Houses were more easily constructed from canvas than from wood, and whole towns, as if by magic, sprang into existence. It must have been a curious sight to look upon one of those canvas towns.
In the red letter days of diamond digging, it was no uncommon thing for sixty thