One day the farmer"s wife noticed an unusually brilliant pebble among the other stones that were being tossed about by the children. Soon after she told one of her neighbors that the children had found a curious gla.s.sy stone that sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. On his expressing a desire to see the stone, it was brought to him covered with dirt. He was attracted by its brilliance and, probably surmising that it was more valuable than common quartz crystal, offered to purchase it.
The good-wife scorned the idea of taking money for a smooth stone, and told him laughingly that he was welcome to it.
The stone was sent by post to Grahamtown to ascertain whether or not it was of value. To the astonishment of all concerned it was p.r.o.nounced a genuine diamond and was sold for twenty-five hundred dollars. A search was forthwith made in the locality for other stones, but none was found.
Ten months later a second diamond was found thirty miles away on the bank of the same river. Then quite a number of fine diamonds were found by prospectors along the Vaal River.
In 1869 a black shepherd boy found a magnificent white diamond which was purchased for five hundred sheep, ten oxen, and a horse. The purchaser sold the gem for fifty-five thousand dollars, and it was subsequently resold for one hundred thousand dollars. This superb gem became famous as the star of South Africa.
Although a few skeptics said these stones might have been brought from the far interior in the crops of ostriches, yet this last great find served to attract public notice, and soon thousands of prospectors came to seek the coveted gems. Even the stolid Boer caught the excitement, and trekked long distances with wife and children to reach the captivating fields.
It was a motley throng, like a mighty stream, which poured into the valley of the Vaal. Men came hurrying in all sorts of ways, afoot, on horseback, and in heavy, creaking ox-wagons. For miles and miles men were quickly at work sinking holes into the ground; camp-fires were flaming; teamsters were inspanning and outspanning their oxen, and wagons were creaking. These, with raucous voices shouting in a babel of languages, made a pandemonium exciting enough for the most adventurous.
As far as the eye could reach along the banks of the Vaal were seen hives of busy, hopeful men who believed that untold riches were almost within their grasp. The hardest of work was but a pastime, for if they did not find diamonds to-day, would they not to-morrow? Did not their neighbors find them? The next shovelful of earth might contain a precious gem. They could hardly afford time to eat or sleep. Flashing eyes and elastic steps marked the success of some, while others repressed their feelings and kept their own counsel regarding the extent of their finds.
So great did the crowd become that it was necessary to limit claims, and at an informal meeting of the prospectors, a digging committee was formed to make regulations controlling the working of the digging.
Thirty feet square was thought to be a reasonable claim for one person.
Some sought the river"s banks to prospect, others the kopjes or hills.
Some pinned their faith to light-colored ground, others to dark. Fancy rather than reason dictated the choice.
The manner of working a claim was simple. The earth was thrown into a cradle having a bottom of perforated zinc or of wire mesh. The cradle was then rapidly rocked to and fro as water was poured in upon the earth. The finer part was washed through the mesh and the worthless stones were thrown out by hand. The residue was then removed to a suitable place and carefully examined.
Each person most vigilantly scrutinized his h.o.a.rd, fearing that in an unguarded moment a fortune might slip through his hands and be lost.
Even the stranger pa.s.sing along was hardly given a glance, so eager was each individual in searching for the precious pebble.
There is an entrancing interest in diamond mining far exceeding that of gold, for at any moment one is likely to come across a princely fortune.
The miner is ever hopeful. Communing with himself, he says: "To-morrow I may be made independent by a lucky find." And for a time it was merely luck, for so irregularly distributed were the diamonds that no knowledge was gained as to where they were most likely to be found.
While miners were strenuously working along the rivers, far more wonderful diamond regions were soon to be unfolded; regions rich beyond the loftiest nights of the imagination and equal to the fabled valley of Sindbad the Sailor.
A thrifty Dutch vrau owned a farm, on a volcanic plateau extending for miles into the rocky kopjes. Her overseer, learning that garnets are often found a.s.sociated with diamonds, and noticing some garnets in one of the small streams that coursed through the valley, concluded to do a little prospecting on his own account. Sinking a hole a few feet in depth and sifting the sand and gravel through a common sieve, he came across a diamond weighing fifty carats--nearly half an ounce.
This find caused a rush to the farm to secure claims, and the widow, with an eye to business, charged a monthly license of ten dollars. Soon this discovery was eclipsed by a more remarkable one at Dutoitspan[4] in 1870. Although a fair supply of diamonds was found near the surface, these diggings seemed to give out as they reached hard limestone.
