Futnui and Stratigrajtbij of the Shrwberg Series. 443 



bluish green and grey niudstones and thin fine-grained felspathic 

 .sandstones occur. The higher horizons of the Series consist of grits 

 and pebbly sandstones, alternating with blue, grey and bull' niudstones 

 and shales. 



Natal. Along the eastern slopes of the Drakensberg ranges du Toil 

 has traced the Stormherg Series from the Cape Border to Van Reenen's 

 Pass and Harrismith. At Hlatikulu Hill at the head of the Bushmans 

 River in the Division of Estcourt he has measured a thickness of 

 1 iO feet of Molteno Beds consisting almost entirely of grits. At the 

 base the beds are false-bedded with ferruginous nodules; at the top 

 they consist of white coarse grits; and there are few thin shaly beds. 



At Bezuidenhout's Pass on the Orange Free State - - Natal border 

 the Molteno Beds are absent ; and they are similarly absent on the 

 Platberg near Harrismith. 



RED BEDS. 



Ellhtt. The Red Beds reach their maximum thickness in the 

 neighbourhood of the Barkly Pass where they are about 1000 feet 

 thick. The sandstones are line-grained and irregularly distributed. 

 Bands up to ',>() feet in thickness are common and are usually red 

 or purple in colour when unweathered. Conglomerate beds as a rule 

 are absent; but in one or two localities beds of sandstone contain 

 abundant white <|iiartxite and <piartz pebbles. The shales and mud- 

 stones which form the hulk of the Red Beds are red, purple, green 

 or white, and occasionally violet in colour. It is noticed that the 

 thicker sandstone bunds very often lie upon eroded surfaces of the 

 softer beds. 



The base of the Red Beds contains coarse glittering- 

 sandstones" like those of the underlying Molteno Beds. The thick- 

 ness in the district is very variable. Just north of Indwe there are 

 ir>00 feet of sediments; but P2 miles to the west the thickness 

 diminishes to 050 ft, Further to the south it is again increased. 

 Again, between Dordrecht and Jamestown the thickness is generally 

 050 feet, while to the north-east in the lower Waschbank it is 

 900 ft. to 1000 feet. 



The lower portion consists of banks of rather coarse-grained gritty 

 sandstone (pale yellow or bluish in colour) with interbedded yellow 

 and buff niudstones and thin purplish red sandstones, shales, and clays. 

 The sandstone beds are thicker, coarser, and closer together than 

 in Elliot. 



