Gregory — Diamonds in South Africa, 559 



containing imbedded in them smaller boulders of similar Traps, but of 

 various colours, and these contained the zeolite mineral, chalcedony, 

 green earth, etc., which had evidently been rolled and water-worn to 

 a rounded form, before being enveloped in the newer Trap, when in 

 a fluid or pasty condition. 



Frequently associated with, and on the top of these beds of sand 

 and debris, are beds of a compact calcareous tufa, which in many 

 places is broken up and forms a mingled mass of a gravelly-like 

 compound of lime, small agates, quartz crystals, yellowish chalcedony, 

 some of which is burnt red (carnelian) by exposure to the sun ; 

 also fragments of natrolite and green earth from the Trap, together 

 with small pebbles of different-coloured Trap. Sometimes this loose 

 gravelly mixture is by the aid of the lime present formed into a solid 

 conglomerate, — not siliceous conglomerates, as those from Brazil. 

 This is an important distinction, it having been quoted as re- 

 sembling that from Brazil. A traveller who has recently passed 

 through this district described this calcareous tufa as primitive lime- 

 stone. This was in the neighbourhood of Campbell. 



In these so-called diamond-districts there are no traces of what 

 are usually termed metamorphic rocks, such as mica-slate ; no granite 

 or gneiss, nor any traces of the minerals usually, nay always, found 

 in diamond-districts, as Zircons, Anatase, Eutile, Brookite, Cassi- 

 terite, Iserine (Titaniferous Iron), Gold, Platinum, Topaz, etc., such 

 associations in fact as we find in Brazil, India, Australia, etc. 



Now, again, if we consider the almost solitary instances in which 

 diamonds are said to have been found, and at comparatively long 

 intervals of time, not more than fifteen or sixteen individual dia- 

 monds in two years or nearly, — and extending over only a limited 

 district not more than thirty miles long by fifteen miles in breadth, 

 — it seems perfectly conclusive to me that the whole story of the 

 Cape diamond discovery is false, and is simply one of many schemes 

 for trying to promote the employ and expenditure of capital in 

 searching for this precious substance in the colony. I had an idea of 

 this when I first reached George Town, then at Port Elizabeth, 

 Grahamstown, Cradock, Colesberg, and finally on arriving at Hope- 

 town, when no further proof of diamonds could be obtained. At all 

 these places I carefully looked over bags of stones, which were said 

 to be from the diamond-district ; nothing else but Agates, Chalcedony, 

 rounded Kock-crystals, and rounded Natrolite — no other minerals 

 whatever. The diamonds were said to have come from a dis- 

 tance ; so they have doubtless, but many thousand miles of the 

 present ocean separates the localities. I have little doubt but that 

 the first idea as to the finding of diamonds here was the picking up 

 of the small brilliant rock crystals, and the idea that they might be 

 diamonds by persons unacquainted with them ; and this is assisted 

 by the local newspaper editors, who publish any communication what- 

 ever that is sent to them. Persons read some work on diamonds 

 and then fancy that they understand all about them, and insert 

 in the papers paragraphs which are totally at variance with the real 

 facts as to the character of the rocks or sands. Now a knowledge 



