162 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
tMARCH 3, 1900. 
Diamond Digging at Kimberley. 
•A Zulu always takes one month in the year to visit his 
home, and, if he wishes to retain his situation, leaves his 
brother, as he calls him, to keep his place until his re- 
turn. I made up my mind to go to the Diamond Fields 
during the yearly absence of by body servant January, 
and, calling up his substitute, told him to go to January's 
krall and tell him that the Man-Without-a-Mouth had 
started up the road for the Orange Free State, and if he 
wished to accompany me to cut his holiday short and 
hurry after me. The abo^ e sobriquet was my Kaffir title, 
from wearing a full beard and moustache, while the 
colonists generally were content with the simple mous- 
tache. 
The only means of conveyance were ox teams, con- 
veying supplies for the diggers, and I joined some loaded 
with sugar, Avhich is the leading product of the coast 
districts of Natal. We were bound for Hebron, on the 
Orange River, and had reached the foot of Van Reenan's 
Pass, when I awoke one morning and found Jatiuary 
curled up in the grass at my feet He rose with the usual 
salutation of "Saka bono, n'kos" (Good day, boss), and 
rolled up my blankets, tbrcAV them oh the wagon and 
took his plac? among the other Kaffirs as if he had been 
oiie of the party from the start. We Jogged along until 
within a short distance of Harrismith, when we came 
upon the outspan of over fifty wagons, which were 
stopped by a freshet in a river, which forms the dividing 
line between Natal and the Orange Free State. The 
second_ night after our stoppage we were visited by a 
host of midges, which attacked the oxen, and instantly 
threw the whole camp into an uproar, far exceeding any- 
thing that 1 had ever witnessed. The bellowing of the 
oxen, the oaths and shouts of the drivers, the shrill 
whistles and yells of the Kafftrs, all combined, made a 
hubbub sufficient to drive one out of his wits. At 
dawn not an_ o:c was in sight, and. search parties were 
immediately formed to hunt them up. Taking January 
with me. I went to the ford, and stripping, made my 
clothing into two parcels, tied one on the top of my 
head, swam aiross, left it and returned for the other. T 
gave orders to January to return to the wagon, recrossed 
and early that afternoon walked into Harrismith. The 
next morning T purchased some sail cloth, a palm and 
needles, and bvisied myself making a small tent, 8 feet 
long, 4 feet wide and' 4 feet high. On the arrival .of 
the w-agons two days subsequently, I lashed it, with my 
luggage, on the back of a Basuto pony, which I had pur- 
chased, and started o^l foot for the banks of the Orange 
River. 
My mode of procedure was to start at daybreak, 
January leading the pony, walk ahead for two or three 
hours, stop for breakfast and to allow the pony to 
graze, and again at noon; but in the afternoon my camp 
was always made in the vicinity of w^ater. and ample time 
was allowed for the pony to get his fill of grass. Just 
before dark he was made fast to a stake, which I carried 
for the purpose, and a line was passed from it to the 
in.side of the tent and made fast to my M^rist, to prevent an 
escapade. During the day, should a thunder shower pass 
over us, the tent was unfolded and thrown over the 
pony, when January and myself would crawl under- 
neath him and remain until the rain ceased. 
