182 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



stories end in the same way ; these accidental finds stimulated farther search, which 

 resulted in the discovery of the mine now known as Du Toit's Pan mine (also written 

 Dutoitspan), the first of the four famous mines of Kimberley, the town which sprang up at 

 this spot and became the centre of the diamond-mining industry. 



A great influx of people or " rush " to the newly discovered locality at once took place. 

 These newcomers proved a source of great irritation to the Boers in possession of the land, 

 who, seeing that it was impossible to dislodge their unwelcome visitors, sold their valuable 

 possession to an English Company for i?6000, a ridiculously low sum considering the 

 discoveries that had been made and were to be expected. The conditions under which the 

 eagsr searchers for treasure had to work were indeed harassing ; exposed to all the intensity 

 of the hot African sun, tormented by storms of dust and insects, deprived of many of the 

 necessaries of life, obliged to fetch drinking water from a great distance, and, for the lack 

 of more permanent dwellings, forced to camp out in the open, their lot was no enviable one, 

 and numbers perished of want and privation. The survivors had no cause, however, for 

 disheartenment in the yield of the deposit ; new finds were constantly made, and the 

 conditions of life gradually improved. 



Soon another rich de])osit, only about half a mile from Du Toit's Pan, was discovered, 

 and became known as the Bultfontein mine, while still another on the farm, " Vooruitzigt,' 

 of a Boer named de Beei', who himself commenced mining operations, became the famous 

 " Old de Beer's mine," or, shortly, De Beer's mine (often written De Beers). Finally, on 

 July 21, 1871, a new discovery was made close to the last mentioned mine ; this was at 

 first known as " Old de Beer's New Rush," or as the " Colesberg Kopje." Later, however, 

 it became known as the Kimberley mine, and proved to be the richest of the whole group. 

 These four mines, which still form the nucleus of the diamond-producing area, are all 

 situated close to the town of Kimberley, which was founded by the diamond miners, and 

 which has now a white population of 30,000. Two miles to the south-west of Kimberley is 

 the suburb of Beaconsfield with 10,000 to 11,000 inhabitants. The situation of the mines 

 is shown in Fig. 38 ; they all lie in a circular area not more than three miles in diameter, 

 and besides the four important deposits there are half a dozen others too insignificant to be 

 worked to any extent. 



After the first accidental discovery had drawn attention to the occurrence of diamond 

 here, the four important mines mentioned above were all discovered in the course of six 

 months. Very soon following these discoveries, other but less important deposits were 

 found to the south of Kimberley, namely, the Jagersfontein mine near Fauresmith and the 

 Koflfyfontein mine on the Riet River between Jacobsdal and Fauresmith, both in the 

 Orange River Colony. The Jagersfontein mine was discovered almost simultaneously with 

 the Kimberley mine, from which it is situated about eighty miles distant. Practically the 

 whole of the present enormous production of diamonds in South Africa is derived from 

 these six mines and from the washings on the Vaal River. 



The method of winning diamonds in these mines furnishes a great contrast to the 

 work of collecting them from the i-iver sands. In the latter case the sands are washed in a 

 manner similar to that employed in Brazil and India. In early days on the arid and 

 waterless plateau of Kimberley, the stones were picked out of the dry fragmented rock, such 

 workings being known as " dry diggings," to distinguish them from the " river diggings "on 

 the Vaal. These terms are still in use, but the former is now somewhat inappropriate, as at 

 the " dry diggings " water is now also used to separate the diamonds from their matrix. 



All the diamond mines of South Africa, which are of any importance, lie to the north 

 of the Orange River, and are confined to a comparatively limited area, as may be seen by 



