which I boiled in the

hopes of preserving them.

26th September.—Marched at 1]h. 20m. a. mM. Our own coolies

having refused to proceed with us to the foot of the Pass, procured

people and jubboos from the village. Our people were frightened

I imagine at the exaggerated account of the Bhoteahs regarding the

snow.

Crossing the Goonka on a sanga opposite Milum about a quarter

mile distant ; it is about the same breadth as the Gooree, but the body

* i.e. From the N. W.—J. H. B.

t+ From the North.—J. H. B.

{ These horse hair goggles are far more cool, and they more protect the eye from the

effects of snow-glare, than green or blue glass spectacles, or wire goggles.—J. H. B.

§ Fossil bones, Bijlee ke Har, nearly always procurable in the Almora bazaar, and

used as medicine ! I am told, in a pounded state. I have rarely been able to obtain

teeth or other characteristic specimens. The bones are chiefly those of ruminants,

and are found in the hills immediately adjacent to the Sutlej, in the first part of its

course through Thibet. ‘The village of Doompoo is one chief site.—J. H. B.

1168 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [No. 132.

of water appears greater; the level ground on which Milum stands,

seems to be made up from the crumbled fragments of the neighbour-

ing mountains; as the steep bank of about 150 feet, down which we

descended to the Goonka, is composed of a large quantity of earth,

in which are imbedded both rounded and irregular stones.

Ascended the river on its left bank, road passable, but not very

good, the footing in some places very bad; no grass, nothing but

loose earth and small masses of rock. Clay slate and grey silicious

rock* in masses and fragments; the general appearance of the mountains

extremely barren, precipitous, and shattered, the dip not procurable.

The river in three or four places on either side is bounded by masses

of earth and stones, (which are no doubt the debris of the overhanging

mountains,) which rise in numerous places in sharp peaks, and are,

in miniature, the resemblance of some of the more lofty points.

Lying in the bed and sides of the river, are some huge masses of

breccia or conglomerate.t The rock has not that general metallic

appearance it assumed the two preceding marches, but I picked

up some specimens with pyrites, some crystals (apparently dodecahe-

drons.) At about two miles from Milum, saw a few stunted birch trees.

At 2h. 28m. p. M. arrived at our ground of encampment at the

mouth of a stream which runs nearly due East, called the —————?

The general direction of the Goonka is from N. E., but inclining

in its windings more from the North than from the East; from

this however it comes from a due North direction for some dis-

tance. There are near this a few withered looking birch trees, and on

the opposite side some dwarf juniper; but the general look of the

country is extremely bleak and barren. The Bhoteeas who accom-

pany us, are sleeping in the open air (with fires,) having brought

no tent with them, and the cave being occupied by the few ser-

vants we have brought with us. The thermometer at sunset was 47°,

* A sandstone.—J. H. B.

¢ During a fall of snow or a thaw, the descent of stones is almost constant from the

earthy precipices over head, and the whole of the Goonka glen at such times is a very

dangerous route. Rainis never violent here, but whenever any falls, down come

avalanches of stones. Some of the latter (asin Manson’s sketch) are suspended on the

top of the ravine precipices on little pointed peaks, and their appearance on an

avalanche day is any thing but pleasant to the traveller underneath, See Sketch

No, 4.—J. H. B.

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. ; 1169

and a very cold wind blowing, which has been the case from the time

we marched; which, added to the glare from a light colored soil and

clouded sky, made the march very unpleasant.

Beyond this, they say there is no firewood procurable, and that we

must carry from this what we may require. The distance of to-day’s

march is, I should suppose, about five miles.*

We fell in with a party who were returning with borax, who said

the snow in the Pass was not more than enough to cover the shoe, in-

stead of covering half the body. The Bhoteeas with us also begin to

say the ascent is very easy the greater part of the way, it being only

steep towards the top, and that it is not so steep as the one we cross-

ed between the Raéalim and Tola. They gave us a very different

account when at Melum, thinking no doubt to deter us from visiting it.

27th September.—7h. 45m. a. M. ther. 41°, moist ther. 82.° March-

ed 9h. 10m. a. M., and reached our new ground at 12h. 33m. a. M.

Spiitiiens distance about six miles. Found some clay slate

Y1to 103. with varieties, and beds of harder rocks. The road

continued along the left bank of the river, the (downward) course of

which varied from N. E. to N., the general direction of the river from

Melum to the Doong cave close to the junction of two streams, (one

called the Ootah, E. from the Pass, which comes down from the N. W. ;

the other Lusser river, which seems to vary from the N. E. to the East, )

is about N.N. E. The fall of the stream to-day is much greater than

yesterday ; saw the juniper growing a little beyond our old encamp-

ment; but soon lost all signs of vegetation, excepting when we ap-

proached the junction of the two streams, when we came to one or

two open spots,t where the ground was pretty well clothed with a

* An ordinary march for a party with loaded sheep is five miles per day in the

Passes, and eight or ten miles in the easier ground in Thibet.—J. H. B.

¢ Called ‘ Mulla’’ and ‘ Tulla’’? (upper and lower) ‘‘Sulong.’’ The Booteas

generally halt here either for the day, or for a few hours.—J. A. W.

Near this, I found on my way up to Doong in May 1841, in sitw, a specimen of sili-

ceous sandstone intersected by a vein of crystalline carbonate of lime, containing

impressions of bivalve shells. As far as 1 can judge, the shells are terebratule, similar

to some found by Gerrard in Chinese ‘lartary beyond Kunawur. This ground will be re-

examined with care, Capt. Boys, 6th Cavalry, recently discovered on the range South-

east of Mularee in the Neetee Pass, beautiful specimens also im situ, of shells, (either

Avicula or Pecten) in secondary limestone. Both Doong in the Juwahir Pass and

Mularea in the Neetee Pass, are considerably on the south side of the Boundary Pass.

In 1837, (Vide Asiatic Society’s Journal, 1838,) 1 stated my confident belief, that

1170 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [No. 1382.

short grass, and two species of moss (new to me) here and there under

the lee of a rock.

Having been told by a man of Almorah, a Brahmin, in the morning,

who had descended the Pass the day previous, that it was not more

than two hours’ ascent, and being anxious to return to our two sick

companions at Melum, in spite of what the people who were with us said

(having been deceived by them before, ) we set off with the intention,

if possible, of reaching far enough at all events to see where the Pass

was, as we were told it was visible a little further on; but after

ascending for one half hour, and no signs of its appearing, we returned

much fatigued. The jubboos we had with us were unable to carry

us. We slept under the oodear, there being no spot on which to

pitch our tent; the night was very cold. The party we saw this morn-

ing, had been only ten days from Gartope, two of which they had

halted. They had with them sheep laden with salt and borax, five or

six ponies, and some jubboos.

28th September.—Time 5 a. m. ther. 37°, moist ther. 32°, very

cold. Soon after sunset last night, thick clouds collected all round the

surrounding heights, which did not disperse till the sun rose this morn-

ing. |

Marched at 9h. 25m. a. M. and commenced the ascent, crossing

the river over a bridge of stones, which were piled on nearly a natural

bridge of rocks; at about half a mile, came to a huge bed of snow,

from whence the river issued, being I suppose about twelve feet wide ;

the snow-bed I should think 300 feet thick, covered with fragments of

rock from the neighbouring mountain. The road, if it can be so called,

very bad, and in many places the footing very insecure; this snow-bed

continues for about half a mile or perhaps a little more; it has numer-

ous fissures in it, and from the edges many large icicles, three feet long,

were hanging in some places. It had a regular stratified appearance,

and dipped to the S. W., just the reverse of the neighbouring moun-

tains. Now and then the stillness of the scene was disturbed by the

fossils would be found on the hither side of the Passes, in the tract of country which

lies north of the Himalayan granite peaks, and the gneiss and mica slate strata; but

south of Thibet, its rocks being apparently of the same secondary character as that of

the oolitic (?) series in Europe, and being quite different from the great primary chain

of the Himalayan peaks, the central mountains, and the tertiary strata (so rich in ter-

restial fossils) of the Sub-Himalayan Ranges.—J. H. B.

i A ee oe ee

1842. ] Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1171

falling of small fragments of rock, dislodged by the melting of the snow.

After completing the ascent of the snow-bed,* saw the stream flowing

over a small valley at a very placid rate, and entering the snow-bed at a

similar opening to the one where it has its exit. The road continued

along the base of the mountain on the left bank, all the mountains on

the opposite side, being the north-face, were covered with snow to their

base, as well as those at the head of the small valley which had beds

of snow in the hollows, or rather glens, and from one of them the river

appeared to take its course. The road continued in this direction

N. W., very good for a mile and a half with very little ascent, we then

turned to the N., and commenced rather a steep ascent over a mass of

white siliceous rock, the debris of the mountain above. On reaching

the summit, we came to another rather level piece of ground, but co-

_ vered with large fragments of a darker rock and a blacker soil. We

ee, ee _

then had another ascent over the same kind of rock and soil, and on

reaching the top came in sight of the Pass. A little further on, crossed

two snow-beds; one, the Ist, from two to three hundred yards; the 2d,

not more than sixty or seventy yards wide ; it appeared in some places

to be fresh snow. After crossing these, the last ascent to the Pass pre-

sented itself, and appeared easy enough, being quite free from any

snow; but owing to our present elevation, we found the difficulty

of ascent so great, that we were obliged to have recourse to the jaded

jubboos; but finding mine quite unable to carry me up, I dismounted

and made another attempt to ascend on foot, but had not taken more

_ than six paces, before I found myself quite unable to proceed from

excessive weakness in the limbs and loins. I therefore made the guide,

* At or near this point on the 28th May 1841, my own further progress to the Pass

was rendered quite impossible from the depth and softness of the snow, which was fall-

ing heavily in a thick mist. It was not without great difficulty, and some danger that

I got back to Doong on a jooboo’s back. ‘There also the snow was so heavy, and the

bi appearance of the atmosphere so threatening, that the Bhooteeahs recommended an im-

mediate flight to Milum, Doong being a very dangerous place for avalanches, and

the road to Milum likely to become more and more unsafe every moment. I accord-

ingly moved, and my whole party arrived the same day safe, but ina miserable plight,

at Milum. On the 29th May 1842, Lieut. Weller found the whole route almost en.

_ tirely bare of snow, and he was able to penetrate more than twelve miles beyond

_ Oonta Dhoora to Bulcha Ghat, without difficulty. The last winter was very mild in

the Himalaya, and the usual bad weather in the spring months was quite absent. In

general, June and not May, is the earliest month for the opening of the Passes.—

y. H. B.

1172 Visit to Melum and the Oonta { No. 132.

who was with me, tie a cloth round under my arms, and then fastened it

to the jubboo’s tail, by which means I ascended to the steepest part

with very tolerable fatigue, and was relieved from that insupportable

weariness of the limbs.

From the top of the Pass ran a small stream of water.* Long before

we reached this part of our journey, all signs of vegetation had disap-

peared, and here the mountain was covered with small fragments of

rock, clay slate, &c. The strata of the heights to the right and left

of the ascent were very much contorted in all directions. We were one

hour and twenty-five minutes in accomplishing this last ascent, which

we afterwards descended in twenty-five minutes.

On reaching the summit of the Pass,{ an immense sea of mountains

lay before us, gradually diminishing in size from the N. W. to the

North, in which latter direction our guide told us lay Gertope, to which

place two roads led, the nearest one, by which two other ranges were

to be crossed by Khylas, the other by Doompoo, by which only one

other range, in fact a continuation of the range on which the Pass is

situated, was to be crossed. The people, with their sheep laden, cross

these ranges in one day. The mountains to the N. W. were partially

covered with snow, (and the Pass on the northern face completely -

* On 29th May last, nearly the entire side of the Pass had water trickling down

it.—J. A. W.

¢ On the 29th May last, I walked up it with ease in one hour and fifteen minutes.

—J. A. W.

{ This account as to routes and general geography is based on incorrect information.

Moreover, from Oonta Dhoora no view is obtainable into Thibet, though this Pass has

been usually considered the frontier of the two countries. The range visible to the

North from Oonta Dhoora is Bulcha, the real termination of the Cis-Sutlej, Himalaya

and the sea of mountains visible to the North-west is within, i. e. Southward of, the

prolongation of the above mentioned Bulcha range to the Westward. »Whenever

the water from the Northern slopes of the Himalaya flows into the valley, (or rather

series of plateaus divided by ravines, ) through which the Sutlej takes its early course,

the last range of the Himalaya may be said to be passed. Whenever, as at Neelung,

beyond Gangootree and Topeedoonga and Lufkel, beyond Oonta Dhoora, (the Juwahir

Pass,) the streams rising even on the North face eventually flow Southward, and join

the great Cis-Himalayan rivers, that country is properly, (i. e. geographically, not

geologically) within the Himalaya chain, whatever elevation may have been crossed to

reach it, and, however, nominally the said chain may have previously terminated in a

political frontier. Compare with Captain Manson’s account that now appended from

the Journal of Lieutenant Weller, Engineers, and my own observations from the crest

of the Neetee Pass, published in the Asiatic Society’s Journal of 1838.—-J, H. B.

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1173

so and very steep,) but it gradually disappeared to the N. E. and the

mountains diminished in size. No sign of vegetation was visible

in any direction even with the help of a telescope.

There is a road leads from this Pass to the westward to Neetee,

which, according to our account, is four days ; and towards three days’

journey at each alternate stage, there is a village.*

The summit of the Pass is very rounded, and in some places the

strata of clay slate crops in nearly a vertical position, but dipping

a little to the W. S. W. Many, indeed almost all the fragments of

rock up the ascent, were very much intersected with veins of felspar.

To the Westward, were seen some very lofty snow peaks, but none

were visible which were known to any of the people; which added to

the circumstance of the collection of numerous thick clouds about, and

the want of time, prevented my taking the bearings of any of them.

There was a sharp piercing wind blowing from the South, and not

the slightest shelter procurable, and it was with some difficulty that

I set up the barometer, my hands being benumbed with the cold.

The height of the Pass is about 17,500. feet. The barometer and

thermometer being as follows :—

Time 3h. 10m. Pp. m., barometer 15.550, temp. of air 34°, temp. of

‘mercury 39°, moist ther. 32,° the water freezing immediately it was ex-

posed to the air. The thermometer covered with black wool laid on

the ground, sheltered pretty well from the wind, and exposed to the

sun’s rays, only rose to 64°. During the greater part of the ascent

my pulse did not rise above 150°, the last part of the ascent I did not

time the beats. We were five hours in ascending, remained on the

top about 1h. 20m., and accomplished the descent in two and half

hours; the first part of the descent, about four miles, we came down in

an hour, which in ascending had occupied us three, of which we halted

_ about ten minutes near the foot of the last ascent. The jubboos we

had with us, we found had had little or no food the two preceding days,

which prevented their being of that use they might have been, for they

are certainly fine animals for such a country, and are very sure footed.

Soon after we commenced our descent, snow began to fall, but for-

tunately not in any quantity, although the clouds were dark and

* No names given to halting places.—J. A. W.

1174 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [No. 132.

threatening, and we reached our quarters under the rocks at 6h. 20m.

P. M., after an absence of about nine hours. Near this oodear on the

opposite side of the river, we were told that about eight or nine years

ago in this same month, two parties of Bhoteeas, with 200 or 300

sheep coming from Tartary were lost in a snow storm, and that at this

season snow constantly falls ; but they say there has been very little

snow the last two years,

N. B. Learnt that the fossil bones* which are brought by the Bho-

teeas for sale at Bageswur, are not found in the Himalaya, but pur-

chased by them at Gertope. Neither are the Saligrams} found among

them, but are brought from the same place. On our return towards

Munsaree, picked up specimens of the latter, and some quartz crystals

on the top of the peaks above Saeru, which had been left as offerings

by travellers, and which may possibly account for those found in a Pass

to the westward by the Gerards.

29th September.—At the Doong oodear, time 10h. 35m. a. M., baro-

meter 18.190, temp. of air 44° 5’, mercury 45°, moist ther. 34°.

N. B. Water boiled at 185° of Far. Marched at about 11h. 20m.

a. M., and reached Milum a little before 6 P. m., but stopped for some

Specimens time on the road, sketching and picking up spe-

ar ee cimens, the road nearly one continued descent, and

on numerous places the footing very precarious; the descent being

much more difficult than the ascent in that respect, but of course not

nearly so fatiguing. Found our invalids very little improved, and very

anxious to leave Milum, and resolved marching back towards Munsaree

the following day.

30th September.—Milum. Marched 12 a.™M., and arrived at the vil-

lage of about 6 p. M., but loitered a good deal on the road ; the

road pretty good, excepting immediately below Pachoo, when after cross-

Speeinens ing a small sanga over a stream which comes down

107 ard 110. from the direction of Nundee Debee, there is a very

difficult steep ascent for some hundred feet, composed of earth and

* In regard to the fossil bones, this observation is quite correct, but not so in regard

to the shells.

t Vide preceding geological note.—Ammonites are plentiful, and were found

by me three miles beyond the Neetee Pass, with their usual accompaniment of —

belemnites. Lieutenant Weller found at Lufkel, beyond the Juwahir Pass, vast

quantities of these fossils, all in situ in black clay slate with limestone.—J. H. B.

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1175

stones. In one part, observed signs of stratification, and on examining

it closely, found it consisted of fine earth, alternating with beds of

small gravel, but quite safe.

Found fragments of granite* and gneiss in the bed of the stream.

The general formation to-day continues to be clay slate. Purchased

several fine Tartar sheep for one rupee eight annas to one rupee

twelve annas each; they are beautiful animals, and have very fine

wool.

lst October.—Marched at 12 a. m. and arrived at Luspa at 3h. 20m.

Specimens Pp. M., road very indifferent. Formation, clay slate

ivan 112. as we approached Luspa. There was a very steep

ascent from the river, the width of which is very much increased, as I

could not throw a stone across it. A little before we came to Luspa,

the road passed under some very lofty and precipitous rocks, a perfect

wall for some distance, where a slip had occurred about four years

ago ; the footing in some places rather bad. A little beyond this, came

suddenly on a fine open space or valley, up which, at about half a mile,

is situated the village of Luspa on a rising piece of ground.

Vegetation} has been rapidly increasing every step we took from the

village of Reelkote, and the whole face of the country is losing the

barren and naked appearance of the upper part of the valley.

2d October.—Ther. 9° 45’, barometer 20.035, air 55°, moist ther. 46°.

Marched at 12 a. M., arrived at Bodar, (on the right bank of the Gooree,

no valley); at Sh. 50m. Pp. m. moved very slowly, distance from ten to

eleven miles, road execrable, crossed the river twice, once over a large

sanga, and recrossed over four small ones, more like ladders thrown

* The higher peaks hereabouts are all of granite and gneiss; soon after, below

Luspa, these rocks become the exclusive formation, and the Tartaric series are left

behind.—J. H. B.

+ Nothing can be more striking than the passage from the extreme barrenness of the

upper Passes to the gorgeous vegetation of the lower, where first the birch and dwarf

rhododendron, then the ragha firs and yews, then sycamores, horse chesnuts, oaks,

alders, box, &c., and then all these intermixed with the most rich under-wood and in-

numerable flowers in turn delight the eye. Toa Thibetan all these things are novel-

ties, a willow being the only tree larger than a juniper bush, which he has ever seen.

‘The Lama of Toling, when a refugee at .4/mora, where the country is bleak from

want of trees, though fertile, said, “‘Ah! ¢his is a proper country like my own.

The tree forests between this and the Snowy Pass are very bad indeed, and spoil the

scenery !’’—J. H. B.

1176 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [No. 182.

from rock to rock, where the river has a very great fall a little below

a very lofty precipice, and where the whole mountain forms a complete

wall from the summit to its base, which is washed by the stream : besides

the ladders across the stream, there were several others along the

road, which would have been impassable without them. Passed snow-

beds, one with a very singular appearance, having a complete archway

through which a stream passed which fell from a great height over a

steep precipice immediately behind it; the front part of the arch had

melted away. Below Luspa, about a mile near the bed of the Gooree,

large blocks of granite. Formation to Boodur, gneiss with granite

veins.

3rd October.—9h. 45m. a. M. barometer 22.545, air 64°. mercury

65° 5’, moist ther. 57°. Marched at llh. 20m. a. Mm. Arrived at

Rarra at 3h. 45m. Pp. M., stopped about an hour or so on the road to

sketch; road very bad over rocks and ladders. General direction of

river, N. Gneiss the whole way, no granite blocks beyond the com-

mencement of the march. ‘Trees of various kinds growing, day warm,

found white pantaloons pleasant. Rarra* lies about half an hour’s

ascent up the mountain after crossing a small torrent over a sanga,

which comes from the West, and which has a precipitous fall. The

fallt of the Gooree is also great, and I regret I was unable to ascertain

the fall from Boodur, owing to the man with the barometer having pre-

ceded me some distance.

Passed numerous parties of Bhoteeahs on their road to Munsaree,

with sheep and goats laden with salt and borax. They were halted

near this, and started about the middle of the night, and kept up such

an incessant noise, as to keep me awake nearly all night.{ Heavy

showers of rain fell during the evening, and early part of this night.

Formation gneiss. |

4th October.—Fine morning and cold wind blowing; 8 a. M. ther.

* The waterfalls up the Rarra glen are some of the grandest in the hills.—J. H. B.

+ Near Boodur, or more properly Bugdoar, the fall of the Gooree is tremendous,

in some spots at the rate of not less than 800 feet per mile. The Aluknunda in some

parts of the road to Buddrinath has an ascertained fall of 650 feet in a mile, and the

descent of the Mundakinee river, below Kedarnath, is one continuous cataract for

about two miles. Such are the Himalayan torrents.—J. H. B.

{ The sheep and goats cannot travel in the day time after the sun becomes hot;

hence these night marches,—J. H. B.

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1177

54° 5’. Marched at 10h 18m. a.m. Arrived at the top of the Pass* at 11h.

12m. a. M. ascent tolerably easy, but slippery in many places, in conse-

quence of the rain and the flocks of sheep which had Passed over it;

ascended the whole without being obliged to stop to take breath. Pulse

never exceeding 140 in a minute, nor the number of inspirations 32

ther., 11h. 30m. a.m. barometer 21.645, air 62° 5', mercury 64°,

moist ther. 57°.

A very little below the Pass, tried the heating power of the sun on

the thermometer exposed from 12 a. M. to 1Zh. 15m. P. M., the one with

the black wool rose to 125°, the plain one without it to 95° ; they

were laid on a book with red leather cover, the bulbs being about an

inch above it, sheltered from the little air that was stirring by two tin

boxes, the sun shining on one, by which of course some heat was re-

flected on the thermometers. A slight cloud passed over, which put a

stop to the experiment; however, they rose very little the last five

minutes. Arrived at our old encamping ground on the bank of the

Saéen, near its junction with the Gooree, at 3h. 45m. p. M., descent

very long and tedious, the first part very steept down numerous

flights of steps; the road lying in many places just round the brow of

the mountain, overhanging the stream below. The whole road composed

of gneiss, little or no granite observed. Numerous and various trees

growing on the northern face of the mountain, the point to which the

strata dip.

Passed numerous parties of Bhoteeas halted on the road, either on their

way to, or returning frown Milum, mostly the former, their sheep laden

with grain. Our party had received for the salt they carried down four

measures of dhan, (rice in the husk,) for one of salt and two of wheat.

* Hurdol or Leepoo-ke-than.—J. H. B.

+ The Hurdol Pass separates Upper or Mulla, from Lower or Tulla, Juwahir, and is

the most difficult mountain to cross which I have ever seen. ‘The banks of the Gooree

are so steep, that the road cannot keep near the river, and this Pass becomes unavoid-

able. To a person ascending from the South, while loaded sheep are descending the

steps, the danger of being ‘ extinguished’ by the fall of a rock on his head, is imminent.

A pony belonging to one of my party, being alarmed by the sheep, started and fell

over the precipice, and was dashed to pieces. It took aman one hour and a half to

walk down to the spot where the poor animal lay! The man went for the saddle,

but the article had no longer form, and scarcely material, and his labor was

lost.—J. H. B.

1178 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [ No. 132.

Picked up on the top of the Pass various specimens of Saligrams,

which had been left as offerings by the Bhoteeas and others on their

way to and fro. A little rain fell in the afternoon, and it continued very

cloudy the whole evening. Fell in with a party from the neighbour-

hood of Loah Thull, carrying up grain, &c. for sale. They say they

receive a measure of salt for one of rice. On enquiring of two Bho-

teea lads of the village of Luspa, who were with me, learnt that the

usual rate of exchange throughout all the villages in Upper Jowahir,

(or Bhote as some call it,) is one measure (or quoin) of rice, two of

wheat, three of attah, and three of barley for one of salt. Now we pur-

chased the latter articles at the rate of sixteen seers of eighty-four

sicca weight for one rupee.

5th October.—Marched at 7h. 10m. a. M., and arrived at the village

of Jult, the residence of the Bhoteeas in Milum in Munsaree ; the ascent

from the river is very steep and rocky, and not rideable for more than a

few hundred yards. Arrived at the village at 10h. 15m. a.m. It con-

tains some of the best houses I have seen,* much superior to those at

Milum, or in any of the villages in Upper Juwahir. The people here

when we were encamped at Kantee, about one and half mile off on

our way up, refused to give us any supplies or coolees, and said they

would not obey a dozen purwanahs of the Judge’s, should he send them,

which was the cause of our now encamping at this village, which is

somewhat out of our way. The day since noon has been cloudy, and

some heavy showers of rain have fallen. Passed within the distance

of a mile this morning about 700 sheep and goats on their way to

Milum, and I suppose as many more passed me before I commenced

counting. The sheep used for carriage are bred in Dhanpoor and

Gurhwal, and are small. The large Tartar sheep is not so employed, not

being capable, I imagine, of bearing the heat; for I have observed

that a flock of these sheep we have with me, during the last two days,

appear to suffer very much from the change of temperature.

6th October.—(Jult.) A halt, time 1lh. 35m. a. M., barometer

24.065, air 72°, mercury 72°, moist ther. 638°.

* Jult, Gorpata, Looring, Duratee, &c. contain not only the best houses in Ju-

wahir, but excel in size and appearance the greater part of the Almorah houses, and

are decidedly the most substantial and handsome villages in the whole hills from the

Sutlej tothe Kalee. The wood-work and the masonry are both admirably carved in

the principal houses.—J. H. B.

1842. ] Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. 1179

lh. 15m. pv. m. ther. 74° 5‘, moist ther. 64°.

BW MAOn, -cosueehTae 52 tg tne:

aim sys aranT OREO 4.55 62°.

7th October.—Marched at 7h. 40m. a. M., breakfasted about two-

thirds up the ascent, and reached the Kalee Moondee Pass in forty

minutes from thence, in all two and half hours from Jult. Kalee

Moondee Pass, time Ih. 30m. p. M., barometer 21.725, air 70°, mercury

81° 5’, ther. moistened with milk, (no water procurable, ) 63°, ther. (black

wool) in the sun 123° 5’; reached our tents in one and a quarter of an

hour from the Pass, pitched near a beautiful waterfall,* at the foot of

which was a fine pool of water beautifully clear and deep enough to bathe

and swim in, the centre of it being upwards of six feet deep; jungle

_ very thick the whole way down the descent. Observed a new variety

of pitcher plant; in all I have seen on the range six varieties, one

yellow, one large white, one small ditto, one large pink, one small ditto

_ spotted, and one blue.

On approaching the Pass, the rock changed from gneiss to mica

slate, which rock continued some way down, and it then changed

_ to gneiss with beds of white talc slate. Ther. 60° at about 6b. 30m.

P. M., evening cold, dew beginning to fall; a few clouds, no shelter for

our servants and coolies. Observed the raspberry plant, (the one with

runners) near the waterfall, and the blue cowslip{ or oxlip growing

without the usual long footstalk.

8th October.—6 a. M. ther. 51° 5’. Marched at 6h. 50m. a. m., and

reached the top of the ascent in forty minutes ; road very bad, unable to

ride over any part of it. Gneiss white talc slate, and at the summit mica

slate. A little on the descent, gneiss again ; descent very steep, and road

bad. Arrived at the village of Gheergaon in one hour and fifty-five

_ minutes, whole distance completed in two and three-quarters of an hour ;

" several small villages in this neighbourhood. This Passt is somewhat

higher than the one we crossed yesterday.

9th October.—Fine morning. Marched 7h. 8m. A. ™M., arrived at

Kantee, (the cypress village,) at 9h. 30m., on the road 2h. 20m.,

* Ayar Panee.—J. H. B.

¢ Primula purpurea.

{ Called Betoola Ghatee.

1180 Visit to Melum and the Oonta [ No. 132.

road pretty good along the course of the stream, which falls into the

Ramgunga at Teejum. Rock near Geergaon, gneiss; a little below,

the white taleky rock,* and limestone with blocks of gneiss.

10th October.—Marched at 6h. 40m. a. M., fine morning. At the

Sangaf a little below Ramarree, ther. 9° 40’ a. m., barometer 26.595,

air 65°, mercury 69°, moist ther. 61° 5’. Road to the Sanga generally

very good along the side of the stream; a few places very bad for the

ponies, ascent to Ramarree very steep, occupied only half an hour.

Arrived at Ramarree at 10h. 30m., halted nearly an hour on the road,

which would make the marching distance about three hours; rock

generally limestone. The cheer treet first made its appearance near

the junction of the Jukkeela, N. with the Ramgunga.

11th October—6 a.. ther. 55° 5’, moist ther. 52°, fine morning.

Marched 6h. 20m. 4. M., arrived at Sania 10h. 40m. a. M., halted on the

road about half an hour, time in marching 3h. 50m., ascent (steep)

of half an hour from Ramarree, descent thirty-five minutes to stream,

which falls into the stream Muhgaree, from thence to the Pass along

eM the side of the stream which we crossed four or

116 to 122. five times, occupied lh. 50m.; rock limestone,

(silicious). The high Pass above the village of Punneealee is called — ?

Time 9h. 25m. a. M., barometer 23.635, mercury 75°, air 59° 5’, moist

ther. 54° 5‘. Stopped about twenty minutes, and reached Sama in about,

one hour; rock limestone, some with tale. Up the ascent a good deal of

jungle, and some parts of the road-very slippery; on the descent to

Sama, hills bare of trees. —5h. 10m. Pp. M. slight shock of an earthquake,

accompanied by a noise like thunder (pretty loud,) no clouds visible,

sound appeared to travel from East to West.—5h. 25m. P. M., moist

ther. 56,° ther. 62° 5’. Sama is a very pretty place, with some very fine

horse chesnut trees; the houses are scattered ; the Pardan and people

very attentive.

12th October..—6 a. mM. ther. 53° 5‘, moist ther. 49°. Marched at

6h. 30m. a. mM. Arrived opposite Nakoree in an hour, at Bureth in

* Talcose limestone, with the dip of the strata remarkably distinct, (steep and to

N.L. generally) is the prevailing formation of the Kaleemondee Range,—J. H. B.

¢ Over the Kkamgunga river.— Here the travellers entered the Pergunnah of Dan-

poor and left Juwahir.—J. H. B.

t Common pine —J. H. B.

1842. | Dhoora Pass in Juwahir. — 1181

two, and at our breakfasting ground in 2h. 47m. Road along the side

of the stream,* which we crossed ten or twelve times. At Nakoree,

there is another stream which joins the one from Sama. Rock gene-

rally a species of limestone, with conglomerate and very frangible ;

another rock nearly black,t which breaks into numerous small angular

fragments. At 12 a. M. in the tent ther. 79°, cool breeze blowing. 2h.

30m. Pr. M. marched, sun rather hot, arrived at Kubkote at 4h. 15m.,

road good generally, forded the river,{t stream wide, but not deeper

than half way up the thigh; encamped on a fine level spot near the

bank, some little way below the houses.

13th October.—6h. 10m. a. mM. ther. 49°, moist ther. 48°. Marched

about 6h. 30m. a. M, thick fog in many parts of the valley, road along

the right bank of the stream pretty good for some distance; did not

overtake our servants, who had gone on with our breakfast things till

about 12 o'clock; before reaching them, crossed a stream which comes

down from Lumcholee ; the ford rapid and bad, the bottom being very

uneven, the depth about up to the middle. Marched again about

3 Pp. M., and arrived at Bagesur§ at about 4h. 45m. p.m. On the

road to-day, about seven and a quarter hours. The river at Bagesur

barely fordable in one part, being up to the chin of the people, whom I

saw passing ; current not very strong.

14th October.—Marched about 6h. 50m. a. M., and arrived at about

9h. 45m. at our tents at the foot of the flight of steps, road very good,

the first steep ascent occupied only forty minutes. Marched from

thence in the afternoon to Suttralee, about two hours march; a bad

ascent on the road has been much improved, since we last passed it,

by a native, who has made an excellent road rideable all the way.

Found it very difficult to procure any supplies from the village of Sut-

tralee

N. B.—Suttralee is the name of the valley.

* The Raiputtee river.

+ Akind of clay slate.—J. H. B.

{ Surjoo river.

§ Bagesur is the mart at which the Bhooteeas winter, and where the fairs are held

for the sale of Thibetan, and Hill and Plain merchandize. It is a sacred place,

being situated at the junction of the Goomtee and Surjoo river. In the hot weather

and rains, the climate of the Bagesur valley is unhealthy, and the place is deserted.—

J. H. B.

1182 Visit to Melum and the Oonta, Dhoora Pass. [No. 1382.

15th October.—Marched at 6h. 50m. a. M., and arrived at Jak-by-

toolee at 9h. 20m. a. M. To the foot of the ascent is nearly four miles,

we were rather more than a half an hour in reaching the top of it,

without halting, the descent occupied about half an hour also; marched

at one o’clock, and arrived at Almora at 4h. 20m. P.M. Distance

from Jak-bytoolee between ten and eleven miles; total distance to

Sattralee from sixteen to seventeen miles, but road good from the top

of Kalee Muth* to our house, one hour and twenty-five minutes, dis-

tance full five miles.

* The high peak at the Northern extremity of the Almora ridge.

On the Wool of the Bactrian, or two-humped Camel, (Camenus

Bacrrianus, ) being a Copy of an unpublished Paper forwarded to

the Royal Asiatic Society of London. By Capt. Tuomas Huron.

Srr,—Having lately seen a letter from Captain Arthur Conolly, —

regarding some specimens of wools obtained in Armenia and Koordis- |

tan, I do myself the honour to transmit samples of the “hair and

wool procurable from the two-humped, or Bactrian Camel.”*

The animal is so thickly clothed during winter with this wool,

and its quality appears to me so much superior to most of those

shewn to me by Captain Conolly, that I should expect the article, if

imported, to form a valuable commodity in the European markets.

Of this, however, you will be better able to judge than I am.

I shall do myself the pleasure to preface my remarks on this article,

by a few observations on the animal from which it is obtained.

“The Bactrian Camel,” as it is termed, is an inhabitant of the

Kuzzack country among the Steppes of Tartary, beyond Bokhara, which, |

judging from the thick warm coat provided by nature for the animal’s

protection and comfort, must be subject to great severity of climate —

during the winter season. At Candahar, the animal sometimes ar-

rives with kafilahs of merchants, and is termed “ Bagdad-i,” 7. e.

“of” or “from Bagdad,” but on enquiry I find, that it does not occur —

* Specimens of this wool are in the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.— Ep.

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{

1842.| On the Wool of the Bactrian, or two-humped Camel. 1188

at that place, the name having been applied to the species in former

times, when Kuzzack was a dependency ot Bagdad.

They are said to be numerous in their own proper country, and not

uncommon even in Bokhara, where they are crossed with the Drome-

dary, (Camelus Dromedarius,) and produce the (Hybrid) Bokhara

camel, an animal possessing enormous muscular power.

This cross varies in appearance according to the species of the dam ;

if she be a true camel, (Camelus Bactrianus, female,) then the pro-

duce partakes in its physiognomy, in a great degree of the camel,

possessing a peculiar mildness in its expression, and a fineness in its

general proportions. ‘The head is of a light, blood make, with long

hair upon the crown, nape, and along the fore part of the neck and

throat, from the chin to the chest; also rather long and curly upon

the fore arm; the tail too preserves more of the characters which are

observable in the Camel, having the longitudinal line of hairs down

the centre, which in the Dromedary are always wanting.

On the other hand, if the dam be a Dromedary, (Camelus Drome-

.darius, female,) the produce partakes more of the characters of that species

than of those which distinguish the two-humped Camel. The hair

is scarcely more elongated than the Dromedary, and is nearly of the

same quality; but the animal is enormously powerful of limb and

carcase, and well calculated to perform long and fatiguing journies

through the hilly tracts between Bokhara, Herat, and Cabul.

The hump, in the cross-breed, is subject to great variation ; some-

times appearing in the form of one long prominent ridge, covering

the back from the withers to the loins, with a wide notch or depres-

sion in the centre, serving to mark the partial transition from the éwo,

to the one humped species, or shewing that the space which intervenes

between the humps of the true camel, is nearly filled up and obli-

terated by the intervention of the hump of the Dromedary.

At other times, there is to all appearance but one hump, situated

far back upon the loins, like the posterior hump of the Bactrian

Camel ; but a closer inspection, and the application of the hand shews,

that the portion of the back lying between this hump and the withers,

although apparently entire, and not all prominently raised, is never-

theless divided, sometimes in one, sometimes in fwo places, sufficient-

ly separated to admit of the thickness of the open hand being placed

1184 On the Wool of the Bactrian, or two-humped Camel. | No. 132.

between them. These openings (or cracks they might almost be

termed) are ordinarily concealed, except to touch, beneath the hair.

Such a formation is awkward, as the weight is necessarily thrown

so much to the rear, that theanimal’s loins and sides are generally

dreadfully galled by the constant swinging or rubbing motion of the

load.

The cross-breed is termed “ Boghdi.”

This Hybrid Camel is in much repute among the northern tribes,

and furnishes them at all seasons with an invaluable beast of burthen

in a climate where neither one nor the other of the true species could

be made available throughout the year. Art may be said therefore to

have furnished what nature has denied them. The two-humped camel

is said to be so impatient of heat, that it cannot endure the summer

warmth even of so northerly a country as Bokhara, and this I can

readily give credence to, since I had lately an opportunity of watching

the habits of one of these animals which I purchased at Candahar.

No sooner did the sun (even in December and January) fall upon

the side of the yard where this animal usually stood to feed, than he

walked over to the shade of the opposite buildings, as if conscious that

his woolly coat was not adapted for summer weather.

During the warm months, therefore, the Bactrian Camel would not

properly be available in more favoured climates than its own, and

during that season, the Bokhara people would be deprived of their

‘* Desert ships.” .

Again, the Dromedary, or one-humped male, can on the other hand

endure but a moderate degree of cold, and the northern tribes would

thus for many months be deprived of its services.

To obviate these evils, they have crossed the breeds, and obtained

an animal capable of enduring alike the heats of summer, and the :

cold of winter. His limbs are large and powerful, his chest broad and

ample, his shoulder strong and heavy, to bear the joits and shaking

he experiences in ascending and descending the rugged mountain

passes and defiles, through which, heavily laden, he is doomed to q

travel for long and fatiguing marches.

No beast could be better adapted for the work he has to perform, or

the climates he has to endure, for in him are united the perfections

and capabilities of both species. His constitution derived from both,

1842.] On the Wool of the Bactrian, or two-humped Camel. 1185

enables him alike to undergo the rigors of a northern clime, and the

heats of the southern districts, to which he travels.

It is reported of the two-humped Camel, that his hardihood is such,

that the winter is the season when the trade between Turkistan

and Russia is carried on, and that season is selected, because then the

rivers which intervene between the two countries are frozen up by

the severity of the frosts, and the camels are thus enabled to pass over

on the ice.

The wool of this animal is as yet but little used, a small quantity

only being exported from Bokhara to Cabul, and I believe to Umritsur

in the Punjab. The great bulk of it is said to be sent at present

to Russia, and manufactured into a kind of broad cloth, called ‘‘ Sala-

tiska,” which is worn by soldiers.

It being my intention to publish some notes on the Natural History

and Geology of this part of Korassan, I shall again have occasion

to notice this animal more at length, and I will therefore pass on

to what I dare say will be deemed the most interesting part of his

history, namely, the wool he produces.

No. 1.—Is a sample of the wool taken from the sides and back of a

full grown male Bactrian Camel, in the winter clothing. It is so thick-

ly disposed, that the skin of the animal can with difficulty be discerned

beneath it, even when the wool is turned back for that purpose.

In the spring, as the temperature grows milder, the whole of this

wool detaches itself from the skin, being pushed off in masses and flakes

by the hair which springs up beneath it, and which forms the sum-

mer clothing of the animal.

It is at this season pulled or cut off, and after being cleaned, is

either manufactured into woollens of different texture for home con-

_ sumption, or exported in a raw state to Russia ; a small quantity also

- finds its way to Cabul and the Punjab.

It is produced abundantly both in Bokhara and Balk, and the

Steppes of Tartary.

This wool is called ‘‘ Koork,” or down.

It appears to be little inferior in fineness to that procured from

some breeds of Shawl Goats, while it possesses a decided advantage

_ over them all, in being both of a much longer fibre, and far more easi-

ly freed from the hair.

1186 On the Wool of the Bactrian, or two-humped Camel. (No. 132.

No.2.—Is a specimen of coarse thread spun from this wool by the

hand, 2. e. without the aid of the wheel; the wool is gathered into a

mass, a small portion twisted into a thread by the fingers, and then

attached to a cross stick with a weight, or to a stone which is kept

twirling round, while small portions of the wool are continually

added.

The threads thus made are coarse, and liable to break from being

too loosely twisted.

This method is, however, very generally practised, more especially

in these districts ; the same also prevails in most parts of the Himalaya,

and is in use even in the provinces of India in the spinning of cotton

threads for common purposes.

Woollens made from threads thus twisted, are far more difficult

to weave than those manufactured from threads spun by the hand

wheel, as the looseness of the twist often causes them to catch and

break as the shuttle passes to and fro.

No. 3.—Is a sample of the wool and hair, taken from the fore-arm.

No. 4.—Is taken from the under part of the neck and throat.

The hairs in these samples are so long, that the trouble of cleaning

the wool would, I should imagine, be much lessened, and probably

the hair itself might prove an useful article for making pencils and

other brushes.

These wools are all taken from an animal which wintered at Can-

dahar, so that the probability is, that the staple was not so long as it

would have been, had the camel remained in the more Northern dis-

tricts.

There is also another thing to be observed, which is, that the beast

was not worked during the winter season, and consequently the wool

was uninjured by the friction of a load. |

It is both shorter and coarser when the animal has been Jaden. ~

No doubt too, there may be as much difference between the wool of

different camels, as between sheep; but the samples sent may be

deemed upon the whole a fair selection, considering the limited range

of my observation on the subject.

No. 5.—Is a sample of wool taken from the humps of a male

Bactrian Camel, that had been much worked during winter.

No. 6.—Is from the sides of the same animal.

1842.] On the Wool of the Bactrian, or two-humped Camel. 1187

No. 7.—From the neck and fore-arm.

These are natural ringlets or bunches. The colour of these wools

is generally that of the specimens herewith sent, but the long hair

of the neck and fore-arm sometimes has a reddish or ferruginous

tinge.

That which I have termed “ hair,” appears to be not very much,

if at all, inferior to some of the coarser wools of Europe, while it

possesses a decided advantage in being more than double the length

of any sheep wool.

With regard to the utility of this wool, and the chances of its prov-

ing desirable in the home markets, I do not consider myself competent

to judge. I send the samples to speak for themselves, to ascertain

the probability of its ever becoming an article of import either in the

crude or manufactured state.

Dromedary.

In addition to the above, I enclose a sample of a woollen cloth made

from the soft wool procurable from the young Dromedary.

This is called ‘ Buruk Shootur-z.” It is made by the Huzarrehs

of the Cabul neighbourhood.

It is manufactured in pieces of from fifteen to eighteen inches wide,

by six to eight yards long, and the price varies with the size from

eight to thirty rupees per piece.

There are two other woollens which I have not yet been able to

procure, but I will send them shortly in a supplement to this. They

are called “ kart” and “ oormuk.”

N. B.—Since writing the above, I have procured specimens of

oormuk, which I now enclose. It forms part of the dress of the

Turcoman people. It comes also from Bokhara. This is chiefly pur-

_ chased by the wealthy, and sells from fifty to one hundred rupees per

piece.

“ Kart’ is somewhat similar to this. It comes from Bokhara and

Turkistan, and is made from the wool of the yearling Dromedary.

(

1188

Public Papers relating to the Nurma or Chanderi Cotton, in reference

to queries by Mr. Pippineron, Journal Asiatic Society Vol. x. p. 716

being a report by Carr. J. ABsport, Assistant Resident Nimaur.

(No. 4013 of 1842.)

From R. N. C. Hamiuton, Es@., Secretary to the Government, N. W.

P.to F. J. Haturway, Ese. Officiating Secretary to the Government

of India, Fort William, dated, Camp Ferozepore, the 31st Decem-

ber, 1842.

Revenue Department,

Sir,—I am directed by the Honorable the Lieut. Governor, to trans-

mit to you, for the purpose of being laid before the President in

Council, the annexed copy of a letter, No. 1241, from the Resident at

Indore, dated the 24th November last, with its enclosure, relating to

the cotton of Nimar and Chanderi.

2. A counterpart of this letter is forwarded to the Secretary to

the Government of India with the Governor General.

I have the honor to be, &c.

(Signed) R. N. C. Hamiton,

Secretary to the Government, N. W. P.

Camp Ferozepore, the 31st December, 1842.

(Copy.)

No. 1 in No. 4013 of 1842.

No. 1241 of 1842.

From the Resident at Indore, to R. N. C. Hamiiton, Esq., Secretary i

to Government, N. W. P., dated Indore Residency, Camp pear

ger, the 24th November, 1842.

Political Department.

Srr,—Sometime ago I received through the Resident at Gwalior a_

reference from you on the subject of the Nurma cotton, together with f

a copy of Dr. Purvis’ report on that of Chanderi, which was supposed to.

be the same. In replying to Lieut. Col. Speirs, I forwarded a copy of

my letter to Mr. Bushby, in reply to a requisition from his office on”

1842. | Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. 1189

the same subject, which I requested the Lieut. Col. to transmit to you ;

I mentioned at the same time, that I could refer to Captain Abbott,

Assistant in Nimar, for additional information, as the cotton used in

the Chanderi fabrics was stated to come from Nimar, and the question

Was more interesting to that part of the country, as it affected a staple

article of its commerce, than to Malwa generally, in which cotton

does not appear to succeed, and is but partially grown.

2d. I have now the honor to submit copy of a valuable report, which

I received from Captain Abbott, and of its accompanying letter, from

which it will be seen, that the cotton formerly exported to Chanderi is

called Mahalie, and not Nurma, which indeed, as before pointed out by

me, is not an annual, but a large plant, which lasts about ten years.

3d. During the last rainy.season, I planted a patch of ground in

my garden with the Nurma cotton, from which when ripe, I intend

sending the specimen together with those of the soil in which it grows,

promised in my letter of the 1st November 1841, to Mr. Bushby.

4th. I may add, that I have lately procured from the Agricultural

Society in Calcutta, a supply of the Georgian cotton seed, which I am

distributing among the different states in Malwa and Nimar.

oth. In closing my letter on the subject of these cottons, I need

scarcely remind Government, after Sir John Malcolm’s copious report

on Central India, of the richness of Malwa, and its adjoining provinces

in productions important to commerce. The interest which that distin-

guished officer attached to them, induced him, from his first arrival in

the country, to bestow an attention to their investigation worthy of the

Government which he represented, and the results of which were

found to be such, as to obtain for him the acknowledgments of

learned Societies. Since his time, the subject would appear to have been

entirely neglected, which cannot but be regarded as a misfortune to a

country in which we hold so prominent a position, as to impose in my

humble opinion an obligation on us to develope its resources, and from

which we derive a revenue averaging at least twenty lacs of rupees per

annum, collected on the spot at an insignificant expense. A renewal of

these researches would, however, be of little practical benefit to the

country, unless the means of communication with other marts were

simultaneously improved. Government has done something to promote

the object by entertaining the project of improving the road between

1190 Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. [No. 132.

Agra and Bombay; but our duty cannot cease even with the thorough

completion of that work, and I trust that as the finances of the state

improve, a sense of its importance will arrest the favorable consideration

of an enlightened Government.

6th. The Government of Bombay, from its proximity to these pro-

vinces being interested in these discussions, I have deemed it my duty

to forward a transcript of the present Despatch and the correspondence

to which it relates, for the information of the Honorable the Governor

General in Council of that Presidency. I have, &c.

(Signed, ) C. M. Wane,

Resident.

(True copy, )

(Signed. ) R. N. C. Haminton,

Secretary to the Government, N. W. P.

Indore Residency, Camp Islamnugger, the 24th November, 1842.

(Copy.)

No. 2 in No. 4013 of 1842.

‘No. 331 of 1842.

From Captain J, AsBott, Assistant in Nimar, to Lieut. Colonel. Sir

C. M. Wane, K. C. B., Resident at Indore, dated Mundlaisur,

30th September, 1842.

Sir,—In reply to your letter and its enclosure of the 13th April last,

relating to the Nurma (Mahalie) cotton, I have the honor to forward

for the information of the Asiatic Society, all the particulars I have

been able to collect regarding it. There seems great probability, that

it may be utterly lost from the world in the course of a few years, un-

less Government or some Society interfere to rescue it.

2. The mamoodies of Chundairee, so far as I can learn, were consi- —

dered unequalled by any other manufactures, in itself a strong argu-

ment for the surpassing fineness of the Mhahlie cotton of which they

were woven. I believe there is little of the cotton soil of Nimar that

would not produce it in more or less abundance, could a market be —

found for it.

‘

1842. | Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. 1191

3. Accompanying my report are seven small tin boxes, of which

three contain specimens of Mhahlie cotton, two specimens of the

Nurma and its seed, and the remaining two specimens of the common

cottons of Nimar and Berar. Circumstances prevent my sending

just now specimens of the soil in which the Mhahlie thrives. I purpose

selecting them at a season more favorable to the design, the ground

being now strongly impregnated with manure.

I have the honor to be, &c.

(Signed) J. ApBott, Captain,

Mundlaisur, the 30th September, 1842. Assistant in Nimar.

P. S. I have the honor to return the copies of correspondence upon

this subject, with which you favored me.

(True copy, )

(Signed) R. N. C. Hamixton,

Secretary to the Government, N. W. P.

No. 3 in No. 4013 of 1842.

(Copy.)

Particulars relative to the Mhahlie Cotton of Nimar.

Q. \st. What is the Nurmah cotton of Malwa? Is it the common

cotton of the country, or a choice sort ?

A. Nurma cotton is not indigenous to India. It is not, so far I as

can learn, cultivated for manufactures in Nimar or Malwa. It is not

annual, but grows into a bush, lasting ten or twelve years. As this cot-

ton is evidently not the kind to which the queries of the Asiatic

Society refer, I shall consider the name Mhahlie substituted for Nurma,

and answer accordingly.

The Mhahlie I should say, cannot be indigenous to Nimar. The na-

tives suppose the seed to have been sent, time out of mind, from

Chundairee. They are utterly ignorant of its manifest superiority in

texture to the cotton of the country, and it has never been in demand

in Nimar, where in a few years its existence will altogether cease.

Q. 2d. Does it grow in any common cotton soil? or are peculiar

sorts and spots sought out for it ?

A. It will grow in any cotton soil, but formerly its high price com-

manded for it the choice soils.

1192 Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. [No. 132.

Q. 3d. What manure, if any, is used to it?

A. The soil is prepared for Mhahlie cotton, precisely as for other cot-

ton. The manure is dung and black earth from the villages.

Q. 4th. When sown ? How sown? When harvested ? How cleaned ?

A. It is sown like other cotton at the end of June, but harvested about

forty days later than the common kind, 7. e. about the end of March.

It has never been cleaned in Nimar, but was exported to Chundairee

in the pod. The meaning of which I presume was to enable the work-

men there to sort it, previous to cleaning, for the several qualities of

manufacture in contemplation.

Q. 5th. What price does the best sort command? Whither is it

exported, if at all?

A. The Mhahlie cotton so long as it had any peculiar value in

Nimar or rather at Chundairee, where alone there has ever been a de-

mand for it, sold in Nimar at fifty per cent. higher than the common

cotton, and at Chundairee it sold at one and a half seer for the rupee,

when the ordinary kind was selling at five seers ; at present it sells for

the same price as the common cotton, which, however, being white and

having a coarser, perhaps stronger, filament, is preferred in the Nimar

market; so that it appears to be cultivated at present merely from the

accident of its seed being in possession of the ryuts, who formerly culti-

vated it with profit.

Q. 6th. Is it an annual cotton, or does it last more than one year ?

A, It is annual. The Nurmah is not.

