458 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



buckets that bring to the surface the debris in which 

 the gems are found, ascend, making the sides and top 

 of the pit look like a deserted rabbit or badger earth, 

 over the entrance to which an industrious spider has 

 made a web. 



Nearly all the labourers are black, a large portion 

 coming from the tributaries of the Zambesi, or the 

 adjoining countries beyond, supervised by a white or 

 Hottentot overseer, w^hose duty it is to see that none 

 of the stones are purloined. No easy task, you may be 

 sure, among such a heterogeneous assembly. Side 

 by side may be seen labouring Matabele, Macalaca, 

 Mashoona, Barotse, and Bechuana, for all tribal quar- 

 rels, feuds, and family discords are thrown aside here, 

 that each workman may the sooner obtain the coveted 

 musket, great -coat, and blanket, and thus be able to 

 return at an early date to his native land. To accom- 

 plish this a thousand, possibly more, miles have to be 

 traversed. Still undaunted, they will persistently walk 

 day after day, from night till morning, endure heat, 

 thirst, and hunger, liable to be attacked by savage men 

 and more savage beasts, and consider they have been 

 amply rewarded if they succeed in taking their valuables 

 home with them. 



The Diamond-Fields have done much to civilise 

 South Africa, and day by day are doing more. But 

 for them the heathen in their benighted regions would 

 be as ignorant of civilisation and our race as they were 

 in the days of David Livingstone. What is to be the 

 ultimate result it is not easy to prophesy, yet it can 

 scarcely fail to be otherwise than beneficial. 



The principal thoroughfares in Kimbeiiy, where the 

 shops, stores, banks, taverns, and hotels are situated, 



