8 Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



seething mining camp in the heart of the pasture lands of South 

 Africa. 



Outside of the Indian and Brazilian fields no considerable supply 

 of diamonds had been discovered anywhere. Some diamond-bearing 

 gravel had been found in Borneo, which yielded a small return, and 

 in 1829 Humboldt and Rose discovered the first diamond in the gold 

 placer field of the Ural Mountains. In Bohemia, Australia, Mexico 

 and the United States, the picking up of a few isolated specimens 

 was noted as a curious occurrence. 



So at the time of the discovery of diamonds on the banks of the 

 Vaal River, there were no known methods for the extraction of 

 diamonds beyond the shovel of the Indian, the batea of the Brazilian, 

 or the cradle of the gold miner. 



As the discovery became known, a motley throng of fortune- 

 hunters began to pour into the valley of the Vaal. It is doubtful if 

 a single one of this fever-stricken company had ever seen a diamond 

 field, or had the slightest experience in rough diamond wanning, but 

 no chilling doubt of themselves or their luck restrained them from 

 rushing to their fancied Golconda. Many were as bitterly disap- 

 pointed by the rugged stretch of gravel at Klip-drift as the gay 

 Portuguese cavaliers were at the sight of the Manica gold placers. 



Prospecting for diamonds was going on not only upon the river 

 banks, but also upon many of the farms on the high veld. 



Diamonds are said to have been found on the farm Jagersfon- 

 tein even earlier than the memorable stone which was found on the 

 bank of the Orange River. Whether this be true or not, it is a well- 

 known fact that a large diamond was found on this farm in August, 

 1870. In the following month diamonds were found at or near du 

 Toit's pan. Early in 187 1 diamonds were unearthed close to the 

 farmhouse of Bultfontein, to be followed during the first days of May 

 by the discovery of diamonds on de Beer's farm, Vooruitzigt. Two 

 months later a second diamond bed was uncovered on the same farm. 

 So within a year, August, 1870 to July, 1871, the Jagersfontein 

 mine and the Dutoitspan, Bultfontein, De Beers and Kimberley 

 mines were discovered in succession. 



But who could calculate, or even pretend to predict with any 

 assurance, the prospect of fortune in this African wonderland, so 

 phenomenal in character and so slightly explored ? Here was a 

 strange, luring beacon in the heart of traditional Ophir where river 

 banks were apparently lined with diamonds, where diamonds were 

 strewn on the face of farms. Who would not rush to a region so 

 sparkling in promise, where another Koh-i-nur might be lying in wait 

 in the dust for the first passer-by, and where a lucky adventurer 

 might stuff his pockets with gems far surpassing the hoard of any 

 nabob ? 



I need not tell you of the privations and sufferings and disap- 

 pointments of the first swarm of prospectors along the banks of the 

 Vaal River, nor repeat the history of the rise of the diamond mining 

 industry. Many of you were among the pioneers of the early days. 

 Credit is due, however, to these pioneers for the change which came 