When nearly all of the prospectors had left the field, having become discouraged, one more sanguine than the others determined to find out what was beneath this limestone covering. Sinking a shaft, he found that the limestone grew so soft and friable that it could be easily dug out with a pick. When he had penetrated the limestone covering he came in contact with a hard layer somewhat of the nature of clay. This he proceeded to break up and sift. During the sifting process he observed many sparkling gems. The problem had been partly solved at least.
Diamonds were to be found in greater abundance below than above the limestone covering. On learning of the changed condition of affairs the deserting miners hastened back to the diggings in double-quick time.
Early in 1871 diamonds were found at Bultfontein[5] and on the De Beers farm, two miles from Dutoitspan. Five months later another bed of diamonds was found on the same farm, lying on a sloping kopje, one mile from the first location. This kopje, named Colesberg Kopje, became afterward the famous Kimberley mine. The district was immediately divided into claims and taken by prospectors.
The climate of this section is exceedingly trying. A blazing sun, clouds of suffocating dust, and a scanty supply of muddy water are the conditions of the region; it therefore required remarkable physical endurance and an indomitable will to achieve results. Sometimes terrific thunder-storms with torrents of rain would sweep through the valley. At other times great hail-storms would drive both man and beast to the nearest shelter. Wind-storms frequently drove blinding clouds of dust that penetrated everything.
Very quickly a city of tents sprang up at Kimberley to be superseded later by substantial buildings of wood, of brick and iron, and well-constructed streets. Water was pumped from the Vaal River through a main sixteen miles in length. It was then raised in three lifts by powerful engines to a large reservoir five hundred feet above the river.
The introduction of an abundant supply of good water wrought a wonderful transformation. Outside the business section the desert was made to blossom with flowers in gardens surrounding the hitherto bleak homes.
Lawns were laid out and vines and trees planted about the houses, making the dusty, wind-swept expanse a thing of beauty and comfort.
At length prospectors learned that the diamond-bearing earth was confined chiefly to several oval-shaped funnels, ranging in area from ten to twenty acres, and that outside these few diamonds were to be found.
Now these huge funnels, or pipes, are nothing more or less than extinct volcanic craters. The walls, or casings, of these pipes are chiefly of shale and basalt filled with hard earth, yellow near the surface and bluish deeper down. The latter is called "blue-stuff" and is very prolific in diamonds. The diamonds found outside the rim wall must have been washed out of the craters or perhaps were thrown out by the eruption.
At first it was customary to pulverize the blue-stuff at once, but experience showed that a more satisfactory way to work it was to expose it for several months to the action of the weather. By this process it readily crumbled.
Various devices were used by the different miners to raise the earth out of their claims. Some used windla.s.ses; others carried the earth up in buckets and tubs, some even by climbing ladders. Surrounding the funnels were carts, wheelbarrows, etc., for carrying away the material to the depositing grounds, where it was dried, pulverized, and sifted.
Many of the miners found it desirable to employ the native Kafirs to work in the pits, since neither the scorching sun nor clouds of dust seemed to trouble them.
The deeper the pits were sunk the greater the difficulty became in raising the blue-stuff. To add to the difficulties the rim wall of shale and basalt began to fall in, and the rain made the claims muddy and slippery or filled them with water. At a still greater depth water began to seep through the shale wall, and great ma.s.ses of the rim occasionally fell in endangering life and almost precluding further mining unless concerted action were taken. So, in order to effect more economical methods of working, a consolidation of claims began to take place.
At the Kimberley mine a double platform with staging was built around the pit, and a series of wires running from the different claims served as trackways on which buckets of the blue-stuff were drawn up by means of ropes and windla.s.ses located on these platforms.
When still greater depth had been reached and much of the rim wall had been precipitated into the pit and rain and seepage water had made the pits mud holes, two remarkable persons who were interested in the mines took a leading part in solving the difficulties. These persons were Cecil John Rhodes and Barnett Isaacs, better known as "Barney Barnato."
Rhodes owned stock in the De Beers and Barnato in the Kimberley mine. At first they were sharp rivals in gaining control, but later they got together and consolidated interests.
Cecil Rhodes was an English college student. He had lost his health and had come to South Africa at the invitation of his brother, who was interested in the diamond mines. Roughly dressed, his clothes covered with dust, this shy, pale student, week in and week out, might be seen looking after the Kafirs who worked his brother"s claim.
Barney Barnato, a young Hebrew of keen foresight, likewise had a brother in South Africa. The latter, who was engaged in diamond buying, urged Barney to come at once to this famous region, setting forth the wonderful opportunities offered for business. Barnato forthwith packed his few belongings and took the next steamer for Cape Town. He was only twenty years old and was bubbling over with good-natured energy; but he was quick to perceive and quick to act.
