182 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
V 
iMARCH 10, i 
Diamond Digging at Kimberley. 
{,Conclwded from last -week.) 
Several months after the opening of the new rush 
Cobb & Co., the American coach owners, started to open 
a Hne from Port Elizabeth to the diggings. They came 
up at first with a couple of coaches, in order to locate 
places for stables on the road and open an office at the 
mmes. They stopped with the Yankee colonv on their 
first visit. I became acquainted with all the drivers when 
the line came into operation, and on the afternoons they 
were due I was generally in front of the office to get the 
late Cape Colony papers, which they brought in their 
pockets and tossed to me immediately on their arrival. 
One afternoon, after getting hold of the papers, my at- 
tention was attracted by a party of young colonials, who 
were evidently having some fun with one of the recently 
alighted passengers. One of them happening to pass 
near me, I asked him the cause of the fun. He an- 
swered: "Oh, dad! Just step over and have a look at 
the craziest Frenchman you ever saw. He can't speak a 
word of English, and the boys are having lots of sport 
if he was a Canadian, and he acknowledged that he was 
a native of Quebec. I took him to the Parisian, and he 
was immediately hired at decent wages. Several weeks 
subsequent I was told that a crazy Frenchman had opened 
an office and was buying nothing but "splints," which the 
boys were unloading on him at a rapid rate. Splints was 
the local name for pieces of diamonds, for which hereto- 
fore there had been no sale, as there were no expert dia- 
mond buyers. On knocking off work that afternoon I 
strolled past the lunatic's office, who, happening to catch 
sight of me, rushed out, laid violent hands on and dragged 
me into the rear portion of the tent, where he showed 
me over lo pounds avoirdupois weight of pieces of dia- 
monds, which he had purchased at his own price. He 
forced me to disgorge my lot, which had been an eyesore 
for some time, paying therefor a price largely in excess 
of what he had been doing. 
In the meantime, January's time for returning to his 
kraal had passed, and I finally started him for Natal with 
some returning freight wagons, and his regular wages, 
augmented by enough to buy two cows. He promised to 
start two or three boj^s so soon as he arrived at home. 
Giraffe and myself pegged away until the committee is- 
sued orders for the immediate lowering of all the roads. 
As many of them had become huge banks of earth 15 
feet wide by 30 or 40 in height, they were constantly cav- 
ing in, and accidents were of daily occurrence. As I had 
excess of his regular wages to purchase a gun, which 
the height of his ambition. 
As my means increased, I determined to invest 
more comfortable abode than a tent, and roughly mai 
the plans for a sectional house, American style, mi; 
them to Durban with directions to forward as soon as 
sible. On its arrival I stuck it together, with a corrug 
iron roof, making it the first decent domicile erectC' 
the camp. My landlords and myself occupied it : 
dormitory and living room, turning the tent over tc 
care of the Hindoo cook for eating purposes. The 
was immediately copied in a number of instances, pa- 
ularly for diamond buyers' offices. 
In the meanwhile the event, reports o£ which had 
current for some time, of hoisting the English flag , 
the mines seemed about to take place. The party wha 
been my landlords' former antagonist in the lav 
boasted that he would reopen the case as soon as the 
went into effect. This caused the youngsters to bee 
uneasy, and they offered the claim for sale, but could) 
find a purchaser, as all were unwilling to invest in a i, 
of property, the title to which promised to be the c 
of a lawsuit. I took them to a lawyer for advice, an^'l 
told them that although their opponent might give t 
some trouble, when the case came to be submitted to 
judge it would certainly be decided in their favor, 
they continued depressed and anxious to get away, 
with him. On going over to the knot of teasers, I found 
they were annoying a party who showed all the outward 
signs of a gentleman, but unfortunately was unable to 
express his wants intelligibly to those around him. Step- 
ping up to him, I asked, in broken French, if I could be 
of any assistance to him. He immediately informed me 
that he had not an acquaintance in the camp and would 
like to go to the nearest hotel. On being told that there 
was not one in the camp, he said he was completely at a 
loss what to do, as he was willing and able to pay for 
accommodations. I told him that he was perfectly wel- 
come to a shake-down in my tent until he co.uld find bet- 
ter sheker. Instantly he sprang toward me, and it was 
only by exercising some agility that I prevented him from 
embracing me. Shouldering one of his valises, while he 
carried the other, I guided him to my tent, and endeav- 
ored to make him as comfortable as possible. For several 
days he wandered about the diggings, seeming to take 
greatjnterest in the mode of mining, but made no attempt 
to get an interest in a claim. Finally, one night, as we 
were going to bed, he informed me that he did not come 
288>^ CARAT DIAMOND. 
Found at Waldek's Plant, Vaal River, South Africa, March 6, 1872, 
by Mr. Robei-t Spalding's party. 
to the diggings for the purpose of mining diamonds, 
but to buy them, as his father was one of the largest cut- 
ters in Paris. He proved his assertion by producing from 
a belt Rothschild letters of credit for £20,000. Although 
the camp was free from the rough and criminal element 
generally common in all mining communities, I did not 
feel at ease, and the next morning persuaded him to go 
with me to the bank and open an account. I did not know 
who was the most surprised — he, at the rough appearance 
of the bank, which was simply a corrugated iron struc- 
ture, with a calico partition separating the manager's 
office from the teller's desk, or the manager, who was 
astounded at the magnitude of his new customer's first 
deposit. As soon as possible I made arrangements for 
the erection of a tent for him, but was bothered about 
securing an interpreter, when my uneasiness was relieved 
by a young man who applied for a job a:t working on my 
plaim, Ppteeting a pectjUfir geewt in his speech, I asked 
THE KIMBERLEY piAMOiTD MINES SIX MONTHS AFTER OrENING. 
a piece 7 feet 6 inches square lo remove, with only Giraffe 
for an assistant, my progress was slow. On returning to 
my tent one afternoon I found three Zulus squatted in 
iront of it. Instantly divining who thev were I passed 
ni, seemingly without seeing them. In a few minutes I 
stepped forth and said: "What do you want?" 
