Chapter Nine.I can hardly hope to give any idea of our first impression of Kimberley. The town consists entirely of stores and dwelling-houses, covered sometimes with coarse canvas, but more generally with corrugated iron. One cannot help being very much astonished when one considers that every scrap of wood, canvas, and iron has been imported from England or America, and brought six hundred miles in an ox-wagon through a country little removed from a desert.The “Queen’s Hotel” was the resort of most of the better class of diggers and diamond merchants in the camp. A noisy crowd of fine-looking men usually filled the long, low dining-room at meal-times, a large number bearing the unmistakable stamp of the Jewish race, nearly all of them being representatives of the diamond trade in London and on the Continent. On the evening of our arrival several acquaintances we had made on board the steamer coming out to the Cape called on us, and they seemed like the faces of old friends; through them we were made acquainted with the Kimberleyites.For the first few days we could do nothing but wonder at the extraordinary energy and resource that men’s brains can display when incited thereto by the hope of wealth. The town is unlike any other place in the world, and looked at first sight as though it had been built in a night, being more like a huge encampment than a town. It is usually spoken of by the residents as “the camp,” and they use the expression of going “up camp” or “down camp” just as we would say “up town” or “down town.” The day after our arrival we paid a visit to the mine, and were rewarded by a sight of the very biggest hole in the world, covering between twenty-five and thirty acres, shaped like a huge bowl, and over four hundred feet deep.The first diamond in South Africa was found in 1867 by one of the children of a Dutch farmer named Jacobs, who had it in his possession for months, in perfect ignorance of its value, before the accidental calling of a traveller, Mr Van Nierkirk. Mr Van Nierkirk sent it at once to an eminent geologist, Dr Atherstone, of Grahamstown, who discovered the fact that indeed it was a diamond.Natives and Europeans began to search, and the result was that several other diamonds were very soon found, and the hopes of the Cape Colony, which at that time was in a bankrupt condition, began to revive.The first diamonds were found in the boulders and under the Vaal River, so that it was not until 1872 that the diggings at Dutoitspar and Kimberley attracted any attention. But they very soon eclipsed the old diggings, and the present town sprang up around the claim. For some time the claims were kept distinct from one another, but as they dug lower and lower, it was found impossible to retain the roads separating the claims, so the whole was thrown into one large mine.The diamondiferous soil is quarried out below by Kafirs and deposited in great iron buckets which run on standing wire ropes, and are hauled up by steam to the receiving boxes on the brink of the mine. Everywhere is activity and bustle, and a loud hum comes up out of that vast hole from three or four thousand human beings engaged at work below.The men themselves look like so many flies as they dig away at the blue soil, and the thousands of wire ropes extending from every claim to the depositing boxes round the edge have the appearance of a huge spider’s web, while the buckets perpetually descending empty and ascending full might well represent the giant spiders.The mine having recently been worked by companies owning large blocks of ground, there could still be traced the individual claims of the original diggers, some carried down to a great depth and others left standing like square turrets with the ground all dug away round them.The effect is weird in the extreme, and it does not require any very great stretch of fancy to imagine these isolated claims to be the battlemented castles of the gnomes who inhabit the underground regions. As we were gazing down the mine, the whistles from the engine-houses began simultaneously to shriek out the signal that it was time for men to cease working and come up from the mine for dinner.The buckets ascended for the last time and stood still; the tiny ants at work below threw down their picks and shovels and began to toil up the sides of the hole. Gradually they grew larger and larger till the ants became moles, till the moles looked like rabbits, then larger till the rabbits became boys, and finally emerged full-grown men.They were principally Kafirs, with very little clothing beyond a cloth round their loins; some sported old red military jackets, and the appearance of their bare black legs beneath was comical in the extreme. Every thirteen or fourteen Kafirs at work in the mine have a white overseer, to prevent as much as possible that wholesale robbery which goes on amongst them.One would think they would find it rather hard to steal, and still more difficult to conceal a diamond on their naked persons under the eye of the overseer; but, despite all precautions, they do steal a vast number of stones, picking them up and carrying them away in their mouths or between their toes.The largest diamonds are usually unearthed in the mines before the stuff is washed, and an overseer must keep his eyes well open, for he cannot be sure of the honesty of any one of his “boys.”
I can hardly hope to give any idea of our first impression of Kimberley. The town consists entirely of stores and dwelling-houses, covered sometimes with coarse canvas, but more generally with corrugated iron. One cannot help being very much astonished when one considers that every scrap of wood, canvas, and iron has been imported from England or America, and brought six hundred miles in an ox-wagon through a country little removed from a desert.
The “Queen’s Hotel” was the resort of most of the better class of diggers and diamond merchants in the camp. A noisy crowd of fine-looking men usually filled the long, low dining-room at meal-times, a large number bearing the unmistakable stamp of the Jewish race, nearly all of them being representatives of the diamond trade in London and on the Continent. On the evening of our arrival several acquaintances we had made on board the steamer coming out to the Cape called on us, and they seemed like the faces of old friends; through them we were made acquainted with the Kimberleyites.
For the first few days we could do nothing but wonder at the extraordinary energy and resource that men’s brains can display when incited thereto by the hope of wealth. The town is unlike any other place in the world, and looked at first sight as though it had been built in a night, being more like a huge encampment than a town. It is usually spoken of by the residents as “the camp,” and they use the expression of going “up camp” or “down camp” just as we would say “up town” or “down town.” The day after our arrival we paid a visit to the mine, and were rewarded by a sight of the very biggest hole in the world, covering between twenty-five and thirty acres, shaped like a huge bowl, and over four hundred feet deep.
The first diamond in South Africa was found in 1867 by one of the children of a Dutch farmer named Jacobs, who had it in his possession for months, in perfect ignorance of its value, before the accidental calling of a traveller, Mr Van Nierkirk. Mr Van Nierkirk sent it at once to an eminent geologist, Dr Atherstone, of Grahamstown, who discovered the fact that indeed it was a diamond.
Natives and Europeans began to search, and the result was that several other diamonds were very soon found, and the hopes of the Cape Colony, which at that time was in a bankrupt condition, began to revive.
The first diamonds were found in the boulders and under the Vaal River, so that it was not until 1872 that the diggings at Dutoitspar and Kimberley attracted any attention. But they very soon eclipsed the old diggings, and the present town sprang up around the claim. For some time the claims were kept distinct from one another, but as they dug lower and lower, it was found impossible to retain the roads separating the claims, so the whole was thrown into one large mine.
The diamondiferous soil is quarried out below by Kafirs and deposited in great iron buckets which run on standing wire ropes, and are hauled up by steam to the receiving boxes on the brink of the mine. Everywhere is activity and bustle, and a loud hum comes up out of that vast hole from three or four thousand human beings engaged at work below.
The men themselves look like so many flies as they dig away at the blue soil, and the thousands of wire ropes extending from every claim to the depositing boxes round the edge have the appearance of a huge spider’s web, while the buckets perpetually descending empty and ascending full might well represent the giant spiders.
The mine having recently been worked by companies owning large blocks of ground, there could still be traced the individual claims of the original diggers, some carried down to a great depth and others left standing like square turrets with the ground all dug away round them.
The effect is weird in the extreme, and it does not require any very great stretch of fancy to imagine these isolated claims to be the battlemented castles of the gnomes who inhabit the underground regions. As we were gazing down the mine, the whistles from the engine-houses began simultaneously to shriek out the signal that it was time for men to cease working and come up from the mine for dinner.
The buckets ascended for the last time and stood still; the tiny ants at work below threw down their picks and shovels and began to toil up the sides of the hole. Gradually they grew larger and larger till the ants became moles, till the moles looked like rabbits, then larger till the rabbits became boys, and finally emerged full-grown men.
They were principally Kafirs, with very little clothing beyond a cloth round their loins; some sported old red military jackets, and the appearance of their bare black legs beneath was comical in the extreme. Every thirteen or fourteen Kafirs at work in the mine have a white overseer, to prevent as much as possible that wholesale robbery which goes on amongst them.
One would think they would find it rather hard to steal, and still more difficult to conceal a diamond on their naked persons under the eye of the overseer; but, despite all precautions, they do steal a vast number of stones, picking them up and carrying them away in their mouths or between their toes.
The largest diamonds are usually unearthed in the mines before the stuff is washed, and an overseer must keep his eyes well open, for he cannot be sure of the honesty of any one of his “boys.”
