7— NOTES ON PETROLEUM INDICATIONS AROUND 

 HARRISMITH. 



By Rev. J. Fitz-Henry. 



The " Platberg " mountain, near Harrismith, 8,000 feet above 

 sea level, and capped with volcanic rock, common to the highest 

 points of the Drakensberg lange, affords an easy geological land- 

 mark in helping us to note the geological horizon of the petroleum 

 indications in the Eastern part of the O.R.C. 



Under the " volcanic capping '' lies clearly marked the " cave 

 sandstone " of the Stormberg series, some 300' thick. From this 

 sandstone to the bed of the Wilge River, the lowest part of the land 

 surface at the base of the Platberg, lies a series of alternating sand- 

 stones and shales, the " Red beds " of the " Stormberg." In these 

 shales, at a point 5,700' above sea level, and 500' over the Wilge, 

 occurs the first petroleum indication found during bore operations 

 for water. 



The second point is on the water edge of the Wilge, some four 

 miles distant, in soft, grey sandstone, underlying a bed of shale. 

 Further down the river, nearly at same level, at a point where a 

 dolerite dyke crosses the river, the third indication is found. Not 

 now in shale or sandstone, but in crevices and cleavage lines of the 

 dolerite, where it touches the local country rock. Whether the 

 petroluem found here came from below, as water often does along 

 the side of the dyke, or from the adjoining shales, we cannot tell 

 without further boring and investigation. 



Comparing the occurrence of petroleum at Harrismith high up 

 in the " red beds," and in layers 500 feet apart, with its occurrence 

 at Matatiele, in the " Coal Measures," noted bv Mr. Schwarz 

 (Geolog. Survey Report), as well as on Bloemfontein commonage in 

 the lower Karroo (Ecca shales), we may infer that petroleum occurs 

 not only in one geological formation, but in three, possibly four for- 

 mations of the Stormberg and Karroo series. And we may also 

 infer the wdde extent of country over which the indications occur, 

 looking at the distance from Vrede and Reitz to Bloemfontein, from 

 Ficksburg across to the outcrop of the coal measures in Matatiele, 

 over the Drakensberg. 



From the very meagre indications in all these places on the 

 surface, w^e can offer no opinion on the possible quantity of petroleum 

 which further work by companies interested may reveal. 



In the. discussion, Mr. C. J. Gray said: " I would draw atten- 

 tion to the bituminous shales associated with the Stormberg coal seam, 

 in the Drakensberg in Natal, referred to in my paper read yesterday. 

 Those shales, near the headwaters of the Umkomaas River, 

 have repeatedly been ' ' taken up ' ' with a view to distilling oil from 

 them. They yield about 20 gallons of crude oil per ton. 

 Though the important occurrences of free oil, in America and 

 Russia, are not connected with oil shales, it appears that there may 

 be some connection between the occurrence of small quantities of oil 

 in the Cave sandstones near Harrismith, and beds of bituminous 



