that is the blue earth that has been brought out of the Bultfontein dia- mond-mines. We are now close to the Du Toit’s Pan. Yonder is the reservoir of the Kimberley water-works: the water is brought from the Vaal River, about fifteen miles away.”
Getting nearer to Kimberley the roads were strewn with empty tins, of all shapes and sizes: in some places such heaps of them that we could hardly pass. There were millions of these tins, the contents of which
Tin Houses.
had at one time formed the sole food of the miners. Here and there, out of the abundance of this waste mate- rial, some ingenious individual had utilized some of the larger cans, by spreading them out flat, joining them together, and, with the help of a sheet of corrugated iron, a gunny-bag or two, and a few pieces of hoop- iron, constructed most comical-looking huts, which formed the dwelling-places of the native labourers. After all it was quite appropriate, after applying the contents of the tins internally, to reserve the tins themselves for outward application.”
Through this street of tins we entered “Tin Town,” as Kimberley is popularly known, from the array of corrugated galvanized iron shanties which surround the market square. Here we arrived about 3 p.m., and put up at the Transvaal Hotel, where Mr. Con- stable, the courteous manager, specially informed us that the rooms allotted to us were those which Lady Florence Dixie had occupied. The sitting-rooms were built of mud, facing the street, with separate structures of galvanized iron at the back for bed=rooms, which felt like ovens, compared with which the mud-built apartments were deliciously cool. In this respect old Kert had the advantage of us; for, although it was against the rules for a black man to live anywhere but in the stable, I got leave for him to sleep on the floor of the sitting-room.
A bath, a good dinner, and a comfortable bed were unspeakable luxuries, after the discomfort of the long journey; and needless to say we made the most of each of them. Lulu was in especial need of a “wash and brush up,” for finding the interior of the wagon a trifle too crowded, he had performed the latter part
A Dusty Journey.
of the journey on the top among the luggage, and when he came down he was the picture of what Adam must have looked like in one of the earlier stages of his manufacture out of the dust of the earth.
CHAPTER II.
Laying in stock—The story of the first diamond—How the mine was discovered—Shady customers—Cheating the revenue—”Dia- mond cut diamond”—Welcoming the ladies—The I.D.B.”—Bubble companies—Evils of the detective system—Martyrs to civilization.
The next day was devoted to making preparations for our journey to the Kalahari. First I arranged to buy Mr. Caldecott’s waggon and team of six mules, and advertised for a shooting-horse; and then commenced to lay in a stock of powder and shot, pots and pans, kettles and coffee-pots, blankets and beads, pipes and tobacco, pails and water-barrels; and, most useful of all, water-bags: these last are a Cape institution, con- sisting simply of a stout linen bag, which is filled with water and hung in the sun to keep cool! The evaporation is so rapid that the contents keep nearly as cold as ice water: just the thing for America!
Everybody had some special recommendation to make of a particular article which was represented to be indispensable, and at first I was glad to profit by the experience of others. But at last Lulu pointed out that the capacity of a waggon was limited.
“Look at this room: it’s twice as large as any waggon, and it’s just chock full. You surely are not going to cart all Kimberley off to the Kalahari Desert!”
“That’s just what I do want to do, Lu; and not only
The First Diamond.
so, but I intend then to take Kimberley and the Kalahari per steamer to London. Just you bring your camera out, and ‘take the town/ and to-morrow we will go and get a look at the bowels of the earth, and you shall ‘take’ them too.”
I knew Lulu’s weakness for photographing anything, from the moon to a monkey, would soon make him forget all his troubles: and half an hour afterwards he had secured several “plates,” from one of which the accompanying view of Kimberley is taken.
Next day. Dr. Saner introduced us to Mr. Steib, the manager of the French Diamond Mining Company, who took us to the mining board, introduced us to the secretary and all the members, and procured for us a pass to go over any part of the mine and take photo- graphs of it.
I should, perhaps, here explain that what is called the “Kimberley Mine” is owned principally by three companies—the Central, the French, and the Standard —which have bought up nearly the whole of the small “claims” into which the mine was divided when the first rush” of diamond diggers took place thither in 1872.
The story of the first diamond having been picked up by a Boer on the banks of the Orange River, and of its having been a child’s plaything for years before its value was recognized, is well known. This led to further search being made, and numbers of stones were picked up in the sand and gravel of the banks and bed of the Orange, and afterwards of the Vaal River, where there are still many diggers working the alluvial deposits. Gradually, however, diamonds were found in dry gravel patches at some distance
VIEW OF KIMBERLEY Page 18
Discovery of the Mine.
from the river: first at Du Toit’s Pan, afterwards at Bultfontein, then at De Beer’s Farm, and lastly at a place about a mile distant from De Beer’s, called Colesburg Koppje—so named by two young men coming from Colesburg, who first discovered diamonds there.
“Colesburg Koppje” was originally, to outward ap- pearance, a layer of pebbles and sand, among which the gems lay scattered; but all this gravelly deposit has been removed, and a huge crater, 350 feet deep, and oval, or nearly round, has been excavated, whose sloping sides are covered with broken wires and other debris.
Colesburg Koppje soon became known as New Rush,” and it was not till 1878 that the more dignified name of Kimberley, was conferred upon the town which had by that time sprung up. All sorts and conditions of men” in thousands rushed to the place, and began marking out their claims. A space thirty feet square was allowed to each claim, and no individual was per- mitted to take more than ten claims. This regulation, which the diggers agreed to among themselves, was afterwards ratified by the Government, who sent down officials to keep order, and to collect a duty of 10s. per claim per month. It was soon found that many of the areas selected were valueless. As the gravel was dug out the diamondiferous area became narrower and narrower, being confined within easily defined limits by a wall, or reef, of shaly limestone encircling it,1 which narrows gradually towards the
1 On the 5th of April, 1884, a great catastrophe occurred, the reef of shale liniug the side of the mine slipping in, and covering nearly all the workings and machinery. At about seven o’clock in the morning the reef was seen to start, and in less than five hours most of the workings were smothered. The French and Standard Com- panies managed to save part of their plant; but the workings were c 2
Where the Diamonds are found.
bottom, at the rate of about one in five, so that a vertical section of the mine would be something like a V shape.
Suddenly the dry, sandy gravel,