Chapter Ten.Diamonds are mostly found in a hard, bluish-green rock which has to be blasted, the safest time for doing this being the noon or midnight hour. The noise of it sounds like an enemy bombarding the camp. We stood on the edge of the mine and saw a solitary man down below, who looked as big as a rabbit, light a fuse and then run from it for his life, when, with a report like a thousand cannons, the earth rose two hundred feet in the air and then fell to ground again, probably dropping a Koh-i-noor on a neighbouring claim.There are somewhat poorer and smaller mines at Dutortspan, Bulfontein, and old de Boers, all comprised within a radius of three and a half miles, and the cab-carts plying for hire in the streets have no lack of custom in carrying people from mine to mine.Most of the property in the mines is now owned by companies, individual claim-holders finding that it paid them better to consolidate than struggle with the immense working expenses of a single claim, surrounded by blocks owned by wealthy companies. When the companies first formed, there was some wild speculation with the stock, and several fortunes were made and lost in a few days by amateur stock speculators. We were invited to inspect the washing-ground of one of the large companies, and very interesting we found it. The blue ground is taken as it comes up from the mine to a plot of ground rented for the purpose, called a depositing floor, and, after being dumped down in heaps, is spread out on the ground in large, coarse lumps, just as it leaves the pick and shovel of the miner. Water is then liberally poured over it and it is left for two or three days to the action of the atmosphere; at the end of that time it loses its rock-like appearance and shows itself to be a conglomerate of pebbles, ironstone, and carbon.It is then thrown against coarse sieves to separate the larger stones, which are flung aside, and is afterward taken to the washing-machine. This consists of a circular iron tub, rather shallow and some ten or twelve feet in diameter, in which are fixed from the centre six or eight rakes, with long teeth six inches apart, which are kept perpetually revolving by a small steam-engine, or by a whim worked by horses or mules.Water is kept flowing into the tub through one opening, as the diamondiferous soil is worked in through another. The revolution of the rakes causes a thorough disintegration of the stuff, the lighter portion of which is forced over the upper edge, carried away by the engine, and thrown on the refuse heap. After sixty or eighty loads have been passed through the machine, the rakes are lifted up and the contents of the box carefully taken out. It will be at once understood that only the heaviest portions of the precious soil, and therefore the diamonds, if there are any, have been left in the machine, the lighter parts having been washed over the upper edge of the box.When taken out, the residue, which consists of nothing but heavy ironstone and carbon in a pure state and crystals of various hues, is carefully sifted through sieves of different degrees of fineness, sometimes placed one under the other in a cradle and thoroughly rocked. Then, when every trace of foreign matter has been carefully removed, a dextrous turn of the hand, as the sieve with its contents is held in a tub of water, brings the diamonds, garnets, and the heavier lumps of ironstone into a little heap in the very centre, so that when the sieve is reversed on the common pine sorting-table they lie together. The white, alum-like appearance of the rough diamond contrasts strongly with the rich-hued garnets, with which the surrounding blackness of carbon and ironstone is studded. It is only by practice that one is enabled to tell at sight whatisa diamond; the sieve appeared to be full of them, but we were told they were only crystals, which could easily be detected from diamonds by taking one between the teeth; the diamond resists their action, but the crystal crumbles away. Thousands upon thousands of garnets roost exquisite in colour are found in every sieveful, but they are thrown aside contemptuously, being almost valueless.We were allowed the fascinating pleasure of sorting over a sieveful of the pebbly-like residuum of the washing-box, and I can give no idea of the feeling of excitement that came over us as we pored over the table, each armed with a triangular piece of zinc for raking over the stones.We found several diamonds, and felt like breaking the tenth commandment as they were calmly pocketed by the manager of the “floor,” but were each somewhat consoled by the present of a small diamond as a souvenir of the day’s wash-up.No one would believe from the appearance of a rough diamond, looking like nothing so much as a piece of alum, that it could ever be cut into a beautiful, fiery gem.Of course the expenses of a company owning a block of claims are enormous, and a large number of stones have to be found before the margin for a dividend arrives. From the opening of the mine in 1871 to the end of 1885 the yield of diamonds amounted to 100,000,000 dollars. The Kimberley mine produces almost twice as much as the three other mines combined. The expense and difficulty of reaching the diamond field in the early days kept away the rowdy element to be found in our Western mines.Such diggers as have remained on the field since the “early days” seem never to be tired of talking of the life they then led as the happiest they have ever known. Then, each would peg out his claim and go to work therein with pick and shovel, depending scarcely at all upon the uncertain help of the lazy Kafir, but with his own strong arm attacked the hard, pebbly soil in which the diamond was imprisoned, and in a primitive way “washed” the soil for diamonds. They are not to be picked up walking through the streets or over the “floors” where the soil lies becoming pulverised by sun and rain. They hide away and peep out sometimes after several cartloads have been washed through the machine.The days have gone forever when a lucky blow of the pick, or a fortunate turn of the spade, might result in a prize worth a fortune to the finder. Now there are no poor man’s diggings, and one must possess great wealth before he attempts to seek the diamond in its rocky bed. The time when a poor man could go to the fields and possibly make a fortune in the first week of his stay, has passed away.The mines are now drifting into the hands of a few large companies, and everybody is looking to the Transvaal, with its budding gold fields, as the scene of the next South African Eldorado.
Diamonds are mostly found in a hard, bluish-green rock which has to be blasted, the safest time for doing this being the noon or midnight hour. The noise of it sounds like an enemy bombarding the camp. We stood on the edge of the mine and saw a solitary man down below, who looked as big as a rabbit, light a fuse and then run from it for his life, when, with a report like a thousand cannons, the earth rose two hundred feet in the air and then fell to ground again, probably dropping a Koh-i-noor on a neighbouring claim.
There are somewhat poorer and smaller mines at Dutortspan, Bulfontein, and old de Boers, all comprised within a radius of three and a half miles, and the cab-carts plying for hire in the streets have no lack of custom in carrying people from mine to mine.
Most of the property in the mines is now owned by companies, individual claim-holders finding that it paid them better to consolidate than struggle with the immense working expenses of a single claim, surrounded by blocks owned by wealthy companies. When the companies first formed, there was some wild speculation with the stock, and several fortunes were made and lost in a few days by amateur stock speculators. We were invited to inspect the washing-ground of one of the large companies, and very interesting we found it. The blue ground is taken as it comes up from the mine to a plot of ground rented for the purpose, called a depositing floor, and, after being dumped down in heaps, is spread out on the ground in large, coarse lumps, just as it leaves the pick and shovel of the miner. Water is then liberally poured over it and it is left for two or three days to the action of the atmosphere; at the end of that time it loses its rock-like appearance and shows itself to be a conglomerate of pebbles, ironstone, and carbon.
It is then thrown against coarse sieves to separate the larger stones, which are flung aside, and is afterward taken to the washing-machine. This consists of a circular iron tub, rather shallow and some ten or twelve feet in diameter, in which are fixed from the centre six or eight rakes, with long teeth six inches apart, which are kept perpetually revolving by a small steam-engine, or by a whim worked by horses or mules.
Water is kept flowing into the tub through one opening, as the diamondiferous soil is worked in through another. The revolution of the rakes causes a thorough disintegration of the stuff, the lighter portion of which is forced over the upper edge, carried away by the engine, and thrown on the refuse heap. After sixty or eighty loads have been passed through the machine, the rakes are lifted up and the contents of the box carefully taken out. It will be at once understood that only the heaviest portions of the precious soil, and therefore the diamonds, if there are any, have been left in the machine, the lighter parts having been washed over the upper edge of the box.
When taken out, the residue, which consists of nothing but heavy ironstone and carbon in a pure state and crystals of various hues, is carefully sifted through sieves of different degrees of fineness, sometimes placed one under the other in a cradle and thoroughly rocked. Then, when every trace of foreign matter has been carefully removed, a dextrous turn of the hand, as the sieve with its contents is held in a tub of water, brings the diamonds, garnets, and the heavier lumps of ironstone into a little heap in the very centre, so that when the sieve is reversed on the common pine sorting-table they lie together. The white, alum-like appearance of the rough diamond contrasts strongly with the rich-hued garnets, with which the surrounding blackness of carbon and ironstone is studded. It is only by practice that one is enabled to tell at sight whatisa diamond; the sieve appeared to be full of them, but we were told they were only crystals, which could easily be detected from diamonds by taking one between the teeth; the diamond resists their action, but the crystal crumbles away. Thousands upon thousands of garnets roost exquisite in colour are found in every sieveful, but they are thrown aside contemptuously, being almost valueless.
We were allowed the fascinating pleasure of sorting over a sieveful of the pebbly-like residuum of the washing-box, and I can give no idea of the feeling of excitement that came over us as we pored over the table, each armed with a triangular piece of zinc for raking over the stones.
We found several diamonds, and felt like breaking the tenth commandment as they were calmly pocketed by the manager of the “floor,” but were each somewhat consoled by the present of a small diamond as a souvenir of the day’s wash-up.
No one would believe from the appearance of a rough diamond, looking like nothing so much as a piece of alum, that it could ever be cut into a beautiful, fiery gem.
Of course the expenses of a company owning a block of claims are enormous, and a large number of stones have to be found before the margin for a dividend arrives. From the opening of the mine in 1871 to the end of 1885 the yield of diamonds amounted to 100,000,000 dollars. The Kimberley mine produces almost twice as much as the three other mines combined. The expense and difficulty of reaching the diamond field in the early days kept away the rowdy element to be found in our Western mines.
Such diggers as have remained on the field since the “early days” seem never to be tired of talking of the life they then led as the happiest they have ever known. Then, each would peg out his claim and go to work therein with pick and shovel, depending scarcely at all upon the uncertain help of the lazy Kafir, but with his own strong arm attacked the hard, pebbly soil in which the diamond was imprisoned, and in a primitive way “washed” the soil for diamonds. They are not to be picked up walking through the streets or over the “floors” where the soil lies becoming pulverised by sun and rain. They hide away and peep out sometimes after several cartloads have been washed through the machine.
The days have gone forever when a lucky blow of the pick, or a fortunate turn of the spade, might result in a prize worth a fortune to the finder. Now there are no poor man’s diggings, and one must possess great wealth before he attempts to seek the diamond in its rocky bed. The time when a poor man could go to the fields and possibly make a fortune in the first week of his stay, has passed away.
The mines are now drifting into the hands of a few large companies, and everybody is looking to the Transvaal, with its budding gold fields, as the scene of the next South African Eldorado.
