the mountains, claystone porphyry in a very indurated state, is found more than a thousand feet above the valley below. This is succeeded by clay state, and grey quartz rock, or greenstone slate, and then granite is again seen at perhaps two thousand feet above the sea.

After leaving the granite on the northern route by Lokekhyen, the first rocks that appear are different varieties of indurated or silicious slate. On the summit of the ridge which divides the waters that fall into the sea from those that pour into the Tenasserim, greenstone slate appears again, weathered on the outside for nearly an inch deep into a rock resembling red sandstone, or some varieties of laterite. On the summit of this ridge, which has a little table land, a narrow vein of granite obtrudes in a fine grained porphyritic rock. The vein is not more than half an inch wide and consists principally, if not altogether of mica and quartz, the former in the greatest abundance; and the rock which the vein pierces, seems to consist of the same minerals but contains numerous crystals of mica diffused throughout, that appear to have been formed there when the vein was ejected, for they are most numerous nearest the vein.

On descending the mountains into the valley of the Tenasserim, indurated clay slate, and quartz rock are repeatedly seen, and on these rests a white sandstone. At the foot of the mountains for a space of about six or eight miles long by three or four miles wide, is a diluvial deposit six or eight feet deep, rich in tin, and containing a little gold.

When the banks of the Tenasserim are reached a few miles east of the diluvium, a succession of beds of conglomerate or pudding stone are seen, consisting principally of rounded pebbles cemented by the hydrate of iron. They are inclined at a small angle with the horizon, and dipping towards the west and north, Jean towards an anticlinal axis east and south. A few miles north of this locality, and lying above the conglomerate are beds of clay containing lignite.

Descending the river to the high banks at the forks of the Tenasserim, beds of indurated sand are seen cropping out beneath the conglomerate, which abound in impressions of leaves of dicotyledonous plants resembling the leaves of existing species, and below these, down to the water's edge are beds of shale

containing the carbonized stems of plants, and casts of small shells, some of which bear a strong resemblance to shells of the genus onchus. In the river and on the banks below, a breccia appears, which in some parts is a hard rock with numerous crystals of lime inclosing angular bits of shale; in others, it is a loose conglomerate with rounded pebbles of quartz, angular bits of white quartz, grains of mica, bits of decomposing felspar, large pieces of shale that seem to have been united with the mass in the form of clay, and numerous small rounded pebbles of chlorite, a rock which I have no where seen in situ in the Provinces. Below this conglomerate are the thick beds of shale, which have furnished the conglomerate with its fragments.

The river after leaving these shales, passes out of the open country, in which it has been rushing, into a hilly region, and the character of the rocks is immediately changed. Greenstone slate appears, and that is followed by a rock which some geologists have called an altered rock, but which corresponds almost precisely to a variety of claystone porphyry from Hungary, which I saw in the museum of the Asiatic Society. A few yards from the bank of the river, just below these rocks, are sulphureous hot springs.

For several miles further down, there is a succession of clay slate and sandstone strata, and they are followed by a conglomerate or breccia or grauwacke or claystone prophyry, for it admits of all these names. It is formed of a paste of claystone porphyry, imbedding more or less fragments of the clay slate on which it lies, and the fragments are usually angular. On the islands opposite Palau, a similar rock is found with rounded quartz pebbles. Resting on this rock in one place near the bank of the river, is a large mass of white limestone with veins of red oxide of iron running through it, that give it a fantastic appearance; and the Karens call it the Giant's scull." It lies at the base of a high hill, from the summit of which it appears to have fallen, and where the limestone is doubtless in situ. This conglomerate continues for several miles, farther down, when clay slate re-appears, and after a few miles, it is followed by a basin covered with tertiary beds similar to those seen above.

Just above the mouth of Moung khyoung, from one to twe

hundred feet of the beds are seen on the side of a precipice, the lowest of which is one of indurated slate clay, and above that, a very thick bed of conglomerate composed of angular fragments, as I judged, of the slate formation next below. Some of the fraginents of slate are several feet, not to say yards, in cubic contents with their angles as sharp as if just broken from the rock to which they originally belonged. It should be observed however, that while some of the fragments appeared to be hard blue slate, many others were soft colored shales, apparently of the same age as the formation itself. It contains no boulders or fragments, so far as I could discover, older than the slate.

