that it was beautiful, and a most remarkable stone 

 in many ways. For example, it would cut glass as no 

 other stone in the country would do; and the enthu- 

 siastic O'Reilly cut his name in more than one window- 

 pane in Hopetown for the amusement of groups of 

 spectators. Those who had any knowledge of min- 

 erals supposed that the little crystal was simply an 

 unusually pretty, but valueless, rock-crystal. 



Failing to get any definite information in Hope- 

 town about the gem, O'Reilly sent it in an ordinary 

 gummed envelope through the mail to a Dr. Atherstone, 

 a mineralogist of Grahamstown. Dr. Atherstone at 

 once suspected its identity, but being in doubt, he sent 

 for his friend Bishop Ricard, who knew something 

 about gems. After making exhaustive tests the two 

 men reached the conclusion that the stone must be a 

 diamond, although such gems had never been found 

 in South Africa. Such a momentous discovery needed 

 most authoritative confirmation, and at the suggestion 

 of the Colonial Secretary, the Hon. R. Southey, the 

 stone was sent to the Paris Exhibition of 1867, then 

 just opening. Here it was examined and admired by 

 savants from all parts of the world, who without excep- 

 tion pronounced it a diamond. It was finally sold 

 to Sir Philip Woodhouse, at that time Governor of 

 Cape Colony, for a sum amounting to about twenty- 

 five hundred dollars. The gem weighed a little more 

 than twenty-one carats. 



Whether the little finders of this first South African 

 diamond found more of its brothers and sisters and sold 

 them for fabulous sums, and became wealthy as princes, 