Chapter Eleven.So interesting and novel was the life at the fields, that although in many respects our surroundings and mode of living were rough and primitive, there was a charm about it that atoned for most of its shortcomings.After much difficulty, soon after our arrival we succeeded in finding a small house, which we rented, as being more comfortable and affording greater privacy than a hotel. We fortunately obtained an excellent housekeeper, a worthy Scotchwoman, whose husband was engaged as overseer in the mine for one of the companies.Our house contained one large room, with four other very tiny ones opening out of it. The kitchen was, after the manner of South Africa, situated away from the house, at one corner of the large plot of ground which surrounded the house.The roof and walls were, like its neighbours, of corrugated iron, and a spacious verandah encircled it; a high rush fence which inclosed the compound served to keep out intruders and prevent the curious gaze of any inquisitive passer-by.Here we led a happy life, with Frank improving in health every day of her existence. Our rent was 125 dollars a month. Wood was 75 dollars a wagon-load: it had been known as high as 200 dollars, but coal, having been found in the immediate vicinity, had been brought into the market by some of the more enterprising of the farmers and had taken the place of wood for fuel in the furnaces.Edibles were reasonable, considering the place, excepting vegetables. On one occasion when we wished to have a particularly tempting, large cauliflower we paid 2 dollars for it. This did not enter into our menu very often of course, for we decided to like other things not so necessarily expensive, until we two (or three) might find a Koh-i-noor.There were two cafés, one kept by an American and the other by French people, where one could be served, at a reasonable price, with a meal that could vie in variety, delicacy, and culinary perfection with the first-class restaurants in London or New York. After eating one of these meals it was strange to go out into the crowded thoroughfare and hire a cart and drive four or five miles in a country in which one might imagine one’s self in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Surely one could but say that Kimberleyisone of the wonders of the world.The domestic servants are of a different kind to those working in the mine, who are usually raw Kafirs from the interior. The Kafirs generally remain only long enough to save sufficient money to buy a gun or a few head of cattle and return to their kraals. There they trade off their cattle for a wife, and then she does all the work for her husband, whilst he sits down the remainder of his days and tires himself out in watching her do the work, till the soil, and do everything else, telling her the while pretty stories of his adventures, and how he loves her, she thinking it only an honour to work and slave for such a brave boy as hers!These Kafirs are continually arriving, coming from long distances, walking sometimes as far as 1,500 miles in the interior; but the household servants are different; they are a heterogeneous mixture of Malays from Cape Town and Kafirs and the imported coolies from Natal. It is difficult to say which makes the worst servant; at any rate, we found, no matter from which race we selected our help, it was never safe to leave anything of value, at all portable, within their reach.Ladies are quite a rarity on the fields, few of the married diggers of merchants caring to subject their wives to the discomforts of the life and the unreliable domestic help. Consequently they remain at home in Europe or in the more civilised towns of the Cape Colony or Natal. The few married ladies resident on the fields are very social, and helped much toward making our stay a pleasant one.On the evenings when we were “at home,” the capacity of our one reception-room would be tested to its fullest extent. There was always some subject for conversation, some startling event continually occurring to form a theme for discussion.Now it was the breaking out of the Basuto War, with the report concerning the regiment of mounted irregulars to be raised in the camp for active service; then again a stone of more than usual size and brilliancy had been discovered; or some illicit diamond buyer had been “trapped” by the detectives. This latter topic was always of absorbing interest to the digger or merchant.It is the illicit diamond buyer, or as they term it,tout court, I.D.B., who has been the sharpest thorn in the digger’s side. He it is who incites the Kafirs who are employed in the mines to steal, and then secretly buys of them the stolen gems. The temptation to become possessed for 400 dollars of a stone clearly worth 4,000 dollars is very great, and occasionally even a detective is found by his associate to be engaged in the illicit trade. It is illegal to own a diamond unless one is a claim-holder or a licensed buyer. If a private individual wishes to purchase a stone or two for himself, he must first obtain a permit from the authorities.These precautions will be seen to be necessary, because the value of the diamond, its portability, the facility with which it can be concealed, and the uncertainty regarding its existence make it a source of temptation to dishonesty among all classes. It is therefore against the law for any one, even if a licensed buyer, to purchase a diamond from any one not a claim-holder, unless he can produce his permit.The law has become so stringent and the detective force so active that terror has stricken the hearts of the I.D.B.s, for it is now a matter of fifteen years’ hard labour to be convicted of buying a stolen diamond. Before this stringent law was passed, many went away rich in a few years who could not have possibly made “their pile” in any legitimate business in that length of time. Men who have been suspected for years, but have managed to evade detection, have been pounced upon by detectives at most unexpected moments; but the temptation is so strong that, despite the penalty, the practice still goes on, but to a smaller extent than before.It was astonishing to find out how often the culprit turned out to be a man in a good and responsible position, and often the very men who were the loudest in the denunciation of the crime were themselves practising it. We were in a café one evening when there was a sudden hush, followed by a startled buzz of conversation, and we heard the name of a well-known man followed by the word “detectives.” A man standing near who was suspected of carrying on the same trade became suddenly pale and bit uneasily on his cigar, and with a careless laugh said, “Serves him right,” in a tone of voice which spoke louder than words, “What a fool not to be more careful!” Before we left the camp that same man was working in convict dress.Detectives themselves have been tempted to dabble in the trade, and have been trapped, and are now working in convict dress by the side of the men they have helped to hunt down. This fascinating trade of gems offers great temptations to the weak-willed, and it takes a certain amount of bull-dog courage, combined with caution and patience, to continue in this dangerous business.On mail days great envelopes of diamonds are sent to London. Some of these packages contain flawless diamonds; others smoky diamonds used in machinery for polishing and cutting the stones; others again would contain stones of all colours, sizes, and purity. One day we handled some packages of spotless gems that the broker had been months collecting; they were beautiful indeed. One package, worth many thousands of dollars, contained yellow diamonds, selected stones in size, colour, and purity. Those of yellow tinge are bought and worn by the East Indians.The pure white stone is of more value than the yellow because not so plentiful. It is a strange fact that these diamond merchants seldom wear diamond jewellery; they prefer rubies or corals to the too common gem, the diamond.The famous Porter Rhodes diamond was found, it is said, by one of his overseers. A director of one of the companies called one morning and I opened the door to him; he assured himself that no one could overhear us before handing me an envelope within which lay this great, pure white diamond, which only some millionaire with plenty of ready money can afford to be the possessor of. I felt highly complimented when told I was the first lady who had had the diamond in her hand, and there was no need for wonder at his caution, for no one would care to let it be known he had such a prize about him.It looks like a large lump of alum with a light like white satin through it, and weighs 150 carats.Mr Rhodes placed it on exhibition later on for the benefit of the hospital, and 5 dollars admission fee was charged to merely have a peep at it. It made some of the old diggers who had been working for years so sick at heart, that they did not feel like work for a week afterward: It is said that when Mr Porter Rhodes had an audience with Her Majesty, the Queen of England, to exhibit the diamond, he had been told that he must not contradict her. But when she remarked she did not think it as large as the Koh-i-noor, he could not endure that, even from a crowned head, and said: “It is larger!” His pride, however, is not to be wondered at, for I believe Mr Porter Rhodes is the onlyMrwho can boast of owning one of the few big diamonds in the world.Some enterprising ladies own Scotch carts, which they send to the wash-ups in which their husbands and brothers are interested, and get the small pebbly refuse that has been hastily looked over at the sorting-table. This is brought to the house and sorted over by them more carefully for the tiny diamonds that have been overlooked in the haste of sorting out larger prizes. A few of the ladies dressed themselves on the money they made at this work.It tires the back and eyes, to be sure, but not any more than other woman’s work.
So interesting and novel was the life at the fields, that although in many respects our surroundings and mode of living were rough and primitive, there was a charm about it that atoned for most of its shortcomings.
After much difficulty, soon after our arrival we succeeded in finding a small house, which we rented, as being more comfortable and affording greater privacy than a hotel. We fortunately obtained an excellent housekeeper, a worthy Scotchwoman, whose husband was engaged as overseer in the mine for one of the companies.
Our house contained one large room, with four other very tiny ones opening out of it. The kitchen was, after the manner of South Africa, situated away from the house, at one corner of the large plot of ground which surrounded the house.
The roof and walls were, like its neighbours, of corrugated iron, and a spacious verandah encircled it; a high rush fence which inclosed the compound served to keep out intruders and prevent the curious gaze of any inquisitive passer-by.
Here we led a happy life, with Frank improving in health every day of her existence. Our rent was 125 dollars a month. Wood was 75 dollars a wagon-load: it had been known as high as 200 dollars, but coal, having been found in the immediate vicinity, had been brought into the market by some of the more enterprising of the farmers and had taken the place of wood for fuel in the furnaces.
Edibles were reasonable, considering the place, excepting vegetables. On one occasion when we wished to have a particularly tempting, large cauliflower we paid 2 dollars for it. This did not enter into our menu very often of course, for we decided to like other things not so necessarily expensive, until we two (or three) might find a Koh-i-noor.
There were two cafés, one kept by an American and the other by French people, where one could be served, at a reasonable price, with a meal that could vie in variety, delicacy, and culinary perfection with the first-class restaurants in London or New York. After eating one of these meals it was strange to go out into the crowded thoroughfare and hire a cart and drive four or five miles in a country in which one might imagine one’s self in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Surely one could but say that Kimberleyisone of the wonders of the world.
The domestic servants are of a different kind to those working in the mine, who are usually raw Kafirs from the interior. The Kafirs generally remain only long enough to save sufficient money to buy a gun or a few head of cattle and return to their kraals. There they trade off their cattle for a wife, and then she does all the work for her husband, whilst he sits down the remainder of his days and tires himself out in watching her do the work, till the soil, and do everything else, telling her the while pretty stories of his adventures, and how he loves her, she thinking it only an honour to work and slave for such a brave boy as hers!
These Kafirs are continually arriving, coming from long distances, walking sometimes as far as 1,500 miles in the interior; but the household servants are different; they are a heterogeneous mixture of Malays from Cape Town and Kafirs and the imported coolies from Natal. It is difficult to say which makes the worst servant; at any rate, we found, no matter from which race we selected our help, it was never safe to leave anything of value, at all portable, within their reach.
Ladies are quite a rarity on the fields, few of the married diggers of merchants caring to subject their wives to the discomforts of the life and the unreliable domestic help. Consequently they remain at home in Europe or in the more civilised towns of the Cape Colony or Natal. The few married ladies resident on the fields are very social, and helped much toward making our stay a pleasant one.
On the evenings when we were “at home,” the capacity of our one reception-room would be tested to its fullest extent. There was always some subject for conversation, some startling event continually occurring to form a theme for discussion.
