THE CAPE SYSTEM 165 



been stated previously that the absence of marine fossils 

 from the Witteberg beds must be regarded as evidence 

 that these sediments were not laid down under the sea, 

 but they may have been formed in fresh water. The 

 settlement of this question must always be a difficult 

 task, and the rocks must be known in much greater de- 

 tail than they are at present before it can be accomplished. 

 False bedding and rippled surfaces are frequently seen 

 in these rocks, which were certainly laid down in shallow 

 water not far from the land. 



There can be little doubt that the Witteberg beds 

 once extended over the whole of the southern and west- 

 ern portion of the Colony. The position of the land 

 from which the sediments were derived is as problemat- 

 ical as the position of the Bokkeveld coast line. From 

 the fact that the coarse sediments are found in the 

 northern exposures, it must be concluded that the land 

 lay in that direction, and it probably lay farther south 

 than the Bokkeveld shore. 



The Witteberg beds have no economic importance. 

 The presence of black coaly shales in the Witteberg 

 series on the Kowie River led to prospecting for coal 

 some forty years ago, but without success. A great 

 part of the country occupied by this series is very 

 rugged, owing to the quartzite bands standing out pro- 

 minently from the general surface. The white quartz- 

 ites often give rise to great bare stony dip slopes, such 

 as those on the eastern side of the Zwart Ruggens west 

 of the Karroo and in the mountains south of Matjes 

 Fontein. 



