Discovery of Diamond Fields and Early Kimberley Days 131 



not gone more than twenty yards when the pot clay 

 dropped out, and the boat filled ; we just managed to 

 reach the bank when she sank. The rascal of a 

 fellow wanted me to pay in advance, knowing that 

 the rotten boat could not get over. We had to trek 

 all down the Vaal River until we got to the Pont, 

 (on the Potchefstroom-Kroonstad Road), when I 

 swam the oxen across, and put the wagons, etc., on 

 the pont. 



P. J. Marais joined me in some of our ventures ; 

 Ted and Fred and young Preller, and others worked 

 claims with us. We did not make money on these 

 river diggings, some of our little companies made a 

 little, others lost. The first day at Hebron while I 

 was showing one of my Kaffirs how to mark out a 

 claim, I picked out a nice white river stone, this I 

 had afterwards set in a brooch, a St. George's Cross 

 made of Pilgrim's Rest gold for mother, which she 

 still has. At this time, the De Beers and New Rush 

 dry diggings were discovered and we pegged out 

 claims there. There were no houses, only tents, so I 

 got a boat on the Vaal River, cut poles on an island, 

 rowed them to the Free State side, transported them 

 to De Beers, where I had a small wattle and daub 

 house put up, with one glass window, which was the 

 admiration and envy of my friends, and we had 

 pleasant little gatherings in it. 



The work on the diamond fields in the early 

 seventies was very hard. I was up at dawn every 

 morning, had an early scratch breakfast and was at 

 the claims at sunrise. The claims were cut down on 

 each side of the narrow roadways ; carts, mules and 

 oxen fell down them frequently, and people were 

 often killed or injured. Before I left, the roads 

 between the claims were narrow and the claims 

 getting deeper. One day, when in the claim, in- 