Q. 10¢h. Enquiry should be made, if it at the time of ripening any pe-

culiar manure is added, as with some of the choice sorts of tobacco. If

the plants are topped, the shoots pinched, or beaten with sticks,

or allowed to be eaten down by animals. All these processes are used

in various parts of the world (America, the French and Spanish Colo-

nies, Persia, &c.) and no doubt influence both the productiveness and

the quality of the cotton to a great extent. Nothing relative to the na-

tive methods of culture, irrigation, &c. should be overlooked.

A. No peculiar manure is added at the time of ripening. ‘The

plants are never topped; a process I have never known applied to

cotton crops in India. It is sown in both rubbee and khureef soils ; in the

latter, it is alternate with jowaree. The difference in produce afforded

by these two soils, viz. the irrigated and unirrigated, is very great.

1842. Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. 1193

Q. 12th. Enquire if it is subject to any diseases, or insects, which

seriously affect the returns from it.

A. I can learn of no disease or insect to which the Mhahlie cot-

ton is peculiarly liable. It is less affected by frost.

Q. 13th. The amount of return in clean merchantable cotton per

beegah of a known number of square yards is of importance, and the

average price of the best sort.

A. The produce of the Mhahlie is greater than that of the Goondai-

lah, or common cotton of Nimar.

The ordinary crop of the latter is four maunds (of eighty rupees)

per beegah of 22,500 square feet uncleaned, whereas the same area

will return from five to six maunds of Mhahlie.

Moreover, the seed of the Mhahlie being smaller and the pod larger,

(of the latter fact I am not so certain,) five chittacks of clean cotton are

yielded by a seer of pod, whereas only four chittacks are obtainable

from the common cotton. When the Mhahlie is irrigated, it will yield

from seven to eight maunds of pod per beegah. Hence the produce

per beegah of 22,500 square yards in merchantable cotton, is sixty

eight seers and twelve chittacks for unwatered, and ninety-three seers

and twelve chittacks for irrigated land; the seer being of eighty rupees,

Company’s. This advantage is reduced by the difficulty of disposing

of the Mhahlie cotton.

The growth of the Mhahlie was confined to two pergunnahs of

Nimar, Dhurgaon and Kussode, and to a few villages of those pergun-

nahs I should add to.a single village of Muhaiswah. Those pergun-

nahs seem to have been selected from their proximity to Chundairee,

for the market of which alone it was ever reared. Although at

Muhaiswah and Kurgaon of Nimar, there are several celebrated manu-

factories of mamoodies, dhooties, khun, phatub, sahries and chadurs,

some having silken and others golden borders, the Mhahlie has never

been employed at either of those places. The extensive importation

of fine cotton cloths from England seems to have annihilated the

Chundairee manufacture, so that there is no longer any demand for the

Mhahlie, which is selling at present cleaned at five seers the rupee in

Nimar, the price of the common kind. The facts above detailed may

illustrate the difficulty of introducing amongst the ryuts of India, any

improvements that may seem to us for their advantage. Having no

1194 Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. [ No. 132.

capital, they cannot select their markets, and any novelty in the

texture or hue of a commodity gives it disadvantage in the market of

the district. Although the softness of the Mhahlie cotton is too

remarkable not to be perceived at once, yet it has remained in this

district an unknown number of years, utterly disregarded.* There can

be little doubt that if sent to Bombay, it would command the market

for export there, and the experiment seems quite worthy of trial; there

is no difficulty in separating the seed. But the colour is not white,

and the method employed in bleaching the Mhahlie at Chundairee,

should be ascertained from gentlemen resident at Sagor. It were also

a curious enquiry to be made at Chundairee, when the manufacture of

mamoodies was first established there. What led to the selection of the

Mhahlie cotton, and (if it be of foreign origin) what induced the choice

of Nimar as the garden of its produce, other, and I believe richer, cot-

ton lands being near to Chundairee. In addition to its defective hue,

the manufacturers of Nimar conceive that the filament of the Mhahlie is

not so strong as that of the common cotton, and in consequence prefer

this for the coarse cloths woven in the villages. Indeed the manufactures

at Muhaiswah and Kurgaon, although rich and extensive, are not cele-

brated for the fineness of their texture, as were those of Chundairee ;

and therefore so long as the Mhahlie maintained its high price, there is

little wonder that the enterprising Hindoo manufacturer neglected it.

Of the Nurmah I cannot learn many particulars in this district,

where, as an article of produce it is quite unknown. The natives

allow that it is very superior to the common cotton; but they object

to the expense and trouble of preserving it from injury throughout

the year. Nothing can more strongly exemplify the apathetic spirit

of the ryut; for the jungles in Nimar bring up to every cultivator’s

door an abundance of thorny plants fitted for enclosures, and I imagine

the produce of the Nurmah must be about four times that of the

common cotton plant, for it rises to the height of seven or eight feet,

branching out on all sides. It is said to abound in Kurrah Manick-

pore. Its hue is whiter than that of the Mhahlie, and the natives of

* We trust that this really beautiful varieties of Cotton will now be better studied

and known, and this scientifically for they are not only in all probability valuable

in themselves but they may become invaluable to India as stocks from which to breed

new sorts, a process apparently not yet dreamt of amongst our Cotton experimenta-

lists. —Eb.

end Mee ge ee Le

1842. | Nurma or Chandert Cotton. 1195

Nimar think its filament finer: but this I doubt. The specimens I

have the honor to send are scarcely worthy to be called such, and should

not be relied on, being the produce of isolated trees, the comparative

value of which I have no means of ascertaining. The Mhahlie and

Goondailah specimens are worthy of reliance. There can be no doubt

that the soil and climate of Nimar are capable of producing varieties

of cotton vastly superior to the staple of the district, and I believe the

same fact has been proved in regard to other tracts of Hindoostan.

But it seems equally certain, that in order to the introduction of such

improvements, a market must in the first place be created for the

produce. This it might be well worth the while of Government to

effect. Wherever water carriage admits of ready transfer to extensive

marts, the demand would speedily render this interference needless.

-Choolie Muhaiswah is a misnomer, only one village in that district

having produced the Mhahlie cotton. Dhergaon is the chief gar-

den and mart of the Mhahlie, but being an obscure pergunnah, the

principal neighbouring town has naturally been used to designate the

locality.

I received the despatch relating to this cotton at the most busy

season of the year, when it was impossible for me to quit the station even

for a few hours. The rains have since commenced, and the earth being

recently manured [ think it advisable to await a better season for

selecting specimens of the soil. I have detained this report several

months, in the hope of sending specimens of the Berar cotton, for which

I had written to Nagpore. But owing to a very simple mistake of the

merchant at that place, [ am disappointed for the present, as the Mhahlie

cotton is said to be sometimes designated Berari, and the soil and

climate of Berar and Nimar cannot, I imagine, be very dissimilar, I

thought it of consequence to compare together the growth of these two

districts, in order to trace the origin of the Mhahlie.

The climate of Nimar is very equable. The temperature nearly that

of Calcutta. It is in the same latitude, and elevated only about 500

feet above the sea. The air, however, is much drier, as might be sup-

posed from its inland position, and the springs are seldom nearer than

thirty to forty feet to the earth’s surface. The formation is trap,

occasionally basaltic. I have never heard of this thick crust being

completely perforated, whether by human act, conyulsions of nature,

‘Q

1196 Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. [No. 1382.

or the action of the elements: although the Vindhya mountains

abound in chasms from 300 to 800 feet in depth, and present on

the south a precipitous scarp of 1,500 feet; and the Nerbudda has

farther sapped into the rock some 800 feet, reckoning from the foot of

those mountains. The immediate deposit upon this rock in Nimar is

generally a deep bed of clay, mixed with lime, sand, and kankur. Oc-

casionally rotten sandstone prevails: and upon this stratum lies the

black soil generally found upon trap formations, though not peculiar

to such. This averages perhaps fifteen feet in depth near the river,

but is deepest when found on higher flats, having been less worn

by the elements. This black soil is generally supposed to be the

debris of the trap formation, and from thence to take its hue; I con-

fess I doubt the correctness of this theory. Trap is colored wholly by

the black, or purer oxide of iron. It is decomposed by the absorption

of an additional volume of oxygen by the iron, which increasing its

mass, rends the rock into powder. In this condition, the color of the

trap is a rusty red, and incapable I think of giving that intensely

black dye to a soil composed of its particles. I speak under correc-

tion, having no means of analyzing the soil. But as a similar hue

occurs in soils resting upon granite and other formations, I have been

more disposed to ascribe it. to the presence of carbon, than of iron.

It is singular that under this soil, the richest diamond mines

in the world are found. The fact, that a stratum of clay and kankur

is interposed between the trap rock and the black soils, seems to

countenance my theory, and the yearly destruction of the jungles in

Malwa by fire, would in the course of ages have supplied an abundance

of carbon. But if, as is said, this black soil form under the blowpipe, a

black glass, the theory can scarcely be maintained with any confidence.*

The natives prefer the blackest soil for all kinds of cotton, and in

fact, for every purpose. The other soils are all more or less impo-

* The black cotton soil certainly owes its colour also to the protoxide of iron, and not

to carbonaceous matter. See Transactions of the Agricultural Society Vol. vi. p. 208, in

which are quoted three analyses of this soil from Bundelcund. It is possible that the

black soil may be owing to the decomposition of a kind of trap no longer existing, which

contained a greater proportion of alkali, (soda, or potash) than the present and more

enduring kinds of the rock, or it may have been an original volcanic product? or a

volcanic mud of apeculiar kind? The question is one far too obscure and complicated

to be discussed in a note, and indeed to be discussed at all in the present state of

our knowledge.—H. P.

1842. | Nurma or Chanderi Cotton. 1197

verished by a mixture of lime and sand, the black soil requires mode-

rate but frequent irrigation. It is full of the germs of vegetables,

becomes a mucilage when wet, and a rock when dry.

The monsoon in Nimar is usually mild, the table land of Malwa

carrying off the greater body of vapour. The ryuts dread very heavy

falls, or the long prevalence of cloudy weather.

I regret that my recent acquaintance with this district, so greatly

limits my means of collecting immediate information, and renders the

report so meagre and imperfect.

(Signed) J. Apgott, Captain,

Assistant in charge of Nimar.

Mundlaisur, Nimar, the 30th September, 1842.

P. S.—Since writing the above, I have ascertained that at Chundai-

ree they do not clean cotton by the ordinary method of passing it

_ between parallel rollers, but by the more gentle process of rolling over

_ it with the hand an iron ruler, or thin cylinder, a polished stone being

beneath. This saves the fibre from fraying, and is practised by the

Bullaees, (outcasts, ) whose females make the finest of the thread employ-

ed in Indian fabrics. During this process, they extract all the particles

of leaf, pod, earth, &c., as well as coarse fibres of the cotton itself. In

the exquisite fabrics woven at Chundairee, the length and perfectness

of the fibre must have been of the utmost consequence, and it appears

to me, that length of fibre was the principal recommendation of the

Mhahlie cotton. A specimen of Berar cotton having just arrived,

is forwarded.

(Signed) J. ABBorr.

(True copy.)

(Signed) W. S. Even,

lst Assistant to Resident.

(True copy.)

(Signed) R. N. C. Hamitton,

Secretary to the Government, N. W. P.

° (True copy.)

FP. J. Hanipay,

Officiating Secretary to the Government of India.

1198

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

(Friday Evening, 11th November, 1842. )

The Honorable the President in the Chair.

The following Books were presented by the Authors, and purchased by the Society.

Books received for the Meeting on the 11th November, 1842.

The Calcutta Christian Observer, November 1842. Presented.

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, June and July, 1842. Vol. IX,

Nos. 58 and 59. Purchased.

London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science,

3d Series. Vol. XX, Nos. 132, 133, and 134. Vol. XXI, No. 135. London, 1842.

Purchased.

Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, by Professor Jameson. London, 1842.

No, 64. Presented by the Author.

Journal des Savans. Paris, Janvier, Fevrier, Mars, Avril, Mai, 1842. Purchased.

Tracts, Historical and Statistical, on India, by B. Heyne. London, 1814, 4to.

one Vol. Purchased.

Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, 2nd Serie, Tome XVI. Presented.

Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, Tome XVI. Purchased.

Jahrbicher der Literature. Wien, 1841, Nos. 93, 94, 95, 96. Purchased.

Geschichte der Ilchane, das ist der Mongolen in Persien. Von Hammer Purgstall.

Darmstadt, 1842, Erst Band. Presented by the Author.

Bopp, iiber die Verwandtschaft der Malayisch-Polynesischen Sprachen mit den

Indisch-Europaischen. Berlin, 1841, 4to. Presented by the Author.

Newbold on Ipoh, or Upas Poison used by the Jacoons and other Aboriginal Tribes

of the Malay Peninsula. London, 1837, Pamph. Presented by the Author.

L’ Espagne Artistique et Monumental, Planches lithographies by D. Genaro Perez

de Villa-Amil, The text by D. Patricio de la Escosura and the Plates litho-

graphed by Victor Adam Arnout Bachelier, &c. &c. No. 1, containing four

Plates.

Much attention was excited by the splendid work on Spanish Architecture last

mentioned. It is sent to this country in the hope of finding some part of that sup-

port which it so richly merits, as an almost unequalled production of the litho-

grapher’s and designer’s arts.

Read a letter from Count Graberg, soliciting the honour of being elected a Corres-

ponding Member of the Society. The application was referred to the Committee of

Papers for report.

Read the following letters from the Government of India :—

No. 178. ,

To the Secretary to the Asiatic Society.

Military Department.

S1r,—I have the honor, by direction of the Hon’ble the President in Council, to

transmit to you for communication to the President and Members of the Asiatic

Society, and for publication in their Researches, as a sequel to the articles in which

1842. | | Asiatic Society. 1199

previous results of the same work have appeared, the accompanying Despatch, in

original, No. 36, dated the 13th August last, from the Surveyor General of India,

containing the final report upon the operations for measuring an Arc of the Meridian,

carried through the centre of the Peninsula to the Northern confines of Hindoostan.

2. The Society will no doubt publish the report in communication with, and

under the correction of, Lieutenant Colonel Everest, or such of his Assistants as he

may think proper to entrust with its supervision through the Press, so as to ensure

that it will be printed with the requisite accuracy; and as they may probably be

desirous of annexing to the report the lists of latitudes and longitudes ascertained

by the Tria#gulations, which have been communicated to Government, a copy will at

an early opportunity be furnished for the purpose.

3. I am to request, that the original Despatch of Colonel Everest may be returned

when no lorger required, and that the Society will be so good as to favour this depart-

ment with a few spare copies on Europe paper of the report when printed, for

record, and for the purpose of transmission to the Hon’ble the Court of Directors.

I am, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

Council Chamber, 14th Oct. 1842. W.M.N. Srourt, Major,

Off. Secy. to the Govt. of India, Mil. Dept.

It was resolved— ‘That arrangements should be made for complying, at the earliest

possible moment, with the wishes of Government. A note from Major Beprorp

was recevied, stating that the Tables of Latitudes and Longitudes would be for-

warded as soon as ready,

No. 296.

H. Torrens, Esq.

Secretary, Asiatic Society.

Sir,—In compliance with instructions received from the Council of Education,

I have the honor to inform you, that a Deer now in possession of the College Council,

has been ordered to be transferred to the Asiatic Society, and I have been directed

to place myself in communication with the authorities of that body, with a view to

effecting the transfer of the said specimen, and of receiving in return any Morbid

Specimens, and duplicates of Anatomical objects, whether human or comparative, which

can be spared from the Museum of the Society, and are likely to be of use in that

of the Medical College.

2. In order that the above may be effected in the most satisfactory manner to

ensure the safe transit of the obiect in question, I have the honor to request, that you

give the necessary instructions, to the gentleman in charge of your Museum, to whom

it will be made over at any time, or in any manner which he may wish.

I have likewise to request, that you will direct the same officer to furnish me with

a list of objects, which the Asiatic Society may think equivalent to the Deer in

question. I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

Medical College, Nov. 9, 1842. Frep. J. Mouar, M. D.

Secretary, Medical College.

1200 Asiatic Society. [ No. 132.

Resolved—That Mr. Biyra be requested to effect this change, and by making

over to the Medical College the Society’s collection of specimens of Morbid Ana-

tomy.

No. 999.

To H. Torrens, Esq.

Secretary to the Asiatic Society.

General Department.

Sir,—With reference to the correspondence noted in the margin,* I am directed

_ Lr. from Offg. Secy. Asia- to state, that the Hon’ble the Court of Directors have re-

tic Society, dated Ist Febru- z ‘ ¥ 2 5

ary 1841. ported the receipt of the following contributions presented

_ sera loves aati, by the Asiatic Society for the Museum of the East India

tic Society’s Museum (with- Poyse: viz.

out date.) ‘

One case of Duplicate Specimens of Birds.

One case containing two Jars of Reptiles.

One case of Geological Specimens, collected by Lieut. Hutton, at Spiti in the

Himalayas. I am, Sir, .

Your obedient servant,

Fort William, the 28th Sept. 1842. . H. V. Baytey,

Depy. Secy. to the Govt. of Bengal.

It will be recollected, that this dispatch was made in February 1841, from the

Museum, See Journal, Vol. IX, page 1056.

No. 982.

To H. Torrens, Esq.

Secretary to the Asiatic Society.

General Department.

Sir,—I am directed to transmit the accompanying copy ofa letter from the Mili-

tary Board, No. 3,373, dated the Ist instant, and of its enclosures, being a letter from

Capt. Tremenheere, with that Officer’s second report on the Tin of Mergui.

As the specimens of tin forwarded to you with my communication No. 1,773, dated

the 20th December last, can be probably duplicated, I am directed to request, that

a set may be furnished to this department for transmission to England, as recom-

mended by the Military Board.

The three boxes of specimens referred to in the Military Board’s letter, will be

transmitted to the Society when received, for the purpose of being in like manner

duplicated, one set for the Hon’ble Court, and the other for the Museum of the

Society.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Fort William, the 12th October, 1842. H. V. Baytey,

Depy. Secy. to the Govt. of Bengal.

1842. | Asiatic Society. 1201

The Curator of the Museum Economic Geology was requested to give due effect

to the wishes of the Military Board, and the Secretary to publish Capt, Tremen-

HNEERE’S Report in the Journal.

A letter from Lieut. Bairp Situ, B. E., N. W. Provinces, was read, stating that

he was engaged in researches about Indian Earthquakes, and requesting particular-

ly the assistance of the Society in procuring a copy of a Persian or Hindoostanee

work relative to this subject, entitled the Z1t-Zittexr Naman. The note was refer-

red to the Librarian to enquire for the work in question.*

THE EARTHQUAKE.

Shortly after the above letter had been read, a smart earthquake was felt! The

following note relative to it was drawn up, and signed by the Hon’ble the President,

as expressing generally the opinions or feelings of the meeting :—

Memorandum.

Ati to 10 p. m. the proceedings of the Society were interrupted by two or three

slight vertical shakes or heaves, with a noise like the rumbling of a passing carriage,

and one strong horizontal shake from East to West, or from N. E.toS. W. The

whole took place within about half a minute of time. H. T. Prinsep.

We may add, that the Barometer stood about half an hour afterwards at 30°5, and

the Thermometer at 80°. The weather was squally with light showers at times from

the East, but clear and cool in the intervals. The exact time at which the shock

took place was, as will appear from the following note from Mr. E. Gray, Watch-

maker, 9h. 38m. p. mM.

To ascertain the exact time as nearly as possible, Mr. Piddington addressed a Note

to Mr. Gray. His reply is as follows :—

Dear Sir,—I did note the time when the Earthquake took place. It ceased at 9h.

38m. Pp. mM. My clocks, as you may suppose, required my immediate attention, and I

found their weights swinging in a direction somewhat from the North of the East

point to the South of West, but from which of these quarters it came, I cannot pretend

to say. Yours most obediently,

15th November, 1842. E. Gray.

A paper, being a first article of ‘‘ Contributions towards a History of the Develop-

ment of the Mineral Resources of India,” by S. G. Tottemacne Hearty, Esa,

was presented, and referred to the Editor of the Journal for publication.

* No trace of this work could be found, and the Calcutta Persian literati doubt of its exist-

ence. Two extracts, one from the Ewatee-oos-Seir and the other from the Herat-ul-Hecmut, were

sent to Lieut. Baird Smith by the Secretary.

1202 Asiatic Society. [ No. 132.

Two papers of ‘‘ Notes, principally Geological, from Bellary to Bijaporein Southern

India,’’ by Capt. Newson, of the Madras Army, were also presented, and referred

to the Editor of the Journal for publication.

A letter from Capt. Bocte, Commissioner at Arracan, accompanying a copy of a

‘* Report from Lieut. Tratr, of the Quarter-master General’s Department, under

date 12th April 1826, on the Route from Pakung Yeh in Ava to Aeng in Arracan,

as pursued by a Detachment of British Troops under the Command of Capt. Ross,

M. A.” was read. The Report was referred to the Editor of the Journal for publi-

cation.

For all the foregoing Communications, the thanks of the Society were ordered to

be returned.

Read the following report from the Curator :—

Sir,—The interval since our last Meeting has not been signalized by much in

the way of discovery of new species of animals, nor have many species been added

to the Museum which it did not previously contain; but much has been done to-

wards completing the required series of specimens of various species already possessed,

and acquisitions of the first and second kinds above noticed have not been wanting.

In the class of Mammalia especially, here so difficult to obtain recent specimens

of, have been added a Neelghai, an Axis Deer, a fine specimen of the adult male

Felis Chaus, one of Viverricula Indica, a young Monkey (Macacus Rhesus), of

which, though common in Bengal, we did not previously possess an example, a young

Mungoose (Herpestes griseus), and a considerable number of Bats, shot by myself,

and comprising at least some, if not several, undescribed species.

From the Barrackpore menagerie, has been received a recent male Neelghai ( Por-

tax pictus), and a male Silver Pheasant (Phasitanus Nycthemerus ).

From P. Homphray, Esq., an emasculated Axis Deer (Cervus Axis), accompanied.

by a note from which I extract the following particulars, and refer the reader to

my remarks on the growth of antlers in castrated Deer, published in p. 598, ante.

“Mr. H. had this Deer castrated in June, 1839, on account of his being extremely

vicious : two or three weeks after the operation, he dropped his horns, and new ones grew

in their place, since which he has not shed his horns. Mr. H. need scarcely mention

that Deer when castrated do not afterwards [apud Buffon] renew their horns, except

as Mr. H. supposes in the present case [the preparatory processes for] the formation

of the new horns had commenced before castration; after which operation, the skin

of the horns does not peel off as it does in all other cases when the horns arrive at

maturity, but continues to grow on thick and fleshy. Mr. H. has another castrated

Deer of the same species alive, whose horns are in the same state as those now sent,

and he also shed his horns once after castration.”

The specimen of C. Avis presented by that gentleman to the Society has the horns

of normal shape, and of tolerable size, but imperfectly developed towards their ex-

tremities, particularly rugous, and the thickened skin which invests them is almost

totally denuded of hair,

1842. ] Asiatic Society. 1208

From J. Stalkart, Esq.

A fine recent specimen of the male Felis Chaus:

Ditto of Viverricula Indica : and

A beautiful Lory (Lorius grandis, vel puniceus of Gmelin).

From R. W. G. Frith, Esq.

A frontlet of Cervus Duvaucellii :

Ditto, with abnormal antlers, of C. Hippelaphus : and

A living female of Gallinula lugubris.

From Dr. Mouatt,

A Bat: and

A small collection of Insects from Darjeeling.

From J. Heatly, Esq.

Three bottles of Snakes, believed to be from the collection of Dr. Russell, and probably

the individuals figured in his celebrated work on Indian Serpents. Two of the

species, however, are very common jin this neighbourhood; viz. the Coluber dhamna

and Tropidonotus dora, and the third is Bungurus annularis, Daudin, or the Bun-

garum Pamah of Russell, pl. III.

Of the species collected by myself, the most interesting are two Falconide, which

I have been fortunate enough to shoot in the neighbourhood : viz.

The European Hobby Falcon (Falco Subbuteo): and

A splendid adult male of Spizetus niveus (vy. Nisdetus Nipalensis, Hodgson),

- having the white under-parts beautifully lineated with black.*

With much respect,

Sir,

I remain, yours obediently,

E. Biyrtu.

Report of the Curator of the Museum of Economic Geology, for September and

October, 1842.

I regret to say that illness has prevented my doing much in September and part of

October, but in recompense we have many additions to record.

Museum Economic Geology.—We have received from Lieut. Yute, Executive En-

gineer, Cherra Poonjee, a capital set of drawings of the process of procuring and

manufacturing the Iron Ores of that locality, with a very complete suite of specimens

to accompany them, and an able paper, giving full accounts of the work, cost, &c.

From Capt. TREMENHEERE, B. E., we have to acknowledge two boxes of Tin Ore

from Tenasserim, with one of the decomposing granites which form its matrix. Also, a

very complete assortment of specimens of timber, with a bottle of the Theetsee Varnish

and a sample of Gum Kino. The note relative to all these has not been yet received, so

that I am unable to label and place them on the table. They will appear at the next

meeting. Captain Tremenheere also suggests that our acknowledgments for contri-

butions should be in some form like that of the accompanying engraved letter of the

Royal Geological Society.

* IT have since obtained other examples of this species, the most remarkable of which is a fine old

female entirely of a dusky-black colour, with a dash of grey on its upper-parts. This was paired

with a male of an ordinary colour.

1204 Asiatic Society. [No. 1382.

Lieut. Riguy, B. E., has sent us from Cuttack, a valuable assortment of the Build-

ing Materials, stone, timber and iron,) used in that province, with a very complete

memorandum accompanying them.

Mr. Incx, Salt Agent at Burrisal, has forwarded us another block of wood perforated

by the destructive Worm of the rivers of that quarter, with two bottles of the River

Water. This last I am collecting for every month in the year at the two extremities of

the Deltas, those of the Megna and Ganges, so as to obtain some approximate notion

of the quantity of silt carried to the ocean by our rivers; a problem of the highest

interest to geology.

Mineralogical and Geological.—Captain NEwso tp, of the Madras Army, a zealous

friend to these researches, has presented us with a collection of 150 specimens, Minera-

logical and Geological, from Egypt, Aden, and Southern India, and has added greatly

to their value, by a detailed descriptive catalogue, of great interest.

I have, as before stated, been wholly occupied with our minerals, which are now so

far on the road to arrangement, that they are in groups and families, so as to allow me to

place from all our old collections such specimens asare of value, or serve to fill up

blanks: a work of much time and labour, from the scattered and confused state of the

old collection, which is such, that the most valuable specimens are often the most

difficult to find. H. PrppineTon,

Museum, \st Nov. 1842. Cur. Mus. Econ. Geol.

With reference to the ornamental letter recommended by Capt. TrEMENHEERE, it

was determined that the Society’s engraved Plate might be used for the letters of |

the Museum with a lithographed addition.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

(Friday Evening, 9th December, 1842.)

‘The Honorable the President in the Chair.

The following list of Books, presented and purchased was read, and the thanks of

the Society voted to the donors.

Books presented to the Library of the Asiatic Society, at the Meeting on the 9th

December, 1842.

The Calcutta Christian Observer, new series, December, 1842, vol. IlI, No. 26,

1 pamph.

The Oriental Christian Spectator, 2nd series. Bombay, September and October,

1842, vol. LI1, Nos. 9 and 10, 2 pamph.

The Calcutta Literary Gleaner, December 1842, vol. I, No. X, 1 pamph.

Journal des Savans, Juin, 1842. Paris, 1 pamph.

Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, by Professor Jameson, 1842, No. 65, | vol.

Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1841, vol. XI, parts 1 and 2,

2 vols.

1842. | Asiatic Society. 1206

Journal Asiatique, 3rd series. Paris, Aout a Decembre, 1841, tome XII, Nos. 66 4

69, et Janvier, Febre. Mars, 1842, tome XIII, Nos. 70, 71, and 72, 7 pamph.

Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, 1841-42, vol. I11, pt. 2nd, Nos.

78 to 83, 1 pamph.

Hamilton’s Address to the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1842, 1 pamph.

Voyage au tour du Monde par les Mers de L’Inde et de Chine de M. Laplace.

Paris, 1839, tome V. 1 vol.

Darwin’s Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. London, 1842, 1 vol. Pur-

chased.

A very curious Coat of chain mail, with rows of plate of thick tortoise-shell, worn

by the Dayaks of Borneo, was presented by B. Ropyx, Esq. Registrar of Malacca,

through Dr. Griffith. |

A letter from S. Mornay, Esq. was read, tendering for sale a collection of Mine-

rals for Co’s. Rs. 200. Upon the report of the Curator of the Museum Economic

Geology, that a part were of much rarity, or desirable as filling up blanks in the Mi-

neralogical Series, it wasreferred to the Committee of Papers to arrange, if possible,

for the purchase of this part.

Upon the recommendation of-Mr. Biyru, the sum of ten Rs. each, was allowed to

the principal and assistant Taxidermists, on account of the very heavy extra work of

the month of November, in their department.

Two letters from Mr. Barren, C. 8. Assistant Commissioner, Kemaon, were read,

announcing the dispatch of the interesting Journal of Lieut. Weller, B. E. bring-

ing Capt. Herbert and Manson’s Account of the Jowahir Pass into a complete

form, and promising, if possible, to send an account of the Dhurma and Bhy-

anse Passes into Thibet, so that with Mr. Batten’s own account of the Neetee

Pass, (erroneously printed in the Journal as Mr. Benson’s,) a nearly thorough

topographical and scientific Description of the Passes of this interesting country

will be completed.

Mr. Batten’s second letter announces the dispatch of some more of Captain

Herbert’s Journal. The MSS. had been received, and were exhibited. The

thanks of the Society were tendered to Mr. Batten and to Lieut. Weller, for their

very zealous co-operation.

A highly interesting paper by Captain Tuomas Hutton, B. N, I. on the habits of

a large species of Galeodes, called by him Galeodes vorax, from its killing and de-

youring small lizards, and even killing young musk rats and small birds, though

not devouring these (warm-blooded) animals, was presented and read. Referred

1206 Asiatic Society. [No. 182.

to the Secretary to be printed in an early number of the Journal, with the thanks

of the Society to Captain Hutton.

A paper on a new genus of Falconide, by B. H. Hovcson, Esq. Resident at

Kathmandoo, with a note by the Zoological Curator, Mr. Blyth, was also presented,

and referred to the Journal for publication.

A summary description of two new species of flying Squirrel, by B. H. Hoveson,

Esq. Resident at Kathmandoo, was also referred to the Journal.

Monograph of Indian species of Bats, of the restricted genus VesrEerRTix110, by E.

Buytu, Esq. Curator, was also presented, and referred to the Journal for publication.

For all these papers and presentations, the thanks of the Society were voted.

Report of the Curator Museum of Economic Geology for the month of November.

Museum Economic Geology—Our contributions for this month are, Capt. Tre-

menheere’s second series from Mergui, comprising the decomposing Granites which

form the matrix of the Tin ores of Kahun at that settlement These were alluded

to in my last report, and I have only to add, that Capt. Tremenheere’s paper is in

the hands of the Printer, the plan which accompanies it in those of the lithographer,

and the specimens will be, as suggested by the Military Department, divided for

sending to the Court of Directors.

We have also, from the same zealous contributor, a set of fifteen specimens of

various kinds of ‘Timber and Woods from Mergui, with a bottle of the Theet-see

Varnish, and a specimen of the Gum Kino of that locality, of which, as I learn from

Mr. Thomson, of the house of Scott Thomson and Co. considerable quantities are

now sending, or have been sent, to Europe.

We have from Capt. Baker, Superintendent of the Doab Canal, five specimens of

Cement, Kunkurs, and Limestones from the Dehli Canal, and other localities in the

N. W. Provinces.

The Museum has been referred to by Lieut. Guthrie, from Cachar, relative to some

specimens of Stalagmitic Limestone found near that place, and to some water which

drips from the rocks where it is formed. The Limestone is a common stalagmitic

concretion, and the water contains a little Sulphuretted Hydrogen.

Geological and Mineralogical.—We are proceeding here with our work of ar-

ranging the Minerals, but the want of the new cases which are sanctioned by the

Committee, impedes us in some degree.

We have no Geological or Mineralogical contributions for this month.

H. PipDINGTON,

Museum, \st December, 1842. Cur. Mus. Econ. Geol.

H. Torrens Esa.

Secretary, Asiatic Society.

Sir,—I beg to represent to you the absolute necessity for two more cases in the

Mineralogical and Geological department of the Museum.

1842. | Asiatic Society. 1207

2. I am already so far advanced with the classification of our rich stores of Minerals,

that I have them arranged in genera and families, but even without room for what we

have, (for the cases are now too full,) without room for the deficient Minerals to

complete our series, and without any chance of room for our valuable fossil shells and

other delicate organic remains; we have none for the various contributions which are

arriving or promised us from all parts: I have far more, even in geological series,

than would fill every vacant corner !

The expence of the two cases will be 106 Rs. complete.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

31st October, 1842. H. Pippineron,

Curator, Museum Economic Geology.

Mason W. M.N. Srurt,

Offg. Secy. to Govt. of India, Military Dept.

Sir,—lI have the honour by direction of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, to acknow-

ledge the receipt of your letter No. 178, dated the 14th ultimo, with its enclosure.

2. In requesting you to convey the thanks of the Society to the H. the P. in C. for

this mark of his attention, I am desired at the same time to state for the information

of H. H. in C. that the Society will have pleasure in complying with the wishes of

Government, by publishing as early as possible the dispatch from the Surveyor Gene-

ral of India, containing the final report upon the operations for measuring an Arc of

the Meridian carried through the centre of the Peninsula to the Northern confines of

Hindoostan.

3. To ensure the necessary accuracy, the Society would prefer printing the report

under the supervision of either Lieut.-Col. Everest, or an Officer of his nomination,

and I am accordingly desired to suggest, that Lieut.-Col. Everest may be invited to

mention to whom he would wish the proofs to be sent for correction before they are

finally printed.

. 4, Lieut.-Col. Everest’s Dispatch will be returned when it is no longer required,

accompanied with a few printed copies of the Report, as requested, for the purposes

specified. : I have, &c.

The 24th November, 1842. H. Torrens.

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NOTICE.

The Editor begs to refer his readers to the Intro-

ductory notice which precedes the only article of

which this number is composed. Possessed, almost

against all hope, of the power of publishing this valu-

able document, his wish has of course been to give it

as speedily as possible; but he feels that as all his sub-

scribers are not equally interested in the subject of

which it treats, the occupation with it of one whole

number of the Journal which they support, would be

an unfair return for the substantial aid in matters of

general science which he has received from so many

among them.

He has therefore resolved, (printing this year 13 in-

stead of 12 numbers of the Journal,) to offer the extra

number containing Capt. Herbert’s Report to them

without any charge. Ty

N. B.—The labour of emendation of the Report has

devolved entirely upon Mr. Piddington, Curator in

the Mineralogical and Geological Department to our

Society, to whose scientific knowledge, and critical

ingenuity, we are indebted for the elucidation of ma-

ny passages, which would otherwise have been hardly

intelligible, owing to the defective text.

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of orig: ot 98d, aries Yo. earl thatwe ag

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pie . 5 3 vide cot fi ote gare Uloups te

one ; abe (0.4040 ‘dates: oltequ980 ot zt

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ae,

Be at elles rel 7M nog ig .

ee Ue ot yesmuneg aE Jssigotgod boo ladige

; Insider how: apbol von ‘oitiaereing seordue OF

im mat Vth a ps

* ~80th ‘Yo. soitabiouts oft wit boidaban 18:9 oe

os eral ag wait sei pind hinow. daira. oe

; gaa asc one ! Spas auiiostoh bab at gine 2 2 (dé

ie ‘ a :

EXTRA NUMBER.

[Issued gratis to Members of the Society, and to Subscribers to the Journal. |

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

Report of the Mineralogical Survey of the Himmalaya Mountains lying

between the Rivers Sutlej and Kalee. Illustrated by a Geological Map,*

By Captain J. D. Herzperr, Superintendent.

To some of our Indian, and to many of our European readers, it may be

necessary to explain the circumstances which gave rise to the following

- report, and those under which it has so long remained unpublished.

Captain Herbert of the Bengal Infantry, Deputy Surveyor General of Ben-

gal, and Superintendent of Kemaon Surveys, was appointed by the Govern-

_ mentof India, then under the Marquis of Hastings, to undertake a Minera-

logical Survey of that part of the Himalya Mountains, which form the Bri-

tish Frontier to the North-West; but it would appear that this was not

fully executed, though much was done; and the elements of much more

which might have been accomplished at a small expence were already col-

lected.

Captain Herbert, after editing for three years the valuable Gleanings in

Science, the parent of our Journal, was appointed Astronomer to the King of

_ Oude, whither he proceeded, but enjoyed for a very short time his post,

dying of an apoplectic attack in 1833.

When our present Curator of the Museum of Economic Geology, Mr.

Piddington, assumed temporary charge of the Museum, he found 12 cases fil-

led with what were well known by the Assistants to be ‘“‘ Captain Herbert’s

specimens,” but beyond this fact, not a line of Catalogue, Journal, or Note

relating to the specimens could be discovered ; It became then an object of

great importance to the Society, and to Science, to trace out, if possible, any

records which could throw light upon this valuable collection, and after a per-

severing search of eighteen months by the Secretary and himself, their labour

was rewarded, first by the discovery of five volumes of Captain Herbert’s

Notes, which had been carried into Kemaon! but fortunately left there in

the care of a zealous friend to Science, and a valuable associate of the So-

* See Introductory Remarks,

ii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126.*

ciety, Mr. J. H. Batten of the Civil Service; next, by that of the report now

published (to which Captain Herbert’s paper on the Mineral Resources of

the Himalaya in the Physical Transactions, Vol. XVIII. is a sequel,) and

through the report, by the knowledge that his geological map, and plans

of the river basins of that part of the Himalaya, exist in the records of the

India House. It is needless to add, that no time has been lost in request-

ing copies of these valuable documents from home.

It remains but to add a word on the lacunee which it will be perceived

occur so frequently in the first pages of the MSS. These are owing to

some corrosive liquid having so far destroyed the manuscript that it

has been sometimes necessary to fill it up altogether conjecturally, but at

other places there are enough of words or letters left to assure us, that we

were not far from the very words used by Captain Herbert. It will be

noted, that all our emendations are distinguished both by italics and by

brackets.

INTRODUCTION.

1. It has been my intention to give, in the accompanying paper, such

a general sketch of the geological features of the mountain tract between

the Kalee and the Sutlej Rivers, as the series of partial and scattered

observations which I have yet been able to make will allow. In the

absence of every thing like information, such a sketch, though necessa-

rily imperfect, and even premature, will not be perhaps without interest.

It will at least serve to exhibit to the Government, who have so favorably

distinguished me, the nature and extent of my labours since entering on

this duty, and also to mark out the train of investigation which they

have suggested to me.

As such I offer it, but with diffidence. Geology, as a science, has not

yet attracted in India that attention which its importance merits, and |

it would be futile in me to deny that, till selected for this duty, I had

but a slender acquaintance with the subject. While exploring the local

phenomena of this tract I have been in reality studying the principles

of the science; an advantage in so far as I may hope to have escaped

the trammels of system. But on this account I have also laboured

under some disadvantages, inasmuch as a premature account like the

present, of an unfinished survey, may be expected to lie under some im-

perfections, which a little more technical knowledge on my part might

perhaps have removed. “ But a survey that shall accomplish every thing,

must be a work of time, nor will any thing be contributed towards it by

1842. | | of the Himmalaya Mountains. lil

him, who fearful of being wrong where as yet it is impossible to be

always right, and unsatisfied with the best he is able to attain, delays

the record of his observations to the period of perfection.’ Should it

be considered as redeeming in any degree the pledge of industry and

zeal, which my acceptance of such an appointment must have held out,

I shall consider its chief end answered.

3. Hereafter, when a more enlarged field of observation shall be

attained, I trust I shall be able to make it more worthy the attention of

the scientific geologist. Having once put on record what has been

done, and digested it into something like a regular form, it will be easy

to add to it as my researches extend and become more particular. One

part will throw light on another. A particular fact carefully observed,

may sometimes lead to a happy generalisation, and in this way many

deficiencies will I hope be supplied which must necessarily attend so

early an effort. In the meantime, imperfect as it is, this paper will

have its uses. By exhibiting what has been done, it will shew what

remains to do, and it will serve as a guide to direct any future labours,

by pointing out in what quarter interesting facts may, or may not be

expected to occur.

4, Considered as a geological description of these mountains, many

blanks will be observed. For besides that, it was impossible in so short

a time to go over every part of them, there is a difficulty peculiar to

this quarter which very much interferes with geological investigation.

This is the total absence of every kind of excavation calculated to

afford information, whether mines, roads, or quarries. The former, few

as they are, are inaccessible to any but those accustomed to them from

their infancy. The total length of roads as yet laid open, does not

much exceed 150 miles, and such is the light thrown on the subject

along the different lines as to render it still more a matter of regret

that we have not greater access in this way to the actual rocks, the

nature of which is often only to be guessed at. Of quarries there are

absolutely none, for the province, though possessing excellent limestone,

slate, and other productions, capable of being turned to account, had

been, up to the period of our conquest, so wretchedly misgoverned, as to

have occasioned resources of this kind to lie utterly neglected. From

the consequent difficulty of determining in many cases the nature

or relations of the rocks, some particulars have necessarily been taken

iv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [Non 26*

for granted without actual examination, which in this case would have

been impossible. |

5. In the Geological Map I have laid down much that has not been

actually examined, as might be concluded from what I have stated in

my letter to Government, paragraph 7. To refuse to employ those

generalisations which the experience of all geologists has shewn to be

well-founded, is to forfeit the advantages derivable from the labours of

our predecessors, and to impose on ourselves the task of reconstructing

the whole science from our own materials. When the same rock has been

found on the line of direction in every point in which it has been examined

I have deemed myself justified in laying down that rock as continuous

through those points. Even at the termination of the survey, many

conclusions of this nature must be taken for granted; for it has been

well observed, that ‘no human patience would suffice for the examina-

tion of every piece of rock that projects through the surface.” And,

even were that effected, still much must be taken for granted, especially

in these mountains, the rocks being concealed, as they so often are, by

deep collections of debris, and covered by luxuriant coats of vegetation.

I was, however, in a very early stage of the survey, taught to except

from this conclusion granite, as being a rock the occurrence or non-

occurrence of which in any particular spot I found I could never pre-

dict with any certainty. Limestone also I found seldom could be depend-

ed on for any distance, forming always beds in other rocks, and never

appearing under those relations which I conceive necessary to constitute

a principal [ formation. ]

6. The elevations expressed in the sections,* have been determined

by barometrical measurement, a method which unless under favorable

circumstances, and with great facilities [is liable to error, but| the

degree of accuracy attained is sufficient for the purpose, as it is a

matter of no importance whatever whether the place of a rock be

assigned fifty feet below, or above, its real level. ‘They are as correct I

believe as geological sections ever are, and certainly sufficiently correct

to answer all the purposes for which they are required. The fixed

points determined by the Trigonometrical Survey have been always

* I regret that the circumstances under which this report has been prepared, have

prevented the preparation of these. ‘They are, however, more than half finished, and

shall be forwarded with as little delay as possible.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. | Vv

used when they fell in the line, and they have not unfrequently been

found of value as terms of comparison by which to judge of the ac-

curacy of the barometrical results.

[The nomenclature adopted, is that of MacCulloch’s| Hebrides. It were

no doubt very much to be desired, that a system of nomenclature found-

ed altogether on mineralogical distinctions, (like Brogniart’s for instance,)

should be generally received by geologists. It would save much useless

and cumbrous description. ‘Till such a reform, however, be introduced,

the safest plan is to follow the example given in the above work, of

noticing and describing correctly every compound included under any

general head or term, as constituting a distinct geological formation.

By this means the danger of confusion is entirely obviated.

Silt, sand, gravel, or boulder stones which are evidently derived from

the breaking up of pre-existing rocks, and are of the latest formation,

are all comprehended by Dr. MacCulloch, under the term “ alluvium of

transport.” Professor Buckland was, I believe, the first to establish in a

satisfactory manner, that there are deposits which may be discriminated

as originating im two distinct causes, either in the action of the present

rivers of the globe, or of a mighty rush of waters or deluge, far surpass-

ing the greatest effect of rivers as they exist at present even in their

highest floods. To the former, the term alluvium is restricted. The

[latter he distinguishes by the term diluvium, and though this cause may

not have operated on every occasion, yet it is always useful to] bear it in

mind. Its reality im some particular cases is too obvious, at ieast in

this quarter, to escape the notice of the most indifferent, or even pre-

judiced observer. I have therefore adopted these terms, considering

them conducive to precision, and as having the sanction of such high

authority. The angular fragments and rubbish, which are general-

ly found either in their original position or only so far removed as

may be traced to the action of gravity, are termed by Dr. MacCulloch,

“alluvium in situ,” and “ alluvium of descent.” 1 have ventured to use

the term debris.

9. In the mineralogical details, I have adopted the nomenclature late-

ly proposed in the system of Professor Mohs of Freyberg. The syno-

nyms in this science have, it must be confessed, become too numerous,

and the knowledge of them forms a very considerable part of the little

that is to be learned from what are called systems of Mineralogy. To

v1 Report of the Mineralogical Survey (No712675

adopt, then, a new set of terms may seem like increasing the difficulty of

making ourselves intelligible, and wilfully adding to the confusion. But

amongst the old names, there are none generally received, all being origin-

ally imposed in an arbitrary {manner.] But m the new terminology there

are legitimate grounds for selection, the names being connected with a

system of arrangement, which, if it be not all that could be wished, is

yet extremely convenient. ‘They express in a greater or less degree,

the relations which these minerals have to each other; in other words,

‘their places in the system.

There appears also little doubt but that, eventually, this system alk

be universally adopted, and those names supersede the present barbar-

ous collection, not more puzzling by their numbers, than objectionable

for the total want of euphony, and [J have] given some account of

the mineral productions considered in an economical point of view, and

with reference to the question of the due development of the resources

of these provinces. Their value is not to be correctly estimated in

the present condition of the country. When an improved system of

government shall have had time to produce its full fruits in the in-

crease of the population, and the improvement of its habits, in exciting

a taste for the arts and conveniences of civilized life, and in effecting

ready modes of communication, and effectual means of transport, it will

be seen how many and [how vast are the resources which here present]

themselves, which [under good] management, might be made sufficiently

productive to become worthy of attention to a Government: disposed

to improve its resources and to leave no source of revenue neglected.

11. Gold and silver have in every age been sought after with avidity

as the most prolific sources of national wealth. Nothing, however, can

be more certain, than that, in reality, they are the least productive of all

the several different mineral resources. ‘The comparatively small quan-

tity in which these metals are found, and the greater expence in raising

them, satisfactorily account for this apparent paradox. In South [Ame-

rica this is well known to the] speculators in mines. It is there a com-

mon saying, that a copper mine is a fortune, a silver one scarcely pays

itself, but a gold mine is ruin.” .

12. It is not then as considering the existence of the precious metals

as the most promising, or the most productive, that I would lay stress on

the great probability which there is of the discovery of a mine of gold

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. | Vil

within these provinces. The reasons on which this probability rests,

will be found in the Supplementary Paper.* Whether the discovery

may in any reasonable period reward the zeal of an enquirer, or may

wait finally that advanced stage of improvement in [which all the resour-

ces of a country are carefully and accurately explored is a problem, the]

solution of which it were vain to seek. But of the actual existence of

the metal within these mountains, no one can doubt who will read the

few details I have given.

13. In the copper, lead, and iron, however, in which the province

abounds, may be found a more tangible, as well as more productive

source of wealth. It is certain that the former metal exists in very con-

siderable quantity, and for the iron, nothing is wanting but a proper

system of management to render it superior to that of England. To

-her repositories of these metals, of tin, and of the mineral coal, is Eng-

land mainly indebted, [for her vast wealth and power ; and it is strange

that they should be neglected in India, as if] the truly valuable minerals

were. the gold of Potosi, or the diamonds of Brazil and Golconda.

Why they should not here equally prove mines of wealth, if properly

managed, appears difficult to understand. With the ore in abundance,

fuel, and other means of reduction at hand, labour cheap, a very short

line of mountain carriage, and half of that a line of made road, what is

there, but capital and skill required to produce any quantity of the

metal, and considerably under the present market price?

14. But these though probably the most productive, are not the only

mineral sources of wealth ‘i : * >

nearly its weight of silver, as even though it should not all prove to be

of such first rate quality, yet the inferior kinds are also of such

extensive use and application, as to render it a truly valuable deposit.

Quarries also of marble, of slate, of potstone, of gypsum, supplies of

sulphur, of sulphate of iron, and of alum are found. The trade in borax is

well worthy of attention, and no doubt the whole supply of Europe

might be drawn through these mountains. If to these be added other

articles of trade and consumption, such as timber, hemp, bees’ wax,

wool, and live stock, as sheep, &c. it will readily be acknowledged in

* Captain Herbert alludes here to his paper on ‘* the Mineral Productions of the

Himmalaya Mountains, “ p. 236 Part I. Vol, XVIII. Trans. As. Socy.—Ep.

Vil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126.*

contemplating these [provinces, that they are by no means so barren or so

worthless as may at first sight appear.| The indigenous population is

not likely speedily to improve, or to enter into these views, at least

without the support of European capital and the example of European

enterprise. And certainly, if the experiment of European colonization

is ever to be tried m India, we cannot select a better spot than these

mountains, whether we consider the favorable nature of the climate,

the great room for European improvements, the quantity of available

land, or lastly, the nursery which such a colony might form of a hardy

and warlike race to which we might in the hour of need owe the safety

of the empire. [But these views may be by many thought] visionary, and

(J now] turn to notice, before concluding these preliminary remarks, one

other probable source of wealth, which though not, strictly speaking, be-

longing to these districts, is yet at no great distance from them; and to the

discovery of which, should it be discovered, the geological investigations

now going on must furnish the key. I allude to the strong reasons I

have brought forward for believing in the existence of coal in some part

of the Dooab ; such a discovery would indeed be more valuable than that

of a mine of the precious metals. In the great scarcity of fire wood,

[this mineral] would be invaluable. When we consider too how completely

the Dooab is adapted by nature to the ready formation of a complete

system of internal communication, we shall be convinced that it would

be sufficient to give an astonishing impetus to the march of im-

provement, and effect probably in a few years such a change as is

difficult to form even an idea of at the present moment.

The following paper may be conveniently divided into five sections,

the subject of each being as follows :—

1. Physical aspect and arrangement of the surface.

2. Geological details.

3. Recapitulation of the preceding, or general view of the geological

structure.

4. Conclusion; with notices of the most remarkable features of the

preceding general view as compared with systems, and with observation

in other countries.

5. Mineral productions, comprising an account of the mines, method

of working, and suggestions for their improvement.*

* See Note at p. vi.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. 1x

Of these the second being the most voluminous, and consisting entire-

ly of practical details, can only be interesting to a professed geologist.

[Jt is mu intention hereafter to label and refer each rock specimen of the

large collection] I have made to the account of its occurrence as here

given, by number, so that, when the paper is studied with the cabinet

to refer to, I consider that it will give as correct an idea of the geology

of the province as could be had by actually travelling over it. And

there will be the further benefit that the experienced geologist will be

able to correct any mistakes into which I may have fallen, either through

inadvertence or want of knowledge. |

The first section constitutes a detailed and systematic account of the

Physical Geography of this district, being the first ever given. Such a

view independent of [its connection with the geological details, to the

full comprehension of which it is absolutely necessary, is also much]

called for as a contribution to general Geography, the latest works pub-

lished being singularly deficient in details on this subject, as well as

erroneous in the few that are given. As an example, I would refer to

Mr. Meyer’s Geography, a very costly and bulky work, lately pub-

lished, and to Brewster’s and Rees’ Cyclopeedias, (Art. Himalaya and

Physical Geography.) In none of these works is a clear idea obtainable

of the physical features of this interesting quarter of the globe. I could

have wished to have had a little more [time for the systematic arrange-

ment of the facts and opinions in this] division, and I intend to improve

and extend it considerably hereafter.

- The geological reflections with which the paper concludes are, I am

_ sensible, those in which I stand most in need of candid criticism. The

early period at which I have been obliged to draw them up, the

want of books of reference, till within the last two months that I have

been in Calcutta, and the necessity of attending to the arrangement,

digestion, and revision of the other parts of the report during this time,

thus distracting my attention ; added to the anxiety I have felt to [do

justice to| the subject will, I trust, plead some excuse for the deficiencies

observable in it. Altogether, indeed, I would state as a sufficient apo-

logy for the errors which may be found doubtless in every part of the

paper, the great hurry entailed upon me in the preparation of the fair

copy owing to the difficulties and perplexities originating in circum-

stances which I have explained in my letter accompanying.

Xx Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*,

But these hindrances are now I trust at an end, and with the assist-

ance so liberally granted me, I am not without hopes of improving and

adding to this paper so [as to rexder it not altogether discreditable to

myself, and I trust such as may] embolden me to look forward to the

patronage of Government in the eventually contemplated act of publi-

cation.

SKETCH OF THE GEOLOGY OF THE HIMMALAYAS.