"The Man-Without-a-Mouth." 
'"Who sent you?" 
"January." 
Giraffe was called and ordered to take care of them 
and I afterward found out that they had been in the camp 
for two days trying to find me, and had refused several 
offers at more wages than I was to pav them. Having 
plenty of help, I invested in a cart and" a pair of mules^ 
hauling all my dirt up in the vicinity of my tent and sort- 
mg it there. 
With this taking down of the roads the system of min- 
ing changed. The entire reef .suiTounding the mine was 
occupied by a series of platforms, severarders in height. 
From these were stretched cables of wire rope, which were 
anchored to posts in the claims, the dirt being conveyed 
to the platforms, generally in oxhide buckets attached to 
travelers on the cable worked from the platforms. On 
each platform was a chute, which conveyed the dirt into 
the bodies of the carts, which were backed underneath 
the mine now presented the appearance of a mighty 
spider's web, and on the occurrence of a thunder shower 
there was an immediate cessation of all work. As a sheaf 
of oats usually cost about 25 cents, the keep of my mules 
amounted to quite a sum each week; but not being able 
to keep them constantly at work myself, I contracted to 
haul dirt for my landlords and one or two of the nei£;h- 
boring claims. One of the greatest drawbacks with which 
w e had to contend was the scarcitv of water. For a short 
umc after the opening of the new rush every drop of it 
had to be hauled in casks from Da Foit's Pan, which was 
three miles. But this burden was relieved by several 
parties, who had laid out claims which proved to be 
worthless on account of being outside the reef. They 
sank until water was reached, and ttieir' wells proved to 
be worth more than many claims on the inner side as 
every cask of water brought 5 shillings, or about $1.25. 
It w^s customary to roll up the empty casks to the wells 
in the morning, while on the way to -work, and in the 
afternoon, after knocking off, pass by the wells and roll 
the recently filled casks to the various tents. Such a thing 
as a bath was unheard of, and the amount of dirt which 
would accumulate on one's person was something fearful 
as we were compelled to work all the time in a cloud of 
dust. Our only relief was a Sunday drive down to Klip 
Drift, on the Orange River, to enjoy a regtdar soak 
After my purchase of the mules I was in the habit of 
doubling up with a neighbor and flourishing over the 
road with a four-in-hand. One Sunday afternoon, on my 
return from a souse, Sam Edwards, one of my neighbors, 
inquired if I had seen Giraffe since my return, as lie had 
been asking when I would get back, and seemed quite 
anxious to see me. Sam was a native born Afrikander, 
being the son of a missionary, and one of the best and 
most unpretending men that I ever met. He crossed and 
recrossed Africa before Livingstone ever thotight of doing 
it, and never made any noise about it. He advised me to 
hunt up Giraffe, as he was sure, from his actions, that he 
had something important to communicate to me. I there- 
fore at once sought Giraffe, who quietly took me aside 
and produced a diamond which he said he had found lying 
in the last cartload of dirt which had been hauled up on 
Saturday afternoon. I sold it the next day for £60. 
Giraffe remained with me until I quit the diggings, when 
he also started for his kraal, with enough sovereigns in 
lading to get a tender from outside parties, they offe 
to let me have the claim for £600, which I accef 
under the following conditions: I would pay them £ 
down, but the remainder must be left in my hands to 
law expenses. They immediately transferred the cl; 
to me and started for New York, while I worked on v 
extra activity jn order to get back the £300 which I 
paid down and enough to meet law expenses, provi. 
the suit went against me. Over a month passed bef 
the English flag was raised, and another went by prioi 
matters moving according to the ideas of the new ruli 
during which time I worked like a beaver, in order; 
provide against any possible ill luck. 
During the administration of the digger.s' commit 
there had been only sotne three or four parties in 
camp licensed to retail liquors, and they were un 
heavy bonds; but immediately after the change g 
shops abounded and drinks were openly furnished to" 
natives, an act positively prohibited by the former auth 
KIMBERLEY SIX MONTHS OLD. 
ities. This action excited the wrath of the diggers ai 
It was but a short time before it found vent in a decide 
proceeding, which forced the governing powers to ik 
back somewhat. A digger from the Cape Colbnv si 
pecting a party of illicit diamond buying, gave one of 
Kaffirs whom he could trust a splint, with directions 
take It to a certain tent and see if he could <y^t a bott 
of rum for It. The native soon returned with the spirii 
and tne digger, calling up his neighbors, related tl; 
•transaction. A crowd immediately assembled and ma. 
lor the rascals tent, which was set on fire and he w 
ordered to leave the camp instantly. The' neio-hborii 
tents were carefully protected from the flames and whi 
the newly appointed corps of police made their 'appearan 
they were ordered by such a determined and overwhel 
ing crowd to make themselves scarce that they thoue 
It prudent to retire, This was the first and only cfa 
between the diggers and the police of Kimberley a^ttl 
new rush was renamed. This affair caused me fo wgtc 
