The World and Its People Part 21

In 1892, the output of the Rand was about twenty-one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in value; in 1893, it rose to nearly twenty-six million.

Naturally the question arises how long the deposits will last. The best authorities, however, see no signs of early exhaustion.

There is a strong belief that gold in vast quant.i.ties exists in Matabele-land. Should this prove true, South Africa is likely to become even more important than it is to-day, as one of the great sources of the world's supply of gold.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

THE DIAMOND FIELDS.

Directly south of the Kalahari Desert lies a region familiarly termed the Diamond Fields. This region, which, properly, should be known as Griqualand West, was formerly a separate colony. Now, however, it is included among the Cape of Good Hope colonies, which comprise Cape Colony.

This region consists of extensive grazing tracts, some few valleys suitable for agricultural purposes, and sections rich in deposits of copper, lead, and iron.

The chief interest at the present time in the Diamond Fields centers about the precious stones which have been found there. From time to time these gems had been picked up, but the finders did not realize their value.

It is related that a gentleman noticed one of the children of a Dutch farmer playing with a peculiar-looking stone, and offered to buy it. The farmer laughed at the thought of selling a stone, and offered to give it to him. It subsequently proved to be a diamond that weighed almost an ounce. Later, it was sold to the governor of Cape Colony, who paid some five hundred English pounds for it. This stone was found at Hopetown, and search was immediately made for more of the gems, with the result that the diamond fields in that neighborhood and about Kimberley in Griqualand West became famous. It was in 1867 that this stone was found, by accident as it were.

The largest stone from this region is named the "Star of South Africa."

It was in the possession of a Kaffir witch doctor, and was bought by a gentleman who afterwards sold it for eleven thousand two hundred English pounds. This stone is about the size of an English walnut. Its weight is three ounces and a half.

In 1871 the first diamonds in the region called Kimberley were discovered under the root of an old thorn-tree, in the now famous mound from which the region is named. Since that time the mountain has been tunnelled in every direction, till the excavations give its interior much the appearance of a gigantic honeycomb.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF A DIAMOND MINE.]

Not only in the heart of the mountain, but in the neighboring plains and along the banks of the Vaal River, these gems of "purest ray serene" are sought for. The water of the river is used to wash the precious stones from the clay soil, in which they are often imbedded like plums in a pudding.

Back from the river are what are termed "dry diggings." These consist of pits sunk through decomposed rocks of volcanic origin until a layer of tufa, limestone, and clay is reached. In this layer the gems are imbedded.

Ma.s.ses of this "stuff," as it is called, are carried to the banks of the river and there washed. The more common custom, however, is to dry the mixture and to sift it by the aid of the workmen, who belong to the Kaffir tribes. These workmen have, however, learned the value of the gems, and need to be carefully watched lest they steal more than they deliver into the hands of their employers.

The most rigid watch is kept over the workmen, who often display the greatest ingenuity and cunning in hiding away the precious stones.

Notwithstanding their lack of clothing these workmen manage to hide the stones about them; often secreting them in the hair, the folds of the skin, in the ears, under the tongue, under the nails of the toes, while instances have been known where they have even swallowed the precious gems to secure them from the white man.

Unlicensed dealing in diamonds or the purchasing of them from the natives is considered an offense of the most serious nature in Griqualand West. In spite of all precautions, much of this illegal trading is carried on; for, if the risk is great, the profit to those engaged in the trade is even greater.

It has been estimated on good authority that fully twenty million pounds' worth of diamonds has been exported from these fields since the first discoveries. As a pound in English money is equal to very nearly five dollars of our money, we can estimate what the revenue of these mines has been.

It is believed that gems of many million pounds' value lie yet undiscovered in the unexplored portions of the diamond region.

Statistics show that about two million pounds' worth of the gems is unearthed annually.

Naturally, the great mineral wealth of this region has attracted thousands to the neighborhood of Kimberley. Formerly, the country was roamed over by Griqua Kaffirs, numbering but a few thousands. Now, the region has become peopled "in spots." Many of the settlements have a.s.sumed the importance of towns of considerable size. It is estimated that not only some thirteen thousand whites, but upwards of thirty-three thousand blacks, from all sections of South Africa, have flocked to found such settlements as Kimberley, Bult-fontein, and Du Toit's Pan.

Griqualand West is about one-half as large as Scotland. The country has nothing attractive in its physical features. Indeed, it would be difficult to conceive of a dryer, uglier, drearier, more depressing region than the Diamond Fields. These conditions are intensified when no rain has fallen for months and the thermometer notes a steady increase of temperature day after day, till it reaches 90 in the shade.

The great novelist, Anthony Trollope, visited the Diamond Fields when not a blade of gra.s.s could be seen growing on the thirsty ground, and when, as he expressed it, he "seemed to breathe dust rather than air."

