CHAPTER XXIV. 



EABLY GOLD DISCOVERIES, 

 LEYDENBERG AND ELSEWHERE. 



Shortly after my return from the diamond fields 

 in 1872 Piet Marais, Charles Becker and A. Gusman 

 came to "The Willows," and asked me to join them 

 in a venture in Lydenberg, where gold had been 

 found in small quantities. 1 was intending to visit 

 Europe at the time and refused. Marais said, unless 

 I joined them he would have nothing to do with it, 

 and between them they persuaded me to go. I 

 supplied horses, etc., and we passed through Lyden- 

 berg, stayed with the splendid old pioneer Izaak 

 Breitenbach, and got Piet de Villiers to show us the 

 way from there, past Krugers Post over the mount- 

 ains to the Blyde River. 



While prospecting, I discovered what I was 

 convinced were ancient workings, and found a little 

 gold in several places. The others did not do much. 

 Marais and I decided to buy the farms "Ponies 

 Krantz " and " Drie Kop " afterwards famous as 

 "Pilgrims Rest*'. We returned to Pretoria and at 

 once started off again for Rustenburg ; bought the 

 two farms outright for cash from the owners, who 

 lived there. Nothing much happened for some time, 

 but shortly afterwards, while I was sitting in the 

 Durban Club, a friend of mine came to tell me that 

 rich gold had been found on our farms ; and that 

 several hundred diggers were ground-sluicing for 

 "alluvial". I returned at once to Pretoria, persuaded 

 President Burgers and Judge Buchanan, (then Attor- 

 ney-General) to go with us, see the diggers, and 