On

At the mouth of Moung khyoung there appears to be a fault. A few hundred yards above the mouth of the stream, a hill some two hundred feet high suddenly appears on the alluvial bank of the river, with precipitous sides to the north and west, in which the strata are seen dipping down to the south. reaching the mouth of the stream the river is very deep, broad, and still, and forms a small lake, and the strata again appear in the side of a precipitions hill below the mouth of the stream, dipping in precisely the opposite direction from that above, and at a considerably higher angle, while a short distance below, the hill disappears, and the strata are seen in the deep bank dipping in the same direction, but in a much smaller angle, and in the same direction, that all the strata below dip until reaching the granite. A fault at the mouth of the stream might produce these irregularities, by throwing down the ends of the strata on both sides of it, but most on the northern side. Slate clay containing alum, and granular gypsum are both found in this neighborhood.

On passing out of this basin, the claystone porphyry conglomerate is again observable for several miles; then clay slate, and that is succeeded for several miles by tertiary conglomerate, like indurated gravel, until granite is reached again in about latitude 13° 40'. Clay slate is seen resting on the granite on the south side, and that is followed by a succession of precisely similar rocks to those, that have been passed between the forks at Mata and the granite.

In about Latitude 13° 20', are some curious piles of limestone resting on the claystone porphyry conglomerate, beneath which

clayslate crops out several hundred yards in thickness, and dipping at an angle of about 45°. The limestone appears in two or three isolated masses more than a thousand feet high with perpendicular sides, and apparently quite inaccessible. They resemble the limestone cliffs of Maulmain, but differ from them in being distinctly stratified in beds of a few feet in thickness. Though in sight of the river they are several miles from its banks, and only a very short distance above the highest point where Dr Helfer found coal. The coal lies above the limestone, and that is the place to look for true bituminous coal, but this is unquestionably wood coal or lignite, which shows that the coal measures are wanting in this place.

The geology of the valley of the Tenasserim below this point to Mergui, is only a repetition of what has been seen above.

FROM AMHERST TO THE THOUNGYEEN.

A trip across the Province of Amherst is of far less interest to the geologist, the rocks being seen in much less variety. At Amherst, granite and greenstone are succeeded by clay slate, mica slate, and laterite. At Moopoon, the laterite is seen again, and at Maulmain, sandstone, laterite, shales, and slate clay constitute the rocks, so far as they appear. At the mouth of the river Gyaing, where the white Pagoda stands, is sandstone; and from that point to the old city of Gyaing, the only rock seen is limestone.

The hills back of Gyaing are composed of sandstone and shale; the strike of the strata being north north-west and south south-east, with a dip of about 45° to the east, leaning like the strata at Maulmain towards the granite at Amherst as an anticlinal axis, which shows that the limestone on the plain lies above the strata at Maulmain, and below that at Gyaing. On proceeding up the Dahgyaing, tertiary beds of a soft conglomerate resembling indurated gravel, are seen; and the lignite, which Mr. O'Riley says has been found on this river, probably exists in this formation.

In one or two places the river runs over banks of shale, dipping like the preceeding strata to the east; the highest being within eight miles of the head of boat navigation, and this is the last rock seen dipping to the east.

When within eight miles of the eastern mountains, strata

appear dipping to the west and leaning towards the granite in those mountains. Laterite, clayslate, mica slate, and grauite are found on rising the mountain, and thence to the banks of the Thoungyeen, the boundary of the Province, a gentleman, who collected specimens for me, found nothing but limestone. Capt Latter mentions sandstone as being abundant in the valley of the Thoungyeen, and Mr. Lonsdale says that the valley is bounded on the eastern side by granite mountains.

THERMAL SPRINGS.

The Provinces are well supplied with hot springs; and some of them are probably not inferior in their medicinal qualities to the fashionable Spas of Europe and America. Though their waters have never been subjected to any minute analysis, yet we know there is a great variety in the properties of different springs. They may be arranged in three different classes, carbonated, sulphureous, and saline.

CARBONATED THERMAL SPRINGS.

The hot springs on the Ataran, according to Dr. Helfer's description, belong to the carbonated class. They are situated within two miles of the old town of Ataran, and Dr. Helfer writes: "There are ten hot springs or rather hot water ponds, of which I could only examine the nearest, as the access to the others was through deep water at 130° Farenheit. This one was a semicircular pond about fifty feet in circumferance. In one place it was thirty five feet deep. The quantity of carbonic acid which the springs evolve, seems to render the neighborhood peculiary adapted to support vegetable life.-The ground around the spring is strongly impregnated with iron, and the water which runs over the ochre mud has a strong styptic taste. The springs on the Ataran approach in their composition nearest to the celebrated waters of Tæplitz."

"Their medical properties would render them excellent remedies in a number of diseases, liver complaints would find a powerful remedy in them. If Amherst should be selected as a resort for invalids, the hot springs on the Ataran could easily be turned to advantage. In a direct line, they would be only four or five hours distant, and a road could be cut