His impressions of the Diamond Fields may be judged best from his description: "An atmosphere composed of flies and dust cannot be pleasant,--of dust so thick that the sufferer fears to remove it lest the raising of it may aggravate the evil, and of flies so numerous that one hardly dares to slaughter them by the ordinary means lest their dead bodies should be noisome.

"When a gust of wind would bring the dust in a cloud, hiding everything,--a cloud so thick that it seemed that the solid surface of the earth had risen diluted into the air,--and when flies had rendered occupation altogether impossible, I could be told, when complaining, that I ought to be there in December or February--at some other time of the year than that then present--if I really wanted to see what flies and dust could do. I sometimes thought that the people of Kimberley were proud of their flies and their dust."

Bare and uninviting as this portion of Griqualand West is known to be, there are exceptional tracts along the banks of the Vaal and Orange Rivers, for they are well wooded and not lacking in picturesque beauty of scenery.

Diamond fields have been discovered not only on both sides of the Vaal River, but also in the Orange Free State. At several places in this state the "dry diggings," as they are called, have been very productive; for they may be said to be literally sown with the precious stones.

The early scenes about the diamond diggings cannot have been unsimilar to those witnessed during the mining fever in California, when the hope of securing fabulous amounts of gold drew all sorts and conditions of men to the grounds.

Houses were more easily constructed from canvas than from wood, and whole towns, as if by magic, sprang into existence. It must have been a curious sight to look upon one of those canvas towns.

In the red letter days of diamond digging, it was no uncommon thing for sixty thousand or more people to gather round the dry river diggings.

When the great rush was over, and men settled down to steady labor in the mining districts, the population naturally decreased to a great extent, as the mere fortune hunters left the field of labor to the real workers.

The New Rush Mine of Kimberley has been described as the center of interest. A town has been built around it, and there are churches, clubs, hotels, halls, and even a fine market place, as attractions.

The mine is said to have the appearance of a hollow. This has a circ.u.mference of three-fourths of a mile. The mine had naturally a slight elevation above the plain in which it is situated. Since mining operations began, it has been scooped out to quite a depth, the lowest point being estimated as lying more than two hundred feet below the surface.

The greater part of the work in the mines can, of course, be done by the natives. They labor with pick and spade, load the buckets, which are constantly being pulled up and let down by means of ropes and pulleys, and carry them off to the sorting ground. Here they throw the "stuff"

into sieves, where it is carefully sifted, then examined with the closest scrutiny, after having been spread on tables in the open air for the purpose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WASHING SAND FOR DIAMONDS.]

Just as in the early gold-mining days in America, "claims" were set off by the diamond diggers in South Africa. The owner of a claim then set to work to examine the soil, which he collected in a heap by the aid of his pick and shovel. This done, he removed the loose stones, and separated the sand by means of fine sieves. The remaining earth and stones he then carried to the washing place on the river bank.

The washing was done in a curious kind of "cradle," as it was called. It really consisted of a double sieve. The upper sieve had holes in it about half an inch in diameter, while the lower one had holes so small as to prevent a diamond of one-half carat from slipping through. When the washing process was once accomplished, it was followed by that of sorting.

The diamond sections have been the scenes of the most intense excitement. It was no uncommon thing for one man to pay another a fabulous price for his claim. One case is cited where half a claim, which measured only thirty by sixteen feet, and which had been dug out to a depth of fifty feet, brought the immense sum of twenty-four thousand English pounds.

Not infrequently these half-worked claims were worth the money and time expended, and many a lucky "find" gladdened the hearts of the fortunate purchaser.

A case is mentioned of the finding of a diamond, after a few hours'

search, which brought the fortunate possessor three thousand pounds.

Another stone picked up on a deserted claim was described as one of a hundred and fifteen carats' weight.

In those early days life was hard and the barest necessities for existence difficult to obtain. Meat was not only dear, but of poor quality; b.u.t.ter was even worse, and vegetables so scarce as to be veritable luxuries.

It must be remembered that everything for Kimberley had to be brought up either from the coast, five hundred miles from the Orange Free State, or from some of the more accessible parts of Cape Colony.

All goods had to be brought with ox teams. This was a very slow and sure mode of transportation, and an extremely costly one.

Many changes have taken place in the neighborhood of the mines and dry diggings. Some of the mines have become exhausted, but new ones have constantly been discovered each year. The population has become more settled. The queer "shanties" of canvas and wood have disappeared, and whole towns of substantial brick and stone houses have replaced them.

An air of comfort and thrift pervades the settlements, and the energy and activity of the scene are enhanced by the steam railway, which forms the connecting link between the various mining sections. Improved methods of irrigation tend to relieve the country from the discomfort of dust and flies, and Griqualand West of the present time is as great a contrast to that of the past as can well be imagined.