Matters w^ent on swimmingly for some teti days, when 
I camped one afternoon at the foot of quite a hill, and 
during the night there was an invasion of midges, which 
drove me out of the tent to higher ground, in order to 
try and escape from their bloodthirsty attacks. I had to 
move several times before reaching an elevation sufficient 
to be rid of them, and the next morning on thrusting my 
hand into my hip pocket, I was startled to discover that 
I had lost £3 los., which was every penny I possessed. A 
strict search failed to ferret out the missing coins, and I 
was puzzled to figure out by what means I was to obtain 
rations for the remainder of the journey. Carefully keep- 
ing the knowledge of my loss to myself, we tramped ahead 
for a couple of days, when January reported an empty 
provision bag, and I decided to put into execution a plan 
I had conceived to replenish it, without visiting a country 
store, as I had done previously. Arriving in sight of a 
Boer's house about noon, I handed a tin bucket to January 
and told him to go to the house and say that the Hyena 
man (my Boer name) was down in the road, on his way to 
the Diamond Fields, who begged the privilege of allowing 
his pony to graze, and the gift of a bucket of milk. Im- 
mediately after his arrival in front of the house I saw the 
entire famils' pour out of doors, while January gesticulated 
violently and pointed toward me. In a few minutes he 
started on his return, mintis the bucket, but accom- 
panied by the Boer, who grasped my hand and said that 
he was delighted to have a look at the man of whom he 
had heard so much, and who acted so differently from the 
cursed Englanders, who turned their oxen loose to graze 
without asking leave, and acted as if the entire country 
belonged to them. Nothing would satisfy him except my 
going to the house to see his wife, and accepting a basket 
of figs, which she was then picking for my special delecta- 
tion. He helped to rid the pony of his load, and knee- 
haltered and turned him loose to graze. Then I accom- 
panied him to the house, which I left about an hour 
afterward, with Januarj- carrying enough Boer meal — 
i. e., unbolted flour- — to last us several davs. From that 
date forward there was no scarcity of bread, but lueat was 
freauentlv lacking, and January's stomach began to turn 
against Boer meal porridge ; for a Kaffir lives almost en- 
tirely on Indian meal, mush or norridge, and I willingly 
bear witness that their mode of preoaration makes it a 
most palatable dish. In Natal ther^* is a law which com - 
pels every one to furnish each Kaffir in his emt>Ioy with 
threp pints of Indian rneal ner diem. We pushed on until 
within about two days of Hebron, when the lack of meat 
proved a serious annovance to both January and my- 
self. We turned slightly awav frosn the road, in order 
to make our canin near a diminutive nool of water. Into 
5t. on our arinrn?i'~1i, two enormous frogs plunged. They 
werf' in«tantlv followed by two meat-crazed bipeds, who 
f nallv c«"tu''ed them, sfter delving into everv portion 
fhf rnnddy bntton-), T^^^y were itistantly cooked, and I 
shall never forget the gratification experienced while 
devouring that batrachian meal. 
We reached the camp on the banks of the Orange River 
opposite .Hebron early on a Sunday morning, and for- 
tunatelj' stumbled on the wagon of a lately arrived 
party, whom I knew. They pressed me to breakfast with 
them, and I willingly consented, as I saw a huge beef- 
steak in course of preparation. After breakfast I strolled 
down to the banks of the river, where the ferry man 
pointed out on the opposite side the tents of the party 
which I wished to join. As the ferriage was sixpence, for 
financial reasons I determined to wait tmtil night and then 
swim across. On my return to the wagon I passed a 
butcher's tent, kept by a person whom I had known in 
Natal, and who informed me that my friend had left his 
party and come across the river, being about two miles 
further up on a prospecting trip. On arriving at the 
wagon I gave January orders to remain until my return 
and started in quest of my friend. After sundry in- 
quiries, I managed to find his tent, and learned from his 
Kaffirs that he had gone fishing. On his retttrn he foimd 
me fast asleep in his bunk, from which I was suddenly 
dislodged and ordered to relate the main incidents of my 
long tramp. At the conclusion of my story, the Kaffirs 
were summoned, and from the directions given them 
were told to go and find January. But a short time 
elapsed before he and the pony arrived, atid I rejoiced at 
the happy termination of my journey. The next morning 
THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG RAISED AT KIMBERLEY. 
I marked oat a prospecting claim on a gravel bank, and 
with a pick and spade borrowed from my friend, com- 
menced my diamond digging experiences. 