Now it was the breaking out of the Basuto War, with the report concerning the regiment of mounted irregulars to be raised in the camp for active service; then again a stone of more than usual size and brilliancy had been discovered; or some illicit diamond buyer had been “trapped” by the detectives. This latter topic was always of absorbing interest to the digger or merchant.
It is the illicit diamond buyer, or as they term it,tout court, I.D.B., who has been the sharpest thorn in the digger’s side. He it is who incites the Kafirs who are employed in the mines to steal, and then secretly buys of them the stolen gems. The temptation to become possessed for 400 dollars of a stone clearly worth 4,000 dollars is very great, and occasionally even a detective is found by his associate to be engaged in the illicit trade. It is illegal to own a diamond unless one is a claim-holder or a licensed buyer. If a private individual wishes to purchase a stone or two for himself, he must first obtain a permit from the authorities.
These precautions will be seen to be necessary, because the value of the diamond, its portability, the facility with which it can be concealed, and the uncertainty regarding its existence make it a source of temptation to dishonesty among all classes. It is therefore against the law for any one, even if a licensed buyer, to purchase a diamond from any one not a claim-holder, unless he can produce his permit.
The law has become so stringent and the detective force so active that terror has stricken the hearts of the I.D.B.s, for it is now a matter of fifteen years’ hard labour to be convicted of buying a stolen diamond. Before this stringent law was passed, many went away rich in a few years who could not have possibly made “their pile” in any legitimate business in that length of time. Men who have been suspected for years, but have managed to evade detection, have been pounced upon by detectives at most unexpected moments; but the temptation is so strong that, despite the penalty, the practice still goes on, but to a smaller extent than before.
It was astonishing to find out how often the culprit turned out to be a man in a good and responsible position, and often the very men who were the loudest in the denunciation of the crime were themselves practising it. We were in a café one evening when there was a sudden hush, followed by a startled buzz of conversation, and we heard the name of a well-known man followed by the word “detectives.” A man standing near who was suspected of carrying on the same trade became suddenly pale and bit uneasily on his cigar, and with a careless laugh said, “Serves him right,” in a tone of voice which spoke louder than words, “What a fool not to be more careful!” Before we left the camp that same man was working in convict dress.
Detectives themselves have been tempted to dabble in the trade, and have been trapped, and are now working in convict dress by the side of the men they have helped to hunt down. This fascinating trade of gems offers great temptations to the weak-willed, and it takes a certain amount of bull-dog courage, combined with caution and patience, to continue in this dangerous business.
On mail days great envelopes of diamonds are sent to London. Some of these packages contain flawless diamonds; others smoky diamonds used in machinery for polishing and cutting the stones; others again would contain stones of all colours, sizes, and purity. One day we handled some packages of spotless gems that the broker had been months collecting; they were beautiful indeed. One package, worth many thousands of dollars, contained yellow diamonds, selected stones in size, colour, and purity. Those of yellow tinge are bought and worn by the East Indians.
The pure white stone is of more value than the yellow because not so plentiful. It is a strange fact that these diamond merchants seldom wear diamond jewellery; they prefer rubies or corals to the too common gem, the diamond.
The famous Porter Rhodes diamond was found, it is said, by one of his overseers. A director of one of the companies called one morning and I opened the door to him; he assured himself that no one could overhear us before handing me an envelope within which lay this great, pure white diamond, which only some millionaire with plenty of ready money can afford to be the possessor of. I felt highly complimented when told I was the first lady who had had the diamond in her hand, and there was no need for wonder at his caution, for no one would care to let it be known he had such a prize about him.
It looks like a large lump of alum with a light like white satin through it, and weighs 150 carats.
Mr Rhodes placed it on exhibition later on for the benefit of the hospital, and 5 dollars admission fee was charged to merely have a peep at it. It made some of the old diggers who had been working for years so sick at heart, that they did not feel like work for a week afterward: It is said that when Mr Porter Rhodes had an audience with Her Majesty, the Queen of England, to exhibit the diamond, he had been told that he must not contradict her. But when she remarked she did not think it as large as the Koh-i-noor, he could not endure that, even from a crowned head, and said: “It is larger!” His pride, however, is not to be wondered at, for I believe Mr Porter Rhodes is the onlyMrwho can boast of owning one of the few big diamonds in the world.
Some enterprising ladies own Scotch carts, which they send to the wash-ups in which their husbands and brothers are interested, and get the small pebbly refuse that has been hastily looked over at the sorting-table. This is brought to the house and sorted over by them more carefully for the tiny diamonds that have been overlooked in the haste of sorting out larger prizes. A few of the ladies dressed themselves on the money they made at this work.
It tires the back and eyes, to be sure, but not any more than other woman’s work.
Chapter Twelve.The diamond fields of South Africa, though of recent discovery, have eclipsed all others in the world, both in richness and extent. One of the first diamonds found, worth 125,000 dollars, named the “Star of South Africa,” is owned by the Countess of Dudley, its weight being 46.5 carats. The colour of the Kimberley diamonds makes them much more valuable than those of Dutoitspan or Bulfontein. Those found in the latter mines are larger, but yellow or slightly coloured; all the mines seem inexhaustible. The largest diamond ever found in South Africa came from the Dutoitspan mine in 1885 and weighed 404 carats, but was spotted and of a yellowish tinge. Every man interested in these mines expects and hopes daily to “go one better.”American products are liked, our carriages and heavy wagons wearing better in the hot, dry climate than those of English manufacture. Corn comes from home to these shores in ship-loads, and the American light and strong furniture is liked.Mark Twain’s and Bret Harte’s writings are universally read, and the South Africans say that all they need to open up the country’s interests is about “twenty-five ship-loads of live Yankees.”Some of the houses are furnished beautifully with American furniture. One lady’s bedroom I entered had blue silk and lace coverlet and hangings to an elegant black walnut bed, marble-topped dressing bureau, and the remainder of the room furnished in keeping; but there is no satisfaction in furnishing a house richly or dressing elaborately, on account of the great dust storms. They come up suddenly, without the slightest warning, obscuring the light of day. Solid moving columns of red sand, resembling water-spouts, are whirled round and round and blow like a tornado over the town. These sand storms are quite a feature of Kimberley and a very disagreeable one, but they clear the air of any pestilence. The climate, though scorchingly hot during the middle of the day, is otherwise a very pleasant and healthy one.A low camp fever is prevalent during the summer months, but it comes more from the defective sanitary arrangements than from any fault of the climate. Women and children succumb to this African fever very quickly in the hot summer, when the air quivers with the heat; the only hope of recovery is in being taken away immediately from “the camp” to Bloourfontin, a beautiful town in the Orange Free State, or to breathe the sea air. The nights everywhere in South Africa away from the immediate coast line are invariably cool, no matter how hot it has been during the day, so that one can always obtain a comfortable night’s rest. But that delightful twilight hour, so much enjoyed at home, is not known here, the sinking of the sun being followed immediately by darkness.A beautiful black Newfoundland dog attached itself to us, and was as faithful a body guard as any human being, for when once outside the door at night, no one dared to come within his reach, and when we went out of an evening he was locked in to guard the house.One evening on returning home from a social gathering we found the lock had been broken, the act evidently the work of a white man bent on robbery during our absence; but Hector’s growls had frightened him away. We had no fears after that of its being attempted again, but we reckoned without our host. One evening, a week later, we made preparations to go out, but as soon as Hector saw us putting on our wraps, he watched his opportunity and slipped out. No coaxing could bring him back, and so he followed our cart. This time the burglars did not hurry about their work, but made a most leisurely examination and overhauling of our belongings.We returned to a house which was a scene of the greatest confusion. Every trunk was empty, with its contents piled up on the floor; every pocket in dress and cloak turned inside out, and all jewellery and souvenirs that had not been locked up in the safe, of course, gone. We did not let it frighten us, for, after notifying the police, we shut and barricaded the doors and sat up till dawn; but there is no use denying the fact that if a mouse had made its appearance we should have screamed.Many balls are held during the cool winter evenings, a few of which we attended; one, conducted under the auspices of the ubiquitous Freemasons, was held in the Iron Theatre building, and a very brilliant affair it was. There were four hundred and fifty invitations, of course many more gentlemen than ladies being present, but it was interesting to see what an elegant company assembled so many hundreds of miles from the nearest point of civilisation. Many of the ladies were attired in London or Parisian imported costumes of satin and lace; some of the wives and daughters of the wealthier residents being literally ablaze with diamonds, the result of their husbands’, or fathers’, own pick and shovel, which they had had cut and set during one of their numerous trips to Europe. It was when returning from this ball at three o’clock in the morning that we first visited the mine by moonlight, and it may be said without hesitation that such another sight cannot be found in any other part of the world.The moon and stars seem to shine with a brighter light in the magnificently clear atmosphere than they do in our northern hemisphere, and the ghastly shadows cast by the immense perpendicular and horizontal excavations in the mine gave a weird look to a scene the impression of which can never be effaced. The moonlit chasm resembled a vast deserted city that had slowly crumbled into ruins.Another interesting feature of Kimberley is the arrival of the interior traders’ wagon trains, for every wagon is full of precious and various wealth, the result of a long, risky venture. Not infrequently the costly wares are sold by auction, in the morning market, and the tusks, teeth, skins, horns and feathers are spread out upon the ground as if they were no better than field stuff or garden produce.It is no uncommon thing to see wagon cargoes worth 50,000 dollars exhibited for sale in this unceremonious way, amidst a crowd of onlookers, some of whom look almost as wild as the animals which produced the barbaric spoils, and as black as coal. Professional hunters also bring the result of their trips, though the labour of getting together the skins and ivory is yearly becoming greater, as the game is driven farther and farther north. No doubt the rapid increase in the value of farm produce will tend to lessen the inducements to hunting. Civilisation and barbarism are such mixed quantities in this land that it seems as if the former will never conquer the latter.The inhabitants of Kimberley, numbering 20,000 whites, are determined to make a fine city of it. The old one-storey iron and canvas houses were being moved aside for larger and finer dwelling-houses.Capital was being invested in water-works which would bring the water in pipes from the Vaal River, some seventeen miles away. Government was putting up stone buildings for post-office and telegraph offices. Churches were towering up above the surrounding dwelling-houses and stores. A club-house, the finest in the country, was built at a cost of 90,000 dollars, and they still keep on improving the streets, which extend over twenty miles. There are some very fine jewellery stores and dry goods houses, as attractive as any in American cities of double its population. An air of activity pervades the place. Thirty-two electric Brush lights, of two thousand candle power, light up the city.Wishing to see how far civilisation had crept into the interior and also to breathe the wonderful air of the Transvaal for a little while, we left our house in charge of our worthy housekeeper and drove away from the coach office early one bright summer’s morning.
