58 Bev. S. S. Dornan — Geology of Bmutoland. 



The rocks are, as a rule, well exposed, owing to the great denudation 

 the country has undergone. The thickness is verj- iiniform all over 

 the country from nortli to south, as at Qalo, near Botha-Bothe : 



feet. 

 Volcanic Beds ... ... ... ... ... 400 



Cave Sandstone ... ... ... ... ... 250 



Red Beds 3oO 



Molteno Beds 450 



and at Sebapala in the extreme south-east : 



feet. 



Yoleanic Beds 1000 



Cave Sandstone '200 



Red Beds 400 



Molteno Beds ... ... ... ... ... 150 exposed in places. 



As one advances farther into the lulls the Volcanic Beds become 

 much more prominent rock features, as they compose the highest 

 ranges of mountains, termed Maluti in Sesuto. In addition to these 

 rocks there is a vast network of intrusive sheets and dykes traversing 

 the various members of the Stormberg Series. 



(4) The !Molteno Beds are composed of sandstones, shales, and 

 mudstones, usually grey or greenish in colour, with occasional bands 

 of conglomerate. When freshly fractured the sandstone presents 

 a highly glittering appearance. Nodules of mud are of frequent 

 occurrence, and most of the sandstone is of a loose texture. The rocks 

 weather very fast. At Morija the shales contain numerous plant- 

 remains referable to Tlnnnfeldia and Stenopteris. Fragmentary 

 reptilian remains occur in the sandstones. The largest portion I have 

 yet found is the upper part of the humerus of a Dinosaur ; the species to 

 which it belongs has not been determined. The cast of a Cephalopodous 

 shell was found by the writer in the Molteno Sandstones close to 

 Morija, and I have heard of a similar discovery near Ficksburg. The 

 Molteno Beds contain thin seams of coal, varying in thickness from 

 1 inch up to 6 inches. Usually the seams only extend a .short 

 distance and then break up into pockets. The coal is soft and of 

 indifferent qualitj', but occasional seams of good quality are to be 

 found, as for example at Mohale's Hoek, where a seam 6 inches thick 

 exists of most excellent qualitj*. It is worked to some extent by the 

 natives. The plants composing the coal seem to have grown, generally 

 speaking, in marshy depressions, as the presence of occasional trunks 

 of trees in the sandstones indicates an old land surface. I am 

 aware that this is not the usual view held of the origin of the coal, 

 but from observations at widely different places I have come to the 

 conclusion that the drift origin of the coal-beds is not generally true. 

 These seams of coal are widespread over the country, being found 

 at places as far apart as 70 or 80 miles. The Basutos do not usually 

 dig this coal. They try to conceal its whereabouts as much as 

 possible, for fear of the white man seizing the country, and, with the 

 example of other parts of South Africa before their eyes, one cannot 

 wonder at their action. 



About 50 feet above the horizon upon which the coal is found there 

 is a bed of deep red conglomerate, containing pebbles of quartzite, 

 evidently derived from Cape or pre-Cape rocks, vaiying in size from 