Srcrion I.

1. Previously to entering on the detailed description which is to

be the subject of this paper, it will be necessary to take a general but

cursory view of the Geography of Central Asia. This great country, so

interesting in every point of view, constitutes it is probable, whether

we consider its physical aspect, or its geological structure, a system,

or whole, without [some general view of which to assist us, none of its]

parts can be fully [comprehended.] It is in their connection with this

singular country that we shall see some of the most interesting re-

lations of the tract in question. Nor does it appear possible to obtain

a clear and connected idea of those relations, without extending our

view to the great whole, of which our mountain provinces form but a part.

2. Unfortunately, however, so deep is the obscurity which covers

the Physical Geography of Central Asia, that little is to be done beyond

offering probable guesses on many of the most important points. The

[accounts of geographers and travellers, even those lately given to the]

public, are so meagre as to leave us little to glean. And even in that

little they are frequently so contradictory, that it is not easy to obtain

any thing like certainty, except as to a few leading features.* Even

1. It is quite astonishing how little we know even of countries comparatively easy

of access, and often visited, I mean of their physical features. Of Persia we do not

to this day know the elevations of its great plains and mountain ranges. ‘Of Cabul

we are equally ignorant. It would appear as if observations, amongst the easiest to

be made, and requiring little skill or ability, have yet a mysterious terror for the

otherwise most intelligent and able travellers. Our ignorance is the more provoking,

as very near approximations to truth may be made in all the several results required

by Physical Geography, with very slender means, and scarcely any science: how

much may be done by a traveller possessed of only a pocket sextant, a good watch,

a thermometer, and a pocket compass.

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Xl

these will throw perhaps some light on the subject, and will at all

events enable us to take a view of this tract, altogether different

from what has hitherto been adopted.

3. If we [consider the map of Asia, we shall be struck with the ap-

pearance of a] large central space, which is strongly marked by the cir-

cumstance of being but little intersected by rivers, while yet on every

side innumerable streams flow from it, and unite to form.some of the

largest rivers of the Old World. The Amur, the Hoangho, the Yangtse-

Kiang, the Maykaung, the Maygive, the Irrawaddy, the Kiendun, the

Burampooter, the Ganges, the Indus, the Oxus, the Jaxartes, the Obi,

the Jenisei, and the Lena surround with their sources this tract, and

with courses varying from 1,200 to 3,000 miles in length, radiate from

it to the surrounding seas in every direction.

4. Inasmuch as the source of every river must be higher than

any other part of its course, it is just to infer, that the zone in which

these rivers originate is higher than the plains through which [they

flow] to seek the Ocean. [Their] lengths of course may be consider-

ed to be, within certain limits, proportional to the elevation of the

source ; ‘we may further infer, that the line which connects the water-

heads of these great rivers, must be of very considerable elevation,

compared with other parts of Asia external to that line.

5. We know from observation, that the tract in which are found the

sources of the Ganges, the Indus, the Oxus, the Obi, the Jenisei, and

the Lena, is diversified by lofty mountains, some of them the highest

on the globe. The Himalaya, the Karakoorum, the Hindoo Koh, the

Beloor Tag, the Bogdo, the Alak, and the Altai mountains are all found

along this line. We are then entitled to infer, that this mountain zone

is in like manner continued to the 8. E. and to the E., consequently

that it completely surrounds the central tract.

6. Of the particular features of the interior, little is known. It has

been usual to call it a plateau, and to suppose it of very great elevation.

The great sandy desert of Cobi, which is known to occupy part of it,

affords some grounds for this appellation; but with regard to the con-

viction of its great elevation, this seems to have originated in incorrect

ideas of natural boundaries, and a consequent misapprehension of what

is, or is not the central plateau. [Jt has been] presumed that the [whole

line of | elevation along the mountain barrier above indicated should be

Xi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126%.

considered as the bounding limit, and that every point within this line

was entitled to the above appellation.

7. Captain Webb, amongst others, appears to have fallen into

this mistake in assigning the bed of the Sutlej (14,000 feet) as the

lowest level of the plateau,2 whereas the bed of the Sutle] belongs

to the Sinditic Basin, (so in MSS. qu: Jnditic ?) and is consequently part

of the barrier zone which surrounds the central tract. In like manner,

the country visited by Captain Turner, and commonly known as Thibet,

the description of which is generally adopted as that applicable to the

interior, must be considered also as part of the mountain barrier, since

it is watered by the streams or feeders of the Sanpo; which if it be not

the Burampooter, must be either the Kiendun, or the Irrawaddy.

8. Considered [as a question] of Physical Geography, [the true] line

of boundary is undoubtedly the chain of water-heads, and this is by

no means synonimous with the line of greatest elevation.4 It may be

that the central tract is not of such great elevation as has too hastily

been presumed. It may be that this presumption is correct ; the moun-

tain barrier which surrounds it serving, as in the [case] of the Ghats of

Malwa,° to [support] a high table land of tolerably even surface. But

however this be, it is not the less necessary to avoid confounding the

boundary tract of mountain land with the central included area.

9. Of other particulars we are equally ignorant ; what its rivers are, if

any; and whither they flow; some we do know [contribute to] certain

2 The Quarterly Review in reporting this fact, has not noticed the error, But this

work has never been celebrated for its disquisitions on physical or mathematical sub-

jects. In this particular article, and the abusive one on the same subject which

called for it, they are particularly open to censure. ‘The two productions form an

amusing contrast. :

3 The latter is D’Anville’s opinion, the former Rennel’s. The great mistake into

which this acute geographer fell regarding the course of the Sutlej and Ganges, na-

turally makes one distrustful of his authority on this point. The little light which the

employment of our troops to the Eastward has thrown on the subject, tends to add

strength to these doubts. '

4 This remark is not unnecessary, for it is a mistake made by many, who conceive

that because the source of a river must of necessity be higher than any part of its bed,

therefore all the elevations in its immediate neighbourhood must be higher than those

situated near a more advanced part of its course.

5. There is not however the analogy of geological structure to make this conclusion

probable. Malwa is of the trap or overlying formation one which has derived its

name from this peculiarity of structure, whereas all the evidence we have on the sub-

ject tends to support the opinion of this great circular barricr being composed by

primary rocks,

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. xi

lakes ; and some [we presume] are lost in the sands of the Great Desert.

But to obtain any thing like detail, on these and many other points, is

in the present obscurity of the subject impossible. Of its geological

structure, we have not an idea that is not purely hypothetical. And

yet, it may be averred, that the geology of Asia can never be rendered

fully intelligible, or even the science itself be placed on a firm basis,

till the whole of this tract be fully explored, and the rich mine of

illustrations, which it doubtless contains, be fully laid open.

10. Considered in its various relations to Asia, I might even say to the

Old World, it is undoubtedly the most interesting spot on the surface

of the globe, and it is certain that the traveller who shall first succeed in

developing these relations in all their bearings, will establish for himself

no inconsiderable name. Unfortunately for science, this task is not

likely to be soon effected. ‘The jealousy of the Chinese government, to

which the greater part of it belongs, opposing insurmountable obstacles

to the progress of investigation and discovery.’

Section II.

11. It appears [certain that] this central area—whether we call it a

plateau, a basin, or series of basins—is surrounded on all sides by a broad

zone of mountain land in which originate the great rivers of Asia. The

[tract] of which I am now to give a description, and which comprises all

the British possessions within the mountains, forms but an inconsider-

able portion either in length or breadth of this great Alpine belt. In

interest of description, however, it does not yield to any part of it. For

within its boundaries rise some of the most remarkable peaks of the

Himmalaya summits, not more celebrated in the annals of supersti-

tion than in those of science, and from its area spring the sources which

unite to form the Ganges. The sacred River! the fertiliser of pro-

6 That is of the interior.

7 Yhe extraordinary perseverance and intrepidity which distinguished the late

Mr. Moorcroft, bade fair to give us some knowledge of part of this country, certainly

of a great portion of the surrounding mountain tract, had his life been spared. Few

men have possessed in an equal degree the qualifications necessary to ensure a tra-

veller’s progress through those countries, and it is not likely that an enquiring spirit

like his would have rested while any thing remained to be learned, or any quarter

open to research presented itself. His premature death, while on the point of return-

ing to his countrymen, is much to be deplored. It is hoped that the materials col-

lected may yet be made available to the increase of our knowledge of those countries.

XV Report of the Mineralogical Survey (No. 126*.

vinces! the waters of which bear health and plenty through a course of

1,200 miles !

12. The boundaries of this tract are to the S. E. and N. W.; the

rivers Kalee and Sutlej; to the N. E. a line drawn from the Kala-

panee fountain, (one of the sources of the Kalee,) to the confluence

of the Tedong river with the Sutlej; and on the S. W. by a line

drawn from the Kalee, in latitude 29°, longitude 80° 8’, to Ropur, on

the Sutlej. These boundaries form a right-angled trapezium, the two

parallel and longest sides being directed about N. 60 W., the rect-

angular side being to the Eastward, and the oblique side to the N. W.,

forming angles of 50° and 130° with the parallels. The only excep-

tions to the regularity of these boundaries are: J]. A narrow strip

comprehending part of the vallies of the Sutle} and Speetee rivers,

which runs up as high as latitude 32°, and which is within the British

limits. 2. The valley of the Jahnuvi river, or right bank of the Bhagee-

rettee, which though included by the above boundary, is considered to

be part of Thibet.§

13. The length of the several bounding lines are as follows :—

1. "That facme the $. We 272 eee

DD \ eossinns eee. tte NG BL” Gaeenince LOO bear

Di andcnecc ee eee Ss Dis. wcnnenmnvorn OO EOE

2. pA DIA Bente apy NOW cece LOO citar

and the superficial extent in round numbers may be taken at 23,000

square miles. If we include the slip of plain country along the 5. W.

boundary, and which is geologically connected with it, the extent will

be about equal to that of England Proper.

14. The tract limited by the boundaries just particularised, may be

described as altogether mountainous. A few inconsiderable and level spots,

hardly to be called vallies, are found, but neither is their number or

extent such as to render any qualification of this description necessary.

8 The only village, called Choongsa or Neelung, owes also a nominal subjection to the

Rajahs of Gurhwal and Bissahir, whose countries are conterminous with this district.

The villagers are of the Thibetan race. ‘Their village consists of about sixty houses,

which are but little raised above the ground and flat roofed, on account of the

extreme violence of the winds which prevail in that quarter. It is situated on the

right bank of the Jahnuvi, in latitude 31° 8’, longitude 79° 5’, and has an elevation

of about 10,000 feet. ‘The river is about 100 feet broad, and from four to six feet

deep.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XV

In ruggedness of feature, it does not yield probably to any country in

the world, and such is the irregular and confused appearance, which

the endless ramification of its mountain ranges presents, that it is

with difficulty the unpractised observer can persuade himself that any

thing like order or regularity can be deduced out of such a seeming

- chaos.9

15. No continuous chain of elevations can be distinguished on a first

and cursory view; no great vallies, no table lands, nothing in fact to

lend a clue to the development of the mountain masses. The aspect,

from whatever height the country be viewed, is that of an assemblage of

elevated peaks, irregularly and confusedly heaped together. Even the

snowy chain, though defined to a certain degree by a phenomenon so

singular on a first view to the inhabitant of the plain country, loses on a

nearer approach all character of continuity and regularity, and appears

under the same confused and irregular aspect which the lower eleva-

tions are observed to bear.

16. It is only by tracing the courses of the rivers and their tributary

streams, that a clue can be found to lead the observer out of this laby-

rinth. By connecting their sources, and ‘by following out the devious

windings of the several feeders, an idea is obtained of the extent, the

direction, and the connection of the several ranges. Such an analysis,

(vide sketch of the great river basins,) will be found to modify consider-

ably the notions which the first view of this mountain tract from the

plains is calculated to give.

17. Instead of a succession of parallel and continuous ranges running

S. E. to N. W., and rising one behind another in regular array and

increasing elevation, till the series is closed in the farthest distance by

the line of snow-clad peaks, 1° we see only one continuous range of

any extent forming an irregularly curved line, which bends round the

tract commencing on the N. E. angle, with a North-westerly direction,

9 This is also the arrangement, or rather apparent want of arrangement observed

by Saussure in the Albs, who says, ‘‘ When we contemplate the range of which

Mount Blanc forms a part, from less considerable elevations, it appears as if these

colossal mountains were situated in a line, and formed a chain, but this appearance

vanishes entirely from the bird’s-eye view here presented. ‘They are distributed in

great masses or groups of various strange forms,” &c. &c.

10 The deception is so strong in viewing these mountains from the plains, that

most people continue, even after having visited the interior, to speak of the Ist, ‘2d,

3d, and snowy ranges.

XV1 Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

which it gradually alters to a South-easterly one on the S. W. angle,

and latterly due South, just before it is lost in the plain country.

18. This range forms one of the boundaries of the basin of the Sutlej

which bends round the convex side, while within its concavity, are con-

tained the numerous sources of the Ganges, the several feeders of which

are separated by a most intricate ramification. On this account, (as it

will be necessary often to refer to it,) and as there is no native name for

it, it may be termed the Indo-Gangetic chain.

19. We see then, that with the exception of a narrow strip belonging

to the Sutlej, all this tract is occupied by the sources of the three

principal branches of the Ganges; viz. the Jumna, the Ganges Proper, |

and the Kalee.! A line drawn through the points where they severally

enter the plains, represents pretty exactly the common boundary of plain

and mountain land. It is the S. W. boundary mentioned in Art. 12,

and its length from Ropur, the debouché of the Sutlej, to Brihon Deo,

that of the Kalee is 272 miles.

20. The great disproportion of drainage effected by the Sutlej, which

is one of the boundaries, and by the other or Gangetic system, is very

striking. Not less so is the difference of their courses as to direction,

the one running nearly due West, the other South; and as to length,

the former having a course from its origin in Lake Monsuror to its

debouché at Ropur of 550 miles, whereas the longest branch of the

latter has only a course of 292 miles. It is this want of analogy in the

character of these two great river systems that forbid our speculating

on the arrangement of surface which may obtain beyond them.

21. In the case of two rivers of such magnitude as the Indus and

Ganges, which direct their waters to the opposite seas of India, we na-

turally expect to trace some indications, however obscure, of a separating —

elevated tract, something farther than the point where the Indo-Gangetic

chain ceases. No such indications are however found, for the intermi-

diate tract is much at the same level as the interior of the river districts

which it separates. 1? Physical Geography is full of these disappointments,

11 In terming the Kalee one of the sources of the Ganges, I mean of course the

Ganges of Bengal; the Kalee is the principal branch of the Dewah or Gogra river,

which falls into the former near Chuprah.

12 This fact is very important, and points out the facility of establishing a system

of irrigation all over the Dooab and Rohilkund. I ascertained that the bed of the

Jumna at Raj Ghat, on the road between Chilkana and Boorea, is but five feet

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XVLi

a proof, if it were wanting, that we are still but imperfectly acquainted

with the structure of the globe. |

22. The length of the Indo-Gangetic chain is about 340 miles,

as defined on one side by the Kalapanee fountain, one of the sources of

the Kalee, where our first precise knowledge of it commences, and

on the other by its termination in the plain country, which is sufficient-

ly sudden to be definite. From its gradually decreasing elevation along

this line, it is natural to infer, that it is but a ramification of that

more extensive line of water-heads, (Art. 5,) which would exclude

from the central plateau all the mountain tract watered by the

Sanpo and the Indus, as well as by the Ganges. We are not then

to suppose that in crossing the Indo-Gangetic chain, we have made

a near, or even the nearest appulse to the great table land of Tartary ;!%

we are equally near it in the basin of the Ganges. But if this central

plateau really means any thing, it must be something distinct from

its surrounding barrier of mountain land, or if not, all the river basins

are equally ‘entitled to the appellation.

23. Next in extent to the Indo-Gangetic chain are the two principal

ramifications ; viz. that which separates the subordinate basin of the

Jumna from that of the Ganges Proper, and that of the latter river from

that of the Kalee. From their origin in the parent ridge to where they

are lost in the plain country, their length is about 160 miles. Like the

principal chain, they cease suddenly, nor is there any trace either in the

Dooab or in Rohilkund of a continuation of them, however obscure.!4

below the level of the Saharunpore cantonment, (month of March.) At Badshahee

Mahul, it is 200 feet. Here then is a water-head capable of supplying any number

of canals, and for a continuance the Ganges offers similar facilities for Rohilkund.

The elevation of its bed at Hurdwar is 1,000 feet above the sea, while that of

Mooradabad is only 609 feet.

13 The bed of the Sutlej can by no figure be termed a table land, for it is a

deep valley shut in by lofty mountains. But even if it were, it is not the table

land of Tartary, which is the country watered by the Oxus and Jaxartes. It is

a strange mistake which is made, and by many who have the reputation of being

well informed, that of confounding the Calmuck or Mongolian race with the Tartars,

and their country with Tartary, whereas no two races can be more distinctly marked

than these are. It was the country of Thibet, and not 'Tartary, which Captain

Webb saw, and which is inhabited by a tribe of Calmucks or Eleuths.

14 A levelling operation which I executedsome years ago, connecting Secharunpore

| with the Jumna, and which furnished the result mentioned in the note, page xvii.

_ established also a more unexpected conclusion; viz. that the ground in the immedi-

ate vicinity of the river for a short distance rises to the height of forty-five feet

above its level in the cold season.

XVill Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

The great disproportion in the length of these branches compared with

those thrown off to the Sutlej, is very striking, (Art. 20.)

24. From these, as well as from the main chain, proceed a multitude

of other ridges, and from these again a third set, and so on till the area

becomes covered with this intricate ramification, which but for the

assistance derived from observing the courses of the rivers, would almost

bid defiance to any analysis. The longest of these, is that which

separates the principal branches of the Ganges Proper ; the Bhageerettee

and the Alecknunda, of the Jumna; the Jumna Proper, and Fouse, and

of the Kalee; the Gunjeea, and the Ramgunga. These vary from fifty

to 100 miles in length. It would be useless to enumerate the others,

especially as they have no distinctive appellations. Nor would the enu-

meration add any clearness to our idea of the aspect of the country.

Suffice it to say, that as they descend in the scale of subordination, they

become shorter, and diminish in elevation.

25. All the passes leading into the country of Oondes, are situated in

the main chain, it being indeed the only one, as will be evident from the

foregoing description, necessary to be traversed between the Dooab and

valley of the Sutlej, unless for the convenience of a better road, or

more regular supplies. These passes have all, with the exception of

three, been visited, and their height above the sea determined, ex-

cepting the main pass, of which though supposed to be the highest, it is

to be regretted Mr. Tate, the Surveyor, who visited it has left us no

measurement. ‘The higher points of the chain are not so well ascertain- .

ed in all their details, owing partly to their not being visible, and partly

to an idea which has prevailed of their great inferiority to the southern

peaks, or those included within the Gangetic basin, and consequently

ramifications from this chain.

26. It appears however to be sufficiently established, that from lati-

tude 31° 23’, longitude 77° 50’, the elevation of this chain is considerable,

being with the exception of a few passes, clothed in the livery of snow

all the year round. Its tendency to fall off in that direction is evinced

by the gradually decreasing height of the passes, and from the latter

point to its termination, little snow is seen, excepting during the winter

months. In latitude 30° 35’, longitude 17’, the 77° elevations of what

15 This is to be understood, however, only in a general sense, as in many instances

the subordinate ridge rises to a greater elevation than that from which it ramifies.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XIX

may be called one of its passes is only 2,500 feet. A little beyond this

it is lost in the plain country.

27. The following Table of heights contains every point measured in

this chain, and the accompanying section embodies the particulars. I have

included the names of a few passes, which though not measured, appear-

ed worthy of notice, either as forming frequented points of communica-

_ tion with Oondes, or as presenting unusual difficulties to the few

venturous mountaineers who have attempted them :—

Table of the Elevations of the Principal Peaks and Passes of the Indo-

Gangetic Chain. .

Peak or Pass. Elevation. Remarks.

Feet above

dea.

This Pass is on the N.

masstp cuklakot, :.. . . isves 17,598 E. corner of the Mountain

Koontas Peak, No. 2, _...... 20,992 Tract, and leads to Tuklakot, a

Chinese or Thibetan factory.

iMoontas Peak; No.1, . ...... 22,441

Labong Pass, Seay keeacee 18,870

These are two

Danna Pass (at least,) ...... 18,000 {Not measured | of the most fre-

Jowahir Pass (at least,) ...... P7006 DIttOx see" seine quented,the first

Neetee Pass, eet. de daes UGOe 4) \Mivcsactaceoses cece is easy, the other

difficult.

Mane Pass (said to be,) ...... 18,000 |Visited, but not measured.

Neelung Pass (probably,)...... 16,000 |Is said to be very easy of access.

The Cone (Snowy Peak,)...... 21,178 4 os

No. 39, vide As. me 14 vol.| 19,481 These Peaks oie isible from

the Plains, they give rise on.

= Ditto, esa NO Aa le the Southern side to the Tonse

The Needle, BERN kk oue 19,064 ;

BIBS EAST, ass |) wnnnes 15,459 |A good deal of snow in Sept.

BOEAMUQTEASS, Yenc | eecene 15,000 |Much snow in June.

j (Snowy Peak, videas above,)| 17,425

i Ditto, BT cae 17,331

h Ditto, an. . onsees 17,337

OS eres 17,035

Shatool Pass (at least, Lasee 15,600 {A very difficult Pass.

| Sst enee 17,174

C moet the Sapa 16,982

a RE abd eae 17,044

The range has here a S. W. di-

Pass below Bagee Fort, ...... 9,039 ast

Pass below Bagee Fort, ...... 9,039

memaetoo Peak, ... —seseee 10,673

Mmecumda Pass, ... -csexe 9,000

Theog Fort, Pete uh | nines 7,926

XX Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

Peak or Pass. Elevation. | Remarks.

Feet above

Sea.

Mahasoo Temple, — sss 9,265 ia ebb 20 gost taeet

Juke Peak, Sac. te se 8,120

‘Tarba, ae eee 5,000

Kimdera.Pass, <.¢.-.-) gqushtes 4,989

Kol Peak, beige ne eee ole

Ujmergurh, Pe Meee 4,000

Bhoorakeako ck ge ae 6,489

DULaM Vilage, se). ewceme 5,500

Bonytee Debee; tow... 5,120

Jytuk Fort, ene) PMR 4,854

Gutasun Debee,... cases 2,500 |Not measured.

Sandstone Hills View oles 3,000 | Ditto.

Foot of Hills, avant 1,500 |Ditto.

28. A geologist of some eminence, and remarkable for the soundness

of his views says, that “ writers have erroneously confounded the line of

greatest elevation with a chain of water-heads.” If we take a survey

of the present tract, we shall every where see this opinion confirmed.

The range above described, is that which separates the two river systems

of the Ganges and the Indus, the principal drains on the side of

India from the central plateau. But it is by no means the highest

ground, for it is within these basins, and not on their common boundary,

that are found disposed those elevated peaks, the real height of which

has so long formed a subject of discussion,!® and from which, as consi-

dered the highest summits of the globe, this tract derives one of its

principal sources of interest.

29. The term Himmala, generally applied to these peaks, means

snowy, so that it is rather descriptive of a broad zone or belt, than of a

series of peaks as distinguished from the lower ridges in their imme-

diate vicinity. ‘They have been called a chain, yet no term is less des-

criptive of the manner in which they are arranged ; neither are they a

16 It is a curious fact in the history of science the extreme slowness and even un-

willingness with which this result has been admitted. Theoretical considerations

founded on an experiment in an air pump were held to be sufficient grounds for

doubting of our Indian observers. ‘‘Jurare in verbo magistri’’ was the order of the

day, and the authority of a name was considered sufficient to justify doubts of results

which should have been judged of on their own merits alone. he infallibility of

their own dogmas was never even questioned.

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XX1

series of groups,'’ but rather of transverse ridges (at least within the

basin of the Ganges,) which ramify from the Indo-Gangetic chain, over

which they yet tower several thousand feet.

30. A line or plane connecting their summits will represent that

of greatest elevation. It is evident from Art. 17, that it must cross the

Indo-Gangetic chain. It is nearly certain, that in like manner the highest

summits of the next portion of the great circular barrier are to be found

within the basin of the Indus, and the line continued still farther would

doubtless cross the separating chain of the Oxus.1® Whether this ar-

rangement holds all round, or how far; what is the elevation of this line in

every part of its course; of these points, and of many others _

interesting, we are entirely ignorant.!9

31. But we do know, that from the Hindoo Koh, or Snowy Mountains

of Cabul, to the peaks visible from Patna, this line or plane never sinks

for any distance below 21,000 feet. Lieutenant Macartney measured

one of the former, and found the height 20,493 feet ;29 and in 1815, when

with my corps on the Goruckpore and Betwah frontiers, I determined

17 On design communement toutes les elevations de terrain, pour peu qu’ils se

prolongent, sous le nom general de chaines. Mais il est certain que les montagnes

forment plus souvent des groupes que des chaines. Mais les chaines les plus appa-

rentes ne sont souvent que de Lignes de groupes ‘‘ Malte Brunn Precis de la Geo-

graphie,’’ tom. 2, p. 160.

18 It has been thought otherwise: the Himmalaya have been supposed to find their

continuation through Persia, and the chains of Taurus and Caucasus as far as the

Caspian Sea. The point may, however, easily be settled, for it appears from Captain

Christie’s Journal, that there is no snow on the mountains in the neighbourhood of

Herat, and it is known from the Ayeen Akberry, that the journey from Bokhara is

unattended with difficulty. It is therefore evident, that the Himmalaya, as such,

have no continuation in this quarter. But it may be said, and with truth, that the

phenomenon of: snow is no test of the identity of a chain or ridge of mountains. The

Himmalaya, however, is no chain, as I have already shewn, and when we speak of

these peaks as constituting a series, it is either as snow-clad summits, or as the high-

est in their immediate neighbourhood. Considered in either of these lights, their con-

tinuation must be sought in the Beloor Tag, and that these are situated within the

basin of the Oxus, admits of little doubt. Lieutenant Macartney appears to have been

puzzled with regard to this point, but this was owing to the mistake he fell into re-

garding the course of the Indus. He at once decides against the common opinion,

Vide also Rees’ Cyclopedia. Art. Altai Belur.

19 The papers of Mr. Moorcroft and Mr. Trebeck, should they ever be recovered,

will doubtless supply many interesting particulars on this subject, and it would be

extremely curious to compare their results with what is here hypothetically stated.

20 So in the account of Cabul, but from the data given, allowing one-tenth for

refraction, I find 19,470; doubtless the place of observation is elevated 1,000 feet or

more above the sea.

XXil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

one of the latter to have an elevation of 27,000 feet.2! Those who

have travelled through Oude, within a sufficient distance of the mountain

tract, know that the series continues in all that line without any such

inferiority, at least as the eye can detect. This is a presumption, if it

be no more.?2

32. The fact, that in a line of 500 miles two summits are found ex-

ceeding five miles in perpendicular height, not isolated, but connected to

appearance by a regular series of peaks of very little inferior elevation,

is alone calculated to give us a lively idea of the enormous magnitude

of this mountain zone. It is almost certain, that if we confine ourselves

to 21,000 feet, we may find a connected line of such peaks extending

through a distance of 1,000 miles. When I say connected, I mean

without any apparent breaks, because as already noticed of those within

the basin of the Ganges, it is probable that they are not connected in

reality, except through the line of water-heads from which they ramify.

33. But, it may be asked, how shall we be certain that this is really

the line of greatest elevation, and that is on this side the highest

peaks are within the river districts, and not on their boundary; may

they not be so likewise on the other side, and consequently there be

found in the basin of the Indus, as suggested by M. Humboldt, still

loftier summits than those which distinguish that of the Ganges ?

34. To this it may be answered, first, that as we have already seen

this line of greatest elevation is undoubtedly prolonged into the basin of

21 This is the peak mentioned by Mr. Colebrooke, (As. Res.) under the name

of Dhawala-giri, or the White Mountain. Captain Webb, whose measurement

he reports, found nearly the same result. Captain Blake also, when employed

as Surveyor on the Goruckpore frontier, found the same height nearly. I consider

my measurement as less exceptionable than either of these, for the following reasons :—

(1.) The position of the peak depends on a traingulation established from a base

of 1,142 feet measured with achain, and not from the protraction of the route,

the angles being taken by an excellent sextant of Berges. (2.) The angle of elevation

was taken repeatedly, and at different seasons, by reflection from mercury with the

same sextant. (3.) A much nearer approach to the peak was made one of the stations,

being distant only seventy miles, whereas the nearest of theirs was 120 miles.

22. It would be very desirable to have the positions and elevations of the principal

summits along our frontier fixed with tolerable correctness. Such a task would

not be either difficult or tedious, provided the attention were confined to those points

alone. It would form the very best foundation for a correct map of India, for these

peaks once fixed, every place from whence they are visible, may be settled with

equal precision, and thus afford means of correcting the Easting or Westing of our

protractions, which is the great desideratum, This subject has been noticed by

Major Hodgson in the paper in 14th vol. A. 8. Kes.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XXIll

the Indus, and most probably into that of the Oxus also, that in some

part of this line there may be peaks higher than those in the Gangetic

basin is possible, nor can we assign any reason, why it should be im-

probable. But that there is a higher chain, or series of peaks, beyond

the Sutlej, parallel to that which we are considering, is an opinion

which is supported by no probabilities whatever.

35. Undoubtedly the subject is even yet involved in some obscurity,

which cannot be fully cleared up till all the particulars in that quarter

become known. The only direct evidence which we possess on the

subject is unfavorable to this conclusion. Mr. Moorcroft, who crossed,

and Captain Webb, who visited the Neetee Pass, are both silent as to

the existence of such loftier peaks to the N. or N. E. In my journey

to lay down the course of the Sutlej I found that after passing this

line, all the loftier peaks appeared to the Southward, while those to the

North were of a totally different character, rounded summits, almost free

from snow, and evidently of less height. In like manner in ascending

the height above Shipkee, (16,000 feet), the peaks to the N. E., East,

and S. E., were of this character, while to the S. and S. W. appeared

those of the true Himmalaya aspect.24 Nor does Captain Webb, in his

visit to the head of the Kalapanee river, notice any high peaks as being

visible to the N. or N. E., though he was then not twenty miles from

the lake Mansuror.

36. We are justified then, by all that we know of this elevated tract,

in considering it as unconnected altogether with the disposition of the

water-heads. Nor can any principle of arrangement be traced, which

will allow of our proceeding one step beyond that point, at which our

positive knowledge of the subject terminates. We may, if we choose,

guess, that beyond this, another line still higher may be found, and we

may even add a third, still more lofty, but we must be contented to have

these conclusions considered as mere guesses too, unsupported by ana-

logy, and having no claim whatever to be received even as probable.

23 Further reasons will appear for doubting the existence of a series of loftier sum-

mits to the North, when we come to the geological details. Strange that Europe

should have been so slow to acknowledge the actual height of the Himmalaya; still

stranger, that being unable any longer to deny the accuracy of the measurement,

a higher range must be supposed to the North of it, so that it may still be averred,

they are not the highest.

24 Vide Asiatic Society’s Researches, Vol. 15.

XXIV Report of the. Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

37. It should be noticed, however, that the term line is incorrectly

used, or at least with great latitude, and even substituting that of plane,

it is still necessary to bear in mind, that its direction, whether as referred

to a great circle, or the loxodromic curve, is by no means uniform,

or even regular in its deviations ; unless indeed we regard it as of con-

siderable breadth, and in that case its surface would be very irregularly

studded with peaks. In this way we may certainly affirm, that it is

parallel to the common boundary of mountain and plain land. In fact,

it is impossible to contemplate such masses disposed along such a dis-

tance without feeling convinced, that there is some connection between

the greatness of their elevation, and the original formation of the moun-

tain systems in which they are found. The parallelism becomes more ob-

vious when we consider a more extended tract.

38. The following is a Table of all the results hitherto measured,

distinguishing also the river basins within which they are situated :—

Captain Webb. Major Hodgson.

No. D tne ation oF No.| Elevation. | Letter. | Elevation. River

ames. Basin

97| 20,923

26 21,045

25 22277

24 22,238

5 23 227

Die 19,497

yA 19,099

20 20,407

1 22,635

10 18 | 21,439

l 19,153

Hates la 17094

15 | 22,419

| 14 | 25,669 |A No.2,| 25,749

15 13 22,313

12 2552005. | NOs | 23,5031

11 20,686

OG pe) Sei |

, ii A’ No. 3) | "93 207

8 23,164 |B. 23,441

Foal woQDe57 8" |v

6 22,498

5 | 19,106

eh Ally QA FG Daley +h ie 21,612

| 3°]. 22,840 D. 23,062

Laut 19,928

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XXV

Captain Webb. Major Hodgson.

——— eS —_—

——— |

No. a, Or |No. | Elevation. | Letter. | Elevation. River

ames. Basin.

31 19,988 | Q: C. 19,530

: be c 21,940

2/| 922.058

1 | 22,345 M. 92,792

BEE AMERICK .ocasancidisins a3 ny 22,798

BP ICOTEE, wunce cere. 9 Bere | 22,634

99 dias FL @. {21,772

The Pyramid,......... 5 sto 21,379

35 a F. 21,964

Sree Kanta, ...... ... 3 $35 G. 20,296

Rudra Humdah, ...| ,, ee 22,390

Bere IeAllT, ..coseoes ” a 22,906

Bunder Pooch, ... ... 9 uae E. 20,916

40 |Another summit, ...|_ 5, boli E. 20,122

BUNDIUEC, ......0.0 05. ” 18,681

3 C 91,155

” eae H. 20,668

» Sate 20,501

Peak visible from

Dae cancoysc }| » 18,795

Ditto Twara, ......... . oe afl 19,352

MME GONE, oi sceccceccs a5 as 21,178

PEGE, nnvesnadioncns ag i | 21,411

Rishee Gungtermy, HF ames 21,289

oO (Poorkyol,’s. 0.050060. 9 | 22,700

39. In judging of the comparative direction of these summits and

those of the Andes, it is not sufficient to be told that the highest of the

former overtops Chimborazo, the principal summit of the latter, by near-

ly one mile of perpendicular altitude ; for this single fact, great as is the

difference which it implies, falls short of giving a competent idea of the

subject. Let us take the highest summits of the Cordilleras measured

by Humboldt, and those of the Andes of Peru by Condamine, and others.

Although not the same chain, they are situated on the line of greatest

elevation, and in both these particulars, they correspond with the Him-

malaya. According to Myers, they are as follows :—

Chimborazo, ....-..- 21,441

Desea Cassada,...... 19,570

Cayambe Area, ..... , s°'19}336

UENCE 5 « «oun se nimi pn 8 18,891 or 19,155 according to others.

Amtasama {vis aves sr Ol 19,149

XXV1 Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

Popocatepetl, de cc sauteil 24 7b orl 77384

Chillatepet]; capes) ol7;974

Pilnissa, see 17,238

From this list it would appear, that there is but one summit elevated

more than 20,000 feet, and only five which exceed 18,000.

40. Of the fifty-one measured peaks of which we have given a table,

there are twenty-eight as high, or higher than Chimborazo, and there

are forty-four as high, or higher than Desea Cassada, the second summit

of America. Popocatepetl, the sixth in order, is overtopped by not less

than 100 summits within the limited tract we are considering ; many of

the passes even (which are the lowest points) in the Indo-Gangetic range,

(which as I have before stated is not the highest ground,) exceed

in elevation the sixth summit of America. These facts may perhaps give

a more correct idea of the great difference which exists between these

two tracts, the loftiest on the globe, and the most remarkable in every

point of view. If the rivers of America (and even this is doubtful)

exceed in volume and length those of the Old World, at least the

mountains must yield.*

41. The great elevation of these peaks is scarcely more striking than

is the depth of the vallies or hollows which separate them, and which

are always the beds of the rivers. Thus the Poorkyool Peak towers to a

height of 22,700 feet, while its base is washed at a horizontal distance

of five miles by the waters of the Sutlej ; the bed of which river has here

only an elevation of 9,500 feet. ‘The difference is 13,200 feet in five

miles. In like manner the difference of elevation from the summit of

the Kuldung Peak to the Sutlej, in a distance of five and half miles, is

14,711 feet. Of the Soommeeroo Peak to the Mundaknee, distant four

miles, 11,000 ; of a peak (No. 17, Captain Webb’s list) to the Gurjeia, dis-

tant two miles, 12,370; of the Jowahir Peak to the Goree, distant eleven

miles, 15,749. These vallies are far beyond any thing that is to be seen

in the Andes.?5

25 Although the Andes have no river vallies comparable in depth with these, yet

there are some chasms, as they should rather be called, which taking together their

* Our author was, it will be remembered, writing before Mr. Pentland’s mea-

surements of Sorato 25,400, Ilimani 24,350, and Descabezado 21,100 feet.—H. P.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XXVl

42. The above list, if it were thought necessary, might be much

increased. It is very true that they are nearly consequences of the

manner in which these peaks are disposed, but it is this very disposition

which is so singular, and worthy of remark. It is the extraordinary

elevation above the ground on which they immediately stand that is so

striking to a traveller within these mountains, because it is at once

taken in by the eye, and requires no consideration to aid the effect. It is

different with summits placed on an elevated table land, where we

are continually obliged to remember the height of the latter, and

even with this assistance, they fail to astonish and confound the imagina-

_ tion in the degree that a nearer view of the Himmalaya. is found to do.”°

43. I must remark here, that the instances given above, belong to a

fact which is general throughout these mountains, and which as it is

very striking, and seems capable of throwing some light on the mode of

their origin, ought not to be passed over. It is this: wherever the sepa-

rating ridge of two river vallies approaches the banks of one of them,

there is its highest point; and where it holds a middle course for any

distance, it is there found to be lowest; equally throughout the higher

and the lower mountains will this remark be found to hold good, nor am

I aware of a single exception to it.

44. But it is chiefly as snow-clad summits on the border of the

Torrid Zone that these mountains have attracted attention. It is pro-

bable that but for this phenomenon, their elevation would have remain-

ed to this day a desideratum. To the inhabitant of the plains, who

being under a summer temperature of nearly 100°, is exhausted with

heat, it is certainly a phenomenon full of wonder. ‘To those too who

consider the heat to be in the sun’s rays, (the bulk of common observers,)

the wonder must be greatly increased, as the summit of the mountain

is nearer by five miles to the sun than the plains at its foot; even the

scientific observer cannot entirely divest himself of that feeling of ad-

miration, which the sight of any thing so unusual to his common ex-

depth and extreme narrowness, are very striking. M. Humboldt mentions several of

these, one of which though it be not 3,00U feet across, is yet upwards of 4,000 feet deep.

Captain Hall too, notices the depth and steepness of the ravines or guebrados of Chili.

26 But as these mountains are elevated on the high plain of Quito, which is eleva-

ted farther above the sea than the top of the Pyrenees, and constitutes more than one-

third of the computed height, they are inferior in actual elevation to Mont Blanc.

| See Rees’ Cyclopedia, Art. Andes.

XXVlil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

perience, however agreeable to the deductions of science, must necessa-

rily excite. )

45. It is this phenomenon which has always oceasioned them to be

objects of attention, and it is singular enough that it is also on erroneous

considerations connected with this phenomenon that the doubts of their

superior elevation have been founded. I shall include under the remarks

on climate, what I have to offer on the theory of the subject and the

arrangement of the Isothermal bands. I shall here confine myself to a

statement of a few of the most interesting particulars connected with

the occurrence of this phenomenon.

46. It will be readily understood, that according to the season of the

year, the zone which is marked by snow will be of more or less extent.

If we take our estimate in that month in which the quantity is a mini-

mum, and after which there falls more than melts, we may satisfy our-

selves that a belt of ten to fourteen miles in breadth is distinguished by

this phenomenon. It is not meant that snow lies m every point of this

tract, but merely that within it will be found summits bearing snow all

the year round. The minimum elevation of this snow-bearing tract is

nearly in round numbers 15,000 feet, which may therefore be taken as _

the elevation in this latitude of the curve of perpetual congelation.

There are, however, many spots of greater elevation perfectly bare of

snow, this fact is, however, connected with a different arrangement of the

seasons, and will be noticed in the section on climate. At all elevations

exceeding the above, where snow lies, it is generally quite firm, except

immediately after a fresh fall.

47, Many parts of this zone have such a disposition of the surface that

it is quite impossible that any part of the snow which falls should

ever be lost, except by melting, or by evaporation. The loss from the for-

mer cause must be very little at elevations much exceeding 15,000 feet.

At 18,000 it must nearly cease altogether. The loss from evaporation will

doubtless be considerable under so rare an atmosphere, still however we

may safely conclude, that a surplus is left every year to accumulate. In

favorable situations, we may imagine then the depth of these snows to

be very great. In fact, we may suppose a case, without hazarding any

improbability, where they have been yearly increasing since the origin of

these mountains. Such supposition is calculated to give us a stupen-

dous idea of the magnitude of these deposits.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XX1X

48. We have seen that the line of greatest elevation intersects in-

stead of bounding the river districts (Art 30). On each side of this line

to the north as well as to the south the peaks diminish in elevation, yet

not equally. To the southward the decrease is more rapid, and is accom-

panied by an anomaly which is sufficiently striking. The diminution

of elevation, which is pretty regular till near the boundary of the

plains and mountain land, is there suddenly interrupted. The peaks

shoot up considerably above the mean elevation of those immediately

north of them, and as suddenly sink into the plains; so, that if we

divide the country, south of the line of greatest elevation, into five

parallel zones, the fifth will be as high as the third, while the fourth

will be found considerably lower than either.

49. Some of the most remarkable instances of this fact are the

following: ‘The Ghagur, which rises above Bhumowree, has one of

the lowest of its passes, in a road distance of fifteen miles, elevated

7,121 feet above the sea. Another instance may be seen in the high

range south of Sreenugger. A third in the Soorkunda range, as con-

necting that peak with Bhudraj. The latter overlooks the Doon,

the former is but fifteen miles from Dhera, situated in the centre nearly

of the valley, yet their altitudes are respectively 7,510 and 9,271 above

the sea. The Jamoo Peak is another example. The Bhoora Peak a

still more remarkable one. The latter elevated 6,439 feet above the

sea, appears actually to overhang the lower hills which form the transition

from its foot to the plain country. Many more instances might be adduced,

were it necessary to multiply the examples. If a surface be supposed,

such as to represent everywhere the mean elevation, that surface will not

be inclined regularly plane, but will have a considerable curvature.

50. Another curious feature in the physical structure of this moun-

tain tract is the situation of the high peak called the Choor. Its sum-

mit is elevated 12,149 feet above the sea, and if it be made the centre

of a circle of sixty miles diameter, the circumference will on one side

just fall on the common boundary of plain and mountain land, while

within this circle, no point will be found within 15,00 feet of this

height, and even those mountains which approach this limit, are, strictly

speaking, part of the chain of which the Choor is the highest peak.

From whatever quarter it be approached, it will be seen from very great

distances standing up above the surrounding ridges like a huge beacon,

ERK Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

at once remarkable for its superior elevation, as for its peculiarity of

form. The investigation of its geological structure must, for these rea-

sons, be found very interesting.

51. Of the several rivers and streams by which the drainage of the

Gangetic basin is effected, some have their origin from the Indo-Gangetic

chain, that is, from the farthest side of the snowy zone, others spring from

various points within that zone, or from its southern face, and a third

class from the lower mountains where snow only rests a few months

in the year. To the first class belong the principal sources of the Kalee

and Ganges Proper, the Kalee, the Dhoalee, and the Sooree, branches of

the former. The Dhoalee, the Bishun Gunga, and the Jahnuvi of the

latter. To the second class belong the subordinate branches of these

two rivers, and the principal ones of the Jumna, that is to say, the Ram-

Gunga and Surjoo (Kalee) ; the Pimdar, Mundaknee, Kalee, Bhillung

and Bhageerethee, (Ganges) ; and the Beraee Gunga, Jumna, Soopin,

Roopur, Pubbur, and Andryttee (Jumna). To the third class, which is

the most numerous, belong all the other branches of these rivers, but six

of them only require mention, as being at all remarkable. Of these,

three pour their waters ito the principal stream within the mountains.

These are the Luddeea which joins the Kalee, the Nyar which belongs

to the Ganges, and the Girree a branch of the Jumna. The other three

have a considerable course within the plams. The Cossillah and Ram-

gunga joi a little below Mooradabad, and with the united stream, even-

tually contribute to swell the waters of the Ganges. The Murkunda,

the third of these, loses itself, it is said, in the sands of the Desert.

52. Amidst so many branches, it may seem difficult to fix on that

which is entitled to the pre-eminence, and to be considered as the prin-

cipal source of the river. If, however, we recollect that the most distant

source must be the most elevated, and must have contributed the largest

supplies, we shall have a principle of selection, easily applied, and which

leads to some curious results. In particular, it will appear, thatthe Soo-

pin is the parent stream of the Jumna, and its source must therefore

be the principal one. Of the Ganges, neither the Bhageerettee or the

Dhoallee, so long considered rival sources, is entitled to that distinction.

In reality, the Jahnuvi is the most distantly derived of all its branches,

and must therefore be admitted to be the real source of this great river.

Singularly enough too, of all the mountain rivers, this is the only one

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XXXI

that has not been traced up to its origin, owing to its being within

the limits of Chinese authority ; the conclusion then is inevitable, that

however we may pique ourselves on having visited and fixed the

sources of the Ganges, the position of its most elevated and distant

source is still a desideratum. Nor has the first beginning of this mighty

river been yet beheld by European eye.

53. The following Table gives the particulars from which the forego-

ing conclusions have been drawn. It exhibits the distance, in miles

measured along the river’s course, of each source, taking as the point of

departure, the place where the river enters the plains.

Dist. of River

Name of Branch. Source. Basin.

Kalee, .. oil a as oh ESO }}

Dhoalee, ‘ig aa ne » eel 80

Gungeea, oe of i . 165 \ Kalee.

Ramgunga, .. af o- eiehhiri2d

Surjoo, “e af “% .- 143 |

Dhaolee, : oc cats 21825. 78Ganges.

Bishunnunga, .. oa att 11091202.)

Jahnuvi, sy fe és de (288

Pindur, ia Be s% ote, 203

Mundaknee, .. ie a . 150 >Ganges.

Kalee, .. sca A ak ¢ ols

Bhaeergettee, .. “f. wa a: 20s

Bhillung, or oie a igen 5O.5)

Jumna, ‘ot we ate Me 1 23

Bheeraee Gunga, a4 ae aa yy bet

Tonse (Soopin), «ih fe wore in:

eh : : so Ea eae CEN Ge lg ER

Roopur, oy ae ant os olitd |

Andryttee, = e- Bic a) a4ee

Sutlej, até % ae oe HOSS es- Duele}.

Cossillah, Bie sagt ay gee LOO

Ramgunga, .. te a anigerkial \ fp

The Ludhee to its confluence,.. as 52

Nyar, .. ph ve My ae 82

Girree, .. ; mh yt Pade (|b

XXxll Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

54. The sources of these rivers which spring in, or from, the Snowy

Zone, are elevated from 10 to 17,000 feet, the first being that of the

Jumna, the latter of the Sutluj, the two extremes. There is evidently

some connection between the length of a river course and the elevation

of its source. I find from a comparison of those which flow in the

same direction, and which may be consequently supposed to have the

same declivity, that the height of the source above any given point is

as the square root of the distance from that poimt. Thus the Jumna,

Kalee, and Bhagerettee are respectively elevated above the points where

they enter the plains, 9,573 feet, 10,593 feet, and 12,776 feet, which re-

sults are as the numbers 10, 11, 6, 12, 9. Their distances from those

points are 123, 143, and 203 miles, the square roots of which are as the

numbers 10,11, 1, 13, 3, differing by less than unity from the preced-

ing.2? The Sutlej will not bear a comparison with these, because

its course 7s in a different direction, and has not consequently the same

declivity. In the direction of its course, its great length, and the little

aid it derives from accessory streams, it forms a strong contrast to all

the other mountain rivers.

55. A feature common to all the water-heads that belong to the Snowy

Zone, is their situation always in a comparatively open and level spot,

with an accumulation of snow resting against the base of some lofty

peak, from which the embryo stream derives its first supplies. Accord-

ing to the season of the year, the snow-bed will be of greater or less

magnitude and depth. During many months, the place will be deep

in snow, and unapproachable. After the snow begins to melt, a constant

moisture is kept up for many months, while in the fine season again,

vegetation goes on luxuriantly. The consequence is, the formation of a

thick coating of peat, which is invariably found at all elevations, having

a temperature such as to ensure during several months the slow and

gradual melting of the accumulations of snow that occur during the

winter. From 11,500 to 13,000 feet, according to locality, may be con-

sidered as the height at which peat will be found. It is always however

27. This law is not applicable to different parts of the same river’s course, and yet it

gives very near approximations in the case applied. Thus if from the distance in

miles of any source from the debouche the square root be subtracted, and multiplied

by 882, the product is the height in feet above the debouche. This would give 12,221

feet as the height of the source of the Tonse. The result by the temperature of boiling

water was 12,784

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XXX

in greatest quantity, and of a better quality in such spots as above

described ; that is, in hollows ; because the supply of water is more con-

stant, and equally gradual.

56. The discharge of the four great rivers at their entrance into the

plains, has not been directly measured, except in the case of the Jumna.

It appears however reasonable to infer, that the discharge will be pro-

portionate to the extent of country drained ; in other words, to the total

length of course made up by adding the several branches of the river

together. This rule I found to hold in the case of the Tonse and the

Jumna, the discharges of which I measured in 1819. Thus, their total

lengths of course were as the numbers 1, 2, 6. ‘Their discharges as the

numbers 1, 2, 8. In adopting then this expression for the valuation of

the discharge, and taking the Jumna at 4,000 cubic feet in a second,

(which is within a few feet of the result I obtained in March 1819,)

we shall have the following results :—

C. F’. in one second.

Discharge of the Kalee at Bishin Deo, Wn -- 4,800

Jumna at Badshahee Mahal, .. ike oe -- 4,000

Ganges at Hurdwar, .. 518 isd a 7 87, G00

Sutlej at Ropur, 4 Fe : e. 7. 8G, LOD

Wesee here that, notwithstanding the far we length of course which

distinguishes the Sutlej, (more than double,) it does not greatly exceed

the Ganges in discharge. This is owing to the comparative narrowness

of its basin, and its want of great branches.

57. Although there are no great vallies in the interior, (Art. 15,) yet

along the common boundary of mountain and plain land, on a line

parallel to that of greatest elevation, there are seen a series of small

vallies, which are however unconnected with each other, and sometimes

separated by a long interval. These vallies are always marked by the

debouche of some great river, and there is doubtless some connection, in

the origin, between them and the river systems. Although there is not a

valley to every river, yet they are found along the whole tract at inter-

vals, as far as Patna on one side, and beyond Cashmeer on the other.

The occurrence of these vallies through such a distance, and so symme-

trically situated, favors the idea which would attribute a community of

origin, or at least connection in structure, to the whole of this tract of

Alpine land.

XXXIV Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126%. |

58. Those belonging to the tract to which the present description is

confined, are the Pinjore Doon or valley, the debouche of the Guggur ;

the Kyarda Doon, the debouche of the Jumna and Ganges; and the Pat-

tee Doon, the debouche of the Ramgunga. They are all bounded, or

separated from the plains by a low chain of hills, which is also a line of

water-heads, and contains the sources of those streams which, engulph- °

ed in the tract immediately at their feet, afterwards spring up in the

Teraee, occasioning the humidity of soil which is so characteristic of that

tract.

59. The Dehra Doon, which is the principal of these vallies in extent,

and probably the only one demanding a detailed description, is from the

Jumna to the Ganges about forty-five miles in length. Its breadth is

variable, being in some places scarcely ten, in others fifteen miles.%8

The surface is undulated, and has, in particular directions, a strong decli-

vity.22. Many banks or steps occur, varying in height from one to

thirty feet. These generally follow the course of the streams, one

on each side; appearing to have the same relation to them which the

Kadur, or marshy lands of the plains, have to the rivers there. ‘Their

distance, or the breadth of the channel they mark, is very considerable

even in the case of the smallest stream, and they exhibit the same

variations in arrangement which the river banks in the plains do.*?

There is little question but that they have once been the beds of

running water, however incapable the present streams may appear

of filling them even in their highest floods.

60. The drainage of this valley is effected entirely by the two rivers,

Asun and Sooswa, which rising within a few hundred yards of each other

near the middle of the valley, run in opposite directions, the former to meet

the Jumna, the latter to the Ganges. The fall of these rivers is consider-

able ; the elevation of the source of the Asun being 2,148 feet above the

sea, and its confluence with the Jumna 1,469 feet, being a fall of 652

feet in little more than twenty miles. The fall of the Sooswa in a course

28 The admirable new road made by the Honorable Mr. Shore, leading from the

Keeree Pass through Dehia to Rajpoor, at the immediate foot of the northern hills,

measures, I think, fifteen miles.

29 The base which I measured in the Doon in 1819, had a difference of level of 300

feet between its two extremities. Its length was about four miles.

