It is desirable on all accounts that coal should be
burned rather than timber, since the destruction of wood is harmful
to the supply of water. With regard to the gold of Cape Colony, I
have not the requisite knowledge to speak with the same confidence.
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.
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