UPRAISING OF THE PENINSULA. 279 



To whit Class of Rocks do those of the Cape Peninsula 

 belong 1 — To what class or classes of formations of the geog- 

 nostical series are we to refer the rocks of the mountains 

 just described] From the clay-slate containing beds of 

 grcywacke, we infer that the slate belongs to the transi- 

 tion class ; — from the granite being intermingled with the 

 slate, we consider it as probably belonging to the same 

 epoch. The sandstone is generally considered as belonging 

 to the secondary class, — an opinion, the accuracy of which 

 may be questioned ; because we find this rock in beds in the 

 slate, and also passing into and alternating with beds of a 

 transition rock, namely, quartz rock. This being the case, 

 we are disposed to refer it also to the transition class ; and 

 the great mass of it to the newest or uppermost portion of 

 the series. 



At what Period did the Cape Rocks rise above the Level of 

 the Sea 1 — This question has been variously answered, ac- 

 cording to the geological creed of those who have considered 

 the subject. The Neptunians maintain, on plausible grounds, 

 that all these rocks are crystallizations and deposites from 

 the ancient waters of the globe, which have taken place in 

 succession, — the granite being the first formed, the slate 

 and greywacke the next, and last of all, the principal portion 

 of the sandstone ; that, during the deposition of these 

 different rocks, the level of the ocean gradually sunk ; and 

 that thus the mountains rose above its surface. The Plu- 

 tonians, or the supporters of the igneous origin of the gra- 

 nular crystallized rocks, view the formation in a difl!erent 

 manner. Some of the advocates of the igneous system 

 maintain, that the slate was first deposited in horizontal 

 strata, at the bottom of the sea, — that these strata were 

 afterward softened by heat, and raised from their original 

 horizontal to their present highly inclined position, by the 

 action of fluid granite rising from the interior of the earth ; 

 and that in this way the granite and slate mountains were 

 elevated above the sea : that the sea again invaded the land 

 and covered it to a great depth ; and that from this ocean 

 was deposited the sandstone strata : that the sea again 



The sandstone which forms the upper part of the Table Mountain, 

 Lion's Head, and Devil's Peak lies on horizontal strata, intersected by 

 vertical fissures. It is of a siliceous nature, and encloses rounded no 

 dules of quartz. 