30 That is to say, a steep bank is always opposed to a low shelving one. When both

are alike, neither are observed to be remarkably steep or shelving.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XXKV

of about the same distance is 948 feet, its confluence with the Ganges

having but an elevation of 1,200 feet above the sea. The course of

these rivers is parallel to the. direction of the valley, and very near the

South-western boundary, so that their supplies are almost entirely drawn

from the Northern barrier of mountains. ‘The numerous feeders which

spring from these, all flow across the valley, shewing, that there is a

considerable declivity also in that direction. In fact it is found, that from

Rajpoor at the foot of the hills, the fallis regular to within three miles of

the Kheree Pass, and amounts to 1,300 feet. Thence to the Kheree Pass

is a rise of 618 feet. This line is that of the new road ; it passes through

Dhera cantonment, and very nearly, if not exactly, separates the two

basins.

61. The range of hills which bounds the Doon to the Southward, is

of peculiar aspect, and presents some very interesting appearances. The

total depth of this belt in the widest part is about ten miles. The range

is not intersected by vallies with sloping sides, as the great mountain tract

is, but by the beds of torrents which are generally bounded on each side

by perpendicular precipices, sometimes 500 feet in height. The ridges

are extremely narrow, so as to bid defiance to any examination of them,

except such as can be effected in the beds of these torrents. The line

of water-heads which separates the streams which seek the Doon from

those flowing plainward, does not hold a regular course, as compared

with the general tendency of the mountain belt, being sometimes at the

border of it, as at the Lal Durwaza Pass, sometimes nearly in the middle,

as at the Timlee Pass. The former has been stated to have an elevation

of 2,935 feet, the latter is only 2,339. The peaks do not rise more

than 600 feet above these levels, so that 3,000 to 3,500 may be taken

as their general height.

62. The appearance of this valley is highly picturesque, particularly

im the neighbourhood of Dehra. The intermixture of cultivation, in which

the fields are defined by hedges, with patches of green, over which are

scattered fine groves of trees, the undulation of the surface, and its in-

tersection by numerous streams, are features that might almost remind

one of the scenery of England. The proximity of lofty mountains occa-

sionally clothed with forests, in which the pine, oak, and walnut are

conspicuous, gives a variety to the landscape, which viewed at a favorable

season, is picturesque and beautiful in a high degree. The soil is gravelly,

XXXVI Report of the Mineralogicat Survey [ No. (126*!

yet to judge from the cultivation, far from poor; and though at present

thinly peopled, and but partially cultivated, was once otherwise. The

land revenue had dwindled down to 10,000 rupees, when it came into

our possession. It is said to have yielded 80,000 in the time of

the Rajahs of Gurhwal. Under the fostering care of the British Govern-

ment, it will not be long in recovering its former prosperity. The prin-

cipal difficulty appears to be the want of water for irrigation, yet this is

an objection easily remedied, for with so varied a surface, and so many

streams, water might at a trifling expense be conducted in almost any direc-

tion. Capitalists are wanting to undertake this and other improvements.

63. The Pinjore Valley is the next in point of extent. It has in

parts a breadth of perhaps six miles, and its length may be estimated

at about thirty. It is tolerably even in its surface, and the hills which

bound it to the Southward, are of much less depth and of less elevation

than those of the Dehra Valley, at its South-east angle, in the

debouche of the Gaggur, a river which is lost in the sands of the Desert.

From Tuxal the streams run in one direction towards the Guggur, in

the other towards the Plassia river, a feeder of the Sutlej. Pinjore, the

principal village or town, with a fort, of masonry, is elevated 1,819 feet

above the Seevar, which is at the foot of the mountain, and near the

separating ground of the two river basins is 2,402 feet above the sea.

Munsie Debee, a temple in the plains, just without the Doon, is 1,263

feet. From these results an idea may be formed of its declivities. It is

not so well cultivated as the Dehra Doon, though it appears to pos-

sess equal capabilities.

“64, The Kyarda Doon is of less extent than the last, having in its

widest part but a breadth of six miles, and in length being but twenty-

five miles. This estimate of its length supposes it to terminate at the

Pass of Ghatusun Debee, where it narrows so much as to be scarcely

entitled to the name ofa valley. From Ghatusun, the elevation of which

is 2,500 feet, the streams flow eastward to the Jumna. To the west-

ward flows the Markunda, which enters the plains under Nahun Siki,

on the Ghuggur. It loses itself in the sands of the Desert, so that we

cannot refer it either to the Sutlej or the Jumna basin. I have how-

ever considered it to belong to the former, and Ghatusun I suppose the

lowest point of the Indo-Gangetic chain. Of the Pattle Doon, I cannot

give any account, as I have never visited it.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mouxtains. XXXVI

65. About thirty miles north of Almorah, or a little west of north,

there is a small tract of rather greater extent than those to be hereafter

noticed, and more uniformly level in surface. It is watered by the Gao-

muttee and its several feeders, a river which joins the Surjoo, one of the

branches of the Kallee at Bagesur. These feeders are very numerous,

and the glens in which they rise being broad, with a level terrain, form

by their inosculations with the principal one, the appearance of a consi-

derable tract of open and almost level country. From Koolan to Re-

tora is a distance of ten miles, in all which line the surface appears to

have little undulation. The forest is not too thick, and yet from some

unexplained cause, the tract is unhealthy in a high degree, so much so,

as to be in a great measure neglected, and allowed to run waste. The

elevation of Byznoth, a temple of some sanctity on the Gaomuttee, and

which may be taken as the lowest point of the valley, is 3,800 feet; the

villages are situated chiefly on the lateral ridges which divide the seve-

ral subordinate glens.

66. In the beds of the different rivers there are, as might be expected,

various spots of a limited extent, and of sufficient evenness of surface to

be always objects of interest to the cultivator, though from their small-

ness, scarcely entitled to the denomination of vallies. These spots

generally occur in an advanced part of the river’s course, and being there-

fore the lowest places in the mountains, are necessarily the hottest. In

general they are fertile, yet are all considered more or less unhealthy,

particularly at the breaking up of the rams; and when narrower than

usual, so notoriously subject to the awal, or jungle fever, as to be entirely

neglected ; instances occur in the bed of the Surjoo and Kalee. But

where the width is rather greater, or the surrounding mountains not too

lofty, they form the most populous, the most productive, and the most

beautiful spots within the mountains. The width is seldom more than

half a mile, but the length is sometimes considerable.

67. The most remarkable instances of this kind may be seen in the

bed of the Sutle] at Soonee and at Dutnuggur; of the Bhagerettee at

Teeree ; of the Aluknunda at Sreenuggur; at Pannae of the Western

Ramgunga along nearly the whole of its course; of the Cossillah for

a distance of ten miles; of the Benee Gunga for about the same distance ;

of the Buspa at Sungla; the Sirjoo at Kubrol, of the Geree Gunga

in a great part of its course; and in the Comoulda, one of the principal

XXXVIil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

feeders of the Jumna: several smaller streams are equally, if not more,

remarkable ; and in general, similar level, and comparatively open, spots

are found at the heads of all the rivers.

68. To this class also belongs the series of petty vallies to be seen in

the neighbourhood of Petorah, though not constituting the bed of a river.

The largest of them does not exceed perhaps two square miles, but they

are in such number, as to render that district one of the most produc-

tive, for its extent, i the mountains. They are generally connected

by some narrow gorge, so that, in one quarter, a distance of five miles

may be travelled in which the surface is almost. perfectly even. The

appearance of the country, owing to such a number of these local

spots, and the consequent insulated situation of many of the peaks, is

peculiar to that quarter, and very striking. In the neighbourhood of

Dhooara Hath, about twenty miles from Haurel Bagh, a pretty extensive

piece of tolerably level ground is to be seen, and similar pieces in the

neighbourhood of the small lakes, which are to be seen about ten

miles above Bhumowree, on the road to Almorah. With the exceptions

here stated, (and their collective sum bears but trifling proportion to the

total surface,) all is rugged and difficult, a succession of steep and lofty

ridges and deep glens,

69. The lakes mentioned in the preceding article, constitute a feature

in the physical description of this tract which should not be forgotten.

They are, however, on a very small scale, compared with the grand

system of mountains to which they belong. One of them, Bheem Tal,

situated about ten miles above Bhumowree, on the Almorah road, is

only 3,000 feet in length, by 2,400 in breadth; the depth, however, is

said to be very great. It is situated at the lowest point of the valley,

about three miles in length, and at some distance from it appears a consi-

derable pool, which is at present connected with it by a running stream,

the intermediate ground being marshy, and covered with flags. These cir-

cumstances leave no doubt m the mind of the spectator, that the whole of

this valley once formed a lake, and it might easily be restored to the do-

minion of the water, by damming up the outlet, which the present lake

has found for itself. The elevation of this spot above the sea is 4,200 feet.

70. About five miles east of Bheem Tal, is another called Nynee

Tal, having nearly the same extent. A little beyond this is a third, call-

ed Nakoon-ka Tal, and besides this, some others of much less extent.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XXXIX

Within ten miles of Jytuk, near Nahun, is another called Ren Kee Tal.

It is in breath about 400 feet, and in length, as measured by the peram-

bulator, one mile and a half. In common with all the others it is said

to be of great depth, and to abound with excellent fish. A pool at the

head of the Tonse, called Resul Kee Tal, and thought by the mountaineers

to be unfathomable, may also be mentioned. As likewise a similar pool

at the head of the Dinee river, one of the feeders of the Bhageerettee.

The waters of all these are perfectly sweet and tasteless.

71. Along the foot of the mountains extends a tract called Bhabur,

which has been always I believe reckoned an integral part of the moun-

tains, politically speaking ; it is of considerable elevation, and is farther

distinguished by an almost total deficiency of springs or running streams,

excepting such as, issuing from the mountains with a large body of

water and considerable force, make their way through it without having

their waters engulphed.

72, It is bounded to the southward by a line of springs or water-

heads, which is also the northern boundary of the tract called the Terrai,

one equally distinguished with the former from the southern plain

country, but occasionally annexed to it and occasionally to the hills. This

tract is remarkable for its moisture, as the other is for its dryness.

Water in the driest season, (March 1826,) is never more than thirteen

feet from the surface, generally much less. It is intersected by numer-

ous streams, which with the inclination of the surface, affords such

facilities for irrigation, as to render the tract, when fully cultivated,

highly productive.

73. The Terrai is defined in its southern boundary by a rise or step,

which runs parallel to the common boundary of mountain and plain land.

This rise is a very singular feature in the aspect of the country, and forcibly

impresses the spectator with the idea of some great catastrophe in which

water has been the chief agent. The height is variable, and occasionally

is as much as thirty feet, sometimes it is sudden or steep ; and it is then

intersected by ravines, the effect of floods in the rains ; sometimes it is gra-

dual, and it is then liable to be mistaken for an undulation of the sur-

face ; sometimes it consists of two banks or steps, and occasionally

even of three ; a similar step or break in the surface is found to accompany

the course of each of the rivers after quitting the mountains. In this

case, it torms the boundary of what is called the khadir, which as may

XL Report of the Mineralogical Survey [ No: 26":

be understood from what precedes, is a low tract of variable width within

which the river has its bed.. These appearances correspond exactly to

the banks described as accompanying the rivers in the Doon.

74. The Terrai may then be considered as a very shallow valley

parallel to the direction of mountain land, and the khadirs or low lands

of the rivers, as so many transverse vallies communicating with it. This

itself is a presumption that the rivers have not formed their khadirs,

but this is further established by the fact that the khadir is widest in

the vicinity of the mountains, and diminishes as the river flows south-

ward, till at no great distance it disappears altogether. At Bhogpoor

on the Ganges, the khadir is of great width, yet in the highest floods in

the rains, the river never rises to its level. At Durra Nuggur, the khadir is

from five to seven miles in width; such a valley could never have been

scooped out by the stream which now flows there.

75. The Terrai being thus distinguished by a fall or step, is usually

considered very low in comparison with the low country south of it.

Such however is not the case, although so strong is the deception in

looking at the face of the country, that few people can be persuaded of

the truth of the matter. Yet a little reflection would be sufficient,

without any thing like measurement, to shew that it is a deception. The

streams which take their rise at the foot of the Bhabur all flow south-

ward, with banks of nearly equal height, and currents of considerable

force. And from the Bhabur, which is so high as to be visible to the eye,

there is no sudden descent to the Terrai, the line of demarcation being

traceable only from the presence or absence of the springs, or from geo-

logical considerations connected with the nature of the deposits.

76. The preceding will, I hope, give some idea of the physical fea-

tures of the country I have undertaken to examine, without which the

geological description must be in a great measure unintelligible. The

two classes of facts are so connected, that it is impossible to separate

them ; each throws light on the other; and if we wish to trace those

general relations which furnish the highest and most interesting

discussions in this new science, we must begin by taking a clear, as

well as comprehensive, view of the physical aspect and arrangement of

the surface.

77. It is my intention to give in the first place the simple geological

details as observed, in order that a clear idea may be had of what is ac-

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xli

tually known, as distinguished from what may be considered matter of

opinion or inference, subjoining an attempt to combine these details

into something like a systematic view of the general structure of the

tract, adding such inferences and illustrations as have occurred to me

in reconsidering the subject. In the geological details, I shall follow

out the extent of each rock as yet observed separately, and in the order

in which they actually occur, beginning with the highest zone, and de-

scending gradually to the plains.

Secrion II.

GEOLOGICAL DETAILS.

78. In the zone of the Himmalaya, the only rock which I have yet

observed, I mean as covering any extent, that is, as constituting a forma-

tion, is gneiss; other rocks are found it is true, but only in the form of

veins or beds. Gmeiss has been traced from Deao, opposite Muzzoolea

near Seran in the western corner of the Survey, by Brooang in the valley

of the Buspa, and thence ascending to the Snowy Pass of the same

name, leading into the valley of the Pabur. In this line the varying

level, (5,500 to 15,000 feet,) leaves no doubt of the great thickness, as

well as lateral extent of this formation. It is not, however, every where

equally obvious, the coating of debris being often of great thickness and

covered with luxuriant vegetation. Frequently the only trace of its oc-

currence consists in large angular blocks lying on the surface or im-

bedded in the coat of debris. This may perhaps be considered incon-

clusive evidence of the existence of this rock as a formation, but the

case admits of no other, and the same difficulty meets us at every

step in these mountains, and as no fragments or any other traces occur,

or any other rock in this tract, with the exceptions I shall presently

mention, we shall find a difficulty in saying what rock is found below

the surface, if we find it necessary to deny the existence of gneiss.

79. This rock is of the most ordinary character in the greatest

number of instances, consisting of quartz, felspar, and mica, and nearly

in the usual proportions. It seldom contains any foreign imbedded

mineral. The felspar is almost always white, seldom grey, and only

xlii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

in one instance of limited occurrence have I observed it of reddish hue.

The quartz is most commonly white and semi-transparent, occasion-

ally grey ; the mica is of all shades, varying from silver white to a deep

brownish black ; some specimens contain both extremes of colour.

80. There are three distinct types of structure in this gneiss, two of

which are well separated, both in appearance and position. The lami-

nar which is often contorted, the granular,3t in which the laminar

structure is often obscure ; and what may be termed the glandular. The

first two appear to pass into each other, and to be irregularly mixed

together, but the third preserves a great uniformity of appearance over

a considerable tract. It has really the laminar structure as strongly

marked as the first, but it is well distinguished from it by the imbed-

ded lenticular, or round nodules of felspar which it contains, and which

give it a most peculiar appearance. The laminz are bent round these

nodules, which have a foliated structure, and are sometimes disposed in

two layers; the line of junction, which. coincides with the axis of the

nodule being so faint as only to be perceptible by the varying reflection

of light from the two parts. There is very little doubt but this line of

junction coincides with one of the faces of composition of the mineral,

but I have not yet established this point to my satisfaction.

81. The dip of this rock appears involved in some obscurity; along

this line, at least it presents some anomalies, the explanation of which |

have yet to learn. This may be, nay doubtless is, partly owing to the

frequent concealment of the rock beneath the coating of debris, leaving

us in these cases to form our judgment from the configuration of the

mountains, with reference to the sides of slope and precipice. Even

this test sometimes fails, either from the great accumulation of debris

completely modifying the superficial forms of the rock, or perhaps from

the absence of definitely marked stratification. For even occasionally

_when the rock itself is visible, there occurs doubt as to this point, the

fissures being so numerous and variable in direction, as to render it

impossible to pronounce which are, and which are not the lines of stra-

tification.

82. From Deao to Kungos, the dip appears to vary between N. and E.,

31 By this term it is not meant to designate the granitic structure, but an aggrega-

tion of small grains, in which the difference of the felspar and quartz is often difficult

to be ascertained.

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xiii

being often N. E., and this on both sides of the Sutlej, the angle of

inclination being about 30°. One measurement gave N. 70° E. But

near Nichar, again it appears to be to the West of North, the inclina-

tion still much the same, or even less than 30°. A very remarkable rocky

precipice occurs opposite this village, traversed by numerous rents and

fissures, but nothing can be traced like marks of regular stratification ;

nor can even a line from the neighbouring strata be fancied to connect

with any of them; yet from the appearance of the rock, I have not a

doubt but that it is gneiss. Near Keelba, there is a considerable access

to the rock, which is a perfect laminar gneiss, yet nothing like the re-

gularity of stratification is observable in it either, the lines running

confusedly in every direction.

83. At Woongtoo bridge, the stratification is also very obscure, and the

natural divisions of the rock very various in direction, but as the laminar

structure, which is, or ought to be, discriminative of gneiss is here often

obscure, if not altogether wanting; the rock by many will perhaps be

considered a granite. A few miles beyond this bridge, with an interval

of distinctly stratified rock, a similar amorphous mass is seen on the

right bank of the Sutlej, surmounted by regular strata of gneiss dipping

S. W., but presenting that arrangement which has obtained the name of

wedge-shaped strata; the upper layers approaching more and more to

the perpendicular position. On this side (the left bank) is a similar

mass of gneiss, but with an opposite dip, (that is to N. E.), and with the

same arrangement, the inclination of the lower strata being inconsider-

able, while the superficial are nearly vertical. This appearance struck

me very much, coming on me, asit did, after a long and patient examina-

tion of the Woongtoo rock.

84. Beyond the irregularly seamed rock noticed as occurring near

Keelba, we find a perfectly stratified arrangement continuing from a con-

siderable distance, the dip pretty regularly N. E. and the inclination be-.

tween 20° and 30°. This is the glandular type noticed article 8. On turning

up the Buspa, below the village of Brooang, extensive types of stratifica-

tion are seen, but with aS. E. dip, and an inclination of about 25°. This

dip continues in the ascent to the Pass as long as any thing like strati-

fication can be perceived. But in the last 4,000 feet of ascent, the rocks

again put on the shattered and fissured appearance before described, and

on the Pass itself, nothing like stratification can be traced, owing to the

xliy Report of the Mineralogical Survey (No. 126*,

intricacy of these seams, and the various directions in which they lie.

But of the identity of the rock there can be no doubt, as I examined it

along the whole of this line, and collected numerous specimens. It is a

gneiss of the most perfect type. The Pass is strewed, as might be ex-

pected from the appearance of this rock, with huge angular blocks. I

may add, that on the South side, a N. E. dip is again met with, but

accompanied by a considerable change in grain, and a thinner laminar

structure. This observation was made at an elevation of about 12,000

feet above this ; all around, the ridges appeared with the same fissured

and shattered aspect, while the river (Pabur) bed is strewed with frag-

ments of every size, leaving no doubt that the rock is gneiss.

85. The only imbedded minerals I have observed in this tract are, 1.

mica in tabular crystals, but not well defined, nor otherwise of any par-

ticular value, (near Seran); 2. schorl occasionally sparingly dissemina-

ted in small prismatic crystals (near Seran); 3. garnets of a lighter

colour than usual, small and sparingly interspersed, their figure obscure

if not imperfect; 4. quartz of bluish green color in six-sided prisms,

occasionally attaining to the size of an inch in diameter, and two

or three in length. They are found imbedded in a granite vein near

the village of Keelba, but are with difficulty separable from the matrix.

The quartz which forms the regular ingredient of this granite is of a

light grey colour; 5. it is said that copper and gold were formerly

obtained at a spot between Yanee and Keelba on the right bank of the

river, but that the workings have been long abandoned.

86. Hornblende rock occurs in beds in the neighbourhoods to Sera,

Tanada, and Kemgos. It rarely consists of the pure mineral, most com-

monly of a mixture of that and felspar. It is sometimes of a schistose

structure, sometimes of that which I call the cleaveable. The two types

appear to pass into each other by imperceptible gradations ; in one case

only, near Seran, could I perceive any thing like a transition or passage

of the gneiss into this rock, the change in the other instances being

sudden, and the contrast marked. These beds are generally of very

limited extent, seldom more than a few yards, particularly between

Deas and Suran, in which line they are also numerous, Near Tanda,

the bed is larger and occupies the whole of the mountain side, forming

the ascent to the village. A bed of micaceous schist occurs near Seran,

and one of compact quartz rock, forming a precipice of great mag-

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xlv

nitude. At the confluence of the Buspa, the road lies along the foot

of this mass, and is strewed with fragments from it.

87. Granite veins are evidently numerous in the neighbourhood of

Wongtoo bridge, for among the fragments that are met with for several

miles on each side, we observe a proportion of them to be granite. These

_ fragments often present undeniable evidence of their veinous origin in

retaining part of the gneiss which formed the wall of the vein, and

it was this circumstance, combined with the low proportion they bear to

the fragments of the gneiss, that first suggested the idea of their being

derived from that source. But there can be no doubt on this subject,

as in the immediate neighbourhood of the bridge, just before descending

to the river bed, these veins may be seen in great number intersecting

the gneiss, most commonly in a direction from N. E. to S. W., and again

in the anomalous rock at the bridge.

88. The granite of these veins is always of a large grain, and is

remarkable for the very large proportion of felspar it contains, the

mica being comparatively deficient. The felspar is white and foliated,

the quartz of a light grey, the mica generally brown. No difference of

composition is observable between the middle and the sides of the veins,

nor any change in the gneiss in its neighbourhood. The breadth is

very various, and equally so the extent. The former is from a few inch-

es to several hundred feet. They occasionally divide, but they cannot

be said to ramify, at least not in a remarkable manner.

89. The rock which occurs at the bridge, and which contains the

largest of these veins, is something of an anomalous nature, and might

be adduced as an instance of that transition between gneiss and granite,

which has been so often observed. Some specimens would certainly be

considered to belong to the former title, while others might be chosen,

which would as certainly be referred to the latter. It has, however, in

mineralogical aspect, a strong resemblance to the more well-defined gneiss

in its neighbourhood, while it has none whatever to the granite veins. I

may add, that its occasional want of a distinctly laminar structure, and

the indistinctness of its stratification, are the only obstacle to its being

considered identical with the surrounding accurately defined gneiss.**

32 It has been usual to call anomalous rocks of this description granitic gneiss, but

the mere giving it a name affords no new information, nor in any way settles the doubt

as to which type of rocks it should be geologically referred.

xlvi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*,

However this may be, I ought to notice that it is of limited extent in

this direction, certainly not exceeding a square of 500 yards.

90. The band of gneiss thus traced out from a recent visit, may have

its limits increased by a reference to notes made in a former journey. The

particulars will not be so minute, and specially the dip and inclination

are wanting, as an examination of the rocks was then a secondary object,

and the subject not so familiar. But they will be sufficient to establish

the great extent of the gneiss formation, and I ought to add, that of the

few particulars I am to mention, there can be no doubt; as I made an

ample collection of specimens which I afterwards examined at my leisure,

with the opportunity of consulting those who were well acquainted

with the subject.

91. On the Gonass Pass, five and half miles east of the Brooang Pass,

(Art. 84,) and elevated 15,516 feet above the sea, the rock is a small

grained, dark coloured gneiss, with the lamina rather indistinct, and often

breaking with a conchoidal fracture. The dark colour is owing to the

mica, which is black. ‘The ingredients are most intimately mixed, and

scarcely to be discriminated by the unassisted eye. In the descent thence

to the bed of the Buspa, (about 9,000 feet,) the rock is seldom visible, but

at Singlo (9,178), and thence in the ascent to the Harung Pass (14,500),

the rock is gneiss. At Mibar (9,698), the same rock prevails, and indeed

as far as Pooaree on the Sutlej, between Pooaree and Poorboonnee, a

crumbly white granite is met with, the type of which, as far as my

memory can guide me, is to be found in other parts of these mountains,

and will be described further on (Art. 264). From a recent examination

between Poorboonnee and Reeba, masses or beds occur, but of limited

extent, of a rock, consisting almost wholly of felspar, generally in a

state of decomposition. It is probably a granite. From Reba to

Rispa is again well-defined gneiss, which on the ascent above Moorung,

is exchanged for clay slate. The clay slate continues by Nissung

to very near Dabbling. Just above Dabbling, a mass of granite oc-

curs, the true relation of which I cannot attempt to give at this

distance of time. From Dabbling to Shipkee gneiss prevails, the laminz

and even strata frequently very much contorted, particularly at a pre-

cipice in the river bed between Doobling and Namja. Between Namja

and Shipkee, it is imperfectly laminar, has a small grain, and is of

a bluish grey colour. Beyond Shipkee, that is east of it, as far as it

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xlvil

could be judged of by contour, the mountains would appear to be clay

slate.

92. To the north of Shipkee, between the Sutlej and the Speetee

rivers, is gneiss, with some patches of granite, but whether veins or beds,

must be left for determination on a future visit. This gneiss continues

again by Nako to Shalkur, beyond which it is succeeded in the neigh-

bourhood of Soomra and Laree by clay slate. We have thus traced gneiss

very nearly to the confines of our possessions. In returning down the

right bank of the river, we find it equally prevalent, the whole way from

_ Shalkur to Woongtoo, with the following inconsiderable exceptions ; lime-

stone occurs in the bed of the Yoollung, which joins the Sutlej near

Leoo, and again on the Hungrung Pass, (14,000 feet.) Whether these

masses are connected, or form two distinct beds, must be left for future

decision. Granite is found in the neighboured of Rarung, Meero, and

Rogee : with these exceptions, and perhaps an occasional bed of mica

slate and quartz rock, the whole of this line is gneiss.

93. The preceding account of the rocks of this tract, derived from

recollection, agrees in the main with one published in the first volume

of the Geological Transactions, new series, drawn up by Mr. Colebroke,

from specimens forwarded by Captain Gerard, who also traversed that

route. The chief difference is in my assignment of gneiss as the rock

formation, giving to all the others, with the exception perhaps of the clay

slate near Moorung, the subordinate character of beds or veins.33 I may

here add two other observations from that paper, which are not to be

found in my notes, but are of importance. The dip is noticed at Pooaree

as being E., and the angle of inclination 25° to 30°. The other is a

notice of the rock found on the Shatool Pass, about five miles west

of the Borunda Pass, and elevated 15,000 feet, which is stated to be

gneiss.

94. We may now move eastward, and we shall find at the source of the

Tonse (12,800 feet) gneiss again, of a dark grey colour, fine grain, and

conchoidal fracture. This gneiss contains so large a proportion of

33 It will be readily understood, that a series of specimens collected by a person

not conversant with geological enquiry, whose attention too was strongly occupied

by another subject, may well fail to exhibit the relative extent of each rock; such

a collection can give us no assistance in discriminating insulated beds from alter-

nating formations, or either of these from veins.

xl viii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

quartz, and is so hard, as to afford sparks; at Jumnootree, also the prevail-

ing masses are gneiss; quartz rock also occurs, but in subordinate quan-

tity. From Jumnootree,** a route passes in the bed of the Bhagheerettee

at Sookee, reaching in two intances an elevation of about 15,000 feet

(Bamsoora and Chaigu Pass.) ‘The whole of this line is gneiss. From

Sookee again, in the upper part of the course of the Bhageerettee, we

met with scarcely any other rock; granite I have only seen in fragments.

The snowy peaks at the head of this river are distinctly stratified, and

have all the appearance of the neighbouring accessible gneiss. In the

Jahnuvi, gneiss continues to Neeling, where it is succeeded eastward by

clay slate. The valley of the Chor (thief) river, which is a feeder of the

Jahnuvi, and springs from that point in which the Buspa also originates,

but with an opposite course, appears to be also formed of this rock.

95. We have now reached the Kalee, (branch of the Aluknunda),

and here the recent examination of this tract equally established the pre-

valence of gneiss, from Ookee Muth Joola (rope bridge) to Kedurnauth,

the source of the river. In this gneiss the mica is often black, and the

quartz glassy, and in one solitary instance if 1 am not mistaken, it admits

_of hornblende as an ingredient in addition to the other three more usual

ones. The most marked varieties in structure or mineralogical aspect are

the following: Near Nalaputtun, the lamine are undulated, the quan-

tity of felspar diminishes, and I think it passes into a micaceous schist

at length by the almost total loss of this mineral; beyond Mykunda,

numerous fragments occur of the glandular type before described, and

which is afterwards seen in Litee, in an immense precipice forming a

beautiful natural section at the foot of the descent to Jilmilputtan.

Some of the nodules have even a rounded appearance, similar to that of

rolled pebbles; hornblende occurs in addition to the usual ingredients in

specimens obtained between Mykunda and Ukrot Kothee. This rock

is also remarkable for containing a peculiar mineral, which I shall pre-

sently have occasion to describe more particularly. Near Ukrot Kothie,

it has all the aspect of quartz rock, exhibiting, what may be called, a

transition into that congenerous formation. It gradually loses its mica,

and appears at last to be a mere mixture of quartz and felspar, the frac-

ture conchoidal and laminar, structure very obscure. Beyond Gowree

34 Mr. Fraser, who traversed this route, gives the same account of the rocks, and

particularly dwells on the stratified aspect of the lofty peaks.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xhix

Koond, occurs a type in which the nodules of felspar assume a. lenti-

cular shape. The ground being a dark grey, and this mineral of a

snowy whiteness, makes it occasionally a very beautiful rock. Beyond

Bhyro Ghate, the rock is scarcely accessible in situ, but the angular

fragments, which are very numerous, are sufficiently indicative of its

nature, and prove that the surrounding peaks and ridges are chiefly,

if not wholly, gneiss. And the correspondence of appearance between

the nearer ridges, which have evidently furnished these fragments, and

the great Soommero or Kedurnauth peak attest the fact that here also,

as at the head of the Ganges, this rock attains an elevation of nearly

23,000 feet.

96. The dip of this rock is more regular within this tract than in the

neighbourhood of the Sutlej. In the bed of the river below Ookeernauth,

near the Joola, it was observed to be from 8° to 20° N. E., while

the inclination was 30°. Between Mykunda and Bhet, the dip was

found to be twenty-five to forty-five N. W., and a little beyond this, due

North. Beyond Mykunda again, it was observed 50° N. E. Beyond

Borosa, it is also E. of N.; but the strata have a secondary set of divi-

sions which are at right angles to the former, and consequently dip in

the opposite direction. The first set have but little inclination. The

latter are nearly perpendicular. This is an appearance often met with,

and it is sometimes difficult to say, which are and which are not the

stratiform divisions. Those have been generally adopted which corres-

pond to the general run of the neighbouring strata. At the fine section

near Jilmilputtun, the strata which are from four to ten feet in thick-

ness, dip 10° N. E., at an inclination of 30°. After crossing the river,

the dip is 30° N. E., the inclination the same.

97. The only beds observed are one of micaceous schist near Nalaput-

tun,—if this be not indeed a gneiss with less felspar than usual, and an

instance of that oscillation which is observed between rocks so nearly

allied in origin and structure as these two? It is remarkable for con-

taining the largest garnets (common) I have seen in these mountains.

Their figure is however irregular. The specific gravity I determined to

be about 3.8. This is rather higher than the determination hitherto

made, but I think it must be evident to any one, who will examine the

uninterrupted series of gravities between common and precious garnets,

and will also consider the variations in the analysis, that the former is

1 Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

merely a more or less impure specimen of the latter. The degree of

impurity may be estimated from the specific gravity.

98. Between Bhet and Mykunda, also, occurs a bed of micaceous

schist under much the same circumstances as at Nalaputtun, that is

to say, containing felspar in small quantity ; the contact with the well-

defined gneiss not being visible, so as to allow it to be ascertained

whether it be a bed or a mere modification of the more general rock.

Beds of hornblende rock are very common, but always of limited extent;

as before observed, they seldom consist of the pure mineral, almost

always of a mixture of that and felspar. Occasionally this rock, by

the decomposition of the hornblende and oxidation of the iron it con-

tains, acquires a rusty colour, and an earthy composition. In this case it

is soft, and partially disintegrated. | And a mass of a similarly disin-

tegrated rock, but of a yellowish grey colour, is found in its vicinity. It

is probably a decomposing gneiss. A rock something similar occurs

again in the ascent to Gunness Ghata from Jilmilputtun. The composi-

tion is arenaceous, consisting of quartzose particles in a white earthy basis.

This is also probably a gneiss, though from the absence of every thing

like the stratified structure, I am more inclined to consider it a granite.

But the name is of little moment; whether gneiss or granite, it is of

limited extent, and being such as I have described, is surrounded on

every side by gneiss. It does not contain mica.

- 99. No granite veins, unless the preceding can be considered one,

were any where to be observed. But fragments of great variety, size

and beauty may be seen in the small valley at the head of the river near

which the temple of Kedurnauth stands; all these consist in great pro-

portion of felspar, containing very little quartz, and much less mica;

some want the mica altogether, some the quartz. The felspar is

always white or grey, in the former case perfectly opaque, in- the

latter translucent. The quartz is generally grey, the mica sometimes

a deep black. Those compounds which consist of the translucent

variety of felspar and black mica without any quartz, are extremely

beautiful, and could this rock be obtained in any quantity, it would

pay for its transport. But the small quantity in which each type

océurs, is equally remarkable with the great variety of them, and their

total dissimilarity to the granites found in more southern localities.

They are all angular, appear to be of recent fracture, and with those

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. li

met with near Wongtoo, (Art. 87,) doubtless portions of veins, as in

many the same circumstance may be observed which was observed

there, the adherence of part of the containing rock to one of the sides of

the vein. This is always gneiss.

100. In the bed of the Mundaknee, or Kalee as it is more usually

called, below Ookeernauth, many very large rounded blocks are scattered

about, of a granite very much resembling the anomalous rock at

Wongtoo bridge; it contains angular nodules of a crystalline felspar

imbedded in a granite paste. This felspar is here of the glassy variety,

and it is the only example of the mineral I have ever found. These

blocks have a smooth surface, unlike the rough and granular appearance

left by the phenomenon of desquamation to which granite is subject,

and to which so many granite boulders owe their origin. If these

boulders have been also formed by this cause, it is equally certain that

they have undergone also the attrition, which alone could have smoothed

their surfaces to the degree observed.

101. The only imbedded mineral of any interest in this quarter, is

one occurring in small amorphous grains. It is of a bluish grey colour,

translucent, a vitreous lustre, and uneven fracture. It is very easily

frangible, hardness 5.5: 6.0. The composition is impalpable. The

quantity I was able to procure was so small, that I do not lay much

stress on the determination of its specific gravity which appeared to

be 2.38. It is certainly not under 2.2, nor more than 2.4. Before

the blowpipe it is infusible, but decrepitates. It is not affected by acids.

This character does not agree with any mineral yet described, yet I

should wish to obtain it in greater quantity, and subject it to a more

leisurely examination before I pronounce it new, in all but geological

situation and infusibility. Before the blowpipe, it comes very near the

species, empyrodox quartz.*

102. Some of the fragments of gneiss found at Kedurnauth, contain

kyanite in flat prisms, from half an inch to an inch in length, and about

one-twentieth to one-third of an inch in breadth. Cinnamon stone in

grains is also to be found in them. The granite fragments abound in

schorl, under its common figure of three-sided prisms,* the lateral angles

replaced, terminated by obtuse trihedral summits. The largest I ob-

served, was about an inch in length and half an inch in diameter, but the

small crystals are always best defined. Hyacinth is more rare, and the

* MSS.

lu Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

crystals, which are quadrangular prisms, terminated by quadrilateral

pyramids set on the angles are very small, not more than one-twentieth

of an inch in their largest dimensions. Carbonate of lime, (calcareous

spar,) was observed only in one specimen.

103. In tracing this formation of gneiss eastward, we find it accom-

pany us from the bridge under Ookeernauth, by Krokee and Oosaree, in

the ascent to the Toongnath Pass, (10,000 feet.) Near Krokee, it

contains the bluish grey grains described, Art. 101. At Oosaree it is

chloritic, the mica having given way to this mineral. The quartz is

rather in greater abundance than usual, which renders it rather a hard

stone, and as the lamine are very much undulated in the south wall, and

the rock splits readily into masses of the required thickness, it is found

valuable as a mill-stone, and is much sought after on the Pass. Well-

characterised gneiss, of a small grain, and marked schistose structure,

occurs. The dip was observed to be N. 20° E. It was particularly

obvious in the arrangement of the mountain slopes and precipices. Fig.*

will give some idea of this appearance.

104. Beds of hornblende schist, as usual, are met with, sometimes in

a state of decomposition, (between Krokee and Oosaree), sometimes per-

sistent (on the Pass), but in a very small quantity. It is here succeeded

laterally by clorite schist, which also occupies a very small space,

some very large masses of quartz rock are observed, which have evi-

dently been derived from the lofty crest that crowns this Pass to the

north. A small strip of granite of a middling grain and ordinary aspect,

occupies the eastern edge of the Pass, and is I think, part of a vein. In

the descent in the Pass no rock is seen in situ, but the fragments are all

gneiss, and one type in particular is singularly beautiful, having thin

prisms of kyanite dispersed through it in great abundance, thus giving it

something of a porphyritic aspect.

105. The next locality within the elevated zone where gneiss has

been traced, is at Dampa on the Gooree river. It was there. observed

under two types, interstratified with one another. The one a light grey,

having much the appearance of quartz rock, the other darker coloured

and larger grained, resembling the rock near Zanee on the Sutlej and

* The figures referred to here and other parts of this report are wanting, for the

same reason that has interfered with the preparation of the sections. ‘They will be

forwarded hereafter.—MSS.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. li

Jilmilputtun on the Mundaknee. The two types are interstratified.

The dip is very regularly N., a little E., and the strata are occasionally

curved amongst the fragments, besides gneiss which constitutes the ma-

jor part. Quartz rock was observed, and a few spots of hornblende rock,

but none of granite.

106. From this point in the ascent to the village of Sacen, gneiss is

the only rock observable. ‘Thence descending to the Nullah, and as-

cending to the Pass called Chabinna-ka-Doora, elevated 9,000 feet, the

same rock continues, and in the whole line of so ordinary a type, and pre-

_ senting so little new or anomalous, as to afford no room for descrip-

tion or remark. It yet accompanies us onward round the head of the

Soorung glen to the Pass of Rooroo Dhooroo, elevated 10,000 feet; the

line of route then descends to a Nullah, (elevation 6,000 feet). Gneiss the

whole way. It ascends and descends, passing round the head of a valley,

and finally crossing Sere Soongur Khan, a Pass elevated 10,000 feet,

descends by Naneik into the bed of the Ramgunga, having yielded

no rock but gneiss in all that line, not even a solitary bed. I ought

however to notice that in a very great proportion of this distance the

coat of debris is of an enormous thickness, and covered by a most

luxuriant vegetation. In the bed of the Ramgunga, the dip was observed

N. 5° W., the inclination being 15°. There were however two other

sets of divisions, but not equally strongly marked.

107. The preceding comprehend the most northern observations of

the extent of this rock. I shall now follow out its southern boundary,

which as it presents some anomalies and irregularities, I have chosen to

separate from the previous detail in order to avoid confusion, and to

present in a clearer light the fact of the great lateral extent of this

formation. I have not the least doubt, that a greater field of observation

will establish the general prevalence of gneiss over the whole of what I

have called the zone of the Himmalaya. It is true that this is mere

Opinion, but it is the opinion of one who has considered the outlines

of the mountains with reference to their geological structure, and who

may be said to have viewed the whole of it at greater or less dis-

tances.

108. I shall, as before, begin with the western parts, taking up my

account at Deas on the Sutlej where, as I mentioned, gneiss occurs of a

well characterised type. In the bed of the Nullah, between Deaoo and

liv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

Muzzooleea, may be seen a bed of chloritic schist. Dipping conform-

ably with the gneiss it oscillates on one side towards talcose schist, on

the other towards chloritic gneiss. The latter change is seen where

it comes into contrast with the gneiss. This intermediate rock, as

it may be called, is much intersected by veins of scaly chlorite in which

quartz is also interspersed. The veins are very tortuous, and the quartz

always follows the course of the chlorite. In the ascent to the

Kutedorna Pass, just below the village of Darna, gneiss was observed,

but of limited extent, and no other rock was visible.

109. Between this Pass and Putenoo I find no notice of the rock,

owing I suppose to thick debris below Putenoo. In the route leading

down that glen, one of the feeders of the Nowgree (to Roon on the

latter river) chloritic and talcose schists are the only rocks observed,

these rocks frequently contain quartz. The dip is generally north.

The contact of the gneiss with the new rocks could not be discovered.

In the bed of the Nowgree occurs an anomalous variety of talcose

schist, or perhaps rather quartz rock. It is a mixture of silvery talc

and quartz, but is not schistose, having more the amorphous aspect

of granite. It contains, disseminated in grains, a mineral with the lustre

of quartz, semi-transparent, varying in colour from a bluish white to an

indigo blue. It does not appear to have any cleavage. The quantity

was too small to determine the specific gravity. It is infusible per se.

With soda it forms a clear glass. This rock has been meet within

very distant localities, and will be often referred to. At this place it is

intersected by patches or veins of chlorite.

110. In the ascent from the Nowgree, fragments of a subschistose

rock, of a greenish colour, may be seen, containing probably hornblende,

besides chlorite ; still higher on the pass above Birsoot, straight laminar

chlorite schist prevails. In descending to the stream below Ketoo, the

same rock continues, but having a fibrous structure; it contains nodules of

quartz, and the chlorite is always observed to be bent round them. The

dip was found here to be S. E. In the bed of the stream blocks of gneiss

are seen, but no occurrence of it in situ. Chlorite schist continues to the

foot of the ascent leading to the village of Koolior, when it is exchanged

for a grey fibrous argillaceous schist, irregularly cleavable with a scaly

granular fracture. The dip here was also found to be S. E. Probably

this latter is in reality but a variety of chloritic schist. As long how-

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. ly

ever as the green colour is made the discriminative character of chlorite,

descriptive geology must notice it as a change.

111. This latter rock continues in the ascent beyond Teda, assuming

latterly a magnesian character, and containing veins of quartz. The

transition between magnesian clay slate, and tale slate with which chlo-

rite slate is associated, is so common, as to render the above conjecture

probable; masses of a rock which might be called quartz rock are then

met with. It is ofa fine granular composition and slaty structure ; a little

higher an enormous precipice occurs formed of the projecting ends of

the strata, and facing the north. This rock is a gneiss of a grey colour,

fine granular composition, and perfect schistose structure, and the dip, it

would appear from the above, must be South on the Sulan Pass; again

the rock is gneiss, but no observation of the dip could be made.

112. In the descent from this Pass to the village of Koornoo, so thick

is the coat of debris, that not a single example of the rock is to be

detected excepting fragments. These are gneiss; but from Koornoo

the rock is finely exposed, particularly in the bed of the stream which

leads from the bridge below Koornoo to the foot of the Pass above

Surmal, and which here separates the Sutlej basin from that of the

Jumna. This stream runs in a narrow gorge with high perpendicular

walls on each side, formed of the projecting ends of the strata.

These are observed on each side to correspond perfectly, not only as

to the seams and directions of the strata, but also in the mineralogical

character of the rock. ‘This rock is an ordinary gneiss of a grey colour,

~and marked schistose character, the strata are sometimes five feet thick,

and between them is a distinct separation or fissure; sometimes they are

not more than six inches thick, and these changes occur within a very

short distance, the dip is regularly S. 40° to 50° E. The inclination

15° to 25°,

113. In the neighbourhood of the Surmal village, gneiss is still found,

occasionally, however, almost losing its felspar and consequently oscil-

lating towards micaceous schist or quartz rock. The route from this

village to Kuatar, at the head of the Nocor glen, leads along the high

ridge which separates the basins of the Sutlej and of the Jumna.

This ridge has an elevation in this quarter of from 7000 to 11,000 feet ;

some parts are above the limit of forest. It rises rapidly as it continues

upwards, and is seen to be crowned with snow-bearing peaks at but a

Ivi Report of the Mineralogical Survey _— (No. 126%.

short distance from the Pass above Surmal. It is generally covered

with an enormous coat of debris and of peat, but the rock is visible

in more than one place. It is gneiss, occasionally small granular, oc-

casionally with bent laminz, and resembling the passage into micaceous

schist. The dip is as often S. E. as N. E., nor did there appear to me

any clue by which I could trace the connection of their opposite dips,

which are many times repeated even in a very short distance. Beds of

hornblende rock are frequent; this rock is very often quite amorphous,

and has but little of any appearance of a schistose structure. It occa-

sionally contains mica and even quartz, as well as felspar, and may thus

be said to be identical in composition with the syenites, but it never loses

the characteristic appearance of hornblende rock, and the above minerals

are always in small quantity.

114. In the descent from the Kedrolo Pass to Kutar, the gneiss is lat-

terly found to lose its felspar, and in the neighbourhood of that village

it is an ordinary well-defined micaceous schist. From hence this latter

rock continues in the bed of the Nocor river, lying at so low an angle that

it is difficult to observe the dip or direction. I should have observed that

the outline of the great ridge and its ramifying branches, from which the

Kedrola Pass forms the descent, is peculiar. It is sharp and serrated,

while that of the mountains east of Kutar, and even the branches of the

former, as they fall in the scale of elevation, are observed to assume

smooth rounded outlines, with scarcely any sharp peaks or breaches.

But if the smooth ridge is seen to rise to any thing like the elevation of

the serrated ridges, it also becomes serrated like them, while again on

sinking, it takes the rounded form. This fact, combined with the low

degree of inclination which the strata bear, would seem to justify in in-

ferring the superposition of gneiss on micaceous schist, nor is there

any thing so unusual in the fact, however contrary to a once generally

received system, to occasion any hesitation in admitting the truth of it.

115. In the bed of the Nowr river, besides fragments of the mica

slate, the rock in situ many large blocks are seen of gneiss of a type

which I did not observe any where in this quarter in situ. Judging how-

ever from the connections of this rock in other places, I would infer that

it must also be in abundance here, forming most probably those serrated

crests which crown the mica slate ridges. This rock may be called

a porphyritic gneiss. It is composed of rather a middling grained

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. lvii

paste, in which I believe the three ingredients are found, and in this

paste are included angular nodules of crystalline felspar; this arrange-

ment gives a very beautiful appearance to the rock when polished. It

is the same rock which has been noticed in the river Kalee below Ookee-

muth, and also at Wangtoo bridge. It appears very often to form the

transition between granite and gneiss.

116. The micaceous schist continues to the village of Kohaen, situated

below the foot of the Tekkar, but every where covered by a thick coat of

debris. In the nullah the tendency of the dip was, if any thing, East ; but

_ here it was observed to be South-west. Below the village, a small stream

joins the Nowr river. In the bed of this river, micaceous schist is still ob-

servable, but on crossing the river on the ascent to the village of Surmal,

gneiss is seen resting on it. The dip of both rocks North-east, and the

inclination very little. The mica slate has here a greenish colour, but it is

not chloritic. The relations between micaceous and chloritic schist do

not warrant, I think, our extending the latter title to those rocks of the

former class, which have merely a greenish tinge. The lines of chlo-

ritic schists are rather connected with the talcose schists, a connection

perfectly agreeable to our views of system, since it has been well estab-

lished that the two minerals, talc and chlorite, are but varieties of the

same species, (the prismatic tale mica of Professor Mohs.)

117. From Saraut to Seel, the route passes along the eastern declivi-

ty of the ridge which separates the Nowr glen from the valley of the

Girree and its feeders. This ridge is every where of the rounded and

swelling form which was mentioned as indicating micaceous schist,

accordingly it is the only rock observed. It is frequently of an arenace-

ous composition, and strongly resembling some varieties of micaceous

sandstone. This type occurs near the village of Kulgaon, occasionally it

is of an earthy aspect, loses its schistose structure, and becomes fissured

in every direction. This type projects through the surface in amorphous

masses; it very probably contains felspar, though the grain is too small

to detect it by any occular examination. I incline to consider it as in

reality a small grained decomposing granite, but further examination of

its relations to the surrounding rocks are necessary to enable me to

pronounce decisively.

118. From Seel to Deolara, the residence of the Ranee of 'Torbut, the

route turns up the valley watered by the stream which joins the Pubbar

lviii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

river, opposite to Raeengurh. In all this line, mica slate is the only rock

occurring in situ. The dip was observed to be N. W., inclization

15°. Several very large fragments of gneiss may be seen near the

village of Torbut; one which I noted, had the dimensions of 50 feet by

20 by 10. Whence these have come is not so obvious, for the crests of

the range do not bear the serrated outline which is here discriminative

of gneiss. Near the Deolora, the type consists almost wholly of mica,

very tender, and of a yellowish brown colour. It contains numerous

veins of quartz, as this type always does. The new road which has

been cut by order of Major Kennedy passes through it, and is covered

deep by the highly comminuted debris of this rock, the lightest and

most transportable sand that is formed. ‘The annoyance to the tra-

veller’s eyes in a light breeze is not to be described, while the sun

strongly reflected from the lamina of the rock, occasions a glare which

is almost as irritating to the eyes, as the subtile powder which is every

instant blown into them.

119. At Seel, the rock is of the arenaceous type, and it contains,

disseminated in great abundance, octahedral iron ore in small grains

and imperfectly formed crystals. This mineral has a specific gravity

of 4.81; but as there are some impurities in the specimen I tried,

it is probable this determination is too low. The limits of octahe-

dral iron ore are 4.8, 5.2, while those of axotomous iron ore, which

it in some respects resembles, are 4.4, 4.8. But it is very probable

that the true limits of the octahedral species, (magnetic iron ore,) do

not descend below 5.0, for all the massive or larger crystallised speci-

mens exceed this determination, and that the magnetic iron sand will

form a distinct species between the axotomous, (titanic iron,) and the

octahedral.

120. The abundance in which these grains are found, may be judged

of by the specific gravity of some of the specimens of the micaceous

schist in which they are disseminated. This was found to be 3.45.

Taking 2.76 as the specific gravity of pure micaceous schist, and 4.8

that of the iron, it may be easily demonstrated that the latter constitut-

ed by bulk one-third of the rock, or by weight very nearly one-half.

121. In ascending from Deohea to the Pass of Chount Kagulla, lead-

ing into Poondur, micaceous schist alone is observable, but in general in

the coating of debris thick fragments of gneiss occur, and it is probable

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. ° lix

that the summits of this range are composed of this rock. On the Pass,

micaceous schist is the rock; but it approaches in character to gneiss,

containing I think felspar, though in small quantity. On the other side

of the Pass, however, just at the edge of the steep descent, gneiss occurs

in strata very nearly horizontal, the dip being if any thing North-west.

This place, which is at the head of the glen in which is situated the vil-

lage of Meemooa, presents some very romantic scenery. Immense preci-

pices are formed of the columnar masses of gneiss, which here and there

stand out from the general rock, and raise their gigantic heights far

~ above the green knolls and patches of debris, enamelled with a thousand

flowers that fill up the bottom of the glen. The crests of the surrounding

ridges in which the gneiss is gradually lost being concealed by the

luxuriant vegetation, are again crowned with noble forests, in which the

yew, the horse chesnut, the oak, pine, and sycamore are all conspicuous.

At every step the traveller disturbs the Moonal, (Phasianus Impejanus,)

which with its shrill disagreeable cry forms the only interruption

to the silence and solitude of the scene. It was a beautiful morning

in May when I ascended it. The thermometer was only 50°, while

in many of the secluded nooks, the springs were frozen. It is in

scenes like these, and in such temperatures, that the explorer finds

some recompense for the heat, and toil, and dust of less favored

situations.

122. Descending into this glen, the gneiss is perceived to have con-

siderable extent, and the valley for a still further distance, is strewed

with huge blocks of this rock. At the precipices above described, a

brownish tender micaceous schist may be seen resting on it; lower

down in the bed of the nullah below the village of Mummora, the

gneiss is finally exchanged for that rock, which here again appears

to underlie it. It may be seen to form by the broken ends of the

strata, corresponding layers on each side of the narrow water-course

which it bounds, the two sides agreeing in mineralogical character, in

inclination and thickness of strata so closely, that it scarcely requires an

effort of imagination to fill up the very narrow chasms, or to join those

masses which have evidently been once continuous. The micaceous

schist continues in the high ridge on which the village of Pooree is

situated, and for a few miles beyond it, when it is finally lost through

the junction of the new rock, or is concealed by debris.

