106 DIAMOND DIGGING IN SOUTH AFEICA. 



the Koh-i-nur, Regent of France, and Orloff diamonds, weigh 

 respectively 106, 136, and 195 carats. There are many of much 

 greater weight, but they are badly cut, blemished, or off colour 

 stones of relatively small value. 



Another South African gem of some notoriety is the " Porter 

 Rhodes" diamond. This is a stone of 150 carats weight, of great- 

 purity. It was found in the Kimberley mine io 1880, and even in 

 that land of diamonds, over £500 was paid by spectators admitted 

 to see it before it left the fields. Mr. Rhodes refused an offer of 

 £60,000 for his find, but subsequently discovered the diflBculty of 

 disposing of so large a stone. He had been a digger for only a 

 very limited time, and his fortune was made in a claim which had 

 been long unremunerative. 



The first really valuable diamond from the Cape was the Star of 

 South Africa, which, when found, was 834 carats, and now weighs 

 46J carats, and is valued at £25,000. It is in the possession of the 

 Countess of Dudley. The "Stewart" is another large stone of 

 great beauty. I c is of a faint yellow tint, and weighed uncut 288^ 

 carats, or nearly 2oz. The "Schreiner," 308 carats, still remains 

 uncut, and its value unascertained. 



It is almost impossible for anyone who has been absent for a 

 length of time from the fields to attempt to give an accurate idea of 

 the price of diamonds of any particular size, except in the case of 

 such small " stuff" as is quoted in the market reports. Averages 

 alone can give an impression of the rates ruling the diamond 

 market. The yield of the Kimberley mine for three years, 

 amounting to 2,500,000 carats, brought lOs. 3d-, per carat, whilst 

 during the same period the average price of De Beer's stones was 

 20s. 6d. , and those from Dutoitspan brought 27s. 9d. per carat. 

 The diamonds imported into Kimberley, being principally the finds 

 from Jagersfontein, in the Free State, and parcels returned for 

 sale, brought the highest price of all, viz., 32s., and the grand 

 average was 23s. 2d. per carat for 8,000,000 carats. There is a 

 most disproportionate and arbitrary increase of value in large 

 stones, and they are often most difficult to dispose of. The buyers 

 describe them as speculative, and as they frequently combine to 

 refuse the probably moderate sum asked by the vendor, it is not 

 unusual for such diamonds to be sent to Europe or to India for 

 sale. Of my own finds, the highest price I obtained was for a 

 ■wonderfully pure, well-shaped stone of 3 carats, viz., £10 per carat, 

 the largest stone was 39 carats, evidently a chip from one of, at 

 least 200 carats, this realised £254, and if free from blemish would 

 have brought 20 times that price. 



No ex-resident of Griqualand can consider any description of 

 diamond mining industry complete without, at any rate, brief 

 mention of the chief drawback to the profitable carrying on of 

 the work, under which all suffer alike. The theft and illegal sale 

 of diamonds has had at times almost a paralysing effect on digging, 

 for, previous to the introduction of the system of searching all — 

 natives and even white men — when leaving the mines, it was 

 estimated that 50 per cent, of the total yield of the province was 

 stolen, and dispostd of to illicit diamond buyers (I.D.B's.), and 

 even now, in spite of the strictest precautions the detective returns 

 speak of the usual 25 per cent, to be added to the estimated yield 

 for the diamonds illicitly sold. 



