CHAPTEE VII. 



THE KABKOO SYSTEM. 



BEDS belonging to the Karroo system cover the greater 

 part of the Cape Colony ; from a line between Karroo 

 Poort and the Gualana Eiver mouth (Peddie) they 

 stretch northwards and occupy the central and eastern 

 portions of Cape Colony, while a large outlier occurs 

 north of the Orange River in Gordonia. For hundreds 

 of miles they are practically the only rocks exposed at 

 the surface with the exception of the intrusive dolerites. 

 Somewhat monotonous from the repeated occurrence of 

 sandstones, shales and mudstones, in all thousands of 

 feet thick, and from the fact that they generally dip at 

 so low an angle that in the absence of considerable 

 changes of level in the surface a . comparatively thin 

 group of beds occupies a very wide area, nevertheless 

 they are of great interest from several points of view. 

 Perhaps their chief interest consists in the reptilian re- 

 mains preserved in them, and in the similarity of their 

 fossil plants to those found in the Gondwana system of 

 India and in certain beds in Australia and South 

 America. 



At present the system is subdivided as follows in de- 

 scending order : 



166 