Ix Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

123. I have now traced the gneiss to its southern boundary in this

direction, and have, in order at once to notice all the different patches

of it that occur, encroached on the limits of the micaceous schist, the

next rock in the order of description. But no arrangement of these

observations can be entirely regular while nature herself so often pre-

sents us with irregularities, or at least what appear such in our imper-

fect systems. In fact the inconvenience is more imaginary than real,

for in following out the extent of the next rock, the preceding details

will be referred to as filling up part of the outline. No gneiss is found

south of the point where the preceding description terminates.

124. It is necessary now to return to the route by the Borund Pass,

in which gneiss was traced as far as the place of encampment in the

Pubbur valley, about 10 miles above Janglag. ‘The upper part of this

valley, I should notice, is of great width, the left bank is steep and

precipitous, consisting chiefly of bare rock, the river flowing at its foot.

The right bank is an easy slope covered with a thick coat of peat, in

which spring up at this season various European flowers, such as

ranunculus, anemone, potentilla, iris, with many others that appeared

new to me. Tracts of this nature afford the very finest pasturage

during four or five months of the year. Very little rock is visible, only

occasionally in the lateral glens, where the torrents from the snow have

gradually made their way through this enormous mass of vegetable

debris, and thus exposed it to view, or where a peak split by the expan-

sive powers of the frost tumbles from its lofty base into the valley

beneath, and scatters wide its fragments of every size. One such slip

of very great extent may be seen on the road to Junglag, and of this

all the fragments are gneiss; some pieces would afford hand specimens

that might pass for granite, but viewing it in the large and almost

innumerable blocks that lie here, the rock is readily pronounced a

gneiss.

125. Descending from Junglag to the confluence of the two princi-

pal branches of the Pubbur, we find only gneiss. A fine section is

exposed on the left bank of the eastern branch. It lies in distinct and

well marked strata, from 5 to 8 feet thick, dipping to the S. E. The

route continues along to the right bank of the united stream now

swelled to a river, 40 feet wide and 5 feet deep. The coating of debris

is of great thickness, but another section of the strata may be seen in

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. lxi

the bed of a small nullah that falls in from the west. The rock is

gneiss, the inclination is small, and the dip obscure.

126. Hence, ascending and passing by the villages Dewtee and

Sustwar, gneiss is still found projecting in many large masses; the

mountain side being more steep, and consequently having less debris

lying on it, no good observation of the dip was obtainable. Gneiss still

continues up the lateral glen in which Kutsar is situated, and thence

descending to Tikkaree near the latter place, fragments were observed

of a dark blue colour and small grain, and in the eagerness to change

the sameness of constantly recurring gneiss for some novelty, were

supposed at first to be so, but the first stroke of the hammer corrected

the mistake, and shewed it to be gneiss; a little unlike, however, the

ordinary types of that rock. In the bed of the Kutsar glen, blocks of

the porphyritic gneiss before described were observed, some of which

had all the characters of a gneiss.

127. From Tikkaree to Senowlee, a distance of nearly 16 miles, the

route is in the bed of the river, and in all this line there is but one

instance of the rock in situ being exposed. It is a fine grained grey

gneiss. In the bed of the river, fragments of all sizes are seen, but they

consist almost exclusively of gneiss and quartz rock, some few of

hornblende rock, and a very few of granite. The river bed is often

wide, and in these cases is accompanied by a bank or flat of some

extent, consisting of rounded stones. This bank is often 30 feet high,

not less than half a mile in length, and 200 yards perhaps in width.

These level spots are all cultivated, and it would appear, that they are

particularly fitted to the culture of the poppy, which is carried on in

this valley and its ramifications with great success.

128. This was the first instance of these beds observed in descending

from the source of the river. Near Massoolea, where there is much level

ground, occurs an immense accumulation ; a lateral torrent which cuts

through it to jom the Pubbur, shews at once its enormous thickness

and its composition; stones of every size, from 2 feet diameter to the

smallest pebbles, all perfectly rounded, imbedded in gravel and sand ;

most of them are quartz rock, perhaps two-thirds of the whole, the

other third consists of gneiss and hornblende rock, with a few of

granite. ‘These beds are so far different from the open level spots

found in the upper part of the river vallies, in as much as their surface

Ixil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

is perfectly flat, while that of the others is rather undulating and

irregular. The latter too are composed almost wholly of angular

local debris, covered with a thick deposit of peat, while these, as already

described, consist entirely of rounded fragments which project often

~ at the surface.

129. From Sinowlee the road ascends one of the ramifications of the

Chag Sheel ridge. At the commencement of the ascent, micaceous schist

is found of a dark blue colour, and splitting into very thin straight lamine.

It is much stained with oxyde of iron. Gneiss succeeds to this rock,

but in small quantity, and is again exchanged for a micaceous schist,

with ‘something of a talcose aspect, and of a lead blue color. This

rock continues assuming more of the talcose character, and it is I think

certainly a mixture of prismatic and rhombohedral tale mica with

quartz. The lamine become undulated, and it abounds in garnets.

A vein is observed parallel to the layers, the centre of which was

either granular quartz or a mixture of quartz and felspar, the sides |

were marked by prisms of hornblende thickly and confusedly dissemi-

nated. Many veins of glassy quartz, both white and yellow, were

observed, but so fragile that no good specimen could be detached.

130. The rock continues to the village of Chupar, containing fre-

quently veins, if they be so called, of gneiss. The veins never ramify,

and they are always parallel to the laminz of the containing rock ;

below Chupar gneiss is again found in mass, and beyond it again talco-

micaceous schist, enclosing a vein similar to that described Art. 129,

consisting of granular quartz or a mixture of quartz and felspar, with

erystals of hornblende disseminated. This vein has a porphyritic

structure, is a most singular rock, and affords by the definite nature of

its character, a clue to the connections of widely distant masses. It

will be seen hereafter of what common occurrence it is within this

tract, and yet it is a rock I have never seen except in these mountains.

The dip is pretty uniformly in this neighbourhood, N. or E. of N.

wherever it appears uncomformable, it is but for a short distance.

131. Beyond the talco-micaceous schist, one with straight lamine,

containing garnets and oxydulous iron is met with. In descending from

Bulor into a lateral glen, the glandular type of gneiss before noticed

as occurring below Broang (Art. 80), and at: other places, is met with,

and in the bed of the stream is seen a talco-micaceous rock with

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ix

undulated lamine. This rock is singularly hollowed out, whether by the

action of the weather or by the dropping out of the loose materials

of veins, that may once have traversed it, it is difficult to say, perhaps

the former opinion is the more probable one; and yet as these hollows

traverse the laminz of the rock, it is not easy to understand why they

should be subject to decomposition so partially.

132. From Murdal the rocks appear to be of an anomalous character.

In proceeding along the declivity of the range which here forms the left

bank of the Pabur river, there is an oscillation between gneiss and

micaceous schist, the rocks occasionally assuming the type of the former,

occasionally of the latter rock. The gneiss appears sometimes to

contain clay slate as an ingredient, and in one spot of limited extent,

is carburetted in a high degree, this modification was noticed, also as

occurring above Gowree Koond, in the valley of the Kalee, (Art. 95.) In

the bed of the stream below the village of Twalta, gneiss is found of a

legitimate type, dipping to N. E. and having an angle of inclination

of from 30 to 40°. This rock continues the whole way to the village of

Dorchan, where may be seen some types of a granitic character, but viewed

in all their relations, little hesitation is felt to class them as gneiss in

general, this character only applies, to small portions of the rock, and

even there may be seen in the same continuous stratum to pass into

the most ordinary gneiss, and often in a distance of a few feet. The

lamine of this rock are much undulated, and owing to the arrangement

of the materials, it presents a striped appearance, the stripes following

a waving outline. In some specimens, I observed the spangled mica

at right angles to the lamine, an arrangement that might too hastily be

considered characteristic of granite, were it not borne in mind first, that

they preserve their parallelism in layers, which the mica in granite never

does ; and secondly, that it is an appearance not uncommon in micaceous

schist, as I shall hereafter have occasion to shew, contrary to the opinion

of one of our first geologists. .

133. In the descent to the Kotee gneiss accompanies us nearly the

whole way dipping to the north or a little west of it, the inclination

being but little. It is however seen to include a bed of magnesian

clay slate, the approach to which is indicated by laminz of that rock

being contained in the gneiss. Adjoining the bed of clay slate, is one

of quartz rock. The actual junction of these rocks is concealed by

Ixiv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

debris. The change however takes place in the direction of the strata,

and does not occupy 400 yards in lateral extent. The gneiss which

succeeds the quartz rock continues as far as Gokul, a village in the

same glen. In the ascent thence to the pass above Seras, the rock in

situ is not observable; for a considerable distance fragments of horn-

blende schist are found, but not numerous; after crossing the stream

a new rock is met with, which occupies some extent. It is a white

rock of a saccharoidal aspect, occasionally so frangible as to crumble

under the pressure of the finger, yet at the same time it has many and

distinct changes, but nothing like a schistose structure. It is most

probably a bed in the gneiss. It is composed evidently of tale and

quartz or felspar, or both; some parts of it have so completely lost

the mutual coherence of the particles, as to form apparently a bed of

white clay; no doubt this would prove an useful ingredient in any

attempt to manufacture a superior pottery.

134. On the summit of the Pass is to be seen a gneiss of an earthy

character, and containing not only clay slate, as an ingredient, but

carbonate of lime. Below the Pass occur fragments of chloritic schist,

in such abundance as to justify the suspicion that there are extensive

beds of it in the neighbourhood near ; the village, a compound rock of

an argillaceous character containing superadded carbonate of lime, im-

bedded pieces of quartz of a lenticular shape, and perhaps felspar;

most probably the transition of the earthy gneiss above to an argil-

laceous schist; another specimen is a well defined clay slate with veins

of carbonate of lime, chleritic schist of a dull green colour, and sub-

granular composition, united to the imperfect schistose structure, also

occurs, after which quartz rock in all its types occupies the road in

the descent to the Tonse River, and for some miles in its bed, pro-

ceeding upwards: when I say in all its types, I mean rather of colour

than any thing else, for excepting in this particular there is no rock

which possesses such uniformity of character, at least in this tract.

It is sometimes bluish grey from clay slate, sometimes greenish grey

from chlorite. Occasionally it is talcose, occasionally micaceous ; the

dip is pretty uniformly from N. to N. E. and the inclination from 25° to

30° ; a very remarkable instance of the disruption of the strata occurs in

the descent, something like that noticed Art. 94. The interval is also

occupied by a stream, but of very disproportional dimensions. It is about

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. lxv

four feet wide and six to twelve inches deep, (15th of June after many

days heavy rain,) the breadth of the opening from precipice to precipice

is 200 feet, and the perpendicular depth about 100. The dip and mine-

ralogical character correspond on each side, so as to leave no doubt that

they were once continuous. The rock, as quartz rock almost always

is, is one of great tenacity and hardness, and it seems very difficult

to assign any adequate cause for the removal of so large a mass. There

does not appear any dislocation or disturbance of the strata, nor any

trace by which it can be judged, that the mass removed could have

been the materials of a vein of less persistent character; many other

instances of this kind will be noticed as I proceed in my description.

135. The Tonse is here crossed by a Sanga which measures 101

feet in the clear. The velocity in the middle of the surface was 12

to 13 feet per second, and the depth from 5 to 7 feet. These data give

the discharge about 2000 feet per second. In the Doon before joining

the Jumna it was determined to be nearly 3000 feet. In its immediate

bed are found very large rounded blocks or boulders some even 3 feet

in diameter. As in the bed of the Pabbur River, so here also they con-

sist of gneiss, quartz rock, and hornblende rock. At the confluence

of the small stream in the bed of which lies the road from Seras, there

occurs a very extensive piece of flat ground, but whether it be composed

of the boulders, and loose gravel noticed in the bed of the Pabbur is

doubtful. Small deposits were however observed in the immediate bed

of the river, having a thickness of 5 feet. The open and flat spots are

very numerous in this part of the river’s course, but of what materials

they consist is rendered uncertain by the covering of vegetation, which

clothes their slopes even to the water’s edge.

136. From the bed of the Tonse the route proceeds up a lateral glen

called Gurogar, from the village of that name, a very picturesque

valley having considerable width, and much level ground in many dif-

ferent points of its course. The sides are sloping and covered with

forest, which with the luxuriance of the vegetation spread over the

floor of it effectually conceals the rock; in one quarter numerous

fragments of quartz rock may be seen something of the character

of the rock noticed in Art 129, as found on the ascent to Bouchakadhar.

It contains talc, and is frequently very tender almost friable. They

are scattered over a smooth grassy knoll, nor is it immediately obvious

Ixvi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126%,

whence they come. The mountains on this side have flat declivities, —

without any rock visible, and are covered with fine forests; on the

opposite side, it is true they are precipitous, and appear to consist

of this very rock, but as the river forms a deep chasm between, and

not a very narrow one, it is not immediately understood how they

should have fallen on this side: perhaps they had occupied their present

place before this chasm was formed.

137. The valley widens considerably at its upper extremity, but

constantly presents the easy grassy declivities, or patches of forest,

which so entirely cut off all access to the rock. The ascent is easy

to the Dharma pass, which separates this valley from that of the

Koomoolda, commonly known as the Ramasera, (note, Serais always ap-

plied to those vallies where rice may be cultivated.) The latter is a valley

of some note, and is thought by the mountaineers, of these otherwise,

rugged districts to be a smaller kind of des,* but their praises and descrip-

tion of it are greatly exaggerated ; there are several vallies in Kumaon and

to the westward of greater extent. Its extreme width cannot be taken

I think at more than a mile, and the length of the wide part, — miles ;

towards its mouth it narrows considerably, and the Koomoolda, the

stream which waters it, finally joins the Jumna by cutting its way

through a narrow ridge which lies transversely to the valley, and which

has all the appearance of having once formed a barrier to its waters.

138. On the Pass were found fragments of quartz rock occasionally

containing talc, and of chloritic schist. The latter rock with bent

lamine and oscillating towards talcose schist, was found in situ

half way down the Pass. In the valley again gneiss once more makes

its appearance in very thin lamine, and dipping to north. This

gneiss is very probably connected with the mass which rises up into

the lofty peak Kedar Kanta, in the sides of which both the Gurogar,

and Rama vallies have their origin; on crossing the valley quartz

rock and chloritic schist are the only rocks to be observed, and of

these even very little, owing to the arrangement of the surface and

the deep deposits, either of debris or peat, which every where conceal

the rock. One very large mass was observed consisting half of quartz

rock, half of chloritic approaching to talcose schist, there was no-

thing like transition observable between the two substances, the line

* The term applied by the mountaineers to the plain.

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixvil

of junction being strongly marked; the quartz rock was perfectly

amorphous, not a trace of schistose structure was to be observed, the

lamine of the schist were considerably bent or undulated, it contained

fragments of the quartz rock, some of which were coloured green, some

retained their white colour; no fragments of the schist however could

be detected in the quartz rock; this mass which appeared detached

was surrounded by several smaller blocks, some of which were found

to be quartz rock, some chloritic schist.

139. The route passes round the head of a second valley, which falls

into that of the Kumoulada, and crossing the lateral separating ridge

descends into the valley of the Bunal, another glen containing a good

deal of level ground, though not equal to Ramasera or the Gurogar glen.

In the descent above the village of Kande, gneiss was once more

found, but down the valley, the mountains, at least their summits, ap-

peared to consist of limestone ; this gneiss was talcose, approaching to

earthy, and it is again found below this village in the neighbourhood of

limestone beds, and containing a bluish semi-transparent mineral in

grains similar to that described (Art. 126.) Here the gneiss formation

is finally taken leave of, being succeeded by talco-argillaceous schist.

140. We must now proceed to the valley of the Kalee, and trace

the southern boundary there also. The former account stopped at

Ookemuth on the Kalee. In a glen a mile south of it, is seen a

schist full of those flat veins or circular masses of quartz which are

so common in micaceous and argillaceous schist ; this rock dips 45° NE.,

and has an inclination of about 30° to 40°. Between the villages Jukh

and Oakee again, gneiss is met with; below im the bed of the river

is a mass of calcareous tufa with vegetable impressions. It is of a

light buff yellow colour, is rather porous with a semi-crystalline grain.

It is a very pure carbonate of lime, and affords an excellent cement by

burning, which was used for the stone temples erected one at Kedarnath,

at the foot of the great Soomeeroo Peak,* the other at Ookee Muth

where the Raool, or chief priest, resides.

* This temple is situated at the source of the Mundaknee, a branch of the Dhaolee,

in one of those expanded vallies described in Art.95. The elevation of the place is —

and it is unnecessary to say that during many months it is deep in snow, and con-

sequently not habitable. There is even no village within 15 miles of the place; it it

rather larger than the generality of these structures, and is handsomely built of hewn

stone.

Ixvill Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

141. Chloritic schist is seen again at Kandara in the Greenduala glen,

which furnishes a middling sized stream to the Kalee; beyond the chlo-

ritic schist-gneiss is again found near the village of Baroo, Amorphous

patches of earthy granite may be observed, so soft and crumbling as to

yield easily to the spade. On the summit of the Pass a talco-chloritic

schist obtains, and continues to the mines at Pokree, fragments, however,

of hornblende schist being scattered about in some numbers; beyond

this point no gneiss was observed in proceeding south; we may therefore

return to Mumdal below the Toaugnath Pass, where the account of this

formation left off. (Art. 103.) |

142. This village is situated in the high bed of the Dulalee river,

which has its rise in the schist of the Toongnath mountains, and

joms the Dhoalee just below Gopisur. The route leads down the

glen to turn into the valley of the Dhoalee; very little rock in situ

was observed, indeed only one patch, which was of too little extent to

say precisely whether it was granite or gneiss, the toughness being such

as to set at defiance the hammer, and consequently prevent its effecting

a fracture of the rock, so as to judge of its mineralogical composition.

It was a roundish amorphous mass with a few irregular seams project-

ing but little above the surrounding surface, and thus, from its want of

sharp corners, increasing the difficulty, occasioned by its toughness, of

detaching a specimen. Fragments of hornblende rock, of quartz rock, and

of gneiss, are abundantly scattered over all this tract. One block, pro-

bably part of a vein, was observed, consisting almost entirely of that

variety of hornblende called actynolite ; part of the containing rock still

adhered, being a fine granular mixture of felspar, quartz, and mica,

the first ingredient in greatest quantity. The actynolite has rather

a confused structure; apparently large concretions formed of radiating

bundles of prisms. The specimens obtained were not remarkable for

beauty.

148. A more remarkable phenomenon was the occurrence of a huge

mass, composed apparently of very similar ingredients to the secondary

sandstones. It was a solitary rock which stood in the bed of the

Dulolee, the top being covered with grass and shrubs; strictly it

might be called a conglomerate, contaiming many large boulders or

rounded stones. The base was rather fine grained, consisting almost

entirely of quartz sand, and apparently held together by the slightest

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. lxix

coherence. The friability and want of consistence of the substance,

prevented the retention of any specimens, as they fell to pieces immedi-

ately on being detached, though the rock itself, of considerable size,

seemed persistent. I am inclined to think it was merely part of a dilu-

vial deposit and not a legitimate sandstone, no specimen of which I have

ever observed in such a locality. In reality though the sandstones are

often friable, and have little coherence, yet I have never seen any which

exactly resembled this rock.

144. At Sikol, in the bed of the Dhaolee, I found large masses of

quartz rock stratified, probably with great regularity, but the fissures of the

strata so intermixed with cross cleavages, that it was difficult to separate

them, and say which really was the plane of the strata. The colour

of this rock was greenish, it is also seen near Masooa, rather a

large village near the rope bridge by which the Dhaolee is here crossed.

The dip was N. E., inclination about 60° to 70°; close by the bridge

it appears to pass into micaceous schist. Further on in the valley of

the Mundaknee, it appears to pass into chloritic schist.

145. I must not leave the Dhaolee, however, without saying some

thing of those great accumulations of boulder stones, the very sight of

which strikes the traveller with astonishment, and forces him to admit

the action of some great rush of waters. ‘These diluvian beds are here

seen on a scale, which sets at nought any theory that should derive its

agent from the body of water at present occupying that channel.

These deposits seem always to be found in those parts of the river’s

course where the valley widens considerably, at least it has been so

in all the instances I have yet had to notice. In the immediate bed

of the river, the fragments consist of two kinds, the one perfectly rounded,

the other subangular. The rounded fragments consist of gneiss, gra-

nite and hornblende rock, the other of quartz rock and mica slate, the

two latter being the rocks in situ in the immediate neighbourhood of the

rounded fragments; these are of all sizes from boulders of four feet in

diameter to the small grains of sand. That the river in its greatest

floods, and in some particular parts of its course possesses the power

of moving these stones, is certain, from the deep hollow noises heard

every now and then. That it can do little more than merely move them

is equally certain, from the fact of these boulders always occupying the

wide parts of the valley. There are tracts here of a mile in length, and

Ixx Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

probably 300 feet wide, (the depth is not known), consisting of these

huge stones, great part of them now far above the reach of the highest

floods. It is not to be understood, if they had been moved by causes

still in operation, why none of them should have travelled a little farther.

146. Ascending to Sooralee from the bed of the Mundaknee, chlori-

tic schist is found established, extending for some miles beyond the

village to the foot of the Okrooaree Pass, which separates the Purgunnahs

of Budhan and Dussolee. It is as usual much intermixed with quartz

rock; some specimens of a straight laminar structure have an emerald

green colour, and an almost metallic brilliancy. This is a beautiful rock.

On the descent from the Pass gneiss is found of a small grain, a very

compact rock. The dip is N. 80° E. the angle of elevation 60°, hence

passing by the village of Koon to Choptah, quartz rock and chloritic

schist prevail irregularly mixed. The dip generally N. E., the inclination

25°. At Chobtah, they are exchanged for an earthy micaceous schist,

which however must be of very limited extent.

147. Below this village, on the road to Jak, the rock is of a less

definite structure, being an irregular mixture of dolomite and talc;

sometimes the grains are small and the mixture intimate, sometimes

they are larger, and the aggregation of a granitic character, 7. e. each

mineral perfectly distinct, though mutually impressing each other.

These distinct concretions become so large, that each mineral may

be found forming the substance of distinct blocks. This type of rock

occupies but a small space, being found only on the right bank of the

glen below Chobtah ; on ascending the other side, fragments of a granitic

rock are met with, but of peculiar mineral character. The ingredients

appear to be a dark bluish grey felspar, quartz and talc, the grain

is small, the rock exceedingly tough and hard, with an amorphous struc-

ture, although some specimens shewed something like a transition into

the schistose. This rock was not seen in situ, only in fragments, and

has near been observed in any other locality. It is a very beautiful

rock, and would be extremely ornamental if cut and polished.

148. Near Jak, beds of hornblende schist occur, apparently gradua-~

ting into quartz rock; on the quartz rock, which contains felspar,

rests a bed of chloritic schist of scaly composition and unctuous feel.

These two rocks are perfectly distinct, and the line of separation strong-

ly drawn. The dip is N. 60. E. and the inclination 40. Below them m

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxi

the descent to the Pindar much quartz rock occurs, dipping always

N. E., but having frequently a second set of cleavage planes equally

distinctly marked. The only method of recognising them is the greater

or less permanence, the false stratification if it may be so called, often

vanishing within short distances. At the foot of a precipice formed by

a beautiful natural section of a quartz rock containing felspar, is

a patch of grey rock, amorphous, without any trace of schistose struc-

ture, and projecting in large round masses, very similar to those which

granite is seen to affect. It is probably a mixture of hornblende and

felspar. A whitish rock of a small grain, and similarly amorphous, is

seen in contact sending veins through it, and reminding one strongly

of the description given- of granite veins. This white rock is similar

in mineralogical character to the stratified rock above noticed, consisting

of a mixture of quartz and felspar. The fragments in the bed of the

stream are chiefly gneiss and hornblende rock; they are frequently

increased by calcareous spar.

149. On descending into the valley of the Pindar a greenish grey

schist is met with at the rope bridge. Character intermediate between

hornblende and chloritic schist. It probably belongs to the former title,

though the fragments and other indications beyond this place point to a

formation of talcose schist. Fragments are also met with of gneiss

and of hornblende schist. At Zubburkat, the rock is a gneiss, of a fibrous

columnar structure, dark grey colour, and earthy aspect. It probably

contains, if not hornblende, some magnesia or a mineral, probably talc or

chlorite. It also contains grains of the blue semi-transparent mineral

noticed (Art. 139.) Beyond this village immense blocks of a well defined

eneiss are met with, resting on the mountain side, and some few of

hornblende rock, but such is the thickness of the covering of debris and

vegetable mould, this being the side of easy slope or quarter of the

dip, that no instance of the rock in situ occurs till we approach the

village of Chelinga; here may be seen a strata of gneiss, dipping N.

85° E. and at an angle of 40°. This gneiss agrees in character with

that constituting the large blocks just noticed, and has an affinity to

that seen at Zubburkat. It is a small granular mixture of black mica,

greyish white felspar, and quartz, with distinct foliated grains of

felspar superadded. The quartz is obscure, and indeed in all these

mixtures of small grain, it is not easy to detect the nature of ingredients

Ixxil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

so intimately mixed, without using some method of mechanical analysis,

similar to that proposed by M. Cordier.

150. In the ascent from the village of Chelinga to the Goruldum

Pass, no rock in situ is visible, but fragments of granite occur, of various

sizes, strewed over a small flat at the commencement of the ascent.

The source of these is not obvious. On the summit of the Pass quartz

rock and chloritic schist, passing into micaceous schist are found in

strata, the dip of which is a little obscure, but which seemed to be N.

60° W. Of the quartz rock, it is doubtful, whether it be not a transported

block, but the schist is evidently in its place. On leaving the Pass in the

descent to the village of Koolem, an earthy decomposing granite in

amorphous patches is met with, of the same character as that noticed

above Baree, in the valley of the Mundaknee, (Art. 100.) This rock

is a very remarkable one, and requires a little detailed description. The

proportion of felspar compared to that of the other ingredients is very

great, and it appears to be singularly subject to decomposition, so much

so, that the rock may be dug like a bed of clay or vegetable mould; the

quartz and felspar, on a first appearance, form one uniform mass, in

which, however, they are to be distinguished by colour, the quartz

being greyish. white and the felspar yellowish, and by their state of dis-

integration. The mica is of a dirty brownish green colour, and is

disposed rather irregularly, as well as scantily. The lamine are never

parallel, a character by which it has been proposed to distinguish

granite from gneiss, and which if it hold universally, will form an useful

distinction, as being easily recognised.

151. On descending into the valley described in Art. 149, no rock

is visible for a considerable distance, the soil being of great depth, and

frequently overspread with forests. In the beds of streams however,

may be observed occasionally the edges of strata, both hornblende schist

and gneiss, and there are several patches of the decomposing granite

also. In the ascent from Hath to Retorah villages, gneiss may be

observed, at first of a very regular character, bluish grey, and strongly

resembling the most legitimate gneiss of the Himmalaya. The gneiss

appears gradually to pass into micaceous schist, which at Retorah is

white, fine granular, and almost might be called slaty quartz rock. On the

summit of the Hackena Pass, which leads into the valley of the

Cossillah, it is of a dark greenish brown colour, very micaceous, and very

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxill

tender. ‘The dip of the rock at Retorah was irregular, and the gneiss

in the neighbourhood equally so, the strata having many undulations,

but the rock observed in the bottom of the valley had a dip N. W.

152. Descending from this Pass quartz rock of an arenaceous com-

position is found. It contains beds of chloritic schist. Beyond this,

near Mala, argillaceous schist becomes established, of great variety of

aspect, of a purplish, greenish and light grey colour, straight, fissile, with

rhombhoidal cleavages, and of a soft consistence, comprising every

variety almost of the brightest colours. It contains beds of limestone,

which are often highly argillaceous. Farther down in the valley of the

_ Cossillah, micaceous schist is met with, and then an extensive patch

of gneiss, which stretches across the valley, and is probably connected

with other masses shortly to be noticed. Afterwards the micaceous schist

again re-establishes itself, and continues to Almorah. Here for the

present we shall break off this description, and return to the route from

Sacen, in which gneiss was traced as far as Naneik, and to the bed of

the Ramgunga below the village, (Art. 106.)

153. The route proceeds by Ratik, gneiss accompanying us the whole

way; some fragments of a very peculiar rock were found, composed

wholly of a substance which might be called intermediate in character

between rhombohedral and prismatic tale mica. It was of a dark brown-

ish green colour, and the foliz of the mineral were placed in every

direction, having the appearance of a confused aggregation. The same

rock occurs rather abundantly in the ascent to the Soor Doora Pass, but

always in fragments, while the rock in situ continues to be gneiss as far

as the village of Soor. Beds of hornblende schist, and of micaceous

_ schist occur in the descent to the bed of the Sirjoo river; the gneiss

being, however, the containing rock, and continuing to some distance

beyond the village of Soope.

154. Here the rock begins to change, the gneiss appearing to pass

into a fine grained mixture of tale and quartz, which may also perhaps

contain felspar. This is succeeded by quartz rock, which again becomes

talcose, and incloses small beds of talcose schist. It passes into chloritic

schist also, the quartz becoming at first green. The latter rock con-

tains veins of quartz, and on one a particular concretion of so remarkable

a shape and appearance, as to have the strongest resemblance to a

rib-bone. In endeavouring to detach it, the resemblance was des-

Ixxiv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

troyed by fracture. On the Pass of Chowr Bunaik, the talcose rock is

fairly established, being occasionally schistose, occasionally amorphous

or massive. It is of a white colour and beautiful nacreous lustre.

Descending thence, various mixtures of this mineral, (prismatic talc

mica,) with quartz, are found sometimes inclining to a green colour,

and apparently allied to chloritic schist, sometimes to a blue, and passing

into argillaceous schist. Alternating beds of the green schist and

quartz rock were observed, very regular and well-defined.

155. In the neighbourhood of the village of Kurrimee, the rock is a

mixture of white granular dolomite and talc. The latter is sometimes

found in beautiful nacreous scales, disposed in nests or nodules, at other

times intimately mixed with the particles of the dolomite. In the latter

case, the rock is extremely friable, and resembles very strongly the

dolomite of the Alps. This rock is succeeded by a schist of an ar-

gillaceous character, very soft and tender, and of a dark blackish grey

colour. The schist is occasionally green in the ascent to Tobne Binag,

where the view of the mountains discloses several beds of talcose

schist of a whitish colour; descending to the village Bugur in the

bottom of the glen, limestone is the rock. It is often very impure,

being highly charged. with argillaceous or siliceous matter. It is

regularly stratified, dipping N. 48° E. at an angle of 60’. The strata

are sometimes curved.

156. This limestone continues in the ascent to the high Pass of

Cheeoonga Binag, the whole of which ridge is composed of it. With

occasional patches of schist of an argillaceous character, it still

accompanies us by the village of Ingthana to Bynsaree, in the route

down the glen in which those villages are situated. The strata are

sometimes fissured and cracked in every direction, and in some cases so

fragmentary, that large masses have fallen out, thus giving rise to exten-

sive caves. From Bynsaree, the route passes up a lateral glen to

Soomchala, crossing an elevated ridge. On this ridge and the immediate

ascent to it, argillaceous schist is found of a reddish brown colour,

earthy composition, and splitting readily into rhombohedral fragments.

This rock is sufficiently exposed also in the descent to Soomchala,

where it is remarkable for its many changes of colour, within a small

space ; as also for the rhombohedral cleavages passing into the straight

schistose.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxv

157. As far as Darimket, the route lies in a succession of glens, in

which no trace can be found of the rock in situ at that village. It

ascends, and immediately a talco-micaceous schist is met which con-

tinues to the foot of the descent into the valley on the other side.

This latter is one of the many branches which fall into the great one

of the Gaomootee, described, Art. 65, and as such, partakes of the

open and level nature of the latter. At the foot of the descent frag-

ments of hornblende rock occur in great abundance, and a little further,

the rock in situ is found to be an earthy gneiss, extremely soft and

crumbly. This rock continues to disclose itself in different parts of the

river bed as far as Byznoth; and at the foot of the ascent to Retora

a grey gneiss of very perfect character is seen dipping N. E. In the

ascent to Retora, this route coincides with that described Art. 65.

158. We have now to take up our account of the gneiss at the

village of Dampa, Art. 105 where it is described as of a remarkably

regular type, and disclosing itself in extensive masses distinctly strati-

fied. From Dampa to Munsaree, this rock continues, and near the

latter place and above it, are enormous blocks of this rock scattered

about in the wildest confusion. Thence ascending to the Betoolee

Dhoorah Pass, the same rock is occasionally found, and occasionally

_ beds of hornblende schist. At Munsaree there occurs a bed of a very

beautiful rock, beg a mixture of white granular limestone and talc,

(prismatic talc mica,) the latter is occasionally diffuse. Amongst this

the carbonate of lime occasionally occupies distinct layers, passing

into the argillaceous schist. This rock furnishes excellent roof slate,

being very fissile. In the bed of the Gurjeea river below Munsaree, the

rock is an earthy brown, tender, micaceous schist in descending the bed

of the Gurjeea, as succeeding to the gneiss.

159. Descending from this Pass, quartz rock occurs in extensive

masses distinctly stratified, dipping N. 15° E, Other fissures at right

angles, at distances of five feet, are extremely distinct, the whole mass

being thus divided into rhombohedral or cuboidal masses. This quartz

rock is seen sometimes plain, sometimes green from the addition of

chlorite, and sometimes blue, probably from an admixture of argillace-

ous schist. On the Kalee Moonnee Pass and the descent to Girgaon,

the rocks are rather of an anomalous nature, and comprise beds of very

various and varying composition. Talc slate, yellow, white and blue

Ixxvi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

carburetted clay slate, blue ditto, talcose quartz rock, and talcose lime-

stone are the most marked types, and they succeed each other in the

most sudden and unexpected manner. In general, however, the for-

mation may be said to have a talcose character, that mineral forming

more or less of the composition of each rock, but I think that it is sur-

mounted, or at least surrounded, by the same gneiss which accompanied

us from Munsaree, and which appears in all the larger masses and the

more elevated ridges. In the bed of the nullah below the village, rounded

blocks of this rock are seen of an enormous size, which confirm the

above idea. Beyond this point, it is not found till we approach Almorah,

and the masses in that neighbourhood being connected with the

granite beds there, will be better described when we come to the details

of the latter.

160. The preceding comprises all my observations of the localities

of gneiss within these mountains, with some trifling exceptions here-

after to be noticed. It will now be necessary to proceed to the next

formation in the order of succession. It is of a schistose structure,

but very variable in mineral character, comprising micaceous chlorite,

talcose, and even argillaceous schist. My observations are not yet suf-

ficiently multiplied to determine, whether all those schists form one

member in the succession of rocks, or whether the three first are to be

considered as most intimately related, and the argillaceous band as the

distinct term in the geological series. Some anomalous appearances,

which are inimical to the latter view, may perhaps be explained by the in-

trusion of the granite masses in the middle of argillaceous strata, but it

would be premature at present to decide either way. We may for the

more convenience of description, consider them all as members of the

same formation, as each in its turn is conterminous with the gneiss.

161. Beginning with the most western route, we may take up the

description where the micaceous schist in succession to gneiss was

again exchanged for chlorite schist. Near Laké, the latter rock may

be seen, though from its transitions it ought perhaps rather be

called a magnesian clay slate, (talco-argillaceous schist.) It hasaN. E.

dip. It extends to the foot of the descent into the bed of the Salung

river. There may be seen an impure limestone associated with a clay

slate, the two rocks being found not only in alternate layers, but also

occasionally intimately mixed in the same layer. The fragments in

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mcuntains. Ixxvil

the bed of this river consist of granite, gneiss, micaceous schist, and

hornblende rock, all of them substances at present found in situ only at

a considerable distance. .

162. Ascending to Reowthul, numerous indications are observed of a

limestone formation; clay slate does not entirely disappear, but the

higher ridges in the neighbourhood, judging by the outline and general

appearance, are evidently limestone. ‘This rock affords one of the

instances in these mountans in which disposition of form and colour is

an unerring guide to the nature of the rock, forming a series of irregular

terraces or ledges, the faces of which are always precipitous, and stained

with black and yellow, the outline of the summit presenting a rather

flat curve; it is impossible to confound the limestone of these moun-

tains with any other rock. There is certainly a local physiognomy in

rocks, if I may so express myself, which enables a person familiar with

them, frequently to determine correctly their nature, from the mere

view of the mountains in which they are formed. But there is no

truth in the opinion that would extend these local phenomena to a

wider sphere, so as to make them instances of a general law.

163. At Reowthul, there are several smelting houses for obtaining

iron from a hydrated peroxide, (prismatic iron ore,) which is found in

the neighbourhood. I had not time to visit the place whence the ore

is obtained, but I examined the specimens of it which they had

brought for smelting. It is a light scoriaceous yellowish brown crust,

and very similar to deposits of the same ore which I have seen in

other localities as originating in streams, permeating argillaceous schist,

and strongly charged with ferruginous matter. The iron is said to

be in repute.

164. From this village the route passes round the brow of the range

to the Pass immediately above Surara, and in this line wherever the rock

is seen it would appear to be limestone, with some trifling exception in

the occurrence of a micaceous argillaceous schist. At Surara again, the

rocks are all limestone, presenting that appearance so common to this

class, of huge amorphous masses united to others often honeycombed or

irregularly varied in surface or regularly stratified, or even schistose.

Yet I would say on a large view of the phenomena, that this rock

seems to be always most regularly stratified when most impure, and

vice versa. Another appearance remarkable in this limestone is the aries

Ixxvill Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

that seems to attack lumps small of it, changing the outer surface to

the colour, grain, and consistence of chalk. This change is the more

remarkable in a rock, which like this is of a blue colour, and possessed

of considerable hardness.

165. In the descent from Surara to the bed of the Syrij river, limestone

is the only rock seen, ascending thence to the ridge which forms the right

bank the same rock prevails of a less pure type, and occasionally of a

schistose structure. In the lateral glen in which the village of Ureea

is situated, the rock appears to be mica slate, or a transition between

that and clay slate ; the limestone is in general impure ; when otherwise,

it appears to undergo that superficial caries already noticed. It must

be rather an extensive bed, for most of the surrounding ridges were

also observed to be composed of this rock, as recognised in its charac-

teristic ‘ledgy precipices. This limestone is also seen in the descent

to the Bangur, and also in the bed of that nullah, distinctly stratified

and dipping N. E., the reverse of the micaceous argillaceous schist

near Ureea, which is 8. W.

166. On ascending from the bed of the Bangur, an anomalous rock

is seen, in amorphous patches of a greenish colour and considerable

hardness, very possibly ferruginous quartz rock. A black type of the

same rock occurs in fragments in the bed of the nullah, and with

disseminated iron pyrites, (rhombohedral iron pyrites,) argillaceous

schist then establishes itself, being occasionally of a magnesian charac-

ter; occasionally (below Sookowlee,) of a micaceous. The route here

passes over the several ridges which ramify from the Chandpoor peak,

the rock of which is micaceous schist, and this line appears to be the

junction of the two formations, to judge by the frequent transitions and

oscillations. It may be observed, that the strata appeared pretty

regular, and with exception of the rock at Ureea, appeared to dip

conformably.

167. In the vicinity of Sokanda, the schist assumes a micaceous

character. Near Dharee, limestone protrudes in limited quantity, and

we have then the argillaceous schist with its usual variableness of

character continuing to the bridge over the Tonse at Mywar. It is

at one time a blue smooth laminar slate, (talc argillaceous schist,)

again a fine grained slate approaching to compact (argillaceous schist,)

which is succeeded by a fine grained greywacke, slate (micaceous

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxix

argillaceous schist). Just above the bridge, nodules of limestone are

seen, but the rock appears to have no extent. |

168. In the bed of the river, a very perfect type of argillaceous schist

is seen, distinctly stratified, and dipping conformably. It passes into a

rock, having the strongest resemblance to reunited angular debris. It

is in this rock that the Uyar lead mines are situated. The rock

is so soft, as to afford great facilities in excavation, but unless well

supported by wooden framing, it is liable to the accident of falling ;

has happened more than once, and several miners have been crushed.

The ore is a steel grey fine granular galena, (hexahedral lead glance,)

and is often found in veins traversing quartz ; it is accompanied by iron

pyrites, (rhombohedral iron pyrites.)

169. At this place the river is crossed by a bridge formed of a single

rope, on which a-~block with the passenger or baggage attached, tra-

verses. It is a very tedious, though perfectly safe method of crossing a

river, On the right bank about one and a half mile lower down

is the lead mine of Mywar, belonging to Tounsar, one of the reserved

districts. That at Uyar belongs to Sirmoor. At Mywar, the same ore is

found and accompanied by the same minerals, and the containing rock

is there also a clay slate, though occasionally very calcareous. The

galleries are very numerous; in some, sulphur is obtained. In others,

the vein is a blackish friable earth, in which the galena is in nodules.

170. The route to Borrela from this place turns back to the north-

ward, ascending along the right bank of the river. In crossing the

Ventijar, which here falls in the Tonse, argillaceous schist is seen in its

bed in situ, while the round stones are all limestone. These boulders

continue to the height of 300 feet above the bed of the river, and are

united with a calcareous conglomerate, which is, however, ofa very limited

extent. Argillaceous schist is thence the prevailing rock, but mixed

with occasional patches of limestone; above the village of Joktan the

latter rock establishes itself in larger masses, constituting whole ridges,

and extending with very little interruption thence to Borela.

171. It is in this rock, which in its lower strata appears to pass into

argillaceous schist, that the lead mines of Borela are situated. ‘The ore

is in every respect similar to that found at Uyar and Mywar, and is also

accompanied as there, by iron pyrites. ‘The number of galleries here, as

well as at Mywar, is truly surprising, and shews the perseverance of

Ixxx Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

these ‘people, even with their imperfect means. ‘They told me they

were in number eighty, many of them of great length, and yet the

village is small, and does not contain above forty inhabitants of every

sex and age; but there are several other villages that have a joint pro-

prietary right, the assessment being made on the small purgunnahs or

hundreds, as they might be called, and not on the individual villages.

172. The limestone of Borela continues to Haje, with very little

interruption, and through a varying level of at least 1,500 feet. It

very often contains veins of a pure white calcareous spar, sometimes

it is foetid, and then it always appears to be less pure. In this latter

case, it is occasionally found to contain veins of white granular lime-

stone, and not unfrequently also, to pass into a flint slate or schist. It

has its subordinate and limited masses of local breccia, and con-

glomerate accompaniments, which this rock is never seen to want. It

is a good deal intermixed with quartz rock, and has occasionally, as

might be expected, a silicious character. With regard to its stratification,

it is when at all impure, distinctly marked by parallel seams, and when

pure, as often amorphous. This indeed is a remark I think universally

applicable to limestone. A very remarkable curvature of the strata

is seen on the ascent from the Mator nullah, which separates Haje

from Borela; some indications of argillaceous schist were also observed

here.

173. Near Haje, the rock may be called a well characterised argilla-

ceous schist, which afterwards becomes micaceous. This is succeeded

by a series of types of quartz rock of very various character. The

most remarkable feature in this rock is the suite of colours it exhibits :

grey, green, red, purple, and brown from the extreme shades, and in their

transitions, a great variety of intermediate tints are produced. In

general, it has a granular composition with considerable hardness.

The structure is occasionally cleavable in three or more directions,

occasionally it is subschistose. In the latter case, the rock is observed

to pass into an argillaceous schist. In general, this quartz rock owes

it colours to indurated clay, or a basis of clay slate, and it contains,

superadded to this ingredient, scales of mica, never in any abundance.

The composition is never of that decidedly granular appearance which

distinguishes the sandstones ; frequently it is evanescent where the pro-

portion of quartz is a little less predominant. I think this rock might

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxx1

be considered as a greywacke ; some of its transitions into argillaceous

schist are doubtless entitled to that designation.

174. On the border of this rock, we find another of so anomalous

a character, as to require some illustration from investigations in

other parts of the line of strata. It consists principally of indurated

clay and quartz, and contains grains of a green pellucid mineral, very

much resembling some varieties of actynolite. It also contains mica

in notable proportion. It is in fact one of the many aspects under

which the above described quartz rock is found to vanish. I have some-

times thought that this rock has some connection with one occurring

‘on the road from Bheemtal to Almorah, and which will be afterwards

described. Like this, it is connected on the one side with quartz rock,

on the other with clay slate. In this quartz it is succeeded by a small

patch of slaty limestone, which speedily gives way to the prevailing

rock of distinct argillaceous schist.

175. This schist presents a great variety of types, as may be seen on

the road to Deao. It is sometimes compact, sometimes granular, often

heterogeneous in composition. The granular types are seldom per-

fectly fissile, some not at all. In those which are so, the lamine are

almost always undulated. It is further remarkable for the quartz veins

by which it is intersected in every direction, not only in that parallel

with the lamin of the schist, but also transversely, and in every

- possible angle of obliquity. These veins, as has been often remarked,

never appear to interfere with, or disturb the arrangement of the

parallel layers. In one instance, where dip has occurred, a bed of

local debris (alluvium of descent) of fifty feet in thickness is observed

resting on a highly carburetted type. It is not improbable, from this

and other indications formerly observed, that graphite exists in this

_ neighbourhood. I ought not to omit noticing, that the dip wherever

observable was between N. and E.

176. This schist continues in the descent to Kalsee, and under such

protean aspects, as renders the study of its relations extremely interest-

ing. It is at one time a green slate, with smooth laminz, which by

a gradual change, passes into a rock, that in hand specimens could not

be distinguished from a greenstone. The transitions into this rock are

remarkable for affecting a rombohedral cleavage. Within a few yards

it again appears as a shattered slate, consisting of very thin and scarcely

Ixxxil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

adhering plates confusedly united, as if they had been crushed, or at

least suffered some violent pressure. The ordinary type is seen to pass

into a veined one, the veins being quartz, and this gradually into a quartz

rock of a dark colour, highly charged with the indurated clay of the slate,

and still intersected, as that was, by veins of pure quartz. The lamine

of the most perfect slaty varieties are very often bent; small patches of

limestone, evidently the traces of included beds, occur along the whole

line.

177. At Kulsee, the rock is still argillaceous schist of a very perfect

type, dipping E. of N., that is, at the bungalow belonging to Major

Young on the hill; but in the descent to, and in the town, the rock

in situ is concealed, and it is not till after having passed it a mile or so,

that a new formation (sandstone) is observed to be established. ‘The

strata dip S., and a little further on, are vertical. From this position

they gradually passes to a dip E. of N., but possess still a high inclinati-

on. ‘The character of the rock is perfect, and leaves no doubt that the

argillaceous schist has here terminated, and is succeeded by a totally

different formation. I shall therefore defer my details of the new rock

till I follow out all the details of the former one, and trace it in a simi-

lar manner to its boundary in every other quarter i which it has been

examined.

178. I shall take up my description at the point below the village of

Kande in the Burral district, where the last patch of gneiss was found,

(Art. 139). It was noticed that the ridges above appeared, by their out-

line and arrangement, to be limestone ; a few traces may also be seen in the

bed of the stream, and fragments of the local conglomerate which always

accompanies limestone. The rock then becomes a_ talco-argillaceous

schist, being frequently distinguished for its beautiful pearly lustre and

pleasing colours. This type is further remarkable for its smooth gently

curved lamin, and the minute undulations or furrows of their surface.

These latter I have almost invariably observed in slate that contains

a sensible proportion of magnesia. Besides this well marked variety,

there occurs another of an earthy character, which gradually passes

into hornblendic schist.

180. The dip of the strata in this glen, (Burral,) was uniformly W.

and N. W., and therefore not conformably to what I suppose the general

dip of the formations throughout these mountains. Nor is it an

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. IXxxill

irregularity confined to a small extent of country, for the surrounding

ridges and peaks are all obviously conformable in dip to that observed

in the valley itself. In the Rama Sera glen again, it was observed

to be,* which is something more approaching to the usual dip. In

this case the principal effect due to the disturbance of the strata,

(if they really be disturbed,) would be found in the Burral glen. It

is to be observed, that both the Burral and Comoulda rivers spring from

the furrows which intersect the sides of the great Kedarkanta peak

elevated —? feet. This peak is remarkable for its shape, and for the ar-

rangement observable on the summit. The shape is that of an im-

mense truncated cone, which appears to have an oblique position, owing

to its greater slope on one side, and precipice on the other; the summit

is flat and of some extent; at one end is a considerable hollow, in

which are wedged together, in utter confusion, enormous blocks of

gneiss, the rock of which the mountain consists. The strata appear to

dip N. W. What connection the peculiar character of this peak (if any)

may have with the irregularity of the dip, it would be vain to enquire

without a more detailed examination of the vicinity.

181. At the mouth of the Burral glen is’an extensive flat, com-

municating with a similar one in the valley of the Jumna, and very

little higher than the present level of the latter. It is observed to

terminate in the bed of the Jumna in smooth rounded elevations, which ,

on the river side are cut down vertically, and exhibit, in the precipice

facing the river, their structure in the most complete manner. ‘This

precipice is about 120 feet high, and is composed of loose gravel

and sand, with numerous round stones of every size sticking in it, some

of them half projecting. On the opposite side of the river appears a

similiar bank, composed of similiar appearances, and of the same height.

The intermediate space, to judge by local appearances, must have been

once filled up; for so narrow is the gorge, that no possible slope at

which they could lie would clear them of the river bed. Indeed, the

one is washed by the waters of it, and at the foot of the other, the

_ path is not more than a few feet wide.

182. The right bank sinks, as I have said, gradually into the broad

and level flat at the mouth of the Burral glen, the slope being, like

1 the latter, covered with verdure. The left bank continues of moderate

* Blank in MSS.

Ixxxiv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. .126*:

width to a point below the affluence of the Burral, and then gradually

subsides about half a mile. Below this point occurs a third similar flat,

doubtless composed of the same materials, and containing about half a

square mile of level ground. It is worthy of remark, that the three

are, as nearly as the eye can judge, of the same level. It should also

be noted, that in the two, the structure of which appear, nothing like

strata or a division, nor distinction of deposits occurs; the great and

small boulders are indiscriminately mixed in every part, and the whole

has the appearance of being the effect of some very powerful, but

sudden or short-lived cause. The fragments most abounding are

quartz rock of all colours, next to this is hornblende schist, with very

few of granite or gneiss.

183. The last rock observed in the Burral glen was a bluc talco-

argillaceous schist, with a pearly lustre. In the bed of the Jumna,

close by the suspension bridge, a mass of limestone occurs. On crossing

the river, a rock of limited extent is met with, and of very anomalous

character. It is probably a mixture of chlorite quartz and felspar, the

latter not abundant, or the green ingredient may be some variety of

hornblende. The structure appears to be laminar, yet the fracture is

such as to indicate the amorphous. It is a tough rock, and breaks

with sharp corners. It is succeeded by extensive strata of a talco-

argillaceous schist, the prevailing colour of which is an olive brown.

The dip appears to be N. W. the same as that in the Burral glen,

184. From Burket to Bimsa, the prevailing rock is chloritic schist,

often inclining to argillaceous, often soft and decomposing, intermixed

with beds of quartz rock which generally incline to a green colour.

The earthy, or decomposing and the more perfect straight laminar

types, are often found in the compass of a few feet, nor can there be

any doubt of the unity of this formation when we view it in nature;

although a collection of the specimens, unless extremely numerous,

might exhibit some very striking contrast. Frequently, the laminz are

extremely thin, quite flaky, and in this case they are seldom separable

of any size. From such a rock, it is impossible to detach a specimen,

for on the application of the hammer it flies into showers. When the

colour inclines to green this rock is generally soft, when to blue it

is hard. No good examples of strata are met with on this line, the rock

seldom appearing but in surface patches of no great extent.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxxv

185. From Bimsa the road ascends a lateral ridge, and thence descend-

ing upon the village of Tevan, crosses the Bunnee glen near Kateel.

On the summit of the ridge, or rather just below it, there is an expo-

sure of the rock, (in a space little exceeding ten square yards,) of

the following very dissimilar substances :— 1. a light bluish grey mixture

of talco-argillaceous schist and quartz, this changes to, 2. a more perfect

schist, with bent laminz, the colour still bluish or grey, the aspect a

little talcose ; 3. a true chloritic schist, with similar bent lamine ; 4. a dull

green earthy compound without lustre, has a subconchoidal and uneven

fracture, splits into thick flags, and is subcleaveable ; it is probably a mix-

ture of hornblende and felspar, or of chlorite and felspar, or possibly all

three; 5. a light bluish green talcose schist, with curved and straight

laminz and considerable lustre. ‘These types will also serve for a des-

cription of the rock as far as the ford over the river, occurring in various

propositions and successions, which it would be a waste of time to at-

tempt to devolve, the whole being united in the clearest manner, and

constituting but one formation.

