Geological Notes upon Griqualand West

Abstract

During the months of March and April of the year 1872, having, in conjunction with F. H. S. Orpen, Esq., Civil Commissioner of Griqualand West, been occupied in making a tour of inspection of the new territory (lately under the rule of the Chief Waterboer) for the information of his Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, I was able to collect a considerable amount of information, which I believe will throw much additional light upon the geological formations of this portion of the African continent. I propose to arrange the notes then made in a series of papers narrating the facts I was able to collect, and the conclusions to which they lead. I shall first treat of the country from the banks of the Modder river before its junction with the Riet, towards the southern point of the great Campbell-Randt; secondly, of the ancient rocks of the Campbell-Randt and the territory to the west and north-west of that remarkable escarpment; thirdly, of the lower Hart or Kalong valley and such portion of the country to the north of the present diamond-fields as I was able to include in our reconnaisance; and lastly I shall offer such facts and observations as I have been able to collect after a residence of nearly nine months in the neighbourhood of De Beer's New Rush and Du Toit's Pan, in what is termed the “Panne Veldt.”