TRANSACTIONS. 201 
from the organic remains in the sediment quite as 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. Coalis 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 quarts or reef gold in veins amongst quartz rocks and very 
often in 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 ts tn 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 (¢.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 Witwaters 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 