The mode of procedure on all the river diggings very 
closely resembled that of primitive gold mining. The 
gravel was taken to the river bank, where it w^as passed 
through a cradle of identically the same build as the 
one generally used in alluvial gold mining. As I had no 
cradle, my friend and myself used by turns the one be- 
longing to him ; that is to say, while one was digging, the 
other was washing, the oxen serving each one alternately 
for hauling the gravel. 
After some two weeks of persistent work, without a' 
find, we concluded to return to Hebron, where we worked 
SECTION OF KIMBERLEY MINE. 
for over two months with a like result. In the meanwhile 
I had picked up two strange Kaffirs, whose wages and 
rations, added to those of January, amounted to quite a 
sum each week. In order to prevent any peculation, I had 
told January to keep a sharp lookout on the new hands, 
to watch the upper sieve of the cradle, and if he managed 
to pick out a diamond of the same size as that of a small 
pebble, which I showed him, I would make him a present 
of a cow. I always made it a point to give a Kaffir everj'- 
thing which I promised him, even if it were a thrashing, 
but I generally administered it in a different manner 
from the colonists, who usually used a switch or whip, 
which left its mark. I would step up in front of him. 
when he M^ould catch what is generally known by the 
fistic fraternity as an "upper cut," which would throw 
him fiat on his back, amid the shouts of his comrades, 
some of whom had perhaps been served in a similar 
manner. I had never used Janttary in any such manner: 
but he knew that the cow, which is the standard of 
wealth with a Kaffir, would be surely forthcoming, should 
he be so lucky as to find the diamond. Some days sub- 
sequently, I saw a flash of pleasure dart across his 
countenance, as he thrust his hand into the tipper sieve 
of the cradle. T instantly surmised that he had made a 
lucky find, when his pleasant look suddenly changed to 
one of annoyance, and stepping tip in front of me, he ■ 
threw a small quartz crystal on my sorting board and 
said : "Boss, there's a diamond, but it is sick." Not- 
withstanding my disappointment, I enjoyed a hearty laugh 
at his curious and singular way of expressing himself, and 
urged him not to get despondent, but to keep a sharp 
lookout, and the cow would eventually turn up, 
A f ter working for over two months, without a find, we 
determined to try our luck at the dry diggings, flattering 
reports from which had been circulating through the 
camp for some weeks. We inspanned and trekked for 1 
Du Toit's Pan, where we arrived on the afternoon of the 
Queen's Birthday, finding all work suspended and the 
entire camp engaged in a huge jollification. During the 
night there was a continual roar of elephant guns, and we 
had to sleep underneath our wagon, as we did not con- 
sider it prudent to lie up in the body, which was twice 
splintered by huge bullets. The next morning, on look- 
ing around, we found that all the available ground, both 
at Du Toit's "Pan and De Beers, was taken up by in- 
dividual diggers, while that at Bultfontein had been rented 
by the owner to a firm, which refused to hire mining 
rights to single diggers. On knocking about the camp, we 
ran against numbers situated like ourselves, and in a 
short time ascertained that there was a scheme to rush 
Bultfontein. A few days subsequently, at a given signal, 
the entire Bultfontein mine was jumped by a crowd of 
diggers, who laid out their claims and coiumenced regular 
work, in spite of the protests and threfits of the original 
lessees. We worked away without hindrance for several 
days, when suddenlj- one afternoon we were routed out by 
a strong party of mounted police frotu Bloemfontein, a 
detachment of whom remained, while the balance re- 
turned, accompanied by a committee of diggers, appointed 
to present a petition to the Raad, which was then in ses- 
sion. Some two weeks elapsed, when the committee re- 
turned with a code of mining laws — which, at their sug- 
gestion, had been passed during their visit. An epitome 
uf it was, that whenever diamonu' were discovered on 
;iny one's property, it should be immediately thrown open 
to all applicants, each one entitled to a claim of 30 feet 
.square, Dutch measurement, equal to 31 feet English, for 
which a monthly rental of i^n shillings was to be paid, 
while the discoverer should have the privilege of two 
claims, rent free. The different camps were to be gov- 
erned by committees, duly elected by the diggers. Conse- 
(|ucntly, we again took possession of our old claims, 
elected a committee, and settled down regularly to work. 
