Mr. Bain on the Geology 0/ Southern Africa. 179 



Section No. 1 . (Plate XXI.) — From the back of Table Mountain to the Middle 



Roggeveld. 



In this section granite is the fundamental rock, though the superincumbent 

 gneiss and clayslate, as will afterwards be shown, are the oldest. It forms the 

 basis of the celebrated Table Mountain and Lion's Head at Cape Town, and in 

 those localities is, generally speaking, coarse-grained, and frequently porphyritic. 



At the Paarl and in the neighbourhood of Bain's Kloof it often assumes a binary 

 form, the mica being there wanting, and is everywhere traversed by veins of 

 quartz and felspar ; whereas at George, where this rock also appears, the mica 

 seems to predominate and is in very large flakes. , The granite is also found there 

 in a porphyritic form. 



At the foot of Table Mountain and at Bain's Kloof are extensive beds of a 

 decomposed granite, sometimes attaining a thickness of from 50 to 60 feet ; the 

 angles of its component minerals are frequently rounded, and masses of sandstone 

 from the mountains above are sometimes found imbedded in it ; and, though it is 

 so soft in some places as to be cut with a pickaxe or spade, yet distinct veins of 

 quartz running through it can be traced in all directions : when it passes into the 

 real granite, the line of junction can never be traced. 



Granite, I am told, is also to be found in the neighbourhood of Port Natal ; but 

 I did not observe any when I was in that country. It is also said to appear in 

 considerable masses at the Kamies Berg and the Bushman Karoo Flats ; but I have 

 not laid it down on the Map in those parts, as I do not know its extent, 



I am not aware that any of the precious or other metals have ever been 

 discovered in this rock in South Africa ; but at the Lion's Head I found crystals 

 of tourmaline and a small bed of kaolin. 



In Europe, granite is generally found in the most elevated countries, as in the 

 Alps, Pyrenees, &c. ; but in South Africa, on the contrary, it invariably assumes 

 a perfectly subordinate character, nowhere showing any elevated peaks, lofty 

 aiguilles, or serrated ridges*. The Paarl Mountain and the Paardeberg are the 

 most prominent of their class ; but neither of them exceed the height of 1500 feet, 

 and in the neighbourhood of the lofty sedimentary mountains appear but small 

 hillocks in comparison. When I first saw the granitic formations in the district of 

 George, I mistook them for tertiary rocks, from their soft rounded appearance, 

 until a section in one of the rivers undeceived me. We next come to the 



* Since writing the above, I hear from my talented friend T. Maclean, Esq., that Kamies Berg and 

 Lely Fontein are exceptions to this rule. 



