Memories of the Geological Survey of India -Vol-III, Part-2

Abstract

There are few parts of India, which offer so many difficulties to the scientific traveler, as that elevated track difficulties of the country. of mountains which borders the North-west of British India,— the North-western Himalaya. Several portions of this country, being partly independent or protected states, have rarely, if ever, been visited by any European traveller. And such visits as have been made have usually been in great haste, for the resources of the country do not generally admit of any long stay in one place. As a result of these great difficulties, we do not as yet know much of the natural wealth of this portion of the Himalayan ranges, although probably more of this, than of the n|ore Eastern parts of this great system of mountains. It was not until 1851, that the first Geological section across Strachey-s observations, the Himalaya, based on actual observation and 185U ' research by the able Captain (now Colonel) R. Strachey was published This was a vast step, and everyone interested in Himalayan Geology .must greatly regret, that the author has not since found time to make fully known to the public his investigations, which, no doubt, have been since 1851-54 considerably extended and corrected. TJir Geology of the Himalaya had not,‘ however, been altogether neglected by previous travellers. The works of Other travellers. Moorcroft and Trebeck* of Herbert, Gerard, Jacquemont, Thomson, Cunningham and others, contain several notes of much Geological interest. Such notes, however brief they may be, will always be of high value, while they are based on unaffected and natural observations. Besides these cursory notes, I may also mention other papers treating more particularly on that portion of the Northwestern Himalaya, which we are about to describe more fully in the following pages,—we mean, the Spiti valley. Dr. Gerard’s “ Observations on the Spiti valley” were published in the Asiatic Researches (Vol. X V I I I nt. 2. p. 238). Gerard, 1832. , , * r ' This paper contains only a few .notes, on the last pages, regarding the occurrence of Ammonites in the Spiti valley. The author was apparently not much acquainted with Geology and does not go much into Geological questions. Captain Thomas Hutton’s “ Geological report on the valley of ' Spiti,” &c., appeared in the Journal of the Asiatic Hutton, 8 Society of Bengal, 1841. p. 198. This report, so far as it | based on Capt. Hutton’s own observations, and not on the authority dt others, will, I think, always be found useful by any subsequent traveller along.the same route. With regard, however, to his ideas or theories, we would simply quote the words of the editors of the Journal "for the views contained in this paper, the author alone is answerable.” Indeed, no one who himself feels bound to progress in natural science could be made answerable Tor theories such as are laid down in this paper, with an assumption of infallibility.