184 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



Outside this district no diamonds have been found ; within the district they are confined 

 to a few isolated points, some of which have not yet been properly investigated, since, the 

 yield being poor, they were abandoned almost as soon as they were discovered. 



False assertions as to the occurrence of rich deposits in certain localities have sometimes 

 been made with the sole object of attracting diamond miners, thus promoting the sale of food 

 and spirituous liquors, and incidentally enriching the vendors thereof; a flocking together of 

 miners attracted by such assertions is known as a '' canteen rush." 



The mines mentioned above, from which rich yields are at the present time derived, 

 were all known as far back as 1872. Since that time other districts have been vigorously 

 prospected, but without success ; still the region is extensive enough to warrant the belief 

 that fresh discoveries may yet be made, especially as in 1891 a new deposit was found in the 

 Kimberley district, one mile east of Du Toit's Pan, on the farm " Benauwdheidfontein," of 

 J. J. Wessels, senior. This deposit lies under a thick layer of calcareous tufa, and the mine 

 known as the Wesselton or Premier mine promises to become of importance. 



Before the discovery of diamonds the whole of this now important stretch of country 

 was almost valueless, and was peopled by only a few hunters and Boers, who derived a meagre 

 living from its scanty vegetation, and whose lot no one was inclined to envy. There were 

 thus in this region no rigidly defined spheres of influence, and when it suddenly acquired an 

 enormous value and importance complications arose in the shape of rival claims, various 

 portions being asserted to be the property of the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, or of 

 native chiefs. In 1870 the diamond-fields near Pniel, on the Vaal River, were proclaimed 

 as British territory, on behalf of a native chief who had ceded his rights to Great Britain, 

 and on November 17, 1871, the British flag was hoisted at Kimberley. The matter was 

 formally settled in July 1876, by the London Convention, according to which the 

 Government of the Orange Free State agreed to give up its claim to the diamond-fields in 

 consideration of a payment of ^^90,000 from the British Government. Griqualand West, the 

 division in which Kimberley is situated, remained a Crown Colony until October 1880, when 

 it was formally incorporated in Cape Colony. In it are situated all the rich diamond mines 

 of South Africa, with the exception of the Koffyfontein and Jagersfontein mines, which are 

 in the Orange River Colony, but which yield only about 6 to 7 per cent, of the total South 

 African output. 



Not only has the discovery of the precious gem enormously increased the importance of 

 South Africa as a country, but it has also so raised the value of the comparatively small 

 plots of land on which the mines stand, as to make a comparison between their present and 

 their former values of interest. Thus the farm " Vooruitzigt," on which now stand the 

 De Beer's and Kimberley mines, was bought from its owner in 1871, the time of the discovery 

 of diamonds there, for ^6000, while only four years later ^100,000 was paid for it by the 

 Cape Government, the transfer being made with the object of putting an end to the frequent 

 and ever arising disputes between the mine-owners and the miners as to the dues to be paid 

 by the latter to the former. 



It is now intended to consider the different deposits in more detail, commencing not 

 with the most important but with those first discovered, namely, the river diggings. 



River Diggings, 



The richest of these deposits lie on both banks of that portion of the Vaal River flowing 

 between the mission stations, Pniel and Barkly West (formerly Klipdrift), to the east, and 

 Delport's Hope, at the junction of the Vaal with the Hart River, to the west, Barkly West 



