MINERALS

323

and Afghan highlands which lie behind to the west, and
the passage of these torrents through the successive gates
of the hills can be very clearly traced as ridge after ridge
is split asunder to let the waters pass. Nearest of these
frontier ridges, beyond the nummulitic rocks, are those of
eocene formation, and farthest, just breaking the expanse
of the plains, are the “recent” Siwaliks. Here, on the
frontier, they are represented by hard conglomerates, and
a stiff mixture of clay and rounded boulders which is very
difficult to deal with in matters requiring engineering skill.
[n general terms this represents the character of the western
frontier geological conditions, and consequently nothing is
to be looked for on the frontier which might be of economic
value such as those minerals possess which, emanating
originally from crystalline rocks, are washed down in
-iver-beds or found in recent accumulations of detritus.
Neither is coal to be found in paying quantities on
our frontier, although coal in India is found associated
with far more recent deposits than is generally the case
in England. With the exception of the coal which is
worked on the Sind frontier, about Sharigh and Khost
(stations on the Sind-Peshin railway), and which is locally
useful for consumption in Quetta after passing through a
process of compression, but which has practically no
market beyond that which is afforded by the local railways
and commissariat, there is no mineral trade on our frontier
which is worth investigation. Petroleum exists on the
Harnai line of the Sind-Peshin railway, but has proved
to be deficient in quantity, and is, I believe, no longer
regarded as a profitable field for investment.
A general inquiry into all the mineral resources of
[ndia is far beyond the scope of this work, but the following
 notes on the geographical distribution of a few of
them may be usefully included as an illustration of the
gradual process of economic development which has
attended our rule in the country. Whatever is dug out
of the bowels of the earth, or is found deposited on its
surface, in India, may be said to exist for purposes of
internal consumption, with the notable exception of its