The diamond fields of South Africa, though of recent discovery, have eclipsed all others in the world, both in richness and extent. One of the first diamonds found, worth 125,000 dollars, named the “Star of South Africa,” is owned by the Countess of Dudley, its weight being 46.5 carats. The colour of the Kimberley diamonds makes them much more valuable than those of Dutoitspan or Bulfontein. Those found in the latter mines are larger, but yellow or slightly coloured; all the mines seem inexhaustible. The largest diamond ever found in South Africa came from the Dutoitspan mine in 1885 and weighed 404 carats, but was spotted and of a yellowish tinge. Every man interested in these mines expects and hopes daily to “go one better.”
American products are liked, our carriages and heavy wagons wearing better in the hot, dry climate than those of English manufacture. Corn comes from home to these shores in ship-loads, and the American light and strong furniture is liked.
Mark Twain’s and Bret Harte’s writings are universally read, and the South Africans say that all they need to open up the country’s interests is about “twenty-five ship-loads of live Yankees.”
Some of the houses are furnished beautifully with American furniture. One lady’s bedroom I entered had blue silk and lace coverlet and hangings to an elegant black walnut bed, marble-topped dressing bureau, and the remainder of the room furnished in keeping; but there is no satisfaction in furnishing a house richly or dressing elaborately, on account of the great dust storms. They come up suddenly, without the slightest warning, obscuring the light of day. Solid moving columns of red sand, resembling water-spouts, are whirled round and round and blow like a tornado over the town. These sand storms are quite a feature of Kimberley and a very disagreeable one, but they clear the air of any pestilence. The climate, though scorchingly hot during the middle of the day, is otherwise a very pleasant and healthy one.
A low camp fever is prevalent during the summer months, but it comes more from the defective sanitary arrangements than from any fault of the climate. Women and children succumb to this African fever very quickly in the hot summer, when the air quivers with the heat; the only hope of recovery is in being taken away immediately from “the camp” to Bloourfontin, a beautiful town in the Orange Free State, or to breathe the sea air. The nights everywhere in South Africa away from the immediate coast line are invariably cool, no matter how hot it has been during the day, so that one can always obtain a comfortable night’s rest. But that delightful twilight hour, so much enjoyed at home, is not known here, the sinking of the sun being followed immediately by darkness.
A beautiful black Newfoundland dog attached itself to us, and was as faithful a body guard as any human being, for when once outside the door at night, no one dared to come within his reach, and when we went out of an evening he was locked in to guard the house.
One evening on returning home from a social gathering we found the lock had been broken, the act evidently the work of a white man bent on robbery during our absence; but Hector’s growls had frightened him away. We had no fears after that of its being attempted again, but we reckoned without our host. One evening, a week later, we made preparations to go out, but as soon as Hector saw us putting on our wraps, he watched his opportunity and slipped out. No coaxing could bring him back, and so he followed our cart. This time the burglars did not hurry about their work, but made a most leisurely examination and overhauling of our belongings.
We returned to a house which was a scene of the greatest confusion. Every trunk was empty, with its contents piled up on the floor; every pocket in dress and cloak turned inside out, and all jewellery and souvenirs that had not been locked up in the safe, of course, gone. We did not let it frighten us, for, after notifying the police, we shut and barricaded the doors and sat up till dawn; but there is no use denying the fact that if a mouse had made its appearance we should have screamed.
Many balls are held during the cool winter evenings, a few of which we attended; one, conducted under the auspices of the ubiquitous Freemasons, was held in the Iron Theatre building, and a very brilliant affair it was. There were four hundred and fifty invitations, of course many more gentlemen than ladies being present, but it was interesting to see what an elegant company assembled so many hundreds of miles from the nearest point of civilisation. Many of the ladies were attired in London or Parisian imported costumes of satin and lace; some of the wives and daughters of the wealthier residents being literally ablaze with diamonds, the result of their husbands’, or fathers’, own pick and shovel, which they had had cut and set during one of their numerous trips to Europe. It was when returning from this ball at three o’clock in the morning that we first visited the mine by moonlight, and it may be said without hesitation that such another sight cannot be found in any other part of the world.
The moon and stars seem to shine with a brighter light in the magnificently clear atmosphere than they do in our northern hemisphere, and the ghastly shadows cast by the immense perpendicular and horizontal excavations in the mine gave a weird look to a scene the impression of which can never be effaced. The moonlit chasm resembled a vast deserted city that had slowly crumbled into ruins.
Another interesting feature of Kimberley is the arrival of the interior traders’ wagon trains, for every wagon is full of precious and various wealth, the result of a long, risky venture. Not infrequently the costly wares are sold by auction, in the morning market, and the tusks, teeth, skins, horns and feathers are spread out upon the ground as if they were no better than field stuff or garden produce.
It is no uncommon thing to see wagon cargoes worth 50,000 dollars exhibited for sale in this unceremonious way, amidst a crowd of onlookers, some of whom look almost as wild as the animals which produced the barbaric spoils, and as black as coal. Professional hunters also bring the result of their trips, though the labour of getting together the skins and ivory is yearly becoming greater, as the game is driven farther and farther north. No doubt the rapid increase in the value of farm produce will tend to lessen the inducements to hunting. Civilisation and barbarism are such mixed quantities in this land that it seems as if the former will never conquer the latter.
The inhabitants of Kimberley, numbering 20,000 whites, are determined to make a fine city of it. The old one-storey iron and canvas houses were being moved aside for larger and finer dwelling-houses.
Capital was being invested in water-works which would bring the water in pipes from the Vaal River, some seventeen miles away. Government was putting up stone buildings for post-office and telegraph offices. Churches were towering up above the surrounding dwelling-houses and stores. A club-house, the finest in the country, was built at a cost of 90,000 dollars, and they still keep on improving the streets, which extend over twenty miles. There are some very fine jewellery stores and dry goods houses, as attractive as any in American cities of double its population. An air of activity pervades the place. Thirty-two electric Brush lights, of two thousand candle power, light up the city.
Wishing to see how far civilisation had crept into the interior and also to breathe the wonderful air of the Transvaal for a little while, we left our house in charge of our worthy housekeeper and drove away from the coach office early one bright summer’s morning.
Chapter Thirteen.We were told that the Transvaal Republic was an entirely inland territory; nowhere does it touch the sea, from which its nearest point is quite one hundred miles. It extends from the Vaal River to the Limpopo, and from the same river and the colony of Griqua Land West (the diamond fields) on the west to the Zulu country and Portuguese settlements on the east. It is exceedingly healthy, lying from 6,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea level. Our road for some distance after leaving Kimberley was through thick sand; indeed, Kimberley seems to lie in the centre of a veritable sea of sand, sometimes so loose and deep that to go through it is like wading through deep snow. The coach required constant changing of its six horses at stablesen routeto make any progress.On the second day from the Fields we passed through the village of Bloemhof, the first place after leaving Kimberley. It is quite a pretty little spot, the only street being wide and clean, with tolerably well-kept grass-plots on either side of the road. It formed an agreeable contrast to Clerksdorp, a wretched hamlet we reached the following day, where the hotel (save the mark!) boasted one room and parlour, with an individual in charge who was collectively clerk, proprietor, waiter, bartender, and chambermaid.As we neared Potchefstrom there was an agreeable change in the appearance of the country, the characteristics of the lower veldt, which were alternately a plain and a mountain pass in unvarying succession, giving place to a park-like landscape, forming the most delightful of prospects.The country was everywhere beautifully fresh and green, the monotony of grassland being varied with clumps of thorn bushes and stunted trees. The variety of thorn is almost endless, from the beautiful, fragrant, flowered “mimosa” to the prickly pear, and the suggestively named “wacht een beetje” or “wait a bit” bramble. Three days’ and three nights’ almost constant travelling brought us to Potchefstrom, and there, a thousand miles from Cape Town, we were obliged to confess that we had reachedtheprettiest village in the country.Alighting at the Blue Post Hotel, we were received in a manner which almost made us doubt the existence of such places as we had passed through on our way.We were shown to a very nice room, and sat down to as good a dinner as the heart of a tired American girl could desire.The worthy hostess, Mrs Jenkinson, a ruddy-faced, buxom Englishwoman, who seemed to bring with her all the freshness of her native Devonshire, made us most comfortable during our visit; her kindness was appreciated, coming, as it did, after the extortions of the grasping hovel-keepers of the roadside. The town itself is like a large orchard, so abundant are the fruit trees. Every street is a boulevard of orange and peach trees, which here grow side by side. The very hedgerows are figs and quinces, while everywhere may be seen grapevines, lemons, shaddocks, and bananas. Between the sidewalk and the street is a well-kept grass-plot, with a stream of clear water running in the midst of it, a veritable rarity in South Africa. The Mooi (Dutch for “beautiful”) River takes a horseshoe curve round the village, which is built on a slope. The furrows which hold the water are led from the upper to the lower bend, and thus a perpetual stream passes through the town. Eight mills were situated at the entrance of the town, and several more were in course of erection.We met an American gentleman, Mr C—, who had made a considerable fortune in the Gold Fields, and who was conducting one of the mills; this he had fitted with machinery brought from the—Philadelphia Exhibition. His wife was a pleasant-faced, cheerful little woman, whose history, as it was told us, sounded like a romance. He had first met her at Pilgrim’s Rest Gold Fields, where she had gone from Natal with her two brothers. She, following their example, had pegged out a claim. She had hired natives, had worked at it herself, and had turned out more gold than either of her brothers.We began to hear the most alarming rumours of the disaffection of the Dutch Boers with the Government. Several prominent farmers had called a large meeting, at which it was unanimously voted to pay no taxes to the hated “Englanders.” Such startling stories began to be circulated about the attitude of the country people that we hastened to gather up our skirts and get on to and out of Pretoria before the threatened rising took place.At the end of three most enjoyable weeks in Potchefstrom we again took seats in the coach, and after one hundred miles of jolting, bumping, and general discomfort, arrived at Pretoria, then the seat of the English Government, and now the capital of the Republic. On the way we passed the sources of the Limpopo River, and at a place called Wonderfontein were shown a remarkable phenomenon. The water, which runs in a clear, tolerably rapid stream, suddenly disappears into the sand, and appears again a considerable distance further on, as bright and clear as though its progress had never been interrupted. There are also gold diggings on the road; a rush had been made to them some time previous to our arrival, but they had now been nearly abandoned, and a stray prospector or two were the sole remaining signs of the presence of the metal.