186. The ridge just crossed in its prolongation, puts on the appear-

ance of the limestone precipice described, Art. 181, and on cross-

ing the Bunnee river, there is little doubt but that these appearances are

indicative of a limestone bed. It continues for about two miles, when

argillaceous schist establishes itself, extending over the Gooddur Kuttal

Pass to Moolla, a small village in the Gooddur glen. This schist is

certainly not at all talcose in its aspect. It is of a fine granular or

earthy composition, is very soft, and is remarkable for splitting into

prisms, not lamine or slates. They are sometimes of considerable length,

slightly flexible, and would form very excellent slate pencils. It is of a

great variety of colours, black, bluish, greenish, yellowish, olive brown,

reddish, &c. &c. It contains numerous beds and veins of quartz. Below

the village of Moolla, it passes into, or is replaced by a true chlorite,

dipping N. W. with an inclination of 35°.

187. From Moolla to Horinsee, the argillaceous schist prevails,

none of a chloritic character being visible. Close by the latter village,

there is a mass of rock deserving of examination. It appears to be in

one spot of a fine blackish greywacke schist, with scales of mica disse-

minated; the composition fine granular, the structure well marked

schistose. It is in contact with, and passes into a reddish brown rock of

Ixxxvi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [Nox 126*;,

coarser composition, with a structure amorphous, or at least only

subschistose. Adjoining the latter, a greenish grey rock of fine granular

composition, the structure entirely amorphous, and having a high

specific gravity; consequently containing either hornblende or augite.

The three types are all included in a single mass of no great extent, and

on passing them, argillaceous schist of the usual character is found.

188. From Horensee, the route passes down the Bhudree glen, which

is of some width, and encloses a good deal of level ground. In conse-

quence, the rock is not often visible. Close to the village of Kol, there is a

sudden descent, in which strata of schist appear intermediate in character

between argillaceous and micaceous schist. It is accompanied by quartz

rock, which as usual, forms a series of transitions into the schist. A little

beyond Koree, a pale bluish grey subschistose rock, a composition pro-

bably of indurated clay and quartz rock, comes to the surface. It is

succeeded by a dark blue argillaceous schist, containing nodules of quartz,

the laminee of the slate beg bent round them; a bluish grey rock of a

subschistose structure, not very quartzose, becomes then established.

If it were not that it wants the decided appearance of a mechanical

origin, I should feel strongly inclined to call this a greywacke. But

the erroneous application of the latter name is the more to be guarded

against, since it has become certain, that some of the rocks which have

been distinguished by this appellation, are identical with the red sand-

stone, a rock of which no trace is found in this quarter. Under the title of

argillaceous schist and quartz rock ; it cannot lead to any false conclusi-

ons, and as such, it may be described until our nomenclature of rocks be

more discriminative of them than it is likely for a long time to be.

189. It continues as far as Koodzon in the valley of the Aglar,

forming the whole of the ridge which separates the Bhudree glen. In

the bed of the Aglar, a very similar rock prevails, but on the ascent

it acquires the more characteristic aspect of a true clay slate. In-

faceous conglomerate is also seen in isolated masses, and occasionally a

blue limestone. Near the village of Ramon, the latter rock becomes

established, to the exclusion of the slate. It is, however, of very various

aspects, sometimes it is a black, hard, non-effervescent rock, foetid when

struck, and possessing scarcely any resemblance to limestone. This is

its condition generally in the vicinity of the masses of gypsum which

are here found; at other times it is highly siliceous, and though bearing

——

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxxvii

the appearance of limestone, might from its non-effervescence, be called

schist ; the pure blue limestone is, however, also found, and in consi-

derable quantity.

190. The gypsum which is associated with this limestone, is of a

saccharoidal aspect, the colour being beautifully white, and the grain

fine. No crystals, except the most minute, have been observed. It is

found neither in beds or veins, but in superficial amorphous patches,

presenting an appearance of considerable singularity and interest. It

is always connected with the black non-effervescent: rock described

in the preceding paragraph. The latter has very often the appearance

of reunited fragments, and the gypsum sometimes contains nodules of it.

Without doubt some connection exists between the origin, or at least

the present place, of this gypsum and this very singular rock, always

found in contact with the former, and not observed hitherto anywhere

but in the immediate vicinity of it. There is not the slightest appear-

ance of stratification in either rock.

191. From Ranon to the summit of the ridge, (Mussooree Tuba,)

limestone prevails, and the varied and picturesque disposition of this

mountain sufficiently attests the character of the rock. In all countries it

has been observed, that not only are the limestone districts most fertile

and productive under the labours of agriculture, but that also when

abandoned to the hand of nature, they furnish the most picturesque and

beautiful scenery. ‘The summit is composed of the same rock, and

constitutes one of the most romantic spots within the circuit of the

mountains.

192. Advantage has been taken of the elevation, and the consequent

coolness of the climate, to establish a nursery garden at Saharunpore.

This is intended for the purpose of naturalismmg the more hardy plants

of the interior, that otherwise would languish and die, under the fer-

vors of a tropical sun if too suddenly transplanted. It promises to be

eminently successful, though as it had only been just begun when I

visited it, this opinion must rest on other grounds than experience ; no

doubt a favorable feature in the plan, though accidental, and not a dis-

posing reason for the original choice, is the nature of the rock; the

argillaceous and micaceous schists, the only rocks besides limestone

from which the selection lay, furnishing a very poor and meagre soil for

almost every description of produce.

Ixxxvill Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

193. From the garden, the road descends obliquely along the face of

the range to the village of Juree Panee, in this line the limestone is lost

almost immediately, and argillaceous schists succeed. They are of various

colours, many of them very bright, red, yellow, green, grey, olive brown,

purple, &c. This change of colour is characteristic of this rock, which

is further remarkable for its different degrees of consistence, being at

one time soft and diffusible in water like clay, at others hard, and

though not furnishing good roofing slate, yet very similar in minera-

logical character to that substance. .

194. At Juree Panee, limestone again appears, but in small quantity ;

some specimens were observed of it containing veins of fibrous gypsum.

These were of the most regular type, and had no resemblance to the

black scoriaceous rock before noticed, as associated with the gypsum

near Ranon. ‘The argillaceous schist again establishes itself, and con-

tinues to Rajpoor at the foot of the descent. In this line it is rather

harder, in general, than that above described, and inclines more to blue,

purple, and green colours. It contains masses of quartz rock often

strongly impregnated with the matter of the slate. At the foot of the

descent, the structure appears to change to that already described

Art. 184, as consisting of thin folie or leaves scarcely adhering, and of

very limited size.

195. The mountains which bound the Doon to the north, and which

stretch from the Jumna to the Ganges, are all composed of argillaceous

schist. Beds of limestone occur similar to those already described, but

never of any great extent. Gypsum also similar to that at Ranon is

found, and under similar relations at two other places, and it is pro-

bable, will be eventually discovered at many more. In the bed of the

stream in which the Sunsar Dhora, or Dripping Cave, is situated, and

about a mile higher up, may be seen the remains of a very large bed of

this substance, the greater part having been removed by quarrying. It

lies in the same kind of superficial amorphous mass, and is associated

with the same foetid anomalous black rock as at Ranon. ‘There are two

varieties which lie in contact, and between which, a kind of transition

takes ‘place. The one is of a beautiful saccharoidal aspect, of a snowy

white colour and fine granular composition. The other is of a dirty

white colour, approaching to yellowish grey, and the composition is

finer, almost impalpable; nor are the minute crystals discoverable in

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. Ixxxix

it, which may be seen to constitute the grain of the other, being in

fact dull and earthy, like chalk. It is the more abundant of the two,

and indeed may be had in almost any quantity. It would probably

answer for the preparation of plaster of Paris, though certainly not for

statuary.

196. The other locality is in the bed of a small nullah, which falls

into that in which the Dripping Cave is situated. There are some

springs in the bed of this stream, which have a strong odour of sulphu-

retted hydrogen, and I should notice that the water of almost all these

streams deposits carbonate of lime. The gypsum at this locality was

described to me as forming a mass incumbent on clay slate, and not in

contact with either limestone or the black rock so often mentioned.

This mass had a flattened form, and might be called a bed; a perpendi-

cular fissure in the slate was filled with gypsum continuous with the up-

per mass, thus giving the idea of a deposit. In my attempts to find the

place I was not successful, but I met with many loose masses, and some

of rather impure appearance, entangled with the angular debris which

had rotted from above, and settled mto banks of different heights at the

foot of the mountains. It was associated in such a manner, as to

leave no doubt that it had been in a state of fluidity when it assumed

its place there, and thus we might pronounce with some certainty

on the comparative ages of these masses of gypsum, which in this in-

stance at least must have been posterior to the formation of this local

debris.

197. We have now again descended to the Doon, where a totally

different order of things prevails. It may be useful before proceeding

to the Eastward, to notice different detached points at which the same

formation of argillaceous schist has been observed. At Riki Khes and

along the banks of the Ganges, as far as Deoprag, no other rock is seen.

In the route too from Dehra to Teeree, the residence of the Gurhwal

Raja, it equally prevails, the several types corresponding accurately to

those already described. In particular may be seen the soft variety of

various bright colours in the ascent from the village of Manjgaon

in Sikimana pergunnah. Excellent roofing slate is general throughout

this quarter, nor are the houses ever covered with any other materials ;

along the whole valley of the Aglar, it was equally general, occasion-

ally presenting however a patch of limestone, The Byrath range, which

xc Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

shuts in the Umloo, is also composed of it, frequently containing beds of

quartz rock. In the valley of the Tonse, argillaceous schist is traced as

high as the village of Kande. In the route from Calree to Jytull, little

other rock is seen excepting limestone, which in the neighbourhood of

Kangra is abundant.

198. From Jytull again to Subhattoo, the road, passing along the

summit of a ridge, carries with it, the whole way, argillaceous schist.

In this tract, no limestone beds are found, but quartz rock is common

from Subhattoo to Bar; in descending to the plains the same rock con-

tinues. In passing to the north road to Kotgurh, it is equally constant,

at least as far as Lunla; how much further it continues in that direction,

or where the junction with the mica slate takes place, I have no means of

judging. From Subhattoo to Joonug, the residence of the Ranee of

Kyoontal, it is equally constant, and extends probably much further.

In the route from Nahun to the Choor mountain, clay slate prevails to

within a very short distance of the latter, containing extensive beds of |

limestone, which in detached masses stretch along the crest of the Sacen

range, dividing the valley of the Girree from that of the Jullal ; connected

with their beds are probably the masses which form the summits of the

Rajgurh and Krol mountains ; at the feet of these the schist reappears,

continuing to extend as far as Subhattoo. Finally, the valley of the

Sutle} between Koomharsen (or a little below it) and Soonee contains

this formation.

199. It is time now to return to our details on the Kedarnath road,

which were broken off at Almorah, (Art. 152.) At that place we have

seen micaceous schist is the rock. But the details of it I shall postpone

for the present, to trace out the limits and relations of the argilla-

ceous schist in descending to the plains. There are two routes in

which these have been examined, the Pass by Chilkeea, and that by

Bhumooree. In the first of these, micaceous schist extends a few miles

south of Turkhet, the second stage in the route from Hawal Bagh to

Chilkeea. Between Turkhet and Pepul Point, it is gradually exchanged

for an argillaceous schist of peculiar character. It is occasionally quite

soft, white, and talcose, being rather meagre than unctuous. The mica-

ceous schist again makes its appearance after a short interval, and

then a very fine-grained gneiss in the ascent to the Bukar Mundal Pass,

on the summit of which is a dirty brown-coloured micaceous schist

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xcl

of an arenaceous composition, which is succeeded by a magnesian clay

slate accompanied by quartz rock. The former frequently contains

patches of a soft white clay, which evidently originates in a decomposing

talcose schist, as the latter occurs in contact with it.

200. The quartz rock is most abundant as we approach Peepul Point,

and immediately above the place of encampment there occurs a set of

appearances which I think deserve description. It is so seldom in these

mountains, that we can trace the junction of two rocks, that no oppor-

tunity should be lost where it is accessible of recording the phenomena.

Fig — will render the following description more intelligible; it is anomor-

phous rock, apparently one of the numerous types of argillaceous quartz

rock. It is seamed in every direction, as this rock very often is, but

exhibits no trace of stratification. C. which adjoins it, is perfectly dis-

tinct, the line of junction being strongly marked. It is a white are-

naceous rock covered with brown spots, crumbly, and with little consist-

ence, but feeling gritty in the mouth. It is probably quartz, or a

mixture of quartz and felspar, and the iron-stained spots may arise

from decomposing pyrites. It passes below into a tolerably hard rock.

D. is a series of thin foliz or leaves (they can hardly be called slates)

of argillaceous schist, of a plumbaginous aspect ; they are soft, and soil

paper. ‘The series in its progress upwards gradually diminishes in

thickness till it disappears ; it is a quartzose argillaceous schist, stratified

distinctly, the strata lying parallel to the preceding, nearly vertical.

This latter, like A, are types of,the ordinary rock, which seems to oscil-

late just here, between quartz rock and argillaceous schist.

201. The character of the rock C. (1 can hardly call it a vein,) affords

strong promise of the existence of graphite in this quarter. This mineral

belongs to formations of the earliest era, as anthracite has been referred

to the suppositious transition class, and coal to the era of secondary

rocks. It is remarkable too, that the deposit from which graphite of the

best quality is procurable, and which indeed furnished nearly the whole

civilized world with the variety used for pencils, that of Borrodale in

Cumberland is situated in a clay slate on the border of primary moun-

tains. There does, it is true, appear some doubts as to the real nature

of this formation, for some insist that it comprises rocks of the trappean

type; however this may be, it is not the less certain that argillaceous

schist is known often to contain very valuable beds or veins of graphite.

xcli Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

202. From Peepul Point to Okuldoona, the route is in the bed of

the Casilla river, the latter being crossed eleven times ; every where it is

full of the rounded stones so often noticed, and their accumulations

are sometimes observed to attain a height of 150 feet even, above it. It

may be stated, generally, that where the river bed, or valley is narrow,

there they attain to the greatest height; and where sufficiently wide,

the extent is greater, but their height less. What the depths of those

accumulations in the immeciate bed of the river are, I have no data to

determine accurately, but there are several reasons for believing it to be

very great. ‘They seem to be all of a very uniform character, modifica-

tions of quartz rock, more or less impregnated with clay slate.

203. The rock in situ here is of a rather singular character, but it

will be here afterwards seen, that it is found in many distant parts

of these mountains. It is in fact a quartz rock, but contains talc instead

of mica. The strata are very obscure, although it is traversed by nume-

rous irregular seams. In one instance I observed a mass of clay slate

of a lenticular shape, inclosed in it, the length of this included nodule

was about 10 feet, the thickness one foot ; something like transition was

observed at the junction. This rock has a considerable extent in the stage

to Ookul Doonga. It is succeeded by a black amorphous rock of almost

impalpable composition, which is traversed by veins of quartz. This

passes into a talco-argillaceous schist with thin lamine, but so tender,

that no specimens are obtainable. Quartz rock of an ordinary character

next succeeds ; the strata very irregular and contorted. It is of a reddish

colour, and almost compact, and in mineralogical aspect strongly resem-

bles the boulder stones found at the foot of the hills. Fragments of the

talcose quartz rock which I have just noticed; and which is not seen

in situ in the intermediate space, have been observed at Dhikoolee, a

distance of at least 18 miles. This rock is so remarkable, as already

noticed, that its fragments are recognised with the greatest certainty, and

we are thus enabled to trace the course which these boulder stones

took, as also to judge of the distance they were transported.

204. Ookul Doonga is situated on rather an extensive flat; the bed

of the river is composed, as already noticed of these rounded, stones. ‘The

rock is not therefore visible for a distance of a mile and a half; it is

then seen in the river bed, and has the character of a micaceous fine-

grained sandstone, stratified distinctly, but not at all schistose, or at

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xclil

least not readily fissile. The fracture is difficult to obtain, as it splits in

various directions with a kind of cleavage, on the face of which it is

difficult to discern the mineralogical structure ; the strata are frequently

curved, and the dip sometimes reversed. On it lies a rather thick bed

of a rock of an argillaceous character, rather one of the shales than

a schist. It is loose and unconsolidated, having the appearance of a

soft and tender rock which had been crushed; nothing like marks of

stratification are observable. Its colours are various, and with this shat-

tered appearance, characteristic ; 1. e. green, white, black, purple, red,

yellow; all of decided tone, and changing often within a limited space.

On this lies the diluvian deposit of rounded stones and gravel, which

notwithstanding all the inequalities of the ground, and they are great

and numerous, has its upper surface perfectly even and almost level. It

is to be remarked, that wherever these beds are visible in their lowest

limit, they are always found resting on these shattered masses of shale,

and never in any instance on the sandstone.

205. In this rock we take leave of the argillaceous strata which we

have now to follow out in the route leading from Almorah to Bhu-

mouree. The micaceous schist beds, the details of which, as before obsery-

ed, we will postpone till we come to the description of the granite, con-

tinue beyond Powree, the first stage, to within a short distance of the

halting place, Ramgur, on the summit of the Sohakatee Pass. It is

exchanged for a very hard bluish grey rock, with much of the external

aspect of limestone, but non-effervescent, or very rarely so, and in a low

degree. It is marked with stripes of a darker colour, breaks with a

sub-conchoidal fracture, the grain of which shews it to be a composed

rock, but so small is it, that there is difficulty in determining precisely

what are the ingredients. Mica and quartz are evident, and a dark

mineral, which may be either indurated clay or hornblende ; some speci-

mens contain also carbonate of lime. It forms a lengthened mass in the

micaceous schist, being observed to descend to the bed of the Ramgur,

and rise on the opposite side, holding an oblique course across the valley

for a considerable distance, which is easily traced, owing to the peculiar

surface character of the rock. From all the characters of the mass

J am very much inclined to consider it as a vein.

206. Below the Pass, we have a white schistose quartz rock of rather

arenaceous composition. It may contain a small quantity of felspar.

XCiv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

In the bed of the Ramgur, the rock is of a light grey colour, with black

specks disseminated. This rock evidently contains talc, (prismatic talc

mica,) as well as quartz, and perhaps some felspar. Near the Bungalow,

the character becomes more regularly that of gneiss, and at the foot of

the ascent to the Ghagur, specimens are obtained which however, unlike

the Himalaya gneiss, are yet equally entitled to the name, at least in

the present state of our terminology. This gneiss which constitutes

the whole of this range, at least in this quarter, is deserving of a |

detailed description.

207. This rock may be said to be characterised: 1. by its small pro-

portion of felspar ; 2. by the predominance of a talcose or argillaceous

ingredient; 3. by the singular types under which it sometimes ap-

pears, or in other words, its transitions into very anomalous rocks. It is

of a schistose rather than a slaty structure ; has a talcose aspect, varying

in colour from a greenish to a yellowish grey, soft though tough, and of

the peculiar composition which entitles it to be called gneiss, though of

so small a grain as to occasion the separate ingredients to be not always

easily recognisable. Besides the felspar and talc, it contains quartz, and

occasionally hornblende, (Hemi prismatic augite spar.) The two most

singular types into which it passes are; 1, a white schistose rock,

probably composed of tale quartz and felspar, and 2, a dull reddish

brown amorphous rock of earthy composition, and of a cleavable struc-

ture. This passes into a harder type of a darker colour, which is equally

remarkable for its cleavable structure, and want of the schistose. This

latter is found on the summit of the Ghagur, and has all the appearance

of a perfect greenstone.

208. Below the summit on the south side, the same talcose and

schistose gneiss is again found as in the ascent from the north; but in

the descent to Bheem Tal, it appears to pass into an argillaceous schist,

which occasionally seems to oscillate towards hornblende rock. In

the latter case, instead of being schistose, it is always cleavable, the

joints of the cleavage being of a copper brown colour, and exhibiting

no marks of the internal composition, which can only be observed

in the cross fracture so difficult to obtain in this rock. At the Pass near

Sumket, which may be considered as the foot of the Ghagur, a rock occurs

very much resembling some greywackes. It is a granular mixture of

quartz and clay slate. At Bheemtal, the cleavable rock is prevalent.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. xcv

209. The strata of which the Ghagur is composed, dip very regularly, at

some points varying between E. and N., the inclination generally small,

though sometimes as high as 40°. ‘The cleavable types are, if at all,

very indistinctly stratified, but they are traversed by rents or cleavages

in every direction. The two types may be seen everywhere passing

into each other, nor can there be a doubt of their geological identity ;

yet it is impossible to have specimens of greater dissimilarity in

mineralogical aspect than are furnished by these rocks, a proof, if it

were wanting, of the mischief of adopting the geological relations of

rocks as the basis of our classification.

210. Between Bheem Tal and Bhumouree, some interesting pheno-

mena are to be observed. The rock continues to be in its general

character an argillaceous schist ; some specimens of a purple colour

and very perfect type being procured a little below the former place.

In the vicinity of this is seen a small amorphous mass of a tufaceous

character, and dark greenish grey colour; and at no great distance

again, a huge block of the most compact quartzose conglomerate.

In this latter, the cement is of a hardness and compactness which

rivals the imbedded portions. No other sample of this rock is seen, the

mass is evidently not in situ, but there are no circumstances in the

vicinity to give any clue to its origin.

211. In the bed of the Nullah, half way down, round blocks are seen

of a greenstone, in which the crystals of hornblende, (Hemi prismatic

augite spar,) are distinct. The specific gravity of this rock is 2.9.

That of the purple slate is 2.58. The latter passes into a dark

blackish rock of a fine grain, and less perfect schistose character, the

specific gravity of which is 2.7. The determination of these evidently

points it out as a transition between the greenstone and slate. Fragments

of toadstone are found in the same neighbourhood, having the same,

specific gravity of 2.7. These consist of a dark, greenish grey ground,

with white oblong spots, occasioned probably by imbedded crystals of

felspar. The base evidently contains hornblende or augite, but the

composition is impalpable, and to appearance, even with a magnifier,

homogenous.

212. A little below this a rock is found something resembling the

transition between the greenstone and the schist, but of a lighter

colour, it may probably be called a fine greywacke. It is distinctly

xevi Report of the Mineralogical Survey (No LI26*.

stratified, dipping 10° N. W., the angle of inclination being 44°. It

gradually passes into a most perfect micaceous sandstone, which is

found occasionally to contain small nodules of greenish grey clay.

The transition is observed to a great advantage, as the whole of the

strata are exposed, nor have I seen in any part of the mountains an ap-

pearance that more interested me.

2138. A little below this, we descend to the Balleea Nuddie, where the

sandstone is again found, and resting on it various coloured and shat-

tered rocks, described in Art. 204. In the bed of the Nullah, the frag-

ments are, some limestone, some clay slate of a hardness approaching

to that of jasper, but the greater part quartz, more or less impure.

Near the bridge may be seen blocks of the blackish amorphous

rock before noticed, and which in one solitary instance has been observ-

ed to have a partially cavernous structure; some of the cavities being

filled with a zeolitc mineral, (Kouphone spar.) This rock certainly appears

to pass into the purple argillaceous schist, but as so often remarked,

access is wanting to the junction of the rocks in order to establish this

fact with certainty.

214. In this vicinity, (a little below the Buleea Nuddie,) I picked up

fragments of a perfect greenstone of a large grain, very similar in

fact to that of a granite. The ingredients were compact felspar and

quartz. I have never found any thing like this rock anywhere else, nor

have I been able to trace it to its original site. Sandstone, irregularly

mixed with conglomerate, then continues to Bhumouree, where also

it is to be seen, (in the bed of the Nullah,) dipping to the North at an

angle of about 25°. Bhumouree is situated at the foot of the hills, in

the Bhabur or elevated part of the 'Teraee.

215. I must now return to a route, the details of which ought to

have been given before the last two, but the omission is not one of any

SS * * x * x * + * x *

of the gneiss to very near the summit of the ————— Pass, below

which it is replaced by chloritic schist: fragments of hornblendic schist

being also very common. The former continues to near Pokree, occa-

sionally giving place to talcose schist, occasionally to talcose quartz rock.

Near some of the old galleries of the copper mines worked here, are

beautiful specimens of an emerald green straight laminar slate with high

* MSS. defective.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. XCVil

lustre. It passes so gradually into talcose schist of the palest colour, as

to leave no doubt of their being but coloured modifications of the same

rock. In the rock in which the galleries at present worked are situated,

a flesh coloured schist is found, of a mixture of talc and quartz. It passes

_ into a subschistose rock of a similar composition, the latter ingredient

being in greatest quantity; im fact a talcose quartz rock. This is

exchanged a little lower for a dark olive green soft rock, of a schistose

structure, but not laminar, the aspect of the fracture being scaly.

I think it consists chiefly of hornblende.

216. The copper mines here are situated in the quartz or talc slate

just described, a rock of so soft and tender a nature, as to form a very

strong objection to the efficient working of them by its frequent failures

in the different galleries. At the time I visited the place, they had all

fallen in, and consequently no specimens of the ore were obtainable,

except such as could be gleaned from the rubbish lying at the mouths

of the several galleries. These pointed to vitreous copper, or the sul-

phuret, the richest ore known. Copper pyrites was also observed, and

blue and green copper in small quantity ; whether the ore is in the form

of veins or beds, it is impossible to judge in the present state of things.

The water which issues from the galleries has a specific gravity of

, 1s impregnated with the sulphate, and deposits sulphate of

copper on the stones over which it flows. These mines evidently have

been very productive, to judge by the extent to which they have been

worked.

217. On the ridge from which the descent to Boomot commences,

micaceous, or perhaps rather an impure talcose schist occurs. It con-

tains a good deal of quartz, below this a decided talcose schist

appears, of a greenish hue. In the bed of the torrent, at the foot of

the ridge, blocks are found of hornblende rock, containing pure

hornblende in bundles of needles, and glassy actynolite, in contact

with a reddish felspar. I did not, however, succeed in detaching

any good specimens; some rolled pieces of hornblende were found,

having the closest resemblance to charcoal, in all save specific

gravity. In these, the apparent fibre was most commonly curved, the

lustre always dull. The rock from hence to Boomot is entirely talcose,

being either a granular mixture of talc and quartz, (talcose quartz

rock,) which occasionally becomes quite soft, and disintegrating; oc-

xeviil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

casionally a perfect talcose schist, which oscillates, as the rock always

does, towards chloritic schist. A granitic mixture of hornblende and

quartz is also found in limited quantity, the type in fact of a green-

stone.

218. At Boomot, which is situated on an extensive flat, we find the

rounded stones so often described, the flat being entirely composed of

them ; the height above the river is 200 feet, and the extent considera-

ble. The rock in situ is seen, however, at the third of the ascent, and

it is chloritic schist, which appears on the other side to pass into

greenstone slate. On the left bank a larger flat is seen, being upwards

of two miles long, and half a mile, or more, wide in the broadest part.

This is also composed of the same rounded stones; these beds can

never have owed their origin to any body of water so limited in quantity

as the present supplies of this river; and besides these table lands

are in reality 200 feet above the present bed. There occurs here an

appearance which is of considerable interest ; there are two levels, and a

considerable difference between them in height, the lower table being

nearest to the river. This condition of things certainly reminds one of

parallel roads, as they have been called, in some of the glens in Scotland.

Similar appearances have been observed by Captain Hall in Chili. The

resemblance is the more interesting, because I believe it is nowa ge-

nerally received opinion, that the latter owe their origin to the succes-

sive burstings of a lake, at distant intervals of time.

219. On crossing the suspension bridge, a rock very like greenstone

slate is found, it passes into the chloritic schist observed below Boomot,

and through that, on this side, into a perfect talcose schist, of white,

yellow, and blue colours, &c. On the flat no rock is visible, but again in the

bed of the stream, which comes down from Dhunpore, the granite rock,

which I have called greenstone, is again detected, occasionally passing

into a greenstone slate. It contains nests of indurated talc or potstone.

The schists are always conformably stratified, that is, they dip to N. E.,

but the greenstone is generally amorphous. The schistose rocks con-

tinue, often verging on chloritic schist, and interstratified with quartz

rock as far as the route lies in the bed of the Nullah, which is of great

depth and narrowness, the sides of mural steepness laying open, in

beautiful natural sections, all the particulars of the rock worthy of

notice.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. XG

220. It was observed, that sometimes the change from the green

schist to the quartz rock was sudden; sometimes a real transition is

seen. In general, the schist has a stronger resemblance to the chloritic

types, though it is also found a perfect hornblende schist. The dip and

inclination of the strata present great local irregularities, the former

being sometimes reversed within a few hundred yards, and the latter

not unfrequently 90°. The direction appears to follow a curved line,

being in the first instance observed as conformable, 7. e. N. W. It

is then seen to run N., from which point it gradually changes to N.

35° E. In the first case the dip was as usual N. E.; as the direction

changes, the strata become wedge-shaped, and assume a vertical position,

till at length it is found that the dip is reversed, being finally S. E.

221. From the bed of the Nullah, the route ascends to Dhunpore,

where are worked the most valuable and productive copper mines in

the mountains. The rocks which are found in the ascent to the

Koangola Pass and descent thence are various in character, and a more

enlarged examination of this neighbourhood is required to determine

their true relations to each other. In the ascent to Dhunpore, quartz

rock is the prevailing substance, which passes on the summit of

the ridge into a very thin slaty rock of a yellowish colour, exceed-

ingly hard, and composed apparently of quartz with some talc. The

lamine of this are not above a tenth of an inch in thickness. They

separate with greatest clearness, are often bent or curved, are rather

brittle, and consequently not obtainable of any size. This type might

be called slaty quartz rock, in contra-distinction to schistose quartz rock.

It passes into the pure amorphous type; argillaceous schist, then

succeeds, variously intermixed with limestone more or less pure.

The former occurs here of an intense black colour, similar to that of

basanite. It has a schistose structure, but never separates into thin

slates, the attempt to obtain such generally producing a conchoidal

surface, or at least one more or less uneven. It is moderately hard,

ofa fine grain, receives a good polish, would form a most superior descrip-

tion of writing slate, and is not even inapplicable to the purposes

to which basanite is applied. It has a cleavage, or set of natural

joints, the surfaces of which present the appearance of a slight iri-

descence, or pavonine tarnish. This cleavage is most commonly,

or at least very often, transverse to the direction of the schistose

¢ Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

structure. It is in contact on two sides, with an argillaceous or

siliceous limestone, which in its immediate neighbourhood passes into a

perfect rotten stone. What the nature or cause of this caries is,

which so often appears to attack rocks of the greatest solidity, no

one has yet explained in a satisfactory manner. The unchanged

rock is of blue colour, impalpable in composition, with a conchoidal

fracture, and in appearance resembling perfectly the most regular

limestone. It is, however, a very impure one, being highly charged

with argillaceous or siliceous ingredients, or perhaps with both,

occasionally it even strikes fire with steel, and approaches the nature

of schist. In its passage into the rotten stone it is observed, first to

change a little in colour, becoming gradually more tinged with the

peculiar mud colour of the latter, which is so far different from the

rotten stone of Derbyshire, as to be of a more yellowish than

a brownish tinge. The grain is observed gradually to make its

appearance, and the rock to be full of joints or cleavages, till at last

it is found of a dirty yellow colour, fine grain, very friable, and

with a specific gravity of only 0.9. A series of specimens connecting

the two extremes has been collected, which shews the progress of

the change with great clearness; a rotten stone of bright colour

appears to originate in a real argillaceous schist.

222. The rock in the neighbourhood of Dhunpore is, as I have

already stated, a quartz rock, it is distinguished for its peculiar shatter-

ed and fissured aspect, no trace of stratification being observable except

on the great scale. The irregularity of the strata is great, and the

change of dip frequent. A mass of red dolomite appears in the middle

of it east of the village, and it is in this latter rock that the copper

mines are situated. This dolomite is evidently connected with the

siliceous limestone on the Dhobree side, in which also a mine is worked,

but the produce is inconsiderable. This mine is remarkable, however,

for furnishing lumps of limestone, apparently changed by a similar

process to that which produced the rotten stone, the result in this case

being a perfect chalk; such a change in the surface of limestone frag-

ments is common, and has been noticed in the preceding details; but

excepting at Dhobree, I have never met such large pieces so perfectly

changed to chalk. These fragments are used as a flux in the reduction

of the copper ores. 7

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. ci

223. On the Telkhunnee Pass, a brown schist is found, and thence

descending to the village of Bissona, various modifications of the same

passing occasionally into argillaceous quartz rock. Near the village, a

granular rock’ is seen composed of quartz and indurated clay, having

much the aspect of a greywacke. Here a mass of reddish limestone

is found imbedded in the slate, in extent about 50 yards by 10, and

capable of furnishing a very beautiful marble. Schistose rocks continue

to Kirsal, where traces of limestone occur in local conglomerates, in

tufaceous masses, and even as an ingredient in the more compound

schists. The prevailing type approached to that of stone slate, being of a

composition almost impalpable, moderately hard, and of colours vary-

ing from greenish grey through yellowish grey, to reddish and purpleish

grey. These specimens are seldom of a perfect slaty structure, the cross

fracture is easily obtained, and it is often conchoidal. Below Kirsal,

these schists assume more of a chloritic or talcose character, and be-

come more decidedly compound at the foot of the descent. Argil-

laceous schist is established of a very regular type, though it is found

intermixed with the green schists also, which are ofa chloritic character.

224. There is another route tending from the Boomot suspension

bridge to this point in which the rocks have been examined, and it

will be more in place to record the particulars here. This route

ascends by the village of Acend, in which the talcose schist observed

in the vicinity of the bridge is exchanged for quartz rock, containing, it

would appear, nests of indurated talc. At the village, a decided chloritic

schist is found. ‘The dip in all the schistose rocks is conformable, but

in the quartzose or granular types, the strata are obscure. Between

Acend and Jak the same rocks continue with an occasional appearance

of brown tender micaceous schist. From Jak to Bendoolee, the transi-

tion into the latter is more frequently observable, and it also assumes an

argillaceous character. The granitic rock which I have for distinction

sake termed greenstone also occurs, forming as usual a transition into

the green schist.

225. From the village, the route descends to the bed of the Ben-

doolee Nullah, the rock being still chloritic schist, verging on argillace-

ous, and enclosing huge masses of quartz rock, the relations of which to

the schist appear very interesting, and deserving of further develope-

ment. From what I could observe, it struck me, that these masses were

cli Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

very large veins, their breadth being inconsiderable compared with

their length, and their course oblique to the direction as well as to the

planes of the strata; nothing like the marks of stratification can be

seen in them, but they are traversed by seams in every direction, very

similar in this respect to the smaller and less equivocal examples of

quartz veins. One of these masses is observed to descend the moun-

tain side into the bed of the stream and ascend the opposite side,

always keeping the same direction, limited in breadth, and easily trace-

able by the eye for many miles.

226. In ascending the bed of the stream which descends from

the villages of Ketee and Mulsee, and here joins the Bendoolee

river, the chloritic schist is gradually exchanged for more decided

argillaceous types. ‘These are sometimes straight laminar, easily split-

ting into slates, sometimes sublaminar and schistose, in which case the

cross fracture is easily obtainable. ‘The former are more frequently of

an iron black, the latter of a purplish, reddish, or greenish hue. The

two routes here coincide; below Ketee a green schist occurs, remark-

able for having two sets of divisions distinctly marked, forming

an angle of 45° with each other, the one being parallel to the schistose

structure ; above Ketee again, quartz rock of a bright Orkney yellow oc-

curs, fissured and seamed in all directions, so that a specimen of any

size cannot be obtained. The slates too in great part when tried under

the blowpipe, fuse into a slag obedient to the magnet. These imdica-

tions point to an iron mine which is in the neighbourhood, but which I

had not an opportunity of examining. The dip in this glen is always

N. E., but the strata are nearly vertical, being frequently observed

from 70° to 80°.

227. On the summit of the Pass Dewaluc Khall, quartz rock occurs,

and descending thence to Murara, it is found to contain talc; fragments

are observed here, which are a mixture of compact felspar and quartz,

but the rock has not been observed in situ. Below Murara, micaceous

schist is established, the dip being S. 35° W., and inclination 24°.

It is full of small garnets; traces of felspar may be found in it, and J

am not without an opinion, that gneiss is to be observed on the summit

of the ridge just passed, although in the immediate route quartz rock

alone may be visible. ‘The micaceous schist continues to appear along

the bed of the Ramgunga. Near Agura, a mass or bed of limestone,

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. cli

of a siliceous or magnesian character occurs; it contains crystals of

dolomite, (brachytypous lime haloide,) and traces of green carbonate

of copper (hemi-prismatic habroneme malachite,) also of copper pyrites

(pyramidal copper pyrites.) A mine was formerly attempted to be

worked here, but either from want of skill or perseverance, was aban-

doned without any profitable result.

228. A rock occurs here, but in no large masses, which may with

perfect propriety be termed a gneiss. It is of a curved or undulated

schistose structure, and the composition is heterogeneous or mixed,

The ingredients are so disguised, that it is difficult to speak with perfect

precision, but it appears to me to contain quartz, felspar, mica and

indurated clay. The second ingredient is the most doubtful, and

exists in least quantity. Close by this rock is found one of a brownish

yellow colour, structure amorphous, composition simple or uniform,

and earthy like chalk, tender and friable, traversed by veins of a darker

colour, but the same in every other respect. ‘This rock also occupies

but a limited space, and is succeeded by a micaceous schist of a

blackish blue colour, apparently much charged with -argillaceous mat-

ter. I should note, that the summits of the surrounding ridges are

limestone, recognised with great certainty by their peculiar outline,

and mural precipices stained with yellow and black.

229. The preceding particulars apply to the immediate neighbour-

hood of Mehul Chowyra, the halting place below the Pass of Prendooa

Khal. In the ascent to the latter, quartz rock and siliceous limestone

are found; still higher up, a purple argillaceous schist, containing mica,

which graduates into a yellowish white micaceous schist; fragments

were found of iron stone and of indurated tale. On the Pass, limestone

often highly siliceous or argillaceoug prevails, and it is accompanied,

as it always is, by its local conglomerates, and its tufaceous deposits

or incrustations. On descending from the Pass, a great deal of the

same rock is observed, but down in the river valley, it is seen to rest

on argillaceous schist, the limestone still continuing to run along the

summits, and occasionally descending lower down. It is in the junction

of these two rocks that the beds or veins of iron ore occur, which

are annually worked, during the healthy season, by emigrants from

other parts of the country, who all quit the valley in May, when it

is said to become unhealthy.

civ Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

230. These mines are said to produce metal of a better quality

than any others within the mountains, and this circumstance I at-

tribute to the ore having generally'a proportion of calcareous matter,

which it is well known is one of the best fluxes, the ore itself being

of the most common kind, red iron ore, (rhombohedral iron ore of

Mohs.) The clay slate in which most of the galleries are situated,

is of a peculiar character. It is generally of a reddish or purplish hue,

fine grain, not compact, splits mto wedge-shaped schist, and with

remarkable facility. There is also a cross cleavage which prevents

the acquisition of large pieces; the spotted delineations which are

sometimes observable in it, when viewed hastily, resemble imbedded

nodules. They are always of a lighter colour than the general ground,

being usually white or peagreen. The shape is elliptical; when they

become very numerous the slate passes into an amorphous rock, which

has all the aspect of a conglomerate.

231. From Katsaree to Mehul Chaura, the route turns up a lateral

glen, the bed of a feeder of the Ramgunga. The debris is however

thick on the mountain sides as well as in the valley, and the rock can

only be guessed at ; limestone is seen occasionally at the summit of the

ridges. Between Mehul Chaura and Dooara, however, the rock appears

in the bed of the stream. The first occurrence is that of the purple

scaly schist, which seems of a nature intermediate between micaceous

and argillaceous schist. It dips to the East of South. This is succeed-

ed by an earthy and subschistose gneiss, which dips $8. W. 10°, mica-

ceous schist is then found, and resting on it a granitic gneiss which is

connected with the series of granite beds so often alluded to, and which

will be described presently. The fragments in this valley consist of

clay slate, quartz rock; and latterly mica slate, gneiss and hornblende

rock, as also chloritic schist.

232. We may now return to Punnae, Art. 67, from which place is

another route that has been examined, leading down the valley of the

Aluknunda. The granitic rock which I have called greenstone, was

noticed, as occurring in the bed of the Dhunpore Nullah ; beyond that

point the talcose-granular scaly rock is seen to occupy great extent,

similar to that which has been described, Art. 221

It is remarkable here for containing much larger concretions than

usual ; some of them have a perfect resemblance to rounded nodules im-

1842.) of the Himmalaya Mountains. CV

bedded, and indeed they can be detached from the including base.

The rock is therefore certainly of the nature of a conglomerate, and this

fact is further proved by the occurrence of rounded nodules of clay

slate in an adjoining quartz rock. ‘The concretions of the talcose

granular scaly rock are always quartz, but of a peculiar resinous lustre,

very unlike ordinary quartz, and in colour always inclining to blue or

purple. This rock is a good instance of the deficiency we labor under,

from our scanty nomenclature of rocks. It is very well characterised,

and has consequently been recognised by me in many and very distant

localities, yet we have no name by which to designate it, unless we call

it quartz rock. It is singular, that in two of the localities where it has

been traced, pieces of clay slate are found imbedded in the adjoining

rocks, a phenomenon I have no where else observed. It here passes

into the more ordinary quartz, which is occasionally chloritic.

233. The rock at Nugrasoo is the same quartz rock, and it possesses

the usual fissured aspect so often-noted as characteristic, it being very

difficult to detect any thing like the appearance of strata even on

the great scale. In proceeding to Tirnee, at one of the lowest points in

the route chloritic schist is found dipping to the E. at an angle of 56°.

Whether a solitary included bed or connected beneath with the exten-

sive strata observed near Punnae, Acend, Jak, and Bendoolee, (Art.

224) is difficult to say, for want of that full access to the junctions

of rocks which so often interferes with observations in the mountains.

From the little I have myself observed, I am of opinion, that chloritic

schist is more generally a member of series than a single formation

in itself, at least when we speak of the more decided types, they being

seldom found of any extent compared with micaceous or argillaceous

schist. The quartz rock passes into the talcose granular scaly rock, thus

proving its geological identity ; but this would no more absolve us from

giving it a name, than it would the several other rocks that graduate

into each, but which yet have their distinctive appellations. An imbedded

nodule was observed here, (being the largest seen,) weighing at least

two and a half pounds, and it was readily detachable after fracture. The

existence of conglomerate rocks amongst primary strata has been

contended for by many geologists. De Saussure and Mr. Weaver are

amongst the best authorities I can just now recollect. Assuredly the

aspect of these rocks is at once sufficient to separate them from the

cvl Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

secondary conglomerates, nor could the merest tyro on bemg shewn

both, hesitate to discriminate between them. The most obvious dis-

tinction is the less earthy or mechanical appearance of the basis and

the greater rarity of the imbedded pieces. Is the conglomerate struc-

ture, such at least as it is found in crystalline rocks, one which can

in any instance be explained by chemical composition, as affected

by the many disturbing causes which may well have been supposed to

influence the results? In particular, can we derive any explanation of

such a phenomenon from the galvanic energy which we may suppose

would be developed by the interstratification of so many heterogeneous,

and consequently in some degree anti-polar substances ? Assuredly this

cause has had more effect than is generally attributed to it in many

of our geological phenomena. Whether the present be one which falls

within its domain, remains to be determined.

224. Limestone begins to shew itself in detached masses and frag-

ments ; and before reaching Tirnee it occupies considerable extent,

and is seen crossing the river valley in well marked strata, which

dip N. E. It is generally very impure, being mostly argillaceous.

At Tirnee, I found blue argillaceous schist; on ascending a ridge the

limestone again appears, always argillaceous ; descending thence, argil-

laceous schist is once more established, and continues to Poondaroo

village, opposite Roodur Prag, the confluence of the Kalsee with the

Aluknunda. It presents some curious appearances, which require a

little detail. It is at first of a perfectly white color, soft and earthy,

similar in fact to chalk, in all save its schistose structure, and in this res-

pect it perfectly resembles the hard blue slate into which it gradually

passes. Below the point where this change has taken place, a mass

of the greenstone I have so often had occasion to notice may be seen.

There is not any transition to be seen between this rock and the blue

slate, but it passes into a green slate, whether chloritic schist or green-

stone slate, is difficult to determine. The specific gravity is rather in

favor of the latter. That of the greenstone is 3.0, it contains therefore

evidently either hornblende or augite (hemi-prismatic augite spar.)

Besides this, a light yellowish green mineral may be observed, very

much resembling serpentine.

235. In its lower limits it appears to pass into a green quartz rock,

coloured no doubt by the same mineral to which it owes its character.

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. cvii

This quartz rock is permanent for a long distance, but assumes various

changes of colour. It occasionally appears to pass into a tender

green slate, occasionally to oscillate towards the greenstone, and

even to hornblende rock. It is sometimes so hard, as to defy the ham-

mer completely. One type appeared to contain felspar, another,

a schistose fissured grey rock, containing a few amygdaloidal cavities.

It passes into a greenish grey rock, with rombohedral cleavage, and fine

granular composition. These several changes extend as far as Hurkon-

da glen, in the neighbourhood of which argillaceous schist is again met

with, and occasional masses of calcareous tufa and local conglomerate,

shewing the proximity of limestone. The schist continues nearly to

Soocet, near which a mass of quartz rock occurs. It is seen to descend

to the river bed and across it, rising on the other side in strata nearly

vertical, the direction E. and W, and the dip if any thing South. The

slate again appears, and in the immediate neighbourhood of Soocet, where

the valley narrows, it is exchanged for limestone of a very cherty type.

It contains crystals of dolomite, (macrotypous lime haloide.) At Soot,

the schist is once more established, but appears to have changed its

character.

236. It may be seen in the bed of the small Nullah which runs below

Soocet, of a perfect talcose aspect, the colors bluish grey, the structure

straight laminar, the lustre metallic pearly, and so soft, as to be scratch-

ed by the nail. It dips 8. 5° E., at an angle of 48°. It is succeeded, in

proceeding towards Sreenuggur, by a greenish grey talco-argillaceous

schist, approaching to the character of chloritic schist. The lamine are

sometimes very much contorted, being in one particular instance bent

up into a saddle-shape, even within the compass of a specimen. This

rock is always recognisable by the minute wave-like undulations with

which the lamine are marked, and which are peculiar to it. The dip

is South along the whole line to Sreenuggur, but the rock so seldom

visible that much stress cannot be laid on this determination.

237. Enormous beds of diluvium, or rounded stones and gravel,

may be observed here, forming the floor of a valley remarkable in this

rugged country for its extent and beauty, though it be but five or

six miles long, and no where a mile wide. These accumulations rest on

different sides of the river in different parts of this line, so that small as

it is, it is not even continuous. Their height above the river bed is ge-

cvill Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No: 126*.

nerally 60 to 100 feet ; but with regard to this point it may be observed,

that in the widest vallies these beds have least height, and vice versa.

Their face generally forms a precipice, in which all the several sizes

of stones may be seen sticking in a loose basis of gravel and sand.

Sometimes two or three terraces are formed, the last being of incon-

siderable height above the bed of the river. In the latter, may be

observed the same kind of stones that compose the terraces, leading

to the inference that the present opening was once filled up, and that

the river must have flowed so much higher than its present level.

It is a very remarkable circumstance too in these beds, and shews

that there 1s some connection between their accumulation and the

system of rivers, that they increase in extent as the river advances

towards the plains; very limited deposits occurring in the upper part

of the course.

238. The magnesian clay slate is found at the suspension bridge

over the Aluknunda, south of Sreenuggur, while close to the town, in

the bed of the river, a rock approaching to the character of micaceous

schist prevails. Perhaps it may more properly be called micaceous

quartz rock : it also dips to the southward. On ascending from Sreenug-

gur are seen the accumulations of rounded stones above the present bed

of the river, as determined by Barometrical observation. The rock is the

magnesian clay slate, which continues the whole way to Pooree, a village

on the high range which shuts in the Chipul river. It oscillates both

towards micaceous schist and towards talcose, its affinity to the latter

being greatest, but no genuine argillaceous schist is produced in any

of its changing types. The dip is in general conformable, 7. e. between

N. and E., excepting immediately on the ascent from Sreenuggur,

where it was observed to be S. 10° E., the inclination being 60°.

239. From Pooree to Olee, the road passses along the range above-

mentioned, crossing over it near the latter village which is situated

a little below in the bifurcations of a glen. Half way the slate is ex-

changed for quartz rock which appears stratified, dipping 65° N. E.,

at an angle of 50°. Here also this rock possesses the veinous character,

appearing to traverse the other strata in masses much more remarkable

for their length than their breadth. It is seen to cross the valley

here, and continue its course on the opposite side ; occasionally it appears

to contain felspar. It passes into a green type, which gradually changes

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. cix

to the greenstone so often noticed; but which occupies a very limited

space. The quartz rock again becomes established, and continues from

Olee to Bidholee, and thence to Milcee, which is situated in the valley of

the Nyar river. Near the latter village, a subschistose argillaceous rock

occurs, and in the ascent up the valley of the Pilgad, which joins the

Nyar below Milcee, the tendency to an argillaceous character increases.

In this part of the route, two types seem to divide between them the

rocks observed; one may be characterised as argillaceous quartz rock,

the other as quartzy argillaceous schist. The first cleaves into rhom-

bohedral fragments, has a conchoidal fracture, the composition impal-

pable; the second has a schistose structure and small granular com-

position. They run naturally into each other, and may be considered,

geologically speaking, as the same rock. The first is seldom stratified,

always seamed ; the second is generally stratified, although the strata are

irregular and appear under that relation termed wedge-shaped. One

observation gave the dip N. 45° E. with an inclination of 36°. Not far

from this the dip was observed N. 80° to 90° E., inclination 40°. The

quartzose type prevails to some distance above Bidholee, and is gra-

dually changes in the ascent from the bed of the stream to an ar-

gillaceous schist of more decided character. The latter passes into

chloritic schist, which conducts us to strata of gneiss connected with

the series of granite beds, to which we shall presently come.

240. In the meantime, it will be necessary once more to look back

and take up the thread of our description broken off in Art. 159, and to

trace the argillaceous strata in another direction at the village of Girga-

on where the last traces of gneiss were lost, although in the river-bed

beneath occur numerous blocks of that rock. The character of the for-

mation which succeeds is argillaceous, including, however, extensive beds

of limestone ; sometimes there is a kind of transition observable between

them. This continues without much variation as far as the hot spring

below Rumaree on the Ramgunga, into which the Jankoola river (below

Girgaon,) falls. At the bridge over the Ramgunga the rock is clay

slate, and dips N. 15° W., at an angle of 35°. The ridges appear

to consist of limestone stratified distinctly, and dipping also N. W.

Above Rumaree, argillaceous schist occurs of a lead blue colour, con-

taining quartz; fragments of a conglomerate are then met with, and

latterly in the ascent to the Pass above Sama, a brownish granular

CX Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No 1267.

schist, which might be called a greywacke. On the summit of the

Pass, there is no rock in situ, and fragments of micaceous schist are

to be seen. Thence to the village of Sama, we are accompanied by

ordinary blue limestone distinctly stratified, and of a sublaminar or

slaty structure, which is not, however, developed without weathering.

241. From Sama to Buret, the same rock prevails, frequently remark-

able for the white vein by which it is traversed. Sometimes the two

colours, form alternate layers, the rock having thus a striped appearance.

It is occasionally very argillaceous, and passes into a shattery thin

laminar rock, very like that described in Art. 226, the only dif-

ference being a black or blue colour, instead of red, green, or purple.

In this state, it no longer effervesces with acids. In the bed of the

stream leading down from Sama, the fragments are either blue lime-

stone or crystalline dolomite, or of clay slate a very few; but at the

bifurcation below Mawgaon, immense blocks of gneiss, similar to those

observed below Girgaon, are to be seen. Their source is evidently

in the glen, which here joins the Suma glen, and they shew the proxi-

mity of the boundary of the gneiss district.

242. From Buret to Kubkot on the Surjoo, limestone still accom-

panies, as passing down the Ramgunga to its confluence with the

Surjoo, and then down the latter river. It appears to be stratified

distinctly on the large scale, the strata being always best marked where

the rock is most impure. They appear sometimes to be vertical, and

the direction, as far as it could be ascertained, is S. 20° E. Sometimes

it contains talc in notable quantity, and then the rock is highly fissile,

The rounded fragments in the bed of the river are numerous, and many

of these are white crystallie dolomite, (macrotypous lime haloide.)

Near Kubkot, the dip was observed to be Southerly, so that there must

be evidently some great irregularity here. The sameness of the lime-

stone features continues to Gryket, also in the bed of the river, the sur-

rounding ridges bearing testimony by their appearance to their identity

with the lower strata, occasional patches of argillaceous schist then

diversify it, although it is still the prevailing rock. The fragments

in the river bed consist of limestone and quartz rock. A small patch

of black argillaceous schist is found a few miles above Bagesur, the

place being further remarkable for the deep bed the river has worn

in the limestone, hollowing it out into caverns and deep holes, in some of

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. ex

which it has a depth of perhaps 30 feet or more; although at Bagesur,

some miles below this point, it is fordable, being scarcely three feet

in depth. ‘The tendency of this rock to be worn into caverns and

hollows is a very curious: feature, nor am I aware that any satisfactory

explanation has been given of it. The dip at this place was observed

to be S. 30° W.., and the inclination 52°.

