664 W. H. PENNING ON THE HIGH-LEVEL 
sions of ferns were observed by Herr Carl Mauch, in the sandstones 
at the mouth of the Zinkerboschrandt river, from which he inferred 
that the High Veldt might prove to be on a coal-bearing formation 
(‘ Reisen im Innern von Sud-Afrika,’ 1865-1872). 
The ‘‘ Forest-zone” referred to in the Table is described by Stow 
as ‘ silicated wood imbedded in irregular-bedded coarse sandstones 
and grits, with various beds of light-coloured shales and sandstones 
occupying the upper ridges.” This fossil wood came under my own 
observation especially between Brandfort and Winburg. It forms 
a beautiful fossil, perfectly silicified, in various colours to deepest 
black, with the texture of the wood preserved in different tints. 
Mr. G. P. Moodie, the Surveyor-General of the Transvaal, stated 
that at Harrismith (about 5000 feet above the sea) there is a krantz 
of sandstone overhanging shales, in the uppermost of which are 
numerous fossil reptilian remains. 
The volcanic rocks, mentioned by Mr. Dunn as occurring in the 
‘“‘ Stormberg beds,”* are lavas, ash-beds, conglomerates, amygdaloids, 
and bombs in sandstone. 
The ‘“ Black-band,” as it occurs on the Sand river, near Win- 
burg, and as described by Mr. Stow, is included among the following 
sections. 
SECTIONS. 
Commencing at Newcastle, the sections will be taken in order 
around the outskirts of the coal-field, with occasional brief notes on 
sections towards its interior, following those upon the marginal point 
nearest to where they were observed. 
Newcastle.—As the name implies, this has hitherto been considered 
the chief coal-district of this region, and, up to the present time, 
coal of better quality or in greater quantity is unknown. Baines 
gives the elevation here as 3800, and of the heights a few miles 
north of the town as 3936 feet above the sea. The word “Coal” 
is engraved on Jeppe’s map, just above a point with an elevation of 
3815 feet, and below the mountains on the west, which are 5065 
feet. The coal-outcrops are therefore setween 4000 and 4500 feet 
in this neighbourhood. Several mines are opened in seams of good 
coal from 3 to 6 feet in thickness, which I have not seen, but which 
have probably been described by previous writers. 
Neur Lang’s Nek.—Two seams of coal, from 6 to:8 feet in thick- 
ness. occur within a few miles of this pass, where, at about 5000 feet, 
the main road from Natal to Pretoria crosses the Drakensbergen. 
Lebelclasberg.—Coal, in a seam more than 10 feet thick, crops 
out along the flanks of these mountains, near Wakkerstroom (for- 
merly Martinus-Wessel-Stroom), at 4000 feet or more above the sea. 
It is dug also on the commonage of that town, a royalty being paid 
of half-a-crown a ton. The coal is of good quality, yielding only 7 
or 8 per cent. of ash. 
