882 e. J. dijnn's further notes on the 



as no fossils have been discovered by which to identify it ; probably 

 it is Silurian or Devonian. 



The alluvial gold at Lydenburg Diggings has doubtless been sup- 

 plied from two distinct sources, as gold occurs, associated with iron- 

 and copper-pyrites, calc spar, &c, in the flat leaders and strings of 

 quartz in the limestone-beds, and also with iron-pyrites in small 

 lenticular veins of quartz in vertical dykes of diorite. An instance 

 of the former occurs about one mile north of Mac Mac, where a " flat 

 leader" of quartz, about 4 inches thick, has been opened out in 

 calcareous rock ; specks of gold are visible in the cavernous quartz. 

 About two miles south of Mac Mac, near M c Lachlan's house, is a large 

 d}*ke of diorite, in which are short narrow veins of quartz thickly 

 studded with iron-pyrites and containing traces of gold (fig. 4). Very 

 little has been done towards prospecting this dyke ; but, from its 

 resemblance to diorite dykes in Australia that have proved highly 

 auriferous, it deserves careful examination. 



Pilgrini's-Rest Creek has supplied most of the alluvial gold of this 

 district ; it is about thirty miles nearly due east of Lydenburg, about 

 three miles in length, and flows to the westward, falling into Blyde 

 River. 



In its course it cuts through sandstones, thick beds of limestone 

 seamed with veins of quartz and chert &c. ; for a considerable por- 

 tion of its length its bed is diorite, generally soft. There are two 

 descriptions of drift worked : — that occupying the present bed of the 

 watercourse, which is from 5 to 12 feet in depth, fine alluvium at 

 the top, then clay and pebbles of sandstone, quartz, chert, &c, with 

 about a foot of auriferous drift lying on the bed-rock ; and that 

 known as " terrace claims," worked at various levels above the creek- 

 bed, where the base of the moraine-like mass of debris that forms a 

 talus to the mountains is exposed resting on the bed-rock. The 

 gold is all within a few inches of the bed-rock ; where soft diorite 

 formed the floor many of the claims were very rich. The heaviest 

 nuggets were found where hard irregular blocks of diorite contract 

 the creek-channel (fig. 2). 



The gold is coarse and nuggetty, as a rule well rounded, and 

 generally coated with oxide of iron. Lumps up to 10 lb. weight 

 have been found ; it is of good quality, worth from 70s. to 80s. 

 per ounce. 



Sluice-boxes and cradles are used to separate the gold from the 

 drift. The supply of water is abundant, and greatly facilitates 

 mining. The principal impediment is the enormous size of the 

 angular and subangular blocks of quartz-breccia that have to be 

 removed ; they are from 5 to 20 tons in weight, and appear to have 

 fallen from the adjacent mountain-sides. The interstices between 

 these blocks are filled with boulders and drift. 



Mac Mac is on the east side of the ridge from which Pilgrim's-Rest 

 Creek flows ; the drift is formed of shingle of slaty sandstone, quartz, 

 &c. There is an absence of the large boulders so common at Pilgrim's 

 llest ; the gold is also finer, but inferior in quality. 



At Eersteling, near Marabastadt (lat. 24° 5' S., long. 29° 45' E.), 