Although he had but a few dollars with which to start in business, yet by indomitable energy and shrewd management he soon acquired sufficient money to buy a few small claims in the famous Kimberley mine. To these claims he constantly added others until he became one of the leading stockholders in the mine.
When the rival mines began to undersell each other and diamonds were being sold for but little more than the cost of production, Rhodes conceived the plan of consolidating all the mines, thereby forming a monopoly to keep up the prices. By masterly skill he brought this about, purchasing some shares outright, and giving shares in the new company as payment for others. To make the purchases he negotiated a loan of several million dollars through the Rothschilds, the famous bankers of London.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Open workings of the diamond mine, Kimberley]
Thus, after many years of struggle through difficulties that were seemingly superhuman, the four great mines, the De Beers, Kimberley, Dutoitspan, and Bultfontein, were merged into one great corporation.
Afterward some others were added, but all bear the name De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, a corporation which to-day controls the diamond market of the world. During the eleven years ending 1899 they yielded nearly six tons of diamonds.
Both Rhodes and Barnato acquired immense wealth by their investments, but it is doubtful if either gained much happiness from his acquisitions. Poor Barnato! He had gained riches and stood among the foremost financiers of the world, but at how fearful a cost! His overtaxed brain began to give way, and on his way back to England he suddenly leaped overboard and was drowned.
Cecil Rhodes was instrumental in enlarging British influence and territory in South Africa, and to him England owes a deep debt of grat.i.tude. He died in 1902 leaving a portion of his immense fortune for scholarships in Oxford, England"s great university. Rhodes earnestly advocated the building of a railroad from Cape Town to Cairo. Already this line has been constructed northward from Cape Town several hundred miles beyond Victoria Falls, directly below which it crosses the Zambezi River.
Diamonds of various colors are found in the African mines--brown, yellow, pale blue, clear, and black. The black diamonds, called bort, are used mainly for arming diamond drills and for polishing other diamonds. Green, pink, and mauve diamonds are found occasionally.
The De Beers mines have produced some notable stones. From the Premier mine a diamond weighing more than three thousand carats--one and thirty-seven hundredths pounds avoirdupois--was obtained. This stone, more than twice the size of any heretofore found and estimated to be worth five million dollars, was insured for two million five hundred thousand dollars. It was named the Cullinan, from one Tom Cullinan, who purchased the farm on which the Premier mine is located.
Captain Wells, the manager of the Premier, one evening, after a burning hot day, when work had been suspended, strolled over to the mine, and, while partly walking and partly sliding down into the pit, noticed a gleam from a stone half-embedded in the earth. In a moment he had the stone in his hand and his practised eye told him this was the greatest diamond the world ever saw.
At first the possession of it seemed more like a dream than a reality, and he began to doubt his own sanity. When held up to the blazing Southern Cross, it sparkled like the purest crystal, and he knew that its value must be reckoned in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He immediately took the priceless treasure to the company"s office where it was critically examined. It was then sent for safe-keeping to the Standard Bank at Johannesburg, and afterward was forwarded to London.
For some time it was deposited in a London bank, the name of which was kept secret for fear that its great value might tempt criminals. Two years after its discovery it was purchased by the Transvaal Government, at the suggestion of General Botha, and presented to King Edward VII as a crown jewel.
The De Beers Company employs upward of eleven thousand African natives--Kafirs, they are called--working above and below ground. They come not only from the surrounding districts but from regions hundreds of miles away. All native laborers are kept in large walled enclosures, or compounds, which are covered with wire netting to prevent the laborers from throwing diamonds over the walls to confederates outside.
Twelve such enclosures are owned by the De Beers Company, the largest of which occupies four acres and contains ample s.p.a.ce for housing three thousand natives.
On entering the service of the company each applicant must sign a contract to live in the compound and work faithfully at least three months. At the expiration of his contract he may leave or make another contract, as he wills.
Constant vigilance is maintained in order to prevent stealing diamonds, and yet, notwithstanding this watchfulness, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of dollars" worth of diamonds are stolen each year.
Everything necessary for the sustenance and comfort of the men is brought into the compounds, and no one is permitted to leave until the expiration of his contract except by permission of the overseer, which is seldom given. The men go out of the compounds to their work through tunnels and return the same way.
Besides the native Kafirs already mentioned, about two thousand white laborers are employed, the greater number being engaged in the offices and workshops and on the depositing floors.