(57) 



APPENDIX. 



A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE PEINCE ALBEET 



GOLD-FIELDS. 



The first nugget that was found on the Prince Albert Gold-fields 

 was obtained on the farm Spreeuw Fontein, by Mr. Lodewyk Botma, 

 from the dirt thrown out by an Aard vaark (ant-eater) that was making 

 a hole. The nugget weighed 2 \ oz., and was rounded and water-worn, 

 but had all the same a few crystals of quartz adherent. This was in 

 1871. The same year Messrs. Barry and Nephews, of Port Beau- 

 fort, employed Mr. E. J. Dunn to go and report on the find, but the 

 result was an adverse opinion. So the matter rested till 1891, when 

 a shepherd picked up another nugget on the adjoining farm Klein 

 Waterval, weighing 6 dwt. 23 grns. Soon afterwards, or to be 

 precise, on the 4th August, 1891, the farm Spreeuw Fontein (19050 

 morgen) was thrown open to the public, and on the 20th September 

 the farm Klein Waterval (3898 morgen) was added to the public 

 diggings. At the opening some 500 persons were present, and before 

 the end of the year 1,042 claims had been registered and 504 oz. of 

 gold obtained. The largest quantity obtained by one man was 

 100 oz., and this was on the claims belonging to Mr. P. H. du 

 Plessis, the original prospector. Mr. Botma, the owner of Spreeuw 

 Fontein, laid out a township which he proposed to name Gat's 

 Plaats, I suppose in memory of the Aard vaark's hole. Interest 

 gradually waned, and when I was there in 1895 working had fallen 

 into the hands of a few poor coloured men ; at last, in 1896, even the 

 Eegistrar of Claims was withdrawn. Various attempts have been 

 made to reawaken interest in the fields, and during the war there 

 was a report of a new find of a large nugget, but all to no purpose. 

 For some years now a small syndicate at Prince Albert has kept a 

 prospector at work to the east of Spreeuw Fontein, on the Willow- 

 more border, but the results of his work have not been made public. 



