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I took as many angles as I could from a round pinnacle of porphyry which barely afforded standing room. This hill consisted of a rock resembling felspar, and was connected with the former, which was of granite, by low hills consisting of schistus and trap. The former had good grass about it, and produced a chain of well-filled ponds, but here we found no water, having arrived so late.
That domain included the amethyst, the emerald, the garnet, the aquamarine, the chrysoprase, the innumerable varieties of agate and jasper, lapis lazuli, felspar, obsidian; also various rocks, such as granite, serpentine, and porphyry; certain fossils, as yellow amber and some kinds of turquoise; organic remains, as coral, mother-of-pearl, and pearls; metallic ores and carbonates, such as hematite and malachite, and the calaite, or Oriental turquoise.
The whole extent of the mountainous country passed in our two last stages, was of porphyry, with crystals of quartz and felspar in a grey paste; on both sides of it, the rock was granite and pegmatite; and, at the north-west side of the gorge, I observed talc-schist in the bed of the river.
The widow and the steward of the wealthy Superior of the temple of Hatasu, and with them a priest of high rank, were in eager discussion with the officials of the embalming-House, and were selecting the most costly of the patterns of mummy-cases which were offered to their inspection, the finest linen, and amulets of malachite, and lapis-lazuli, of blood-stone, carnelian and green felspar, as well as the most elegant alabaster canopi for the deceased; his body was to be enclosed first in a sort of case of papier-mache, and then in a wooden and a stone coffin.
The widow and the steward of the wealthy Superior of the temple of Hatasu, and with them a priest of high rank, were in eager discussion with the officials of the embalming-House, and were selecting the most costly of the patterns of mummy-cases which were offered to their inspection, the finest linen, and amulets of malachite, and lapis-lazuli, of blood-stone, carnelian and green felspar, as well as the most elegant alabaster canopi for the deceased; his body was to be enclosed first in a sort of case of papier-mache, and then in a wooden and a stone coffin.
The Kailouees tie their camels by the lower jaw, and fasten the string to the baggage piled on the back of the preceding animal; and the long line moves on well this way. The Tuaricks fasten their bridles, when they ride their maharees, by a round ring in the nose. We had granite again to-day, and fine beds of felspar, pebbles, and rocks.
Basalt is the most fusible of volcanic rocks, owing to the augite and magnetite it contains, so that it spreads out with a very slight slope when highly fused. Trachyte, on the other hand, is the least fusible owing to the presence of orthoclase felspar, or quartz; so that the volcanic domes formed of this material stand at a higher angle from the horizon than those of basaltic cones.
Diorite forms the great mass of this stratum; it is of a dark green colour, granular, with small grains, and destitute of quartz; its mass is formed of small crystals of felspar intermixed with crystals of amphibole. This rock of diorite is covered at its surface, by the effect of decomposition, with a yellowish crust, like that of basalts and dolerites.
Its higher part was composed of sandstone and conglomerate; but a coarse-grained granite, with much quartz and felspar, but little mica and accidental hornblende, was below. The size of its elements had rendered it more liable to decomposition, and had probably been the cause of the formation of the slope.
The well known mineral felspar has a specific gravity intermediate between that of the coal and the shale, or stone, with which it is found intermixed.
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