By some oversight, there was a claim adjoining mine 
svhicli was not taken up. and for fear of getting a bad 
neighbor, I said nothing about it. I toiled away for 
nearly a month, without a find, when one afternoon a new 
arrival, whom I knew, came along, and I quietly put 
him onto the overlooked claim. He immediately took 
pos.session, and pledged himself to do the handsome thing 
with me,- should he be so lucky as to grab out anything. 
About two weeks afterward, as I was passing through the 
business portion of the camp, he called me into a store 
and presented a bottle of brandy and a bundle of cigars 
with the remark: "I struck one yesterday which brought 
nte £30," whereupon I mentally concluded that I had made 
an error in locating my claim. Still I struggled on, hop- 
ing to be called one of the fortunate ones at no very 
distant date. My neighbors kept on making lucky finds, 
and when one did so, it was customary to shout and hold 
aloft the prize, when there would be a -rush of all round- 
about, to have a look at it. Finally, I picked up my first 
diamond, a little bit of a half-carat stone, full of flaws and 
defects. Suddenly conceiving the idea of playing a prank 
on the boys, I held it up between my fingers and shouted 
with all my power. There was an immediate gathering 
around me, and when they saw the trick that had been 
played on them, it was unanimously voted that I should 
stand treat, in honor of my good luck. I tried to back 
out. but in vain, and the joke was turned on me, by being 
forced to pay over .£1 for wetting iny first find, which T 
afterward sold for 2.s. 6d. 
In the meanwhile a small lot of Yankees had arrived 
in carnp by dribbles, and they very naturally inquired as 
to the location of any of their fellow countrytuen. In a 
majority of instanees they were directed to my tent, as I 
had been in South Africa for several years, and was 
known pt'rsonally, or by reputation, by a number of 
coloni.sts and Boers. The gang christened me "Dad," and 
one of them having a small American flag, it was duly 
raised In front of my tent, which, henceforth, was gen- 
erally looked upon as the headquarters of the American 
settlement. 
Time rolled on, and I did not make another find, when 
one night, as I was vigorously pulling at my pipe and 
grunting at my continued ill luck, two young New 
Yorkers dropped in, and informed me that three days 
previous there had been a new rtish on the De Beer's 
farm, and one of them happening to be present, when the 
surveyor was laying out the diggings, stumbled on a 
triangular bit. which had been left when the diggers 
roughly stepped out their claims. Taking his stand on 
it, as was cirstomary with all, when the surveyor was 
running his linfes, the triangle was changed into a square 
and properly entered in his name. He had just received 
his certifTcate from the surveyor, when a party, who had 
been his partner digging on the river, happened to pass, 
and being informed by by-standers, of what had taken 
place, forthwith insisted in a half-interest in the claim. It 
seems that he had run a small grocery at the river dig- 
gings, and had kept several parties in grub stakes for a 
half-interest in their finds, among whom was the above 
mentioned youngster, who had quit and walked up to De 
Beer's, where he had met the friend who had brought 
him to my tent for advice. Knowing that the matter 
would have to come before the diggers' committee for 
trial, I recommended that he should have all his witnesses 
ready for the contest, which would take place in com- 
paratively a short time, as the committee held weekly 
meetings. In addition to this, two of them acted daily on 
the diggings, relative to any dispute about boundary lines, 
etc., which were sure to spring up between individual 
diggers, as the variation of an inch or two would hold 
very large diamonds. On being notified, they would go 
immediately on to the claim, collect five shillings each from 
the contestants, hear the evidence, step aside and confer, 
return and give their verdict, from which there was no 
appeal, and return five shillings to the winner. Their 
course of action at their weekly meetings, which were held 