We were told that the Transvaal Republic was an entirely inland territory; nowhere does it touch the sea, from which its nearest point is quite one hundred miles. It extends from the Vaal River to the Limpopo, and from the same river and the colony of Griqua Land West (the diamond fields) on the west to the Zulu country and Portuguese settlements on the east. It is exceedingly healthy, lying from 6,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea level. Our road for some distance after leaving Kimberley was through thick sand; indeed, Kimberley seems to lie in the centre of a veritable sea of sand, sometimes so loose and deep that to go through it is like wading through deep snow. The coach required constant changing of its six horses at stablesen routeto make any progress.
On the second day from the Fields we passed through the village of Bloemhof, the first place after leaving Kimberley. It is quite a pretty little spot, the only street being wide and clean, with tolerably well-kept grass-plots on either side of the road. It formed an agreeable contrast to Clerksdorp, a wretched hamlet we reached the following day, where the hotel (save the mark!) boasted one room and parlour, with an individual in charge who was collectively clerk, proprietor, waiter, bartender, and chambermaid.
As we neared Potchefstrom there was an agreeable change in the appearance of the country, the characteristics of the lower veldt, which were alternately a plain and a mountain pass in unvarying succession, giving place to a park-like landscape, forming the most delightful of prospects.
The country was everywhere beautifully fresh and green, the monotony of grassland being varied with clumps of thorn bushes and stunted trees. The variety of thorn is almost endless, from the beautiful, fragrant, flowered “mimosa” to the prickly pear, and the suggestively named “wacht een beetje” or “wait a bit” bramble. Three days’ and three nights’ almost constant travelling brought us to Potchefstrom, and there, a thousand miles from Cape Town, we were obliged to confess that we had reachedtheprettiest village in the country.
Alighting at the Blue Post Hotel, we were received in a manner which almost made us doubt the existence of such places as we had passed through on our way.
We were shown to a very nice room, and sat down to as good a dinner as the heart of a tired American girl could desire.
The worthy hostess, Mrs Jenkinson, a ruddy-faced, buxom Englishwoman, who seemed to bring with her all the freshness of her native Devonshire, made us most comfortable during our visit; her kindness was appreciated, coming, as it did, after the extortions of the grasping hovel-keepers of the roadside. The town itself is like a large orchard, so abundant are the fruit trees. Every street is a boulevard of orange and peach trees, which here grow side by side. The very hedgerows are figs and quinces, while everywhere may be seen grapevines, lemons, shaddocks, and bananas. Between the sidewalk and the street is a well-kept grass-plot, with a stream of clear water running in the midst of it, a veritable rarity in South Africa. The Mooi (Dutch for “beautiful”) River takes a horseshoe curve round the village, which is built on a slope. The furrows which hold the water are led from the upper to the lower bend, and thus a perpetual stream passes through the town. Eight mills were situated at the entrance of the town, and several more were in course of erection.
We met an American gentleman, Mr C—, who had made a considerable fortune in the Gold Fields, and who was conducting one of the mills; this he had fitted with machinery brought from the—Philadelphia Exhibition. His wife was a pleasant-faced, cheerful little woman, whose history, as it was told us, sounded like a romance. He had first met her at Pilgrim’s Rest Gold Fields, where she had gone from Natal with her two brothers. She, following their example, had pegged out a claim. She had hired natives, had worked at it herself, and had turned out more gold than either of her brothers.
We began to hear the most alarming rumours of the disaffection of the Dutch Boers with the Government. Several prominent farmers had called a large meeting, at which it was unanimously voted to pay no taxes to the hated “Englanders.” Such startling stories began to be circulated about the attitude of the country people that we hastened to gather up our skirts and get on to and out of Pretoria before the threatened rising took place.
At the end of three most enjoyable weeks in Potchefstrom we again took seats in the coach, and after one hundred miles of jolting, bumping, and general discomfort, arrived at Pretoria, then the seat of the English Government, and now the capital of the Republic. On the way we passed the sources of the Limpopo River, and at a place called Wonderfontein were shown a remarkable phenomenon. The water, which runs in a clear, tolerably rapid stream, suddenly disappears into the sand, and appears again a considerable distance further on, as bright and clear as though its progress had never been interrupted. There are also gold diggings on the road; a rush had been made to them some time previous to our arrival, but they had now been nearly abandoned, and a stray prospector or two were the sole remaining signs of the presence of the metal.
Chapter Fourteen.Pretoria presented quite a lively appearance when we first saw it. The presence of the British military, with their bright uniforms, gave a gay appearance to the town. The playing of the band every evening on the market square was an agreeable event, but one could not help remarking the sullen looks of the few Boers who were loitering about, and the lowering glances they from time to time directed toward the detested “red-coats.” There were many churches and a number of stores. Although the town was not as pretty as Potchefstrom, the surrounding country district was exceedingly rich and fertile.The northern portions of the districts, being warmer and at a lower elevation than the rest, could produce, besides the various cereals, tobacco, indigo, and the orange tree, the sugarcane, coffee, cotton, and the different kinds of tropical and semi-tropical products.The people of Pretoria and Potchefstrom, to whom we expressed our admiration of the country, told us we should go to Rustenberg, distant about sixty miles from Pretoria, which place they declared to be a veritable paradise. All the temperate and most of the tropical plants and fruits were to be seen there side by side, the whole country around presenting the appearance of a garden.The gold fields are situated in and about Leydenberg, a town two hundred and twenty-five miles north-west of Pretoria, where considerable gold had been found, although the gold-bearing tract was declared by prospectors to be “patchy.”Since the fields had first been discovered various rushes had taken place, resulting, as such rushes do, in various fortunes for the rushers, some coming away on foot, bringing their worldly wealth in their blankets and tin pans, and others bringing theirs in carts, which were loaded with the precious metal.Our hotel proprietor had been one of the unfortunates. He said the prospects in the gold fields had never been great, and were then daily diminishing. “Gold,” he said, “there is, but not in payable quantities; it is too patchy. One man will wash out ten or fifteen dollars’ worth in a week, while the claims around him will not come near paying expenses. Sometimes a large nugget is found, as, for instance, the one recently exhibited in Durham, weighing 214 ounces. Young men frantically rush to see such a nugget, and immediately imagining the country is covered with gold, are eager to leave a good situation and go to the fields.“Deceived humanity! Let them be wise men for only five minutes, and ask themselves how much did that nugget cost the finder, and how many didn’t find the nugget at all? I possess a quantity of gold that cost me ninety dollars the ounce, whereas the market value is from fifteen to twenty dollars the ounce. I am neither an Australian nor Californian miner, but, having always been in partnership with the latter, I have had the benefit of their experience, and I claim to be a practical miner. Labour is scarce. Kafirs are paid four dollars a month (they now receive much more) and have the usual diet, mealie meal, which is fifteen dollars a sack and sometimes twenty-five. No,” said he, “prosperity is the exception, and the great cry is. How can I get away from here?”The attitude of the Boers had become more and more menacing during our short stay in Pretoria, and it seemed prudent to retire whilst we could. So giving up with a sigh all our half-formed resolutions to see the wild country and enjoy the glorious climate where the regaining of health was a certainty, we packed ourselves away in the down coach. The easiest way to ride with comfort in a coach is to imagine one’s self India-rubber. Don’t sit too firmly on the seat, but sway about with the motion of the coach until you can’t imagine yourself India-rubber any more. By the time the body is numb and pretty nearly paralysed, the coach stops, and on trying to descend the limbs refuse to act. But the India-rubber idea has rested the body in some measure. The farms we passed on our way down were deserted, all the occupants having trekked to Potchefstrom to attend a monster meeting fixed for the following week. There had been heavy rains, and we crossed several streams which had changed into rivers since our journey up. One, the Yorksey, which was only just fordable, had been but a stagnant puddle when we passed it before.Just calling in on our kind hostess, Mrs Jenkinson, in Potchefstrom, and taking a last look at the beautiful orchard-like village, so soon to become a terrible scene of bloodshed and slaughter, we continued on our way without incident other than the usual discomforts attendant on a South African coach ride. At several points in the roads we passed groups of Kafirs going to the diamond fields, and other groups returning from them, and it was amusing to note the prosperous appearance of the latter compared with the half-naked, destitute condition of their brethren going in the opposite direction. Most of them carried huge bundles on their heads, and it was funny to see the strange medley of articles some were carrying home as curiosities. Two of them carried ragged umbrellas, with scarcely a shred of material on their skeleton frames. They seemed to fancy bright tin pails and pannikins; and a new white flannel blanket, with several bright-coloured stripes decorating the ends, was an indispensable article in the kit of every one of them.We passed through Clerksdorp and Bloemhof, as on our journey up, arriving in Kimberley on the fourth morning, travel-stained and weary, and most heartily sick of Messrs Cobb and Co’s coaches. Apart from the travelling we had enjoyed our trip very much, having seen the most interesting country in South Africa. Although the poor Transvaal seems to be doomed to years of political trouble before it can become truly prosperous, it is undoubtedly, with its undeveloped mineral wealth, its rich soil, the game which abounds there for the hunter, and, above all, with its glorious climate, the country of the future of South Africa. The farmers seem to want rousing; they lack ambition. Large tracts of country, capable of producing almost anything, lie dormant, waiting for employment. The best thing that can happen to the country is the successful opening up of some paying gold fields. This would bring many men of the right sort to the country, men with energy and determination, and above all, some healthy ambition. To the stranger newly arrived in the country the people seem lazy and listless, but after a year’s residence there this same listlessness gradually begins to steal over the newcomer. He then greets the latest comer, who is energetic and indifferent to heat, with the remark: “Wait till you have been out here as long as I, and see how you will like it then.”Experts believe the mineral wealth of the Transvaal to be enormous. The diversity and variety of the minerals found there is unsurpassed. It has lead, cobalt, silver, plumbago, saltpetre, sulphur, iron, the best coal, and above all, gold! Echoes reach the ear of a story that there are signs on the western coasts, and not far distant, of the mines of Ophir. One also hears of an impregnable country beyond, and of a tribe kindred to the Basutos, ruled by the great chief “Sekukuni.” Everything one hears in Africa that is weird and strange one easily believes.As a grazing country the Transvaal is by far the best in South Africa. Sheep, cattle and horses thrive there, and certain districts are especially suited to one or another class of live-stock. It is in some parts well wooded, particularly in the north, while its producing capabilities are practically unlimited. When traffic can be easily extended to Delagoa Bay, it is confidently expected great changes will take place.It remains to be seen whether the Boer, left to himself, is capable of self-government with progress. Will he utilise the advantages of his country, or will he rest from generation to generation in stagnant content, comforting himself with the maxim: “What was good enough for my father is good enough for me.”
