Diamond Mines of South Aftrica

In the autumn of 1868 news reached England from Capetown that diamonds had been found in the gold districts on Orange River, midway between the eastern and western coasts of South Africa. And in the spring of the following year all doubts that had been either genuine, or instigated by jealous fear of disturbance in the diamond trade, were silenced by the discovery of the "African Koh-i-noor." valued at about $150,000.

This splendid stone, destined to create a stir that should widen into the most distant circles, was found by a poor herdsman, who had the supreme happiness to dispose of it for five hundred sheep, ten head of cattle, and a horse. It was taken to Capetown, where an injunction was placed upon it by emissaries of Waterboer, chief of the Griquas, who claimed it as the possession of his own territory; but, for lack of proof, the injunction was removed, and the diamond finally reached England. From that time tidings of new discoveries became more and more frequent; and the Griquas began successfully to search the beds of their streams.

By 1870 public attention had become thoroughly aroused. Already enterprising men and capitalists, among them Coster of Amsterdam, were on the field. The diamond districts of the Vaal had proved an entire success. Seventy-two large diamonds were found at Pniel in one week; ninety-one were unearthed by a single digger within a fortnight; diamonds to the amount of $500,000 had been picked up by Europeans.

A regular organization of diggers was formed near the mission station of Pniel,--itself, as afterwards proved, one of the richest localities. A "digging committee" apportioned to each man so many square feet, to be worked at once or abandoned. The diamond claims of these "dry diggings" came eventually to be sunk sixty feet below the surface; sometimes seventeen feet of red sand was removed before diamondiferous soil could be reached. The best yield occurred generally at the depth of twenty or twenty-five feet. The natives worked in these pits with pick and shovel; above them were the sorting-tables, some under cover, some not; and between the crowded pits carts crawled along, bringing burdens of gravel to the tables, to be sorted by the Europeans.

The excitement had now reached its height. Not only did every town of South Africa empty itself of men for "the diggings," but diamond-hunters made their appearance from every quarter of the globe. There were forty thousand people within a line of seventy miles upon the banks of the Vaal River. Hotels, shops, music-halls flourished; two newspapers were started. One after another new diamond-fields were brought to light. Du Toit's Pan, De Beers, Pniel, New Rush, and Colesberg Kopje opened their dazzling mines.

The rival claims of different routes from the coast were contested with the utmost zeal. Railways and telegraphs were projected, and modern machines were hastened to the scene. The mines were pronounced the richest in the world. Diamonds weighing from 20 to 30 carats were not unusual; and among the exceptional treasures found were diamonds weighing considerably more than 100 carats; including the beautiful "Star of Beaufort," and the "Star of Diamonds," weighing 107 1/2 carats; and a lovely stone, which attracted especial attention by exhibiting, under the microscope, an aspect of pointed mountain summits, lighted by vivid sunlight with all the colours of the rainbow. Rubies and turquoises were also found.

But all these successes were not unalloyed. There were droughts, and fevers, and mournful death-lists. There were threatened invasions of the Caffres that kept all the white men armed; and frauds that occasioned lynch-law mobs; and annoyances on the frontiers. And there were endless disputes of boundaries and territorial rights, not altogether quelled when, to the joy of the miners, the British flag was hoisted on the diamond-fields, Nov. 1871; and the district south and west of the Vaal, known as West Griqualand, was proclaimed under the protection of the crown.

The South African diamonds are found over many hundred square miles of territory. The principal diggings are situated in the extensive valley of the Vaal river, to the north-east of the Orange River Free State, and within the boundary of the Cape Colony as now defined. The country here rises into long stoney ridges, called kopjes, consisting of irregular fragments of hard rock imbedded in ferruginous gravel, which varies in character and compactness, being sometimes quite loose and sometimes forming a compact lime-cemented mass. It is in this gravel that the diamonds are found. They occur at various depths down to twenty feet or more, but the usual depth is from two to six feet below the surface. "The manner of working is simple enough. A claim, or piece of ground thirty feet square, is occupied by two diggers in partnership, assisted by their black servants. They removed the loose blocks of stone, which are cast aside; they take up the gravel and sift it thoroughly, either in a dry state, or with abundance of water in a sieve rocked by a cradle. When the pebbles have been thus separated from the sand, they are cleansed, and placed upon the sorting-table to be carefully examined for any diamonds that may lie among them."