292 AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
Zambesi itself, and spend considerable time in the 
exploration of that river. In this way he has been able 
to write not only an interesting story, but to add 
considerably to the knowledge of the country and 
people between that river and the Transvaal. The 
following account of the Kimberley diamond-mines 
twenty years ago is of interest :— 
The palmy days of the diamond diggings were in 
VIEW IN POET ELIZABETH. 
1870 and 1871, when, if report be true, a swaggering 
digger would occasionally light his short pipe with a 5/. 
note, and when a doctor’s assistant was able to clear 
1100/. in seven months. But since 1871 the value of 
the diamonds has been constantly on the decline ; and 
although the yield has been so largely increased that 
the aggregate profits have not diminished, yet the 
actual expenses of working have become tenfold greater. 
Notwithstanding the fall in the value of the stones, the 