Pretoria presented quite a lively appearance when we first saw it. The presence of the British military, with their bright uniforms, gave a gay appearance to the town. The playing of the band every evening on the market square was an agreeable event, but one could not help remarking the sullen looks of the few Boers who were loitering about, and the lowering glances they from time to time directed toward the detested “red-coats.” There were many churches and a number of stores. Although the town was not as pretty as Potchefstrom, the surrounding country district was exceedingly rich and fertile.
The northern portions of the districts, being warmer and at a lower elevation than the rest, could produce, besides the various cereals, tobacco, indigo, and the orange tree, the sugarcane, coffee, cotton, and the different kinds of tropical and semi-tropical products.
The people of Pretoria and Potchefstrom, to whom we expressed our admiration of the country, told us we should go to Rustenberg, distant about sixty miles from Pretoria, which place they declared to be a veritable paradise. All the temperate and most of the tropical plants and fruits were to be seen there side by side, the whole country around presenting the appearance of a garden.
The gold fields are situated in and about Leydenberg, a town two hundred and twenty-five miles north-west of Pretoria, where considerable gold had been found, although the gold-bearing tract was declared by prospectors to be “patchy.”
Since the fields had first been discovered various rushes had taken place, resulting, as such rushes do, in various fortunes for the rushers, some coming away on foot, bringing their worldly wealth in their blankets and tin pans, and others bringing theirs in carts, which were loaded with the precious metal.
Our hotel proprietor had been one of the unfortunates. He said the prospects in the gold fields had never been great, and were then daily diminishing. “Gold,” he said, “there is, but not in payable quantities; it is too patchy. One man will wash out ten or fifteen dollars’ worth in a week, while the claims around him will not come near paying expenses. Sometimes a large nugget is found, as, for instance, the one recently exhibited in Durham, weighing 214 ounces. Young men frantically rush to see such a nugget, and immediately imagining the country is covered with gold, are eager to leave a good situation and go to the fields.
“Deceived humanity! Let them be wise men for only five minutes, and ask themselves how much did that nugget cost the finder, and how many didn’t find the nugget at all? I possess a quantity of gold that cost me ninety dollars the ounce, whereas the market value is from fifteen to twenty dollars the ounce. I am neither an Australian nor Californian miner, but, having always been in partnership with the latter, I have had the benefit of their experience, and I claim to be a practical miner. Labour is scarce. Kafirs are paid four dollars a month (they now receive much more) and have the usual diet, mealie meal, which is fifteen dollars a sack and sometimes twenty-five. No,” said he, “prosperity is the exception, and the great cry is. How can I get away from here?”
The attitude of the Boers had become more and more menacing during our short stay in Pretoria, and it seemed prudent to retire whilst we could. So giving up with a sigh all our half-formed resolutions to see the wild country and enjoy the glorious climate where the regaining of health was a certainty, we packed ourselves away in the down coach. The easiest way to ride with comfort in a coach is to imagine one’s self India-rubber. Don’t sit too firmly on the seat, but sway about with the motion of the coach until you can’t imagine yourself India-rubber any more. By the time the body is numb and pretty nearly paralysed, the coach stops, and on trying to descend the limbs refuse to act. But the India-rubber idea has rested the body in some measure. The farms we passed on our way down were deserted, all the occupants having trekked to Potchefstrom to attend a monster meeting fixed for the following week. There had been heavy rains, and we crossed several streams which had changed into rivers since our journey up. One, the Yorksey, which was only just fordable, had been but a stagnant puddle when we passed it before.
Just calling in on our kind hostess, Mrs Jenkinson, in Potchefstrom, and taking a last look at the beautiful orchard-like village, so soon to become a terrible scene of bloodshed and slaughter, we continued on our way without incident other than the usual discomforts attendant on a South African coach ride. At several points in the roads we passed groups of Kafirs going to the diamond fields, and other groups returning from them, and it was amusing to note the prosperous appearance of the latter compared with the half-naked, destitute condition of their brethren going in the opposite direction. Most of them carried huge bundles on their heads, and it was funny to see the strange medley of articles some were carrying home as curiosities. Two of them carried ragged umbrellas, with scarcely a shred of material on their skeleton frames. They seemed to fancy bright tin pails and pannikins; and a new white flannel blanket, with several bright-coloured stripes decorating the ends, was an indispensable article in the kit of every one of them.
We passed through Clerksdorp and Bloemhof, as on our journey up, arriving in Kimberley on the fourth morning, travel-stained and weary, and most heartily sick of Messrs Cobb and Co’s coaches. Apart from the travelling we had enjoyed our trip very much, having seen the most interesting country in South Africa. Although the poor Transvaal seems to be doomed to years of political trouble before it can become truly prosperous, it is undoubtedly, with its undeveloped mineral wealth, its rich soil, the game which abounds there for the hunter, and, above all, with its glorious climate, the country of the future of South Africa. The farmers seem to want rousing; they lack ambition. Large tracts of country, capable of producing almost anything, lie dormant, waiting for employment. The best thing that can happen to the country is the successful opening up of some paying gold fields. This would bring many men of the right sort to the country, men with energy and determination, and above all, some healthy ambition. To the stranger newly arrived in the country the people seem lazy and listless, but after a year’s residence there this same listlessness gradually begins to steal over the newcomer. He then greets the latest comer, who is energetic and indifferent to heat, with the remark: “Wait till you have been out here as long as I, and see how you will like it then.”
Experts believe the mineral wealth of the Transvaal to be enormous. The diversity and variety of the minerals found there is unsurpassed. It has lead, cobalt, silver, plumbago, saltpetre, sulphur, iron, the best coal, and above all, gold! Echoes reach the ear of a story that there are signs on the western coasts, and not far distant, of the mines of Ophir. One also hears of an impregnable country beyond, and of a tribe kindred to the Basutos, ruled by the great chief “Sekukuni.” Everything one hears in Africa that is weird and strange one easily believes.
As a grazing country the Transvaal is by far the best in South Africa. Sheep, cattle and horses thrive there, and certain districts are especially suited to one or another class of live-stock. It is in some parts well wooded, particularly in the north, while its producing capabilities are practically unlimited. When traffic can be easily extended to Delagoa Bay, it is confidently expected great changes will take place.
It remains to be seen whether the Boer, left to himself, is capable of self-government with progress. Will he utilise the advantages of his country, or will he rest from generation to generation in stagnant content, comforting himself with the maxim: “What was good enough for my father is good enough for me.”