243. Hence to Bagesur, one of those extensive flats so often formed

in the river beds prevails, nor is any rock in situ discoverable ; at that

place the strata are quartz rock, and they dip N. E. ‘The river bed is

full of rounded limestone fragments, but below the confluence of the

Goamuttee, which originates in the valley described in Art. 65, the frag-

ments are as often gneiss and quartz rock. Another extensive flat

reaches from this point for nearly two miles, and debars access to the

rock. At its termination, calcareous tufa and conglomerate are seen, but

not apparently of great extent. A third flat then occurs, and after

passing it, argillaceous schist is established, and it continues in the

ascent to the Cheer Nullah, a small stream which comes down from the

range separating the vallies of the Surjoo and Cosillah. We have then a

limestone of a yellow color and fine granular, containing a large propor-

tion of talc, and a little higher up, nests of indurated talc are found of

a light buff colour. Thence, argillaceous schist and limestone are

irregularly mixed, the latter forming the summit of the range. It is

of a magnesian character when pure, being in fact a compact dolomite ;

but is generally so much charged with siliceous matter, as to become a

kind of chert. In its pure magnesian state too, it has no inconsiderable

resemblance to the latter rock. The colour is a bluish grey, which

occasionally changes to flesh colour. It contains veins of galena,

(hexahedral lead glance.) The strata when observable, appear to dip

N. 60° E., at an angle of 60°.

244. In descending from this range, argillaceous schist is again met

with of a very soft type, and of various bright colours, similar in fact, to

the rock observed in the Cosillah, (Art. 152.) The strata are so irregular

in dip that no mean result can be attained. It sometimes contains

quartz. In ascending to the Kurnyud Pass, micaceous schist occurs,

and occasionally with felspar; fragments of gneiss are abundant. Des-

cending from this Pass into the Suttralie glen, we find an earthy

gneiss, very similar to that described in Art. 134, which prevails in the

CXil Report of the Mineralogical Survey (Noe67!

Goamuttee valley. This rock dips S. 33° E., at an angle of 38°. Here

also may be seen a brown amorphous rock, of a very anomalous character,

the true relations of which further enquiry is wanting to develope. A little

further, micaceous schist, covered with an aluminous efflorescence, dips

S. 8. E. This latter rock continues to the foot of the ascent, occasional-

ly taking in a little felspar. In the ascent to the Pass above Bhynsoo-

lee, gneiss is again found in strata nearly vertical, containing beds of

hornblende schist, and having here again come upon the tract connected

with the series of granite beds, we shall once more leave off, and pursue

two other short lines of route, which yet remain to be described pre-

viously to entering on those details.

245. The first of these leads from the bridge over the Kalee at

Joolghat to Lohooghat, the cantonment of the 2d Nusseree Battalion

of Ghoorkhas. At the bridge, strata of a very pure limestone occupy

the bed of the river, and form unexceptionable natural piers for this

structure. ‘The dip was N. E. In ascending, detached masses of com-

pact limestone and conglomerate, (enclosing pieces of quartz rock and

clay slate,) are seen ; a good deal of stalagmitic and stalactitic incrustati-

ons are noticed, shewing that masses of limestone are doubtless pre-

valent, though from the nature of the surface not always visible. . At

Booralee, or a few miles before coming to that village, a purple argillace-

ous schist makes its appearance; some of the types are granular, and

might be called a greywacke schist. It also passes into a compact slate

of a light yellow or greenish colour, very similar to hone slate; as such

it has been used, and found to answer. These rocks occupy the road

as far as Petorahgurh, and the dip is generally N. or a little W.

246. At Petorahgurh, patches of limestone are found in it of a

pure type and blue colour. This rock, as has been often observed in

limestones, has a sublaminar structure, weathering so as to have often

the appearance, in detached pieces, of a series of layers or thick leaves

joined together. It sometimes divides into thin slabs, which are, however,

very unlike the slates of an argillaceous character, as they admit of a

cross fracture with great facility, which is as usual conchoidal, and

not hackly like that of the latter rock. The schist here is very variable

in aspect, yet never loses its argillaceous character. At the cantonment,

it is quite soft, and might pass for a yellowish clay were it not disposed

in slates, which however will not bear handling, as they fall to pieces

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXili

immediately being minutely intersected by cleavages, the effect of which

is to resolve them into rhombohedral fragments on the slightest im-

pulse being communicated. The small hill on which fort Loudon is

built consists of this rock, and on its summit, lay some very large

boulders of a very tough and hard greenstone, the removal of which

occasioned the Officers employed in clearing the ground, not a little

trouble.

247. This rock I call greenstone, for it has not the smallest re-

semblance to hornblende rock in appearance. I have already mentioned

its frequent occurrence in tracts of argillaceous schist, and I shall

endeavour here to collect all the particulars I have observed with regard

to it. It is a composite rock, consisting of two distinct substances, the

one a dark olive green, the other a lighter colour, more perhaps of

a greenish grey. The structure is small grained granitic ; that is to say

the minerals are obviously distinct, while yet they are in perfect contact

throughout. The fracture is subconchoidal, taking its character in the

small from the size of grain which it discloses. It is very hard, and

in toughness I know not its equal. The specific gravity is upwards of

3.0, sometimes as high as 3.2. It is very fusible under the blow-pipe,

and will bear drawing out into threads similarly to glass. If there

be really a distinct species of felspar which has been hitherto described

as the compact, I should be inclined to view the lighter coloured ingre-

dient as an example of it. The dark one is either hornblende or

augite, but the grain is too small to allow of a satisfactory determina-

tion.

248. This rock is not seen here in situ; these blocks being the only

traces of it, but in other places, as already detailed, regular gradations

occur, uniting it with the most ordinary schistose rocks, very frequently

the transition is made through quartz rock; altogether it is a very in-

teresting member of our mountain strata, and the full developement

of all its relations is a task the execution of which I expect will throw

considerable light on some interesting questions in geology.

249. From Petorahgurh in the descent to Surjoo, argillaceous schist

is the prevalent rock, indeed the only one, with the exception of a few

beds of limestone. It is mostly of the type just described, (Art. 246),

but some others are also met with. In particular one, having a suite of

colours between olive and bright red, in hardness about equal to gypsum,

CX1V Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

splitting generally into slates of moderate thickness, but which are

often curved, smooth to the feeling, and having a slight degree of

lustre. I think this type owes its peculiar character to the magnesia it

contains. It is found between Petorah and Goon; near the latter place,

it is succeeded by a yellow rotten stone, which has apparently ori-

ginated in an argillaceous rock of a less schistose character, or perhaps

even in calcareo-argillaceous strata. It is remarkable for its rhom-

bohedral cleavages, breaking into fragments of that shape on the

application of the hammer. It is of arenaceous composition, and its

specific gravity is very low, about 1.5. In its vicinity are found small

masses of a soft argillaceous limestone, of a light olive colour, which

might perhaps be of use in lithography. They form the only type

of limestone I have met with in these mountains which hold out any

prospect of being available for the purposes of that art. In general,

the lithographic stones used in Europe are derived from the secon-

dary strata, and even in these, the properties essential to the most

perfect specimens seem to be peculiar to a very small tract in Ger-

many, neither France nor England having yet furnished stones to

compete with those of the former country.

250. The soft magnesian clay slate of different colours, which is

found near Goon, also prevails at Doodar. On the ascent to the Thakil

Peak, which lies a little to the left of the route from Petorah to

Lohooghat below that village, a bluish grey schist, of a shining lustre

is found, traversed by white veins. In ascending from Doodar to

the Peak, the rotten stone noticed near Goon, and of a bright ochrey,

colour occurs, but undistinguished by the peculiar structure of that

rock, the present one giving an amorphous irregular fracture. Above

this, lies a fine greywacke schist of a dark blackish grey colour, which

passes into a rock that strikes fire with steel. The summit of the

peak is a silicious limestone that occasionally passes into schist. It

projects in amorphous weather-worn nodules, and is full of veins of ~

flint (var. rhombohedral quartz.) This is not a common mineral, at

least in the form of veins, to be found in limestone. It is of two

kinds: the one a dark brown, exactly similar to the ordmary gun

flints, the other a white opaque substance, occasionally becoming trans-

lucent, and not very unlike the mineral called cacholong. These veins

are more persistent than the bulk of the rock, which indeed appears

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXV

to be singularly subject to atmospheric wear; the consequence of this

difference of durability is the projection of these veins on the surface

of the rock, giving it a singularly rugged appearance. It is probable

also, that particular parts’ of the rock not veinous in appearance,

partake of this durability, and thus occasion that nodular aspect so

characteristic of this limestone.

251. Is there any connection between a primary limestone with

veins of flint, and the chalk strata enclosing rolled pebbles of the same

mineral ? ‘The occurrence of flint pebbles in chalk has always appeared

amongst the wonders of geology to the uninitiated. The difference of

composition between chalk and primary limestone is perhaps as great

a one, and not a little difficult to account for. The primary lime-

stones we see, however, are subject to a caries, which as far as it goes,

produces a perfect chalk. In that state it is obvious that the action of

any of the numerous causes of the disintegration of rocks will be more

powerful. If we then suppose that the flint being set loose, splits into nu-

merous fragments of all sizes, and will, by the same cause that trans-

ports the loose chalky matter, be worn down on its edges and at last

rounded, we shall perhaps have an explanation not at all improbable.

If this be not an exact account of the phenomena, it at least, by shewing

how natural and simple the process which might have produced the

actual state of things, serves to take off some of the edge of our wonder.

252. In descending to the Surjoo from Goon, we find argillaceous

schist occasionally of the same character as that observed in the ascent

to the Thakil Peak, (greywacke schist.) It is, like that, of a dark grey

colour approaching to black, and is remarkable for splitting into pris-

matic fragments on being struck. A good deal of calcareous stalagmite

occurs, and a soft white or light grey schist, intermediate between clay

slate and tale slate. Latterly, limestone is abundant, and in the bed of

the river we have gneiss and quartz rock, with fragments of hornblende

rock in addition to those of limestone and the two preceding. ‘The

gneiss continues from the bridge upwards, at first of a fine grain after-

wards coarser, and containing superadded amygdaloidal concretions of

felspar, similar in fact to the type described, Art. 80. Beds of mica slate

and of quartz rock are contained in it; the latter furnished the only ob-

servation of the dip which was S. 30° E. and inclination 60°. At Burakot,

argillaceous strata again prevail, and furnish some very anomalous rocks

CXVL Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No; 126%.

in their several changes of type. A dark grey almost amorphous rock,

with fine granular composition, conchoidal fracture, very hard, but rather

brittle, which occurs near Burakot, is one of the most remarkable. Were

it not for the decided absence of the arenaceous structure, I should be

inclined to term it a greywacke. It contains, I think, carbonate of lime

as one of the ingredients. It passes into a perfect roofing slate, which

is found in great abundance just below the cantonment. Here we come

upon the line of route which belongs to the description of the granite

formation, and we must therefore return to Petorahgurh, to finish the

details of the route thence to Almorah.

253. In the ascent to the ridge just above Petorah, the new road

gives excellent views of the strata, and it were much to be wished,

we could elsewhere gain the same access to the rocks as we do here.

The soft and clayey rock of the cantonment appears to pass into a dark

black rock of sublaminar structure. It breaks with an uneven, irregu-

lar, rather than a conchoidal fracture. It is often stained in the interior

of a light ash grey colour, very similar in appearance to a piece of half-

burned charcoal. At the summit of the Pass dolomite of a large

crystalline grain occurs. It contains veins of indurated talc, (var.

prismatic talc mica,) and also of very fine large rhombohedral crystals

of dolomite, (macrotypous lime haloide.) The indurated talc is of various

colours, but most commonly jet black, a variety not noticed by any of our

mineralogical writers. It assumes a very good polish, and would form

a very beautiful material for small ornaments for a table or chimney

piece. It is not however in any quantity.

254. The dolomite is evidently a bed in the slate, for almost imme-

diately on descending the Pass, the latter rock again occurs. It is here

of a white colour, and of micaceous composition, but still slaty in structure.

It is again exchanged for the black rock with light grey stains. The

debris here consists of a very fine ochrey clay of a good colour, and

which might be useful in the arts if prepared properly ; besides the bed of

dolomite, beds of talc slate are found, and in this rock is situated the

copper mine, which is, however, worked on a very small scale, producing

only 50 Rupees per annum. The argillaceous schist continues down

this valley, (Shor Goorung,) irregularly intermixed with dolomite, which

is very often compact, containing veins of the crystallised mineral, and

very often appears to pass into the slate. It can seldom be seen in

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXVil

well-defined strata, rather appearing like amorphous projecting masses,

unless when impure, and then the strata are as well marked as those of

the better defined schists. In two instances, the dip was observed

N. E., inclination 20°, and N. N. E., inclination 32°. The first of these

was a purple arenaceous rock, containing a good deal of carbonate of

lime, the second was an almost pure compact dolomite of a light grey,

and remarkable for its conchoidal fracture, toughness, and hardness.

255. In the descent to the bed of the Ramgunga, chloritic schist

of a perfectly pure type occurs, being in fact green talc slate; it

contains metallic copper disseminated, but no attempt has been made

to work it. In the bed of the river a schist occurs, which may well

be called talcose schist, being a mixture of quartz and talc. It bears the

same relation to talc, (prismatic talc mica,) as rhombohedral tale mica.

It is in this particular place schistose, and distinctly stratified; but in

other quarters, it passes into a massive rock, bearing the same relation

to it, which ordinary quartz rock bears to the above schist. It is in

fact a talcose quartz rock, as we may call the ordinary type micaceous

quartz rock. The titles talcose and micaceous schist might be confined

to the schistose types of this compound rock, and that of talcose

slate, to the slate composed entirely of indurated talc. This would

introduce some precision into our account of rocks. In like man-

ner, chloritic slate should be reserved for the pure mineral, and chloritic

schist for the compound types. Without a reform, terminology will

never make any real progress.

256. From the bed of the Ramgunga, the route ascends to Gun-

golee Hath, on the valley of that river from that of the Surjoo. The

talcose schist passes into a quartz rock in which the talc is gradually

lost, until it at length very closely resembles a sandstone in appearance,

argillaceous schist then establishes itself, but whether by transition

or per saltum, the state of the surface does not admit of deciding.

The dip was observed to be N. 7° E., inclination 45°. Towards the

summit of the ridge, magnesian and siliceous limestones begin to

prevail, and the crest is entirely composed of a flesh-coloured dolomite,

with purple clouded delineations, which I think would form a very

handsome material for various ornamental works, as it takes a very

high polish, and is not more difficult to cut than ordinary marble. It

is traversed by veins of a purplish brown calcareous spar with curved

exvlll Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

cleavage, and so strong a pearly lustre, as to be at first mistaken for

dolomite spar, (macrotypous lime haloide,) but its specific gravity

and ready effervescence with acids, shew it to be rhombohedral lime

haloide : veins of a resinous quartz; bluish, black and white, are also

observable.

257. In descending to the Surjoo, a little blue limestone is seen, and

one patch very beautifully variegated with yellow veins of carbonate of

lime. The prevailing rock, however, is argillaceous schist ; a good deal of

what might, in followimg up the distinction, (Art. 246), be called clay

slate also prevails, soft and distinguished by its series of colours as well

as by its patches of a different colour from that of the ground. At the

bridge, the rock dips S. W. In ascending from the river, an impure

hornblende rock begins to appear, remarkable for its numerous cleavage

places, which render it so difficult to distinguish the lines of the strata.

Hornblende and actynolite schist are found, and a white massy rock,

which from a cursory examination, I supposed to be a compound of

tremolite and quartz, as the three substances, hornblende, actynolite

and tremolite really constitute but one species, (hemi-prismatic augite

spar,) there is nothing improbable in this opinion. I have to regret in

this, as in many other instances, the want of access to the specimens col-

lected, in drawing up this paper, which prevents me from revising parti-

culars of this description, stated hypothetically in my note book.

258. The hornblende schist ceases a little above the village of Neoola-

goon, and is succeeded by gneiss, which is of a porphyritic type, contain-

ing superadded prismatic nodules of felspar. This mineral in every case

appears to be of greater durability than the basis or ground, and the nodules

consequently remain projecting after the other has in a measure disinte-

grated, giving the rock an exceedingly uneven and rugged surface. ‘The

dip was observed to be S. W. Near Jagesur, this gneiss is succeeded by

micaceous schist, dipping to S. S. W., with an inclination of 60° above

Jagesur. On the Pass the dip had changed S.W. ‘This rock continues

to Almorah, and presents nothing very worthy of remark along this line.

Near Chandeswur, it dips to 8. S. E., with an inclination of about 15°.

A few miles from this, it contains beds of brown iron ore, (prismatic

iron ore,) which are said to furnish a very good metal. ‘The ore con-

tains a little manganese, rolled pieces composed of grains of quartz sand,

and octohedral crystals of magnetic iron ore (octohedral iron ore,) are

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. Cxix

found scattered about the surface of a hill in the vicinity of this mine,

but no trace could be obtained of a deposit in situ. These pieces are

all natural magnets, and have two or more poles according to their

shape. Under Kaleenath, the schist becomes highly carburetted and soils

strongly ; some pieces are white, and on the summit of the ridge where

the carburetted type entirely prevails, nodules of graphite are found.

The dip in this vicinity changes to N. 44° and N. 22° W., the inclina-

tion being 45° and 30°. The rock is latterly extremely like a sandstone,

and so friable, that no specimen is obtainable.

259. A short line yet remains to complete the details of the schistose

band of rocks, previously to entering on the description of the granite

beds. It is the route followed in an excursion from Petorahgurh to visit

the copper mines. At Seera, argillaceous schist prevails for the first few

miles, to which succeed dolomitic rocks of very variable appearance and

grain. Occasionally, they are of very loose aggregation, and crumble to

pieces in attempting to procure a specimen, occasionally though these

latter are chiefly fragments. In the bed of the river they are so hard and

tough that the hammer will scarcely make any impression on them. In

every case the grain is crystalline, but very various in size, even within

the limits of a hand specimen. Clay slate occurs of a deep iron black

colour with straight lamine, very hard and very brittle. It has a kind

of iridescent tarnish, sometimes, on the face of cleavage. Near Kinder

Besool, the limestone rocks, less decidedly dolomitic, continue mixed

irregularly amongst patches of slate.

260. ‘The route now ascends to Dhurmgurh, situated on the ridge

which overlooks the Seera valley, carrying clay slate along that line, and

then descends to the mines, which are immediately below the Pass.

They are situated in a formation, or bed I should rather call it, for the

former term is too general, in which indurated talc, (potstone and talc

slate of geologists,) and crystalline granular dolomite are irregularly

mixed. They must indeed here be considered as the same rock,

geologically speaking, for they mutually interfere, and hand specimens

may be obtained in which both substances are separately observable

as well as in mixture; access is wanting to the junction of this bed with

the surrounding slate, so that its exact nature cannot be ascertained,

that is to say, whether it be really a bed or vein. The copper ore is

most commonly copper pyrites, (pyramidal copper pyrites,) and it is

cxx Report of the Mineralogicad Survey [No. 126*.

associated with iron pyrites, (hexahedral iron pyrites.) These minerals,

particularly the latter, are often found imbedded in the potstone. Some

part of the galleries are cut in the dolomite rock, part in the potstone, as

the two rocks are continually interchanging, so that a gallery begun in

the former will, after 20 or 30 yards, be found to be in the latter. The

copper evidently traverses both rocks, and as far as the miners’ accounts

can be trusted, is in veins.

261. Till the publication of Professor Moh’s system, great confusion

existed on the subject of these two mineral species. We have in some of

our most approved system-mongers, long and laboured articles, consist-

ing of many pages of description, tending to shew, that massive talc

was something different from potstone, and these again from soapstone ;

yet if we examine their several qualities, we shall find them identi-

cal. Professor Mohs, with the judgment which he has shewn through-

out his work, at once rejected futile distinctions that were without

differences, and has not hesitated to connect, as mere varieties, scaly talc

and potstone. The truth of his views, if they required confirmation,

would be found every where in these mountains, where an uninterrupted

series of gradations may be traced, from the most perfectly amorphous

potstone, through tale slate to the scaly mineral, usually considered a

distinct species. Previously to the publication of that excellent work I

had found so much difficulty in reconciling the contradictory accounts

of mineralogists, that I determined to form a collection of the various

types of this mineral, and in consequence, had satisfied myself, that there

is in reality no difference whatever in essential character amongst the

varieties, which hitherto have figured as distinct species. The inac-

curate determination of specific gravities by early writers, servilely

copied by their successors, has been partly the cause of this and many

other of the opprobia of mineralogy. The following determination of

this element, obtained from the specimens above alluded to, will serve

to shew, how absolutely the same it is in the different varieties, and to

confirm the accuracy of the limits fixed by Professor Mohs, viz. 2.7, 2.8.

White potstone,, (Seera;Mine;):). ie ocean

Black ditto, (Shergarury,) rahe Sateen tia ey Sea 2.76

Greyish ditto, (Seera,) Ll Peat a) VASE,

Yellowish soapstone, (Kuree,) .. .. .. 4. a. 2.79

Do. very steatic, (ditto,) i) Gees 2.74

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXl

Indurated talc, (Government Collection,) .. .. .. 2.77

Ditto, a second specimen, v4 & Yhe GerrZaAr GD

All these had precisely the same degree of tedasaiin

262. The dolomite has been equally well discriminated, aid correctly

fixed by the Professor. ‘The accounts of previous writers only serve to

confound the student with tenfold perplexity, from which he is only

extricated by his clear views, and precise determinations. That they

will very much tend to raise the character of a science, which till his

book appeared was but empiricism, is obvious. Of their utility to the

student I can myself bear witness, and this very mineral, as well as

calcareous spar affords many instances. The limits of the latter are fixed

at 2.5 and 2.8, of the former at 2.8 and 2.95. The following are some

determinations I made :—

Grey compact dolomite, ats .. 2.826 Pass, road to Bagsar

above Belowree.

Greyish white dolomite spar, .. .. 2,850 Goorung.

Yellowish grey ditto, .. .. .. 2.99 Bed of Mahepore.

Dolomite spar large rombohedrals,.. 2.83 Shor Gorung.

Compact dolomite, purple, .. .. 2.83 Gungolee Hat,h.

Of these the third only exceeds the limits, and this by so small a quantity,

that it is very likely a revision would bring it equally with the others

under those limits. The veins of purplish brown calcareous spar, which

are found in the Gungolee dolomite, have the external characters of

dolomite spar quite perfect ; that is to say, pearly lustre, opacity, and

curved or ill-defined cleavage. Being also contained within a mag-

nesian rock, I naturally placed it amongst the specimens of dolomite, but

in determining its specific gravity as one of the above list, I found it to

be only 2.67. A re-examination and the test of acids satisfied me,

that it was really calcareous spar. This is one amongst a hundred

instances in which external characters alone are found perfectly in-

efficient to discriminate minerals, nor is there any thing in the history

of science more truly surprising than the pertinacity with which mine-

ralogists have hitherto resisted putting their system on the secure basis

of numerical determination.

263. Below the mine, very beautiful massive tale of a snowy white-

ness occurs, mixed with unequally white crystalline dolomite. The for-

mer is, however, intermixed by rents or fissures, preventing the acquisi-

CXXil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

tion of a small piece even applicable to the purposes of the arts. It passes

into a yellowish grey talc slate, in straight laminz a very beautiful

rock. ‘The white indurated talc is also found associated with nodules

of quartz, the former being disposed in layers round the latter. A blue

limestone succeeds in nearly horizontal strata. It contains disseminat-

ed talc. We have then a talco-argillaceous schist, and thence siliceous

limestone, and white fine granular dolomite in various intermixtures

and transitions to the foot of the great Dhuj Peak. Nearly half way up,

we observe a talco-calcareous schist in moderately thin lamine of a

yellowish colour, the dip being to E. It is crowned by a purplish grey

micaceous schist of well marked character. In descending on the

other side, a very beautiful white fine granular dolomite, clouded with

green tints, is found, a rock that would furnish a very elegant marble.

Argillaceous schist is then established, and continues very nearly

to the descent into the valley under Petorahgurh. Limestone then

occupies the ground just at the edge of the descent, and on

this side the valley, argillaceous schist, as before noticed, is again

the rock.

264. It is now time to consider the granite beds, and we may

do so in the most regular manner, as well as fill up some details

still wanting in the schists, by pursuing a line from Chumpawut

to the point where we left off in Art. 231. This route forms almost

a straight line, and it is singular enough, that it is parallel to the direc-

tion of the mountain land and of the strata, as may be seen by examin-

ing the map. Such a coincidence, to say the least, is curious, and cannot

fail to excite in a speculating mind a desire to trace in this common

relation, some evidence of a community of origin. At Chumpawut, the

most eastern of our beds of granite makes its appearance. It would

seem to be precisely the same rock that in Cornwall is called granan,

being a loosely aggregated amorphous mass, with the ingredients and

structure of granite, but so soft, as to bear being dug like clay or

mould. It is remarkable for its great proportion of felspar, and small

quantity of mica. This soft ground is strewed over with large imper-

fectly rounded blocks, of a very hard and beautiful granite. It is of a

smaller grain than the granan, and much more crystalline. The felspar

is white, the mica black, and the quartz yellow or brown. The blocks

are sometimes observed to have a superficial layer or crust separating

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXIll

from them, not in any thing like a decomposing slate, but equally hard

and equally beautiful with the body of the mass; nor is it easy to un-

derstand, what is the cause of this separation. Some further details will be

brought forward when we come to the Dhee bed. At present, we may go

on to say, that the eastern boundary of the Chumpawut bed has not yet

been traced. To the West, it is succeeded by micaceous argillaceous

schist, which passes immediately into well-defined argillaceous strata.

These continue to Lohooghat cantonment.

265. It is scarcely necessary, after the long details already given of

this rock, to enter into any more; it may be therefore sufficient to say,

that it is a fine, granular, grey, compact, blue, chloritic, arenaceous and

earthy, most probably the result of decomposition, as though perfectly soft

and little differing from clay, it has yet the laminar structure distinctly

marked. Near the cantonment in the bed of the stream by the bridge, it

approaches to a greywacke, and is full of quartz veins. It contains, I

think, felspar, certainly mica and quartz, but the composition is arenaceous.

It dips to N. E., and at an angle of 54°. In the cantonment as before

noticed, excellent roofing slate abounds, of which circumstance the of-

ficers have taken advantage in building. The granular type contain-

ing much quartz, and sometimes chlorite, continues as far as the bed

of the stream below Furkah. There a quartz rock is seen distinctly strati-

fied, dipping N. E. 15°, at an angle of 54°. This rock contains felspar,

and might almost be called a quartzose gneiss. Ascending hence to

Farkah, the granan begins to establish itself, till at that place it is per-

ceived that we are arrived at another granite bed, situated almost exactly

in the hypothetically drawn line through Chumpawut, parallel to the °

direction of the strata.

266. The character of the rock which composes this bed, is pre-

cisely that already described. The same excess of felspar, the same soft

crumbly material, in fact a perfect granan. In the vicinity of Furkah,

there is a mass of limited extent, consisting almost wholly of felspar,

which it would seem is stratified; but with this exception, the whole

of the country for many miles, presents the same roundish projecting

amorphous masses. The large blocks are not so common in this tract

as at Chumpawut, but towards Dhee they become very numerous, and

of enormous size. Here it is that the circumstances of their desquama-

tion may be best studied, and some light thrown on their nature and

CXXxiv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

origin. The ground is still the same granan, equally soft, equally abound-

ing in felspar as at the two former places ; but the blocks are of superior

hardness, and have not any sign or trace of disintegration. The

crusts may be seen in every stage, just beginning to separate, or having

made considerable progress; a large layer, of a thickness seldom exceed-

ing half an inch seems waiting any impulse, or perhaps the further

action of the same cause to detach it entirely. These form the only

means of obtaining specimens, so hard and so round are the blocks

where this phenomenon is going on. ‘The view of the process in all

its different stages satisfied me at once that these boulders originated

in the granan being but the harder and more durable nodules of a soft

rock, which has gradually wasted away, and left them as monuments

of the extensive waste the surface has undergone. ‘This view is con-

firmed by an examination of a very large one that lies to the S. W.

of the temple, and which presents a set of appearances worth recording.

It is of an irregular sphero-rhombohedral shape, and not less than

60 feet in diameter. It rests on the granan, and its connection with

the latter is the circumstance which forms the interest. The block

itself is very hard at its base; it is well-defined by a seam which se-

parates it from a layer of a softer granite that is divided by seams into

numerous flakes, which all follow the curvature of the boulder. It is

not the change of hardness that forms the boundary of the latter, but

a distinct seam or separation. The flakes immediately adjoining it

are very thin; they gradually increase in thickness as they diminish in

hardness, till in a space of five or six feet the seams disappear, and the

soft granan of the surrounding surface is established. ‘The rock is in

some measure overhanging, the soft layers having been cleared away

probably for the purpose of forming a cave or shelter for the numerous

flocks and herds that graze here at particular seasons, so that the struc-

ture and arrangement of the thing is perfectly exhibited. My figure

may give a clearer idea than any verbal description can.

267. The correct boundaries of this granan tract have not yet been

fixed on every side, but it is inferred that the extent of it is very

limited in a North and South direction. In proceeding to visit the

iron mine at Muglig, which is in the latter quarter, I found it pass

into a very regular micaceous schist, in a distance of 6 miles. This

schist dips to the North, that is, towards the granite, and at rather a

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXV

high angle, of 55°. At Kande, a small village about that distance below

Dhoora Peak, mica slate is established, and continues to the mine

where it contains a bed of limestone, in which rock the mine appears

to be situated. Some of the best specimens of calcareous spar are ob-

tainable here, though great part of the limestone itself is very impure,

containing 20 per cent. of foreign matter. At the mine, it appears

to be stratified, and dips 55° N., at an angle of 34°. The ore is in the

form of a vein, to judge from the miner’s descriptions. It is of a

brownish black colour, granular composition, very hard, and breaks with

a conchoidal fracture. It is not magnetic, or at least only very slight-

ly. The specific gravity is 3.7 to 4.0, but as it is obviously contaminated

with some foreign ingredient, this determination is too low. It is most

probably (the pure part) titanitic iron, (axotomous iron ore.) It is

very imperfectly smelted, and sold in a spongy impure state, at the

rate of a maund for a Rupee.

268. A remarkable feature in the granan is the number of veins it

contains. These consist almost wholly of felspar and quartz, the

former mineral forming the larger proportion, for it is always of an

opaque aspect, apparently impure, very cleavable, so as to prevent

the acquisition of specimens of any size. This structure I think it

owes to its impurity, and that it is the intervention of the quartz which

occasions its separation into fragments. There are other veins which

are to be observed also in the hardest blocks This is a granite of a

finer grain, which is sometimes seen to traverse the great boulders, or

large round fragments, and they are like most veins separated by a

strong line from the surrounding base or ground. Some few imperfect

quartz crystals have been found. lEpidote has occurred in company

with ill-defined large crystals of white opaque felspar; schorl is found

in abundance. In one instance it forms a very large vein in a bed of

quartz rock. But the most interesting inhabitant of this singular

rock is yet wanting to complete its resemblance to the granan of Corn-

wall. Tin has never been found in it, though as the oxide and sulphuret

of this metal are so unlike the general run of metallic ores, it is possible

the non-discovery of it may be owing to the ignorance of the people

concerning the value or appearance of such mineral.

269. The granite continues to Sarput-ka-Dhoora in a direction

a little beyond which it gives place to gneiss, and this to mica slate,

CXXV1 Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

which appears to pass into a greywacke. About half way between

this spot and Dhol, (the regular stage,) a number of rocky masses

occur, very striking both by their magnitude and apparent disorder.

They are all fragments of gneiss strata, one (the longest) has something

of a pyramidal shape, very similar to a rock noticed by Dr. Macculloch

(also of gneiss,) in Skye. It here performs the part which he sup-

poses the Skye rock would, were it transported to the plains of

Hindoostan. It is worshipped under the title of Nag Deo. It is at

least fifty feet in height, and twenty to thirty broad at the base, and has

no fissure or line of strata, or separation throughout. Gneiss in situ is

also found in this neighbourhood, mica slate again succeeds, of an ordi-

nary type, and continues nearly to Dhol.

270. At Dhol, it passes into a singular rock requiring a little detail.

This rock is of an earthy composition, and quite soft, though preserving

the appearance of strata, and of laminar or schistose structure. It

contains in its transitions into ordinary mica slate more or less of

this mineral; but in its best defined types very little, if any, is to be

seen. It is of various colours: black, red, yellow, grey, white, always

bright and well defined. The black is the most abundant, the white

the least so. It is very absorbent of water. In a piece weighing 205

grains, it amounted to 28 grains; on another of 191, 30 grains ; allowing

for the absorption the specific gravity was found to be 1.95 and

2.01. The black variety generally dull, but occasionally with some

lustre, is infusible, burning under the blowpipe to a white ash. Some

portions, however, do fuse into a black slag, attractable by the magnet.

It is slowly soluble in borax, occasioning effervescence, but imparts

no colour to the bead. The red variety under the blowpipe turns

black, and with a continuation of heat, part fuses into a magnetic slag,

part burns to a white ash; muriatic acid, whether concentrated or

diluted and even with the assistance of a boiling heat, has no effect. Of

the existence of a very large proportion of carbon in this rock, the fore- —

going particulars leave no doubt. The inference that it contains beds

or veins of graphite is a natural consequence, rendered almost certain

by the occurrence of the mineral in a similar rock to be noticed after-

wards. The great variety of rather decided colours in it gives this

district a peculiar appearance. So bright are the reds and yellows, that

I think very excellent colours might be manufactured from them. ‘The

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXxvil

people of the country had their attention excited by this circumstance,

and attempted to obtain iron from it, which they supposed to be indicat-

ed by the red, yellow, and black colours. Failing in this, they do not

appear to have sought for any thing else.

271. The micaceous schist again assumes its ordinary character

on the road to Bandunee Dihee, and is observed to dip N. E. 25°, at

an inclination of 35°. On the summit of that Peak, which forms a plane

200 by 20 yards, strata of garnetiferous schist are seen projecting.

The dip 30° N. E., inclination 35°. In the descent to the stream, it

changes to a talco-micaceous schist, of a pale lead grey colour, very soft,

and almost steatitic, with curved laminze, and passing into a white clay.

It contains nodules and grains of glassy quartz. The dip is North, the

inclination 30°. In the bed of the stream, the strata which are of the

ordinary character, dip 14° S. of E., the inclination being only 17°.

Ascending thence, we have micaceous schist, which continues to the can-

tonment; the dip being generally between N. and E., and the inclina-

tion small. This schist is remarkable for its great variety of type, even

within the limits of so small a space as the cantonment; 1. yellowish

brown, scaly, tender; 2. quartzose, grey, in tolerably straight but thick

slates, the two materials being disposed in layers; 3. less quartzose, in

thick large schists, with an undulated surface; 4. blue or dark grey

approaching to the character of gneiss, and occasionally containing

very small portions of crystalline felspar; 5. a soft arenaceous mass,

which on exposure to the air, falls into sand. These are amongst

the most remarkable. The addition of garnets introduces many other

varieties. ‘This schist is also to be noted as containing veins of gra-

nite of a very regular type, and also of felspar in a semi-disintegrated

slate, and of snowy whiteness. The latter might be also called a gra-

nite, as it contains quartz, and even mica; but the former is in small

quantity, and the latter consists of a few solitary scales disseminated.

272. The ridge on which Almorah is situated, rises into the Peak

of Kaleenath, and in the ascent thereto the above described schist is

observed to pass into the same kind of soft earthy black rock,

which was described at Dhol. It was here that the graphite was

discovered, (alluded to in Art. 270,) lying on the surface in lumps, the

fragments of kidney or egg-shaped nodules. The largest specimen

obtained, however, was an oblate spheroid perfectly rounded, and having

CXXViil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

a diameter of about three inches. This latter contained small veins

of quartz. The aspect of this graphite till scraped or abraded

was dull; in the latter case it was metallic. The composition was

fine earthy. ‘The fracture uneven, specific gravity —. It appeared to be

of a middling quality as applicable to the arts. At the time the

discovery was made, I was on the point of leaving Almorah in prosecu-

tion of some other views, and I have not since had an opportunity

of prosecuting a search after larger supplies by excavation.

273. The mica slate again resumes its ordinary aspect on passing

the Peak, and near the village of Betholee has a dip to S. W.,

being immediately succeeded by a strata of gneiss with a similar dip.

This mass is probably connected with that in the valley below,

noticed, Art. 269. If so, it would appear to be more of the nature of

a vein having considerable longitudinal extent, while a few yards

bound it in breadth. In the ascent from the village to the Pass

it is again lost, being replaced by micaceous schist. But on the

descent gneiss reappears, accompanied by hornblende schist, and

extends for some distance. Perhaps after all, these two patches are con-

nected beneath the surface, the micaceous schist of the Pass lyig on

them. It is possible even that they may both be connected with the

Jagesur gneiss, as the latter may be with that observed at Ramesur,

and again on the other side with the rock in the valley of the

Goomittee. Well devised sections would throw light on this point, and |

probably develope the general arrangements of these detached patches

of gneiss.

274. The Almorah ridge towards the southward, terminates in a mass

of granite and granite gneiss, the latter being most abundant. By this

term I mean a rock, which in structure seems to be intermediate between

gneiss and granite. It is remarkable for containing prismatic nodules

of felspar, which gives it a porphyritic character. There is also a good

deal of the granan, and there are the same blocks strewed over

the surface of the hill as at Dihee. In fact, there is no ques-

tion but it is the same rock as the two patches observed at Chum-

pawut and at Dihee. It extends in the east quarter across the

valley of the Sowal, ascending the ridge on the opposite side, where

it is succeeded by the black and red earthy slate already described,

Art. 270. To the south it terminates in the descent to the con-

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXX1X

fluence of the Cosillah and Sowal, beimg exchanged for micaceous

schist, which gradually passes into a talco-argillaceous schist, and

latterly, a perfect clay slate. To the westward, it descends the valley

of the Cosillah, rising into the lofty peak Seahie Dabee, which is nearly

composed of it, and bounded on that side by micaceous schist. A few

very narrow veins traverse some of the vallies beyond the limits of this

patch, but their connection with it has never been satisfactorily traced.

275. The micaceous schist of Almorah occupies the descent to the

Cosillah, with the exception of the narrow strip of granite just noticed.

The road to Hawulbagh is in the same rock, and it continues in the

route up the valley of the Cosillah, till it is exchanged for the patch

of gneiss noticed in Art. 152. On the road to Gulee Busoor, it also

prevails, being most commonly of a bluish colour, and containing garnets

abundantly. This rock is further remarkable for being traversed by

a vein of a singular nature, no name or descriptiou of which I have

even met with. Near Hawulbagh an instance occurs: It is of a por-

phyritic character, consisting of thin needles or prismatic bundles of

needles of hornblende, imbedded in a white granular paste of felspar

and quartz. On the Pass above the village of Aeena, leading from this

valley into that of the Sugos, the rock is of an earthy type and very

singular aspect. The dip of the schist here (on the Pass) is N. E. 22°,

the inclination 50°. Below the village of Aeena, it occurs of a lead blue

and full of garnets, the dip being N. E. In this neighbourhood are

many of the porphyritic veins just noticed. Micaceous schist more or

less differing in character continues to Mernee, near Dhooara Hat’h, great

irregularity being observed in the dip with frequent reversals; near the

Sugos it is S. W., which on going a little farther is exchanged for a

N. E. dip. In the bed of the river it is again S. 25° W.., inclination

34°, The porphyritic veins are abundant in this neighbourhood. The

S. W. dip continues to the junction of the mica slate, with a gneiss

which lies conformably ; but which is the superior rock, it is impossible

to say for want of access to the line of junction, especially as the

change takes place in the direction of the strata.

276. This gneiss is introductory to a large patch of granite similar

in character to the three beds already described as occurring at Chum-

pawut, Dihee, and Almorah, and what is still singular, in the same straight

line with them ; the direction as before observed, being parallel to that

CXXX Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

of the strata and of the mountain land. There remains nothing to

add to the particulars already given of this rock at those places, as it is

here precisely the same in grain, consistency, overlying, amorphous

appearance, &c. It appears to pass on its borders into a gneiss. The

change at Mernee has just been noticed. Another takes place in the

descent to the glen to the N. W. that leads into the valley of the Ram-

gunga, (Art. 106.) To the N. E. it is I think connected with the

gneiss in the Cosillah, (Art. 152.) To the south it is succeeded at no

great distance by micaceous schist, but the boundary line was not seen.

The schist was observed to dip N. 27° E., inclination 41°. To the west

it passes into the pseudo-porphyritic gneiss, noticed at Almorah, and

which near Mythana is succeeded by a black micaceous schist. Near

Palee, however, the gneiss is again seen, containing nodules of quartz,

and some very singularly lustruous veins of a material, the same essen-

tially as the basis, only much harder. At no great distance on each

side, micaceous schist is recognised.

277. In the descent to the Ramgunga, micaceous schist reappears,

and continues as far as the confluence of the Beneegunga. In

the bed of the former river, the number, size, and variety of the

rolled stones is quite surprising. They occur at a height of 200 feet

above the present bed of the river, and many of them are of a

totally different nature from any of the rocks in the immediate vicinity.

The micaceous schist continues in the Beneegunga; at its mouth

it dips 32° N. E., the inclination 31°. Beyond Tamba Dhar, it is

again succeeded by gneiss, which is distinctly stratified, and dips

N. to N. 18° W., at an angle of 52° to 57°. It is worthy of remark,

that part of this rock is a perfect micaceous schist, containing no

visible traces of felspar, yet there is no separation, nor any transition in

the usual sense, nor disturbance of any kind. To the eye, it seems to be

part of the gneiss, but on examining it, the characteristic ingredient

is found wanting, while in the remainder of the mass, it is obvious

enough lying in lenticular imbedded nodules, which on the cross

fracture, give the rock an appearance not to be mistaken.

278. Another observation of the dip, a little beyond this point,

gave N. 22° W., the inclination 43°. Quartz rock and micaceous schist

next succeeds, and continues to Deoghat. At this place, the route

turns up the bed of a feeder of the Beneegunga to Ketureea, and in

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXXi

this line a rock oscillating between granite and gneiss continues the

whole way. It appears to divide into cuboidal masses, or rather into

parallelopipeds, one of the surfaces of which, apparently coinciding

with the planes of the strata, gave a dip of N. 22° W., inclination 36°.

Near the Dawk chowkee, it is observed in immense rounded masses

lying in the bed of the river, and I think having more the character of

a greenish grey colour, and its lustre being highly translucent, is

very remarkable for the size of its concretions, and their imbedded

appearance giving the rock very much the appearance of a porphyritic

granite. This rock has an analogue at Almorah, and on the summit of

the Choor Peak.

279. The gneiss continues to put on the appearance of being divided

by several sets of seams into more or less regular masses, and its struc-

ture becomes less decidedly schistose. An observation of the dip gave

N. 10° W., with an inclination of 72°. It contains the same felspar that

I have just noticed as occurring in the rolled masses of granite, a little

beyond the 243rd kos stone* the dip was observed S. 20° W., inclina-

tion 50° to 60°. Latterly near Thanna, it gives way to a micaceous schist,

remarkable for the great size and imperfect shape of the garnets it

contains. The round blocks of granite of great size appear still inthe

bed of the river. From Thanna to Muse, and again in ascending the

high range over which the road to Ran leads, no rock but micaceous

schist is seen in situ. Above Masoo, it occasionally contains kyanite, but

not in any quantity, or of any size or beauty of appearance. On the

summit of the Pass, the same rock is found dipping N. E. at a consider-

able angle. Half way down the descent, blocks of gneiss in great num-

ber and of great size are seen, many of them occupying such situations

as will not admit of our supposing for an instant, that they have ever

been in motion, or occupied other than their present sites. At the

village of Ran, micaceous schist is the rock dipping N. E.

280. From Ran, the route descends to the bed of the same nullah in

which micaceous schist is still observable, and thence ascending to Ku-

nyoorbut near the latter place, we come again upon a district of gneiss

* The Goorkhalee Government had erected these stones at distances of a koss

along the line of road from Katmoondo to the Sutlej.

CXXXIi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

rocks, which occasionally appear to pass into the common earthy mica-

ceous schist, occasionally into an amorphous granite. It contains schorl |

occasionally in nests. The boulders are very numerous, and the granite

is in places a perfect granan. The gneiss, when well defined, contains

garnets. Hence to Dhout, the latter rock and micaceous schist may be

considered the prevailing rocks. On the summit of the Pass above,

gneiss is also found of that type, which inclines rather to micaceous

schist than to granite. Hence descending, the granite is again met

with, but under relations which will bear a little more detail.

281. The appearances I am going to describe may be seen a little to

the east of the village Dhooeet. In a geological sense, the rock may be

called a gneiss, but it exhibits small patches, (forming regular transitions

amongst themselves,) of the most regular micaceous schist, (earthy type,)

and again of the most legitimate granite, (granan). These three rocks, so

different in composition, in mineralogical character, and in supposed geo-

logical origin, may be here observed in the compass of a few yards, all

naturally interchangeable, while nothing like a veinous appearance can

be attributed to any of them. A long zone or belt is marked by huge

boulders of gneiss or granite, (for I could not examine them closely,)

strewed over it, and such is the declivity of the mountain side, that we

cannot for a moment suppose that they have rolled into their pre-

sent places. They are in fact like those of Dihee, the harder nodules

of a rock many feet in depth, which has disappeared owing to the

power of waste. The dip of this rock, which in its gneiss and

mica slate types is regularly stratified, 1s N. 48° to 55° E., inclination

about 48°. In the descent from this village, we find the chloritic

argillaceous schist mentioned in Art. 116.

282. The whole of these beds are upon the same line, which is, as

before observed, parallel to the direction of mountain land and of the

strata. In prolonging this lme to the westward as far as the Sutlej,

only one other locality of granite is met with. This is the Choor

Peak, a mountain which rises to the height of twelve thousand feet,

and which has no equal or rival within a circle of sixty miles diameter.

The shape is that of a long block or ridge running N. N. W. and

S. 5. E., about one and a quarter mile in length, which rises suddenly

on the N. W. extremity into a sharp rocky peak many feet higher.

To the S. E., it sinks suddenly into a well-wooded range, where the

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXXiil

rock is with difficulty accessible, but from the indications observable,

I should judge it to be micaceous schist. This rock indeed surrounds

the base of the high ridge which itself is composed of granite, occasion-

ally of a highly crystalline grain. It appears to contain two different

kinds of felspar, one of which assumes that arrangement which may

entitle the rock to the appellation of porphyritic. It is a very beautiful

rock, The mountain is conspicuous from every other quarter, and in every

view of it the summit patch of granite is at once distinguishable from

the micaceous schist below by its peculiar rocky aspect and bareness.

283. I have now to give a few details on the occurrence of the

sandstone formation which bounds the mountain tract to the South

towards the plains. This rock assumes many different aspects here as

it does in Europe; upon the whole, the resemblance is sufficiently

striking to allow of our identifying it with the newer red or saliferous

sandstone, (the red sandstone of English geologists.) It is either a hard

red gravelly clay distinctly stratified, or the same clay enclosing rounded

stones, or a micaceous sandstone, which in hardness varies from loose

sand to a rock that will strike fire. This type is again modified by the

admission of rounded pieces passing into sandstone conglomerate.

These two rocks form the principal part of the formation. The sand-

stone is always micaceous in a high degree; it is most commonly of the

ordinary colour, but sometimes it is found of a dark bluish grey, in which

case it seems to loose its appearance of a schistose structure, and becomes

amorphous, breaking equally in every direction. The type is farther re-

markable for containing kernels of superior hardness to the base, which

itself is more compact, and I might say clayey, than the ordinary sand-

stone. It also contains less mica. ‘This grey type also passes into the

conglomerate structure ; besides these, which are the most marked types

that have any extent, there are innumerable varieties of very anomalous

appearance, chiefly towards the upper part of the rock. The yellowish

grey ordinary sandstone often alternates with a rock that might pass

for a perfect greywacke. The latter is seldom marked with the strata

lines like the sandstone, but is conformable and parallel to it. One

of the most remarkable features is the occurrence of ellipsoidal-shaped

cavities in the middle of sandstone strata. They are of different sizes.

One which I observed measured six feet in its longest diameter, and

was quite smooth and regularly curved in its interior.

CXXXiV Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

284. I shall now mention the different places where this sandstone

has been observed, adding any other particulars which appear to require

it. At Bhumowree, it is seen in the river bed, dipping N. E., at an

angle of about 30°; but it has here scarcely any development, and

nothing is to be learned regarding it but the above fact. At the Chilkein

defile, we have more access to it. It there forms very extensive strata,

chiefly of the red clay type, between Chilkee and Dhikoolee. In the bed

of the Cosillah, occasionally rounded stones are contained imbedded.

The strata appeared almost horizontal, or at least very slightly inclined.

At Dhikoolee, the conglomerate character is perfect, the basis being still

the red clay, but sometimes indurated in a high degree. The strata here

dip to the North. They are covered by a deposit of loose rounded

stones. From this point, the rock is concealed till we reach Chookoom,

and there we find a greenish grey sandstone with mica dipping S. W.

It is covered by a loose shattered rock of various bright colours, indi-

cative as I have observed elsewhere, of this formation ; beyond this point,

that is above it, I have not met with it.

285. Specimens brought from Kaloo Shaeede’s tomb, at the outlet

of the Ramgunga, belong to this sandstone. ‘They were of the grey

type, with conglomerate structure. At Hurdwar, it may be studied to

great advantage, and all its characteristics examined on the Beemghora

Pass, where the construction of a beautiful road, by order of Govern-

ment, has given two admirable sections of these strata. ‘They are here

mostly of the sandstone type, neither the red clay or the conglomerate

being common. On the opposite side of the river, however, Chundee

Puhar is almost entirely composed of these types. A singular circum-

stance is the opposite dip of the strata observable at these two places.

At the latter, they dip on the Hurdwar side S. 35° W., at an inclina-

tion of about 30°; while on the other the dip is the N. E., the inclina-

tion much the same.

286. This formation has also been examined in the Kheree Pass,

leading from the Dhera Doon into the plains. In this quarter, the dip is

very regularly to the N. E., or to some point between N. and E. The

first strata observable, and which may be supposed uppermost, is

the red clay that lies on a stratum of red conglomerate. The Pass is

cut through this latter, and a good section of it obtamed. ‘The stones

are most commonly quartz rock, more or less coloured ; pieces of granite

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXXV

also are observable. Farther on is a perfect sandstone conglome-

rate; specimens were obtained in appearance perfect greywackes,

traversed by quartz veins. The grey type is common, and often

appears to pass into a sandy clay, with mica disseminated. Similar

phenomena are visible in the Timlee Pass, the other entrance to the

Dhera Doon, and in the ascent to Nahun. The Pinjore Doon is shut

in to the southward by a low range of hills, composed chiefly of red

clay and red conglomerate. West of this point, the formation has

not been traced, but it probably extends to the Sutlej, having a greater

development where the vallies separate it from the primary strata,

and vice versa.

287. There now only remains that I should notice the extent of the

deposits, consisting of rounded stones, gravel, and sand. I have already

mentioned in the course of the preceding details, the several accumula-

tions that are to be observed in the beds of rivers. But their greatest

extent is on the borders of the plain country lying at the foot of the

mountain ranges. At Bhumowree, they may be seen resting on sand-

stone. They reach to Tandaha, a distance of fifteen miles. In great part

of this line, the deposit is of enormous thickness, a well having been

sunk half way between those places to the depth of 150 feet, without

passing through it. At Chilkeeah, they are again seen reaching from the

foot of the mountains to Haldoorea, a distance of twelve miles. Here

also the deposit must be of great thickness, as ineffectual attempts were

made at Chilkeeah also to sink a well; sixty feet was the depth penetrated

to, without passing through them. Again at Hurdwar, they have been

traced as far south as Bhogpoor, a distance of ten miles, pieces of granite

bemg observable amongst them. On the Kheree Road, they are seen

for an equal distance to the southward, and on the Beput Road the

same. But the most extensive collection of them by far is in the Dehra

Doon, the whole of that valley being, as it were, filled up with them. A

well which has been sunk there by the Hon’ble Mr. Shore, attained a

depth of 220 feet, before a good and plentiful supply of water was met

with ; even at that great depth, the nature of the deposit was the same

as at the surface. Mr. Shore has preserved notes of the particulars ob-

served in the course of the work, and has kindly allowed me to take a

copy of them. I shall here give them, as forming a very interesting

contribution to our knowledge of the geology of these mountains :—

€XXXV1

Feet.

- OC

—_

(ee)

Colne cel clr cole Sle Aloo

125

128

144

149

158

162

168

171

174

1772

182

1822

185

1852

204

209

2094

211

218

22121

Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

Fine black mould, with a few stones.

Reddish earth, mixed with gravel.

Loose sand and gravel, large stones.

Ditto, with reddish clay.

Stiff reddish clay.

Stiff yellow clay.

Sand and gravel, mixed with a little red clay.

Stiff reddish clay.

Sand and gravel.

Stiff red clay.

