111.5 Tole Y 261
. series of Rajputana. Above the boulder-bed come 5oo feet of upper
Permian, grey magnesian, and white limestone, with some sandstone
and earthy beds containing Productus limestone fossils like those to
the east of the Indus ; also thin-bedded ceratite limestone of the
Trias, and above that 1,500 feet of Jurassic sandstones and lime-
stones, passing into Cretaceous at the top of the Sheikh Budin hill
in the Marwat range. A thin band of Nummulitic limestone under-
lies the Siwalik sandstones along the north-west slopes of the Khisor
range.
The vegetation of the District is composed chiefly of scrub jungle,
with a secondary element of trees and shrubs. The more common
plants are Flacourtia sapida, F. sepiaria, several species of Grewia,
Zizyphus nummularia, Acacia , jacquemontii, A. leueophloea, Alhagi
camelorum, Crotalaria 13urhia, Prosopis spicig-era, several species of
Tamarix, Nerium odorum, Rhazia stricta, Calotropis procera, PeHploca
aphylla, Tecoma undulata, Lycium eaaropaeum, Withania coagulans,
W.. sominfera, Nannorhops Ritclaieana, Fagonaa Tribulus, PezYanurn
Zlarnaala, Calligonum polygonoides, 1'olygonum aviculare, P. plebejuny
Rumex vesicarius, Chrozophora plicata, and species of Aristida, Anthis-
tiria, Cenchrus, and Pennisetum.
tlldrhhor and uridl are found in the hills, and there are a few
leopards round Sheikh Budin, and wolves and hyenas are occasionally
seen. Otters are common on the banks of the Indus. Among birds
the great bustard is rare, but the lesser bustard is common on the
pat. One or two kinds of eagle are seen in the hills, and the lammer-
geyer is fairly common on Sheikh Budin.
The climate is drier than that of either Bam1u or Dera Ghazi Khan,
and the maximum temperature seems to have increased of late years.
Thirty years ago the thermometer never rose above 110°, while the
hot season never passes now without r x6° or even more being registered.
The winter is cold and bracing. The frost is so severe that mango-
trees cannot be grown in the open without a covering. The District
on the whole is fairly healthy, though the autumn fever sometimes
takes a malignant form.
The annual rainfall is slight, averaging xo inches at head-quarters.
The greatest fall of late years was 24 inches in 1897-8 at Sheikh Budin,
while the least recorded during any one year was o-8 inch at Tank
in x888-q.
The earliest traditions current in this remote quarter refer to its
colonization by immigrants from the south, who found the country
entirely unoccupied. The Baluchi settlers, under
Malik Sohrab, arrived in the District towards the History.
end of the fifteenth century. His two sons, Ismail Khan and Fateh
Khan, founded the towns which still bear their names. The Hot
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