Chapter Fifteen.We found our motherly old housekeeper awaiting our arrival with everything fresh and clean throughout the house, and we were glad once more to be “at home.” The ten months of our life in “the camp” had been full of interest and pleasure, and its sun’s rays had given health to the invalid. But such a desert region of country could have no attraction for any one but the speculator. After a thoroughly good rest we turned our thoughts toward the first stage of our return.Frank had gained so wonderfully in health that we thought a change to the coast would do no harm. If harm did come, however, we could return, for we were decided to remain in the country until she had regained her health. It seems that human beings belong more to the vegetable than to the animal kingdom. They are like plants that flourish if they are put in the right soil, and grow in the climate best suited to them. The damp, heavy air of London, that necessitated exercise and food, was delightful to Eva and me, whilst Frank pined away under it as if she were breathing a deadly poison.At the beginning of the new year we prepared to go by coach the usual way to Grahamstown, the principal town in the eastern province of the Cape Colony, and the point of our destination. In a few days our furniture was disposed of, our housekeeper dismissed, and we took our places in the coach to leave, and bade good-by to Kimberley and many kind friends we had made. For seven months it had not rained, but rumours of heavy rains had reached us a few weeks before our departure, and we feared we should find impassable the river we should have to cross on our way to Fauresmith, near which “Jagersfontein” (the new diamond fields) is situated. The roads we found in no better condition than those in the colony, and the coach threw us about and jolted us against one another and the sides in the old familiar way.On arriving at the bank of the river, we found it was rushing down like a torrent, and almost level with the top of the precipitous banks, some sixty feet high. At another time we should have found the river at the foot of these banks, meandering along in an easily forded stream. The only contrivance for crossing, provided for such an emergency as the rising of the river, was a stout wire rope stretched from bank to bank, upon which was swung a common pine box of fair dimensions, but full of gaping holes, and looking, in itself, by no means capable of sustaining the weight of a healthy body. But it was the only possible mode of transit, so, screwing our courage to the sticking point, we prepared to cross. The box could only accommodate one individual at a time. So Eva stepped in to face the danger of the passage alone. One portmanteau was carried over with each passenger. How the heart beat as the Kafirs on the other side commenced to haul on the pulley lines attached to the frail machine.We watched Eva with breathless interest as she was slowly pulled along in jerks, now and then coming to a dead standstill and dangling over that swollen stream, whilst the haulers rested before taking a fresh grasp of the lines; pulling a few seconds, then resting a few seconds, leaving the subject to dangle over the torrent with the heart thumping wildly. The rest of us followed in due course. As the opposite bank was reached, and we were lifted on toterra firma, the hand of that black man was clutched with as much fervency as we had ever grasped the hand of our dearest friend.Having landed, we got into a coach which was waiting, to receive us. By night we reached Koffyfontein, a small village which had sprung up around what was supposed to be another diamond mine. Although a good deal of money had been invested in the neighbourhood, we did not hear of any fortunes having been made. We travelled all the next day, traversing a level plain well covered with grass and swarming with game. We often passed large herds of spring-bok, which started off with their graceful, springing gallop at sight of the coach. When we arrived at Fauresmith late in the afternoon we were tired indeed! The town has become prominent since the diamond mine at Jagersfontein (distant about four miles) has been opened. It is a long, straggling village with an unpronounceable Dutch name. Soon after our arrival the town was visited by a thunderstorm, which broke upon the hills round about us with terrific force, preceded by that deathly stillness and darkness which is so very ominous. Africa can deal out wonderful thunder and lightning. The lightning flashes incessantly, and seems to strike something every time it descends, the air quivers with electricity, and the atmosphere constantly changes from purple to gold. For any one who enjoys seeing a thunderstorm, Africa meets all requirements. The rain fell in torrents, but in an hour passed away, leaving the early evening cool and delightful.We took a stroll to the banks of the river, which had swollen into a torrent, and was sweeping down over rocks and boulders. A number of Kafirs, who had been working in the town, stood gazing dismally at it, whilst their wives and children looked on from across the stream. Several diggers from Jagersfontein, formerly of Kimberley, were stopping at the wretched hotel we were obliged to stop at. The mine is in a more workable condition than that at Kimberley, but not so large, and with ground not so rich, but the stones found there are said by the miners of Jagersfontein to be whiter and purer than any others. The mine produces about 250,000 dollars worth annually. The diggers complain as bitterly against their foe, the I.D.B., as their Kimberley brothers. The penalty attached to the crime in the Orange Free State, where the mine is situated, is greater than in Kimberley, but the detective system is not as complete. There is less risk of conviction, therefore, but the diggers have formed a detective system amongst themselves, and woe to the man who falls into their clutches! It is estimated that from one-fourth to one-fifth of the diamonds found in the mines never reach their rightful owners.At dawn of the next day we continued on our journey, passing through the village of Phillopolis, once the principal place of the native tribe of the Griquas. It is a typical Dutch village, ill built, and in every way insignificant and uninviting. Close by the village is a very large Kafir kraal. As we passed it many came out to see the coach go by. A few hours later we crossed one of the bridges which span the Orange River, and were again in the Cape Colony. We passed through Colesberg, a village of considerable size, and the centre of a large sheep and ostrich-farming country. A thriving wool-washing establishment is situated there. Wool is the most important production of the farming industry of Cape Colony, but the best farmers in sheep-raising are not among the native Dutch, but among the English, German, and Scotch emigrants. I never saw Boer women knitting; the Boer women, in fact, seem to have little capacity for the kind of work peculiar to women in other civilised countries. From Colesberg we travelled through an uninviting country, usually a plain, studded, here and there with isolated hills, and having very little timber. We reached Grahamstown in the cool of the evening of the next day, alighting at the Masonic Hotel.
We found our motherly old housekeeper awaiting our arrival with everything fresh and clean throughout the house, and we were glad once more to be “at home.” The ten months of our life in “the camp” had been full of interest and pleasure, and its sun’s rays had given health to the invalid. But such a desert region of country could have no attraction for any one but the speculator. After a thoroughly good rest we turned our thoughts toward the first stage of our return.
Frank had gained so wonderfully in health that we thought a change to the coast would do no harm. If harm did come, however, we could return, for we were decided to remain in the country until she had regained her health. It seems that human beings belong more to the vegetable than to the animal kingdom. They are like plants that flourish if they are put in the right soil, and grow in the climate best suited to them. The damp, heavy air of London, that necessitated exercise and food, was delightful to Eva and me, whilst Frank pined away under it as if she were breathing a deadly poison.
At the beginning of the new year we prepared to go by coach the usual way to Grahamstown, the principal town in the eastern province of the Cape Colony, and the point of our destination. In a few days our furniture was disposed of, our housekeeper dismissed, and we took our places in the coach to leave, and bade good-by to Kimberley and many kind friends we had made. For seven months it had not rained, but rumours of heavy rains had reached us a few weeks before our departure, and we feared we should find impassable the river we should have to cross on our way to Fauresmith, near which “Jagersfontein” (the new diamond fields) is situated. The roads we found in no better condition than those in the colony, and the coach threw us about and jolted us against one another and the sides in the old familiar way.
On arriving at the bank of the river, we found it was rushing down like a torrent, and almost level with the top of the precipitous banks, some sixty feet high. At another time we should have found the river at the foot of these banks, meandering along in an easily forded stream. The only contrivance for crossing, provided for such an emergency as the rising of the river, was a stout wire rope stretched from bank to bank, upon which was swung a common pine box of fair dimensions, but full of gaping holes, and looking, in itself, by no means capable of sustaining the weight of a healthy body. But it was the only possible mode of transit, so, screwing our courage to the sticking point, we prepared to cross. The box could only accommodate one individual at a time. So Eva stepped in to face the danger of the passage alone. One portmanteau was carried over with each passenger. How the heart beat as the Kafirs on the other side commenced to haul on the pulley lines attached to the frail machine.
We watched Eva with breathless interest as she was slowly pulled along in jerks, now and then coming to a dead standstill and dangling over that swollen stream, whilst the haulers rested before taking a fresh grasp of the lines; pulling a few seconds, then resting a few seconds, leaving the subject to dangle over the torrent with the heart thumping wildly. The rest of us followed in due course. As the opposite bank was reached, and we were lifted on toterra firma, the hand of that black man was clutched with as much fervency as we had ever grasped the hand of our dearest friend.
Having landed, we got into a coach which was waiting, to receive us. By night we reached Koffyfontein, a small village which had sprung up around what was supposed to be another diamond mine. Although a good deal of money had been invested in the neighbourhood, we did not hear of any fortunes having been made. We travelled all the next day, traversing a level plain well covered with grass and swarming with game. We often passed large herds of spring-bok, which started off with their graceful, springing gallop at sight of the coach. When we arrived at Fauresmith late in the afternoon we were tired indeed! The town has become prominent since the diamond mine at Jagersfontein (distant about four miles) has been opened. It is a long, straggling village with an unpronounceable Dutch name. Soon after our arrival the town was visited by a thunderstorm, which broke upon the hills round about us with terrific force, preceded by that deathly stillness and darkness which is so very ominous. Africa can deal out wonderful thunder and lightning. The lightning flashes incessantly, and seems to strike something every time it descends, the air quivers with electricity, and the atmosphere constantly changes from purple to gold. For any one who enjoys seeing a thunderstorm, Africa meets all requirements. The rain fell in torrents, but in an hour passed away, leaving the early evening cool and delightful.
We took a stroll to the banks of the river, which had swollen into a torrent, and was sweeping down over rocks and boulders. A number of Kafirs, who had been working in the town, stood gazing dismally at it, whilst their wives and children looked on from across the stream. Several diggers from Jagersfontein, formerly of Kimberley, were stopping at the wretched hotel we were obliged to stop at. The mine is in a more workable condition than that at Kimberley, but not so large, and with ground not so rich, but the stones found there are said by the miners of Jagersfontein to be whiter and purer than any others. The mine produces about 250,000 dollars worth annually. The diggers complain as bitterly against their foe, the I.D.B., as their Kimberley brothers. The penalty attached to the crime in the Orange Free State, where the mine is situated, is greater than in Kimberley, but the detective system is not as complete. There is less risk of conviction, therefore, but the diggers have formed a detective system amongst themselves, and woe to the man who falls into their clutches! It is estimated that from one-fourth to one-fifth of the diamonds found in the mines never reach their rightful owners.
At dawn of the next day we continued on our journey, passing through the village of Phillopolis, once the principal place of the native tribe of the Griquas. It is a typical Dutch village, ill built, and in every way insignificant and uninviting. Close by the village is a very large Kafir kraal. As we passed it many came out to see the coach go by. A few hours later we crossed one of the bridges which span the Orange River, and were again in the Cape Colony. We passed through Colesberg, a village of considerable size, and the centre of a large sheep and ostrich-farming country. A thriving wool-washing establishment is situated there. Wool is the most important production of the farming industry of Cape Colony, but the best farmers in sheep-raising are not among the native Dutch, but among the English, German, and Scotch emigrants. I never saw Boer women knitting; the Boer women, in fact, seem to have little capacity for the kind of work peculiar to women in other civilised countries. From Colesberg we travelled through an uninviting country, usually a plain, studded, here and there with isolated hills, and having very little timber. We reached Grahamstown in the cool of the evening of the next day, alighting at the Masonic Hotel.