1 LADAKH. 3
2 the unexplored regions of Chinese Tartary. These plains consist
3 generally of sand or gravel, the disintegrated relics of the granite,
4 quartz, slate, sandstone, and limestone of the mountgins. 3 Oc-® ere i. 206,
5 casionally low round hills may be observed, all as bleak and “*
6 barren as the plain, and apparently incapable of sustaining animal
7 life. ‘‘ Yet such, and even loftier situations,’”’ observes Gerard,! ' 4s. Research.
8 “are the pasturing regions of innumerable flocks, where it is diffi. *“4* 7
9 cult for the eye to detect any nutritious vestige.” In such tracts
10 only do the shawl-goats attain perfection. ‘‘ The deserts of
11 Tibet are their natural soil, where they feed upon a prickly
12 stubble or heathy-like grass scarce visible to the eye. Yet my-
13 riads of these beautiful animals chequer the almost barren slopes
14 of the mountains to which they seem destined.”? 2 Gerard, ut
15 The great mountain ranges of Ladakh in general are of ‘PT 4%
16 primary formation— granite, quartz, slate, and gneiss.? In s sgoorer. 1. 260,
17 one place, Vigne‘ mentions the occurrence of trap. The geo- eh ar ee
18 logy of the south-eastern part presents the singular pheno- ‘il. 358.
19 mena of enormously lofty mountains of recent formations,
20 such as stratified and conglomerate limestone, siliceo-calca-
21 reous rock, consisting in a great measure of shells, fossilized
22 bones, and other animal exuvie.® In some places mountains, 5 Gerard, Obs.on
23 consisting almost entirely of fossilized animal exuviee, have {'° yu°YorSet
24 a height of 17,000 feet, and overtop the ranges of primary
25 formation.’ From his own observation and the reports of the® 14. ib
26 natives, Gerard concludes that ‘ the mountain ridges and the
27 plains of the interior, from the skirt of Ladakh, and even the limit
28 of Turkestan, to the table-land of the Brahmaputra at Teshu
29 Lumpu, abound with fosil relics, the living prototypes of which
30 have disappeared from the earth.” Notwithstanding that a large
31 portion of the mountains of Ladakh are composed of formations
32 usually metalliferous, the mineral deposits, as far as hitherto ex-
33 plored, are singularly poor. Gold has been found in the sands
34 of the river Shy Yok, but its collection is discouraged by the au-
35 thorities, apparently from combined motives of policy and super-
36 stition. Some lama predicted that unless the pursuit were discon-
37 tinued, the grain harvest would fail, and there is alsoa belief that
38 gold lying in the soil belongs to local deities, who would inevitably
39 inflict dreadful misfortunes on such as should sacrilegiously seizeit.” 7 Moorer.1, 514.
40 Lead, copper, and iron ores have been discovered, but these are too
41 bulky and heavy for transport through so difficult a country, and as
42 u2