Clay sand and gravel mixed.

Sand and gravel.

Stiff yellow clay, with a little sand.

Sand and gravel, a few round stones.

Sand, large blocks of conglomerate north and west side.

Ditto. ©

Sand and gravel, with tolerable sized stones.

Ditto ditto, stones larger.

Ditto ditto, with pieces of conglomerate.

Ditto ditto, with enormous stones.

Conglomerate on three sides, gravel the fourth.

Sand and gravel most ; occasionally pieces of conglo-

merate.

Conglomerate, blocks of.

Layers of sand and gravel, pieces of conglomerate.

Sand and gravel.

Conglomerate 4 inches thick, under it water, but scanty.

Sand and clay.

Conglomerate.

Sand and gravel, rather loose, occasionally pieces of con-

glomerate, occasionally solid blocks 160 Tbs. in weight.

Sand and gravel, very moist.

Conglomerate, over half the well water.

Red clay.

Sand and gravel, very moist, water.

Blackish clay, with angular fragments of clay slate.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXXVIl

288. The extent of these deposits has not been traced so recently

to the westward, but no doubt is entertained, that they attain there also

an equal extent, judging from the recollection of former-journies. Below

Nahun in particular, and near Munta Dihee, at the exit from the

Pinjore Doon, very clear traces of them are to be seen. That the

Pinjore and Kyarda Doons are, equally with the Dehra Doon, composed

of them, I have no doubt. It ought to be stated, before concluding,

that in the Dehra Doon, the great thickness appears to be in the

centre where the ground is highest. Towards the vallies of the Ganges

and Jumna, they diminish very much in thickness, and in the beds

of those rivers, may be observed resting on sandstone.

289. Southward of these rounded stones, a very extensive deposit

of the red clay, which is very similar to the red strata of the sandstone,

prevails. It has often small patches of loose sand. This red gra-

velly clay lies in a blackish clay of a purer character, very stiff and

tenacious at different depths in different places. This latter ap-

pears to change to a lighter colour as we descend, and becomes more

arenaceous, till at length it changes to a grey sand. My enquiries

and observations have not yet been sufficiently general to allow me

to identify these deposits with any thing like certainty, indeed it is only

very lately I have been able to turn my attention to the subject, and the

recent arrival of the boring engine I had ordered from England, pre-

cluded the possibility of constructing a proper apparatus and scaffolding

for using it with effect, unless the operations were delayed till the ensuing

year. I was therefore obliged to content myself with such results as could

be obtained without the proper means, and was not able, in consequence,

to penetrate beyond twenty-two feet in any of the bores I made; but

I hope on my return to the field duties, that I shall be able to continue

these enquiries with greater effect.

290. In the meantime, it may be interesting to give the particulars of

the few bores I made. The first was at Moradabad, but being new

to the operation, it took several days to bore sixteen and a half feet,

the particulars were as follows :—

Feet. Inches.

4 0 Superficial sandy loam forming a very productive soil.

2 5 Brick earth. This is the red clay, which prevails so exten-

sively in Rohilkund, and which so often comes to the

CXXXVill Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

Feet. Inches.

surface, forming a substance of a singular hardness, and

excellent materials for roads.

3 73 Reddish micaceous sand. The temperature at this depth

164° was found to be 76° 5’; a thermometer in the

shade marking 58°, and the surface of the ground being

56°.

291. The next boring was at Kusherpoor, where the red clay has

a very extensive superficial development. It forms the step describ-

ed in Arts. 59 and 73, which gives so deceptive an appearance to the

direction of the fall or declivity. ‘The spot where the boring was

made, was about twenty feet below the surface of this red clay, and the

following were the particulars :—

Feet. Inches.

2 3 The superficial red clay.

1 38 Green sandy clay, water.

4.6 Black clay, extremely tenacious.

1 6 Light blue sand. The water was in such abundance, as

to prevent any further progress ; it speedily rose to within

a few feet of the surface. At Huldoon, seven miles

north, nearly similar results were obtained.

5 6 A ferruginous sandy clay or loam, latterly becoming more

stiff. |

1 6 A greenish clay, getting latterly blackish.

2 0 A bluish grey clay, partially sandy, not so tenacious, and

quite moist. Gravel under this. The water rose rapid-

ly, and prevented any further proceedings.

292. At Jusspore, nine miles N. W. from Kusheepoor, a third

boring was made, but the place was injudiciously chosen, being in a

hollow, evidently the dry bed of a jeel. The following are the

particulars :—

Feet. Inches.

5 0 Surface sand, which gradually changes to a stiff red clay.

2 0 Red loose sand, damp.

2 0 Variegated sand and clay, spotted.

3 0 Yellowish sand, changing to light grey, twigs and roots were

found at nine feet, water at 12.

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. CXXXI1X

293. At the next place we find the same deposits as at Kusheepoor

and Huldoon.

Feet. Inches.

2 0 Superficial loam.

3 6 Clay; temperature 68°.

1 6 Sand.

1 6 Clay again.

1 6 Sandy clay, twigs.

2 3 Stiff clay, latterly blackish.

1 6 Ditto, of a darker colour and more pure.

1 O Grey sand.

Water rose to within a few feet of the surface.

At Afzulgurh, the following particulars were noted :—

Feet. Inches.

6 0 Superficial loam small nests, and veins of a semi-carbonis-

ed vegetable matter.

2 6 Red sand, a quicksand. ~

4 0 Blackish stiff clay.

3 6 Stiff clay, latterly sandy.

The quicksand falling in prevented any further operation. The

black clay proved to be an excellent pctter’s clay, and baked without

changing colour. It formed a very porous article, and was very accept-

able to the potters, who were ignorant of the existence of any such clay

in their neighbourhood.

294. At

Feet. Inches.

7 6 The superficial loams yellowish, and more sandy latterly.

the following particulars were noted :—

It forms an excellent soil, and is known by the provincial

term muteear.

3 White micaceous mixture of sand and clay.

White clay, a little sandy.

1 O Brownish black clay, containing semi-carbonised vegetable

: matter.

2 6 Dark bluish clay, very stiff, when wet almost black, latterly

veins of light blue.

6 0 Clay much iron shot, and passing to sand.

1 6 Dark bluish clay, as before.

5 0 Sandy clay, much iron shot.

exl Report of the Mineralogical Survey fiNo: | 126".

_ The temperature was observed to be 73°, once at six feet, and again at

eight feet, that of the surface being 59°.

295. I have here concluded the geological details ; some few par-

ticulars have been omitted in their places, but will be hereafter

inserted with fresh matter, which I hope will render it something

more complete. I have principally to regret, that the circumstances

under which these papers have been prepared, have prevented the

execution of the original design of referring in the account of the

occurrence of rocks by number to tle particular specimen collected.

Such a practice will be of very great advantage, and will indeed

give the above detail far more authority, than it could possible other-

wise have. I shall now proceed to state, in a few words, the general

results to which they lead.

Section III.

RECAPITULATION.

296. In the details just given, I have necessarily entered into a

minuteness of description, which to the general reader must be

tiresome in no small degree. The paper being intended as a record of

observations, it was necessary to be particular; but I shall attempt in

this section to throw together the general results, comparing them

afterwards with received opinions, and illustrating the whole in the

best manner my limited reading will permit.

297. It appears then, that in these mountains gneiss occupies the

greater part of the surface, forming a band of 24 miles in breadth, and

including within its boundaries all the elevated summits, but one, of the

table, at Art. 39. Of these all that have been approached sufficiently

near to determine the point are certainly gneiss, that is, if distinct, thin,

and well-marked strata be any ground for deciding. Other evidence

there can be none, as it is impossible, by actual examination, to

ascertain what rock is at the summit. It rises then most probably to

the height of 25,709 feet,* while the lowest point is only elevated 2,800.

* Captain Webb gives 25,669 as the height above the sea—Journal of Science.

The paper by Major Hodgson and myself in the 14th Vol. As. Res. has 20,749.

1 have taken the mean.

1842.) of the Himmalaya Mcuntains. exhi

If we suppose the lower strata continuous across this tract, and allow

for the inclination, we shall have eight miles for the extreme thickness

of this formation, and about six for its mean value.

298. The direction of this zone of gneiss is generally, I might say

almost always, North 60° West, being thus parallel at once to the direc-

tion of the line of greatest elevation, and also to the general bearing or

tendency of the mountain land. The inclination lies between 20° and

30° in by far the greater number of instances. It is, however, some-

times, though very rarely, as high as 50°, and in one solitary instance

was observed to be 56°. ‘There are very few reversals of the dip,

at least towards the centre or middle of this zone; but along the

southern boundary, which is very irregular in its outline, forming

various incursions into the adjoining zone of schists, there do occur

several irregularities both in dip and inclination, and the former is

sometimes reversed. That it is pretty regular in general, however, is

proved by the fact noticed by all travellers, of the uniformity of aspect

in the sides of slopes and precipices in these mountains.

299. The character of this rock is highly crystalline, and it appears

to consist almost always of the regular ingredients, and united in the

usual regular proportions. It is surprising how few varieties present

themselves in so extensive a tract of country, and in general, these

varieties differ more in colour and grain than in mineralogical charac-

ter. The occurrence of imbedded minerals is rare, and of these only,

the most common have been observed, as quartz, garnet, and kyanite.

It is almost equally barren in beds, containing only some very small

ones of hornblende rock, quartz, limestone, and mica slate. Of the two

last, I do not know more than one or two instances of each. In fact,

there is a character of sameness throughout this formation, extremely

tiresome to the geological traveller, as continually disappointing him in

_ his hopes of meeting with something new and interesting.

300. Veins of granite are numerous, particularly towards the central

or highest parts; but no beds have yet been found, the granite of

Wongtoo being supposed to be veinous. Towards the boundary, however,

there are some patches, which would appear to have some connection

with aseries of beds found beyond the limits of the gneiss, and sur-

rounded generally by rocks of a more earthy and less crystalline

character. These latter beds have been described as occurring at

exlii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

Chumpawut, Dhee, Almorah, Shaee Debee, Dooara Hath, Palee, Dhoeet,

and Kunyoor. They are situated in the zone of minimum elevation, and a

line passing through them has a direction of North 60° West, the same

as that of the strata and zones of different elevation. West of the

Ganges, no such beds are found, unless we suppose the Choor granite,

(which is certainly on.the prolongation of this line) to be one, and then

it will be the only one. Another anomaly which the granite of the

Choor presents is, that it occupies the highest point in all the mountain

tract, south of the zone of greatest elevation, whereas the eastern beds

are situated in the lowest ground. A third difference is in the charac-

ter of the rock, which in the case of the Choor granite, is highly crystal-

line; in most of the others, earthy and decomposing. Yet it must be

confessed, that they present some differences of aspect in this respect,

and that at Chumpawut, Dhee, and Almorah, very hard and crystalline

granites are procurable, though at the two latter places in limited

quantity.

301. The grain of the veinous granites is, as has been often remarked,

large ; in variety of composition too, they form a singular contrast to the

uniformity which distinguishes the gneiss. In this respect, they also

differ from the beds of granite, which are strikingly alike in mineral

composition, colour, and size, and arrangement of grain. In these

particulars, the Choor granite is almost precisely that of Almorah, though

separated by such a wide interval. What distinguishes this granite at

first sight is, its porphyritic structure, and it evidently contains two

distinct varieties, if not species of felspar.* This variety is seldom

found in a crumbly decomposing state. The only other well defined

type is that which is so remarkable for its rapid disintegration, in which

the ingredients appear to be united in the usual irregular manner.

This contains a large portion of white opaque felspar, and it is well

distinguished by its granite boulders, the true nature and history of

which have been so well laid open by Dr. Macculloch.

302. Smaller veins have not been observed to affect the appearance

of the including rock, but the vein at Wangtoo, the only large one

* The existence of several mineral species hitherto confounded under this title, has

been now clearly established, and I anxiously look forward to a period of leisure, .

when I may submit the different granites to a particular examination with reference

to this point.

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. exliil

I have seen, certainly is in contact with a rock forming a transition be-

tween granite and gneiss. With regard to the beds, they also present in

general the appearance of a thin band of gneiss surrounding them, and

outside of this is found mica slate. The whole being included in clay

slate, no change in the latter rock has even been observed. It is al-

most unnecessary to say that none of these beds are stratified,* that is,

the central nucleus ; but as before stated, they appear to pass into gneiss

on their boundary. ‘The only imbedded minerals are schorl and quartz,

(rhombohedral schorl and rhombohedral quartz.)

303. Conterminous with the gneiss may be found a series of dif-

ferent rocks all possessing the schistose structure, micaceous, chloritic,

and talcose schists ; whether all to be included under one head, is a point

for the determination of which data are as yet wanting. But it is per-

fectly certain, that there is no such thing as a general and continuous

formation of micaceous schist (the next rock in our systems) analogous

to that of gneiss; several large patches of micaceous schist occur, but

they are separated by equally large tracts of other schists. Perhaps

the above three schists might be conveniently considered as one forma-

tion, although we should even then find our systematic views disturbed

by the intrusion of schists of an argillaceous character. These latter

may be seen even in contact with the gneiss. Thus we shall be forced

to modify a little our ideas of the exclusive nature of formations, and in

admitting argillaceous schist as a member of the series, we shall esta-

blish, as succeeding the gneiss, a zone of schistose rocks of nearly equal

extent, but not presenting the same appearances of regularity of position,

or uniformity of mineral composition.

304. In considering the subject, I have been certainly inclined to

view this latter account as most consonant with the phenomena. But

it is possible that a more particular examination of the boundary of the

gneiss may establish the first view, and in this case, the gneiss with

which the argillaceous schist is in contact, would belong to a different

era from that of the zones of greatest elevation, whereas I have suppos-

* The stratification of granite, a favourite tenet of one of the rival schools of geology

appears to be losing ground every day. Mr. Greenough long ago, in his critical

examination, shewed the extreme laxity with which this term stratification had been

used. In the sense in which most: unlearned people understand it, 1 apprehend that

granite can never be said to be stratified. After all, however, it is a mere dispute about

words, and seems, whichever way determined, to throw no light on the subject of the

origin of rocks.

exliv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126%.

ed them to be connected. ‘This is one of the difficulties attending so

early an attempt to generalise ; for the present it may be sufficient to

view all these schists as constituting one formation. ‘This formation

will then be found to be of nearly equal extent with that of the gneiss,

being in breadth — miles, and stretching, as that does, from river to

river, it will terminate in those mountains which form the northern

boundaries of the several Doars, and in the line connecting them.

305. In this method of viewing these rocks, it may be stated, that

there is but one general formation (of primary rocks,) besides that of

the Himmalaya gneiss,* and it is worthy of remark, that they divide

the whole tract pretty equally between them. The schistose forma-

tion is no doubt stratified, though, it is thought, not so regularly as the

gneiss, and its strata are often much more inclined, much more con-

torted, and present greater irregularities, both of curvature and reversal

of the dip. It is, however, to be noted, that mountains of this formation

do not present the same facilities for examining the strata, as those

which are composed of gneiss. Being in general so much more sub-

ject to decay, they have a very thick bed of local debris which effec-

tually conceals the rock in situ, and in such cases, the character is

necessarily taken from that of the debris. The effect of this is to give

these mountains a rounded and softened contour, which distinguishes

them at once from the serrated and bare rocky ridges of the gneiss

formation.

306. The mineralogical character of these schists is variable; but this

is not only true of the whole formation, viewed as comprising rocks to

which distinct titles have always been allotted, but also of the varieties

which are referable to any one of those titles. And the many anoma-

lous rocks produced by the intermixture, and transitions of these, form a

numerous band, strictly speaking, belonging to none of them considered

by itself, and therefore strengthening the view I have taken of the

* In confining the number of primary formations in so extensive a tract to two,

I may be thought to indulge in too large a generalisation. It may be said, that many

of the beds I mentioned as contained in the clay slate, may be in fact formations. It

is proper, therefore, that I should explain what I mean by a bed; for half our mistakes

in geology are occasioned by using words in a wrong sense, frequently in no sense

at all. By a bed then I mean, a mass not veinous, which is surrounded on every side

by the same rock. It may be stratified or not; it is unnecessary to add the term subor-

dinate, as this definition includes that idea. It has another advantage, that it involves

no theory.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. cxlv

entireness of this formation. These varieties, at least all those that

required it, have been described already with sufficient minuteness. It

may be here a sufficient recapitulation to say, that the argillaceous

schist, as it covers the greatest extent, so it presents the greatest vacilla-

tion in character. No opinion can be more void of foundation than

that which supposes the several varieties of clay slate to be arranged

under four different, distinct, and well marked types, the produce of

four different eras, and distinguishable by characters mainly dependent

on colour; so far from dividing into regular zones, or even isolated

patches, the different varieties are found in every part of this extensive

tract. Excellent purple roof slate; stone slate passing into flinty slate; a

black almost arenaceous rock, with patches of white resembling the ash

of half-burned charcoal ; a white arenaceous rock with scales of mica; a

soft schistose clayey rock of various bright colours, and a granular yellow

rotten stone; all these are found in a space of not three miles square.

From my own very limited experience, I would say, that of all distinc-

tions, colour in clay slate is the most vague, and least to be depended on.

307. This tract of schists contams numerous and extensive beds of

limestone, frequently enclosing veins of galena, (hexahedral lead galena

of Mohs,) beds of dolomite (macrotypus lime haloide,) and potstone

(prismatic tale mica, the massive variety,) either singly or in conjunc-

tion, and containing in each case veins of copper and iron pyrites,

(pyramidal copper pyrites and hexahedral iron pyrites,) purple and

grey copper (octahedral copper pyrites and tetrahedral copper galena,)

beds of red and brown iron ore (rhombohedral and prismatic iron ores,)

veins or beds of graphite, (rhombohedral graphite mica,) and superficial

amorphous masses of gypsum (prismatoidal gypsum haloide.) But the

most remarkable of all its subordinate mineral masses is the greenstone,

which is so often met with, though limited as to extent. Connected

probably with this rock is the series of fragments, obtaimed near

Bhumowree, presenting types of amygdaloid and porphyry. But the

whole subject is as obscure, from want of observation, as it is in-

teresting, and the fact of the only series of lakes within these mountains

being found in the neighbourhood, enhances the interest extremely.

Indeed, it is not a little difficult to restrain our premature efforts to con-

nect these facts with a well-known theory, remarkable for the origin it

assigns to these rocks,

exlvi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

308. Southward of the great belt of argillaceous schist, which

forms the plainward termination of the series of schists, we find a

narrow strip of secondary rocks, mostly, if not entirely, the newer red

or saliferous sandstone. This formation presents little to interest us,

excepting in the promise which its position here gives of more

valuable deposits further South. It is always stratified, and the dip

is most commonly conformable to that of the primary strata. At

Hurdwar, the strata on opposite sides of the river dip in opposite direc-

tions. It differs extremely in character, beg sometimes a red clay,

which occasionally contains rounded stones, sometimes a regular

sandstone conglomerate, often loose sand. It is remarkablé for the

quantity of mica it contains, and for the series of bright colours it pre-

sents often within a very short distance. It contains brown coal

(bituminous mineral coal,) but in what quantity is not known.

309. Lastly, we have lying at the southern foot of this sandstone

range, and also occupying the several vallies bounded by it, a deposit of

great depth, but not disposed in strata, consisting of gravel and sand,

including large boulders or rounded stones of every magnitude up to

three feet diameter. The extent of this diluvium, as we may call it, is

very great, it occupies a track 192 miles in length, and nearly 10 in

breadth. But the length is probably much greater, as it is not umrea-

sonable to infer, that it is conterminous with the sandstone range, which

certainly extends from the Indus to the Burhampooter. Outside of the

tract of diluvium, a red earthy marl is found intermixed with patches

of sand, and a blue clay, very similar in character to that of the London

clay, is found to underline these. In the neighbourhood of Hansee, a

fresh water limestone is met with, containing perfect shells of the

genera melania and planorbis.

CONCLUSION.

Section IV.

310. From the particulars given in Section I, may be collected the

fact of a considerable difference of physical aspect between these

mountains and the Andes, the chain with, which it has been most usual

to compare them. Instead of the confused and irregular appearance, the

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. exlvil

endless and complicated ramifications, the ragged and steep acclivities,

the total absence of vallies or level ground, the lofty summits and deep

ravines there described, we have in the latter an arrangement of two

parallel chains or ridges running for a distance of 500 miles, and en-

closing between them a broad and elevated table land, constituting one

of the finest countries in the world; again the numerous volcanoes, ex-

tinct or igneous of the Andes, the terrible earthquakes, the torrents

of mud and water so frequently discharged from openings suddenly

occurring, and the uprising of considerable mountains ; all these circum-

stances belong to a totally different order of things from that which

prevails in the Himmalaya.

311. The difference in physical features is not greater than that

which appears in the geological character of these two rival chains. In

the Andes, as we learn from Humboldt, there is an extraordinary deve-

lopement of porphyry and trachyte, the more elevated points being

composed almost exclusively of the latter rock. Trachyte is confessedly

a volcanic production, though the rival schools are at variance with re-

gard to porphyry. Yet, M. Humboldt in his latest work, appears to

incline to the opinion of its also being of igneous origin.* We may

further notice the great deficiency of primary formations.f Granite and

gneiss are only found in masses of any extent near the sea coast and at

low elevations, while the transition clay slates and secondary sandstones

attain a developement and an elevation, of which there are no other

authentic instances.

312. In the Himmalaya again, we have seen that neither trachyte

nor porphyry, nor indeed any volcanic or trap rocks are to be found.

The whole series, as is evident from the details in Section II., is

composed of primary formations, and chiefly if not entirely of gneiss,

* Or ought we not rather to admit that the domain of volcanic action has been too

much limited, and that these porphyries are, with respect to their origin and relative

age, connected with trachytes, as the trachytes formerly confounded with trap por-

phyries are connected with basalts, and real lava ejected by burning volcanoes ?

Humboldt Gisement des Roches, English Translation, page 157. Again, “‘In Equi-

noxial America, the limits between transition porphyries and real trachytes known

to be volcanic rocks are not easy to fix.’’ Idem, page 155. For other instances of this

Opinion, see page 156 to 160.

¢ In the Cordilleras of the Andes, of Peru, Quito, Grenada and Mexico, among

that innumerable variety of porphyritic rocks of which the masses attain from 2,500

to 3,00 toises in thickness, I did not see a single porphyry that appeared to me deci-

dedly primitive. Humb. Giss des Roches, English Translation, in p. 124.

exlviil Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

succeeded on each side by an extensive band of schistose rocks, en-

closing a variety of subordinate beds, the whole being of the clearest

primary character. Organic remains are, it is true, stated to have been

found at a great elevation northward of this chain, but nothing of the

kind occurs within the zone of greatest elevation, nor within the moun-

tain tract south of it. It is, however, believed, that with regard to the

great elevation of the transition and secondary formations, parallel ex-

amples to those of the Andes may be found in the prolongation of the

mountain barrier to the north. The subject has not yet been fully

investigated, but there are presumptions in favor of this opinion dedu-

cible from the arrangement of the strata. The following particulars

may be stated as the sum of what is actually known on the subject :—

318. No organic remains have even been found within the tract

which I have asserted to consist of primary formations. But they have

been brought from a place north of the zone of gneiss, and though there

are doubts as to the localities of some of these specimens, it is quite

certain that in one instance, ammonites have been observed in great

numbers, at an elevation exceeding 16,000 feet.* What makes this

occurrence particularly interesting is, the fact of the limestone in which

these ammonities are found occurring at no great distance from the

boundary of a gneiss, which if it be not actually connected with, is not

distinguishable in mineralogical character from that of the Himmalaya.

319. Ammonites, mineralised by clay slate, have been brought by

natives, and as they aver, from no great distance from our frontier on

the Neetee Pass. I have also seen specimens of belemnites mineralised

by calcareous spar.t But neither these, or the preceding more authen-

* I have never had an opportunity of examining these fossils, but the identification

of the species would throw no light on the question which is here being considered,

as it is generally agreed by geologists, that however uniform the mineralogical

character of rocks may be in the most distant localities, yet with regard to organic

remains, no assistance can be derived from the characters of species in identifying

formations, unless in a country of very limited extent. Even the hitherto generally

received opinion of the universality of formations begins to be questioned, and a

doubt entertained whether the granite of Cornwall, for instance, and of these moun-

tains were formed or even assumed their present places at the same time.

+ It has been made a question by a geologist of deservedly high reputation, whether

the occurrence of organic remains (speaking generally) should be considered ipso

facto, a decisive argument against the primary character of a rock, and though authority

be against him, yet it is the authority of those who admit of a transition class into

which they transfer these anomalous occurrences. Now, as no distinctive characters have

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. exlix

tic observation, where the locality and elevation are actually known,

can be considered quite decisive of the fact of secondary formations

being found at uncommon elevations. For the occurrence of ammo-

nites and belemnites is by no means universally allowed to be charac-

teristic of secondary rocks ; and even by that school which asserts their

presence to be destructive of the primary character of a rock, they

are allowed to belong to the oldest of the secondary, or what they

would call, the transition formation.

320. A more curious fact is that of the bones brought from the

neighbourhood of the Neetee Pass, and which Mr. Buckland has recognis-

ed as belonging to the same era with those of the caves, the history

of which he has so ably illustrated.* As this fact would establish

the identity of the deposit in which they are found, with that which

he has called diluvian, and which is the. newest of all the formations,

it would certainly be very interesting to settle accurately the locality

from which they are derived. But nothing certain is known on this

subject further than the negative fact, that they are not to be found

south of the Neetee Pass. Hitherto, they have been collected only

by natives, whose reports,—never very precise as to particulars the

value of which they do not appreciate,—can scarcely be allowed to

settle a point of this interest; even their account, however, places them

a considerable distance northward of the limits of the zone, marked

by the snowy summits of the Himmalaya.

321. Thus then it appears, that at present all we know of certain

is, the occurrence of a limestone with ammonites at an elevation

of 16,000 feet above the sea, and at no great distance from the

boundary of the Himmalaya gneiss. As to the other organic remains,

they are brought from beyond our frontier by natives, but neither the

distance or the elevation are precisely known. But granting all that

these may seem to prove, as to the great elevation to which secondary

ever been assigned to this class, as have been to the primary and secondary, it is not

very unfair to consider this procedure as something similar to what is called a petitio

principi.

* A collection of these bones belonging to Mr. Traill, which I had an opportunity

of examining, appeared to me to be perfectly mineralised, judging from their high speci-

fic gravity. Now the peculiar character of the diluvium bones is stated to consist in their

being not at all, or at least very imperfectly mineralised, differing in fact very little

from grave bones of high antiquity, light, porous, and absorbent to the tongue.

cl Report of the Mineralogical Survey [Nov P26*.

formations attain beyond the limits of the tract which is the subject

of this paper, it would still be true, that within this. tract no such

phenomena occur. The great extent covered by primary rocks, and

the total deficiency of the trap or volcanic rocks may then serve

to express the entire dissimilarity of geological structure between this

tract and the Andes,* and I think it a point of considerable interest, and

worth insisting on, that no traces of volcanic action,t whether recent

or otherwise, has yet been observed in these mountains.

322. We have seen that these primary rocks are always stratified, and

that the dip in a great majority of instances is N. E., the direction of

the strata being consequently parallel to that of the zone of greatest

elevation. The inclination also being small, we may perceive strong

grounds for admitting the occurrence of comparatively recent formations

at great heights in proceeding along the line of dip. Thus at no véry

great distance from the crest of the gneiss strata, we may fairly expect,

as is the fact, a clay slate, and then a limestone with ammonites, and no

doubt did our observations extend further to these, we should see suc-

ceeding secondary formations, tertiary, and lastly diluvian, so that upon

the whole, there is nothing improbable in the accounts of those who

assert the ammonites and belemnites to be found at no very great dis-

tance from our frontier.

323. An interesting question is here suggested by the view I have

taken of the great central tract combined with this conclusion. We

know from Patrin, that the great Altaian chain consists like the Him-

malaya of primary formations. Are not these distant and opposite points

* For this reason I have been at a loss to understand, how analogy had taught

us the primary nature of the Himmalaya formations. It certainly appears most

natural to compare them with the Andes, in order to deduce analogical inferences.

‘he Andes are not primary, the Himmalaya are so: analogical discoveries a posteriori,

are always to be suspected.

t+ There is a foolish notion amongst some of the hill people, however, that the

great peak, called Nunda Debee, the highest of the range, and consequently in the

world, has been known to emit smoke. They suppose the smoke to be from the gods’

Choola or kitchen. It is hardly necessary to add, that there is no real foundation for

this opinion. The peak is within 60 miles of Almorah, distinctly visible at all seasons,

and had any thing of the kind ever occurred, it must have been seen by some of the

European residents at that station. Itis, however, worthy of mention, that this peak

is scarcely ever seen without a small light cloud resting obliquely upward from its

summits; such an appearance might be converted by the cra2y imagination of a

devotee into smoke ascending from his gods’ Choola.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. cli

connected on each side by rocks of the same character and eras, and is

not the interior from which on one side at least these fossils of such

different formations are brought, a huge basin or series of basins in

which are arranged secondary, tertiary, and even diluvial deposits, sur-

rounded and supported on every side by a gigantic zone of primary

formations ?

324. It has I know been disputed, whether the same mountain range

or chain be, or be not marked by identity of geological structure. Like

many other disputed questions, it is one of words, and the solution en-

tirely depends upon the sense in which we use the word range or

chain. If we mean continuous line of elevations, in other words a chain

of water heads, such is certainly not marked by identity of geological

formation. If again, the line of greatest elevation be understood, then

we shall certainly find identity of geological structure, but nothing like

continuity of surface. Analogy then adds all its weight to the opinion,

that the series of primary formations continues quite round the central

plateau.

325. It appears then, that the tract with which we are engaged, com-

prises a very small part of the outward declivity of a barrier of primary

formations, the most extensive probably in the world ; that these forma-

tions have in this particular quarter, a dip directed N. E. or at right

angles to the direction of the tract, and that it is probable the dip con-

tinues all round to be also at right angles, that is, towards the centre of

the great basin which they surround. The crest of these formations we

see attains in more than one quarter to a height of 25,000 feet, rising

from plains which have a level of 1,400 feet, and this in a distance of 90

miles. Here then, if any where, we may expect to find some clue to

lead us out of the labyrinth of geological speculations and hypotheses ;

some key to the solution of the great problem concerning the origin of

the present inequalities of the earth’s surface. -Could we but obtain

access to all the particulars which are to be learned in these interesting

countries, geology would very soon assume a different aspect from that

which has as yet distinguished her. Perhaps even the small part of it

to which we have access, may furnish particulars calculated to throw

some light on the principles of a science as yet in its infancy.:

326. Saussure has observed, that in mineralogical cabinets, we see

every rock have a definite and easily recognised character. No anomalies

clit Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

or irregularities occur to embarrass us; none of the transitions or

mixtures which are found in nature, and which form the difficulties of

the pursuit, ‘‘ La on trouve tout disposé selon le systeme.” The same

may be said of our most approved geological systems. There we find

every rock occupying its distinct quarter, and no hint of the great and

perplexing irregularities with which the student of nature has to struggle

at every step. We have granite occupying the lowest and the highest

points, a covering of gneiss resting on the granite excepting at the

very highest points, mica slate over the gneiss, clay slate over it again,

and so on in regular array, and with the outgoings of the newer

and newer strata. At lower and lower levels, such an account of

things is no doubt very beautiful, very systematic, and indeed has

but one fault, that it is not true. As countries have been examined

more particularly, it is found, that excepting in a few grand points,

not one country will serve for an exact type of another.

327. We have seen that in these mountains,* gneiss occupies the

ereatest part of the surface. Its thickness is considerable, if we adopt

the commonly received opinions of stratification. To this succeed

various schists, the true relations and connections of which are very

obscure ; micaceous, talcose, chloritic and argillaceous in different places

are conterminous with the gneiss. In the schists and in the zone

of least elevation, we find a series of patches of granite disposed

along a line parallel to that of the direction of the mountain. band

and strata. Beyond these again, we see an extensive zone of clay

slate, in which occasional patches of gneiss also are found, and

outside of the whole very limited examples of the secondary strata,

which are finally lost in the plains.

328. Here then is a very different arrangement from that just

* Professor Jameson ia one of his latest works mentions the Himmalaya as an

example of a granitic chain. It would be interesting to know on what authority

he founds his opinion. I have seen more of these mountains than any European, and

the only granite within the above tract (beyond which we cannot without great

violence apply the term Himmalaya) that I have ever seen consists of fragments in

the beds of rivers. I have never had any doubts, and if I had, the occurrence of these

fragments would remove them; but that there are occasionally veins and perhaps

larger patches of granite as in other parts of these mountains, but I have never within

this tract met with any rock, in situ, but gneiss and its contained beds.

+ There are, however, some good reasons for rejecting this indefinite continuity of

the strata underneath, at least in the direction in which they appear on the surface,

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mountains. eli

described. The great extent of gneiss, the limited occurrence of

granite, its situation in the zone of least elevation, the want of a

regular consecutive order in the super-position of the schists; these

are sufficient to shew the total dissimilarity of nature and system.

But we shall find much greater differences than these, as we descend to

the details. It has been supposed, that in every chain of mountains,

the strata dip outwards, that is, from the summit the dip on op-

posite sides is in an opposite direction, and it is obvious that such

must be the state of things, supposing the origin of the stratified rocks

to be as Werner has taught. But in these mountains this is by

no means a description of the fact, for the strata, abstracting local

exceptions, have but one dip, and that is, on one side towards the

chain, on the other from it. The same arrangement obtains in the

ghauts of Rewah and Bundlekhund, that is, their dip is only in

one direction; and it is worthy of remark, that the precipitous side

in that chain is also directed towards the great diluvial valley of the

Ganges, which is thus bounded on opposite sides by the perpendicular

faces of the strata.

329. Such being the arrangement which obtains, it becomes difficult

to understand clearly the order of super-position of the rocks that are

found south of the gneiss tract. It is no doubt a very singular feature

in the structure of these mountains, and is the more interesting, as

being apparently in direct opposition to opinions which have been

so generally received. In the accompanying diagram,* it is evident

that the gneiss strata at A. prolonged, would be over those at B., which

succeed the gneiss in travelling southward, and this remark holds good

throughout down to the plains, for the strata always dip conformably or

sufficiently near, so as to establish this conclusion. Were the effect to

stop with merely placing clay slate or mica slate superior to the

Himalaya gneiss, there would not be the actual difficulty; for we know,

that within certain limits, there is no exact and universally true order

of super-position, though the contrary is stated by systematic writers,

(Art. 12.) But in this particular case, the most generally received posi-

tion in geology would be violated, for by supposing that no dislocation

or separation of the strata has taken place, we should have clay slate,

* We trust, as before stated, that the figures and diagrams will be recovered with the

geological map, when we shall not fail to give them to the public.—Ep.

cliv Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

primary limestone, mica slate, and lastly gneiss, all resting, and in this

order, on a secondary conglomerate !

330. Are we then to say that this latter is really the case, and that

even those facts most generally received, and as yet disputed by no

school or sect however sceptical, are often all but partial and local occur-

rences, and not examples of a general law applicable to every country?

Or is there any way of viewing the subject by which we may escape

from so startling a conclusion? Will any dislocation, subsidence, or

elevation of the strata explain the difficulty ? I think not; for besides the

enormous extent of the fault which we must suppose to account for the

schistose strata, (at least eight miles in thickness and thirty in breadth,)

appearing to dip beneath the gneiss strata, a fault which startles the

imagination by its magnitude, we have also to believe, that at each

junction of two different formations, a similar fault occurred. This

is an assumption evidently gratuitous, and not having even a seeming

of probability to recommend it. And in two instances, probably in

many more, the appearances as described leave no doubt as to the

fact of the newer rocks lymg under the older; that is, if we

suppose the strata continuous underneath. In these instances, no

dislocation whatever will explain the anomaly. The difficulty appears

to.me to be real, unless we give up those views of stratification which

would identify them with the parallel and consecutive layers of mecha-

nical deposition.

331. It is an opinion gaining ground every day amongst geologists,

that the seams of stratification are not always what they have been

supposed,—the effect or sign of mechanical subsidence ; and many other

facts besides this, militate against the supposition we are considering.

Were those layers really deposited from a fluid by the effect of gravity,

how are we to explain the sudden changes which are often seen

to take place in strata, not vertically, but horizontally, and this repeated

often in a very limited space.? That what is called concretionary

structure may sometimes produce parallel seams, we see in the case

of those clay slates in which what are supposed to be the planes

of stratification, are not parallel with the schistose planes. And that

parallel seams, not to be distinguished from those of stratification,

may originate in some other cause, is also obvious from the fact

so often observed of two, and even three sets of these seams occurring

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. clv

in the same rock; thus creating a difficulty of saying which is or

which is not the set indicative of the strata. If we admit then

with some of our most celebrated geologists, that in the older rocks

the planes of structure have been erroneously attributed to stratification,

the difficulty with which we are contending will vanish.* In this

case there will be no necessity for inferring a continuation of the

strata underneath, and therefore no violation of generally received

notions as to the super-position of rocks. The newer formations

will rest on the older, and as in this case, the configuration of

the surface could not have had any effect in giving the present dip and

direction to the upper strata, (for it would have been the reverse,)

it is quite clear that neither in these rocks are the seams significative

of mechanical depositions.

332. It is at all events very certain that, in all primary countries, the

stratification presents various anomalies not easy to be explained on

the hypothesis of the formations being mechanical deposits. It is

likewise not impossible, that a more particular examination of our moun-

tain strata may suggest some other explanation, or at all events lead

us to view it as less contrary to geological observation than I have

stated.t With these considerations in view we may for the present con-

sider the order of superposition as determined by the succession of

rocks found in proceeding southward, or at right angles to their direc-

tion. We will therefore suppose the schists to be deposited on the

gneiss, and the sandstones on the schists, notwithstanding the dip being

towards the crest of the chain. We have seen, that the two zones into

which, on a large view, the rocks may be divided, are parallel with the

direction of the mountain land, and with that of the elevated zone,

though not with that of the chains, which, as we have before shewn,

have no connection whatever with the geological structure.

* If we could follow their limits with the eye we should probably find the fact

to be as now stated, a view of the subject which may tend to explain the apparent

inflections and contortions of rocks in general, and perhaps the stratified structure,

in all its varieties, may ultimately be considered as resulting from concretion on the

large scale.—Geol. Trans. vol. 5, part |, p. 176.

+ See Mr. Weaver’s Paper on the Geology of Ireland in the 5th vol. Geol. Trans.

part 1. Dr. Macculloch and Professor Jameson appear also to be of this opinion. The

latter, however, combines with it a less tenable doctrine, that the Earth may be a

large polyhedral crystal, and the planes of stratification its cleavages,

clvi Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

333. In the separation of these two facts,* continuity of elevated

ground and identity of geological structure, and which is everywhere

so strongly marked in these mountains, we may perceive proof in-

controvertible, that the present hydrographical arrangement of the sur-

face has been posterior to the original formation of these mountains ; in

other words, that their vallies or hollows are effects of denudation,

and not of original structure. This conclusion could not be more

firmly established, even if we saw the corresponding but disjoined ends

of. the strata on opposite sides of the valley; such an appearance,

however,tis by no means rare, as may be seen in the details given in the

preceding section. But the proofs need not stop here. For if there be

a truth more firmly established than another, by many and various

circumstances, it is this of the extensive waste which this surface has

undergone, and evidently from causes far exceeding in power any that

are now in operation.

334. It is sufficiently obvious, however, that though the system of

vallies or drainage, generally speaking, be the effect of denudation, yet

we are not to attribute all the irregularities of the surface to this

cause. Some it is certain originally existed ; some may have been caused.

by a sinking in of the strata. In the first way, we may account for

much of the great depth assigned to vallies in Art. 41. The excava-

tion of a valley of 15,000 feet in depth, and having a slope of nearly

30°, would indeed be incredible whatever force of water we employ, or

however long the period we have at our disposal. Even with this

abatement, enough remains to stagger our belief. Our incredulity

may, however, be softened by recollecting the continually recurring

difficulty of accounting for so many openings in the line of the strata,

without any marks of displacement or dislocation.

335. There are some facts which, though they throw no light on the

manner in which this great change of the surface has been effected, yet

are sufficient to shew, that such a conclusion is not to be rejected, even

though there may occur a difficulty in explaining all the details. The

beds of some of the rivers are, for a part of their course, in the solid

* One of the first impressions made on the mind in examining the Tortworth

district is, that the existing form of the surface appears to a certain extent to be

unconnected with the nature of the rocky formations that compose its base, an obser-

vation indeed that may admit of almost universal application, and be deemed a

maxim in Geology.—Mr. Weaver Geol. Trans. vol. 1, p, 319.

1842. | of the Himmalaya Mountains. elvii

rock. In these cases, the depth is often considerable, while the ap-

pearance is such, as leaves not a doubt in the spectator’s mind, but that

the present channel was once filled up with solid rock. Tis is a

conclusion we cannot escape from, however difficult it may be to

understand the removal of so many thousand cubic feet of solid rock

by the agency of water.

336. In all the river beds too we see that there are accumulations

of gravel and boulder stones, all perfectly rounded, and consequently

all of them such as have been subject to the action of water. These

collections, it appears from the details I have given, are in many cases

of very great extent, and frequently occur at a height of even 300 feet

above the present bed of the river. ‘That these collections should ever

have been formed by such bodies of water as are found at present in

their vicinity, is altogether inadmissible. Their extent, the size of the

fragments, the distance from which they are derived; above all, their

great depth, and the height at which they are found above the present

bed of the river, all forbid so incredible a supposition.

337. Even if we could get over these difficulties, and really believe that

rivers, which in their greatest power at the present day cannot move cne

of these fragments a few feet, did yet in former ages, transport for many

miles, several thousands, nay millions of them, and accumulated them

in heaps many times exceeding in height the greatest depth of the

said rivers; even if we could get over the difficulties, yet others greater

remain. The tract defined in Art. 71, called the Bhabur, we have

seen equally consists to a vast depth of these water-worn fragments,

evidently of the same era, derived from the same rocks, and transported

by the same causes; so also the several plains or vallies described in

Art. 57, et seg. contain immense beds, the same in every respect with

those found in the river vallies. These it is evident, could never have

owed their disposition to the power of rivers, whatever may be said of

the former comparatively limited accumulations ; because they are found

where at present no rivers flow.

338. That there is some connection, however, between the disposition

of these beds of gravel and formation of the river vallies, appears

evident from the following fact :—In establishing a series of bores along

the terrace, I found that the distance from the common boundary of plain

and mountain land at which gravel was found, was greater in the beds

clviii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

of rivers, or in their banks, than on the intermediate ground. Whatever

therefore the cause which accumulated these beds of water-worn frag-

ments, we see that it acted with greatest force in the direction of the

river vallies.

339. ‘There is another very striking fact which enables us to limit still

more precisely the direction in which these fragments travelled. At

Hurdwar, it terminates rather suddenly in the low range of hills, which

bound the Dehra Doon to the southward. These hills, as I stated in

Art. 61, form an uninterrupted chain or line of water-heads, on each side

of which they are intersected with deep gorges now the beds of torrents.

Those which open to the Doon, it appears, are strewed with fragments

of the same kind as those which cover the valley itself; but those which

open plainward, contain no fragments but of the rocks in situ, which it

also appears are of an entirely different character, and not possible to be

confounded. ‘The deposit seems, however, to have continued along the

foot of those hills, and even to have left fragments at the mouths of

the gorges; but in no case do they extend to any distance upwards.

340. These deposits have been observed in every country in which as

yet geological investigation has been carried on, lying at the foot of

mountains, and often covering extensive plains, or scattered over the

bottom of vallies. Perhaps in no country can they be seen on so large

a scale as in these districts. ‘The enormous extent of the bed com-

prising the Bhabur, and filling up the several vallies, is alone enough

to excite all our wonder. They have everywhere been recognised

as witnesses of the progressive nature of the changes that have affected

the surface of the earth. They have established the fact of at least two

eras, that of the original formation of these mountains, and the sub-

sequent extensive denudation of the surface forming the present system

of vallies. But from considering all the circumstances of the case a still

greater discrimination may be made. It is almost certain, that they

owe their present arrangement to some sudden and violent catastrophe.

' Now, it is not likely that their rounded form, being as they are amongst

the hardest of stones, was given them by any other than a cause

operating through a considerable period of time. Here then we have

proof of a series of actions, which must have been posterior to the for-

mation of the original strata, and which carries up the latter to a still

higher antiquity.

1842.) of the Himmalaya Mountains. clix

341. Nor is this question affected by the doubt as to the origin of

these boulders ; that is, whether they have proceeded immediately from

the debris of the primary strata, or immediately been formed into secon-

dary conglomerates. It is remarkable, that the nature of the stones is

the same in both deposits, the secondary rocks and the diluvium; the

only difference being in arrangement, the former being distinctly stra-

tified, and passing into well-defined micaceous sandstone, while the

latter forms a confused heap of gravel, in which stones of all sizes and

even angular fragments sometimes are found. That they have origi-

nated in the breaking up of secondary strata, is I think, the most

probable, although we shall then be puzzled to account for the de-

posits in the beds of rivers where now no secondary rocks are to be

seen. However this may be, it is still worthy of remark that the greatest

accumulations are found where the secondary formations still exist.

342. Granting that some such catastrophe in these mountains as a

mighty debacle, or rush of waters, must have given these beds of di-

luvium their present place, we shall see strong reasons for supposing,

that for a time these waters have been pent up in the Doons or

vallies, which extend along the frontier. Have they subsequently broke

through this range by their own accumulated pressure, or has any other

cause of change assisted in finding an outlet for this series of lakes?

The reversal of the dip on the opposite sides of the river at Hurdwar,

is a curious anomaly occurring in such a place, and must, I think, strike

every one. Till all the circumstances be known, it is vain to speculate.

Whether such fact or any disturbance of the strata is to be observed at

the other debouches, will be interesting to determine.

343. The theory which has identified this rush of water, traces of

which have been found in every part of the globe, with the deluge, as

described to us in the Scripture, and which has derived its chief

illustrations from the labors of Cuvier and Buckland, has been strongly

opposed by the geologists of Scotland. In particular, Dr. Fleming

has stated some difficulties with regard to the subject, not easily got

rid of. He has shewn, that the silent and quiet rising of the waters,

and their equally gradual subsidence, as deducible from the account

of Moses, cannot be confounded with a cause which has evidently been

sudden, vast, and overpowering. ‘The former we see did not even

abrade the surface, for vegetation, and trees even, still remained, whereas

elx Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

the latter has torn up a vast mass of consolidated strata, scattering

their ruins over an extent of many hundred square miles.

344. Granting, however, that these attempts to find a geological

theory in the sacred records have been as hasty as ill-judged, we

shall not find Dr. Fleming more successful than those whose labors

he has overturned, in explaining the phenomena in these mountains.

With him it is merely the bursting of a series of lakes, and the diluvium

is in his nomenclature, lacustrine silt. The mere alteration of the

name is of little signification, nor does it lead us a step further in our

search after truth. But here is no series of lakes, no vallies that

might conveniently be supposed beds of lakes. The only vallies in the

several Doons are beyond the limits of many of the phenomena which

their bursting is to explain. Were our geologists always satisfied with

shewing what is not the cause, the science might make more progress

than it has done, but one theory is no sooner laid than another rises

to supply its place.

345. In reality, our chief object should be in the first instance to

collect facts from every quarter. If the explanation is to be general

the induction should be equally so, as well as the data on which it

is founded. Our limited acquaintance with the surface of the earth

will not allow of our generalising as yet with safety, and it will be

constantly found, that the hypothesis invented to explain the phenomena

in one country, will be overturned by facts observed in another. Dr.

Fleming, in his hurry to establish his. own view of the subject, has

certainly confounded two distinct, and in many cases, easily recognised

classes of appearances; and in truth, the whole of what Professor

Buckland has advanced in his Reliquiz Diluviane remains untouched,

(because it is observation,) excepting his notion of the identity of the

cause, the effect of which he has so ably traced to the deluge of

Scripture. I need hardly add, that the phenomena in these mountains

have a most striking analogy with those detailed in the above work.

346. The hasty generalisation which produced the Wernerian system

of geognosy has long been acknowledged, and the fact established that

few countries, even belonging to the same formation, present exactly

the same arrangement and succession of rocks. ‘The opinions of some

geologists have even taken the other extreme, and it has been questioned

whether there be any such thing as a general formation quite round

1842. ] of the Himmalaya Mouniains. clxi

the globe; a contimuous one there probably is not, but when we view

amidst all the differences that undoubtedly do occur in the super-posi-

tion and connections of rocks, the many and wonderful coincidences

that still remain, not confined to a spot of limited extent, but clearly

belonging to the whole ¢ract, we shall be satisfied that the contempora-

neous formation cannot be predicted of these masses in which such

resemblances are found; at least they must be attributed to a common

origin. When we read in Humboldt, that while in different countries,

different plants and animals present themselves to the observation of

the naturalist, the rocks are the same in every zone; in every climate

we appear to be engaged ’ * si * 4)

7 - ‘ known list of minerals might

be formed, we have so small a catalogue of compound rocks, and these

always the same wherever occurring, why should granite always con-

tain quartz, mica, and felspar, and always nearly in the same proportions,

however distant the localities? mica slate, mica and quartz, and so on

of others. These are questions difficult to answer, but which none can

avoid asking themselves who have ever reflected on the subject.

347. In all the grand features of geological character 5 °F

* * * *

Himmalaya does not [coincide] it is true

with that [of the] Andes. But it bears a [very] close resemblance

im general features to the description given us by Dr. Macculloch, of the

Western Isles. As on those Islands, so here we recognise the great ex-

tent of gneiss occupying in each system the middle and highest tract.

In the great deficiency of granite, we see another resemblance and a

common difference from the dogmas of the schools, that the highest

part of every system of mountain * ie 4 he a

* i 5s impossibility of discriminating in

this point between the primary and secondary rocks. But the most

interesting coincidence, at least to me, is in the arrangement of the

schists, and their connections with the other rocks. In his chapter on

the chlorite series, he has almost completely anticipated every thing I

had to say on the chlorite schists of the Himmalaya.

* A quarter of a page, or more is wanting, where this and the following lacune

occur, and there is no clue by which even to guess at the writer’s views.—Ep.

elxii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*.

348. The existence of coal all over the world, and always in the

same geological situation, is another proof that even in i *

f * ; F a condition or state of

things, which must have been common to every country of the globe.

Pursuing the analogy taught by the facts learned in the coal fields of

England, that valuable mineral has been brought to light in almost

every part of the world, it may not therefore be uninteresting to enter into

some little explanation on this subject, in order to judge whether the

deposit may be expected in this quarter, as m any way connected

with the series of facts described.

349. The coal formation though, as has been observed, owing its

origin most probably in every country to the action of some general

cause, may yet be considered, as far as appearances are concerned, to

be a local deposit, inasmuch as it is always of limited extent compared

with the other strata. Its place in the system is well marked, nor

has any bed of coal worth mention ever been found out of that place.

It is known to overlie a limestone, which from its relation to the ~

coal, has been called carboniferous, and which itself lies upon the rock

called the old red sandstone, the lowest of the secondary strata. Above

the coal measures is found the newer red or saliferous sandstone.

Between these two members of the series, it has always been observed

to hold its place; subordinate strata occasionally intervening, occasion-

ally being wanting, but the coal never occurring, that is, in any quan-

tity above the latter, or below the former rock.

350. This would seem to be a sufficiently definite arrangement to

enable us always to pronounce on the greater or less probability of

finding this useful mineral in any tract in which the succession of

rocks has been accurately traced. Applying the principle to the present

survey, it will be found that limiting facts are wanting, although the

general presumption is strongly in favor of the existence of a coal

formation. Thus we have the saliferous or newer red sandstone on

the border of the mountain tract, dipping N. E., giving the promise

of older or inferior deposits to the Southward; and again at Dehli, we

have the old red sandstone, leaving it a natural inference, that in the

intermediate space, intervening formations will be found.

351. The great coal field of Northumberland and Durham is situated

in millstone grit and limestone shale (the upper anomalous beds of the

a Sa a 8

. a

were to ee

1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains. elxiil

old red sandstone,) on the outside of which small patches occur of

the newer red, and beyond that, a country of schistose formation. On

one side it has the mountain or carboniferous limestone, and outside

of it, a large band of the red sandstone, part of a mass which occupies

the centre of England. The coal field of Wales is separated from

the old red sandstone by a narrow strip of the carboniferous limestone.

Those of Staffordshire are similarly situated with those of Northum-

berland. The coal field near Burdwan is covered by the newer red

sandstone; all these facts, I think, give a strong probability to the

opinion, that coal will be found in the Dooab. The facts that are

wanting are such as would limit its position, and consequently give

a well-grounded prospect of discovery, before commencing any thing

like an expensive search. These facts will be furnished by the prose-

cution of the survey.

The concluding section of this Report is that upon the Mineral Productions of the

Himalaya, which will be found in Vol. XVIII, Part I. p. 227 of the Trans. As.

Society. —Ep.