THE KARROO SYSTEM 205 



distinct both lithologically and palaeontologically from 

 the Middle and Lower Divisions. The sandstones are 

 yellowish or pale blue in colour, but are somewhat more 

 widely spaced than the sandstones in the lower beds ; 

 between them are brilliant red and purple shales, mud- 

 stones and thin sandstones with a certain proportion of 

 bluish or greenish shales, which becomes smaller as the 

 base of the Molteno beds is approached. These beds 

 appear around Smithfield and Eouxville in the Orange 

 Kiver Colony, at Aliwal North, Burghersdorp, Steyns- 

 burg, Tarka, Queenstown, Cathcart and St. Marks, being 

 probably represented in the Transkei by the Idutywa 

 beds. In this direction the formation becomes more 

 arenaceous, the yellow sandstones becoming thicker and 

 more numerous than in the area to the north-west. 



The rocks of this division, especially the red and 

 purple shales, have yielded an abundant reptilian and 

 amphibian fauna, especially around Aliwal North and 

 Burghersdorp, while from the sandstones plant remains 

 have been obtained, indicating a flora distinct from that 

 of the succeeding Stormberg series. 



The Beaufort beds have long been celebrated for their 

 extremely interesting reptilian fauna, and so numerous 

 are the descriptions of the fossil vertebrates by Owen, 

 Huxley, Seeley and Broom, that it is impossible here to 

 give even a partial list of references to the papers by 

 these authors. The plant remains have been named by 

 Feistmantel and Seward and some of the mollusca 

 identified by Amalitzky. 



The following is a list of the fossils arranged according 



