The quantity in any district is probably small: the amount is great
in the aggregate, but very widely diffused. Gold appears to be
present in small amounts in almost all the volcanic rocks, so that
as those rocks decay and new mineral substances are formed out of
the decomposed products, the gold which they contained is often
preserved and concentrated in thin and narrow veins of zeolitic
minerals, which extend over the surface of these volcanic rocks. To
what extent these zeolites may be hereafter worked with profit it
is impossible at present to say, for much may depend upon water
supply, by means of which the ore would be crushed and washed, and
much on the varying quantities of gold present in samples from
different localities. On the whole, the utilisation of science in
the service of man, especially in relation to metals, coal, and
water supply, if systematically carried out, will, I believe, be an
element of future prosperity to Cape Colony, and enable the Colony
to minister to the welfare of adjacent lands.

Mr. J.X. MERRIMAN: I am sure South Africans are very grateful
indeed to the amiable and kindly critic in the person of Sir
Frederick Young. It is no new thing to Colonists to owe him a debt.
All those present will acknowledge the great things he has done for
the Colonies in connection with the Royal Colonial Institute. Sir
Frederick Young is a man who has been content to look after small
things, and the result is this Institute has been worked up by the
individual efforts of Colonists and others to its present
flourishing condition. I hope the Institute will long flourish,
and never be absorbed by anything under more magnificent
auspices--in other words, that you will "paddle your own canoe." It
is good sometimes to have a plain statement from a plain man. South
Africa suffers under a plague of experts who, after spending a few