Transactions. 201 



from the organic remains in the sediment quite .is well as anything 

 that our present ignorance of the subject could suggest. 



Goldfields. — It is almost impossible to exaggerate the richness 

 of the Transvaal so far as precious metals are concerned. Gold 

 occurs almost throughout its whole extent. Coal is found also over 

 a very large area, while ironstone is common. Silver and copper, 

 lead and cobalt also exist at different places in payable quantities. 



Gold occurs in three distinct forms. 



1. As quartz or reef gold in veins amongst quartz rocks and very 

 often tn granitic rocks. — Most of the Barberton mines consist of this 

 kind of gold-bearing quartz rock, and the gold from the Water- 

 berg Mountains, Swaziland, part of that from Bechuanaland and 

 Matabeleland appears to be of this nature. This must of course be 

 the original form in which it is found, and it is not surprising that 

 apparently the whole district occupied by the oldest rocks in South 

 Africa (viz., the North of the Transvaal, Matabeleland, and pro- 

 bably the whole country to the north as far as the Zambesi) con- 

 tains gold. It appears to be invariable with primary rocks in this 

 part of the world that they contain gold. Thus gold has been 

 found in the Table Mountain granite, and also the granites and 

 gneisses of Madagascar (probably of the same formation as those 

 on the opposite African coast) contain gold. 



2. As alluvial or '■'■placer " gold that is in large or small quan- 

 tities in sand or gravel washed by water out of its original state. — A 

 noteworthy feature of the alluvial gold in South Africa is its 

 occurrence at the Devil's Kantoor {i.e., place of business), where it 

 is found in sand almost on the summit of the highest mountain in 

 the neighbourhood, showing that there has been an enormous 

 amount of denudation in the surrounding district. It is also found 

 at the Knysna between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, apparently 

 in connection with the granite of Table Mountain or some of the 

 rocks which accompany it. I was, however, unable to visit either 

 of these localities. 



3. In the '■'banket'' of Witivater's Rand and Klerksdorp. 

 — This form appears to be peculiar to South Africa. The name 

 is derived from a peculiarly horrible kind of sweetmeat something 

 like almond rock which is much appreciated by the Dutch. It is 

 in reality a coarse conglomerate consisting chiefly of quartz frag- 

 ments, and containing gold in the matrix. I was only able to pay 

 a very hurried visit, but the following notes may be of interest. 

 At Klerksdorp the banket is found on both sides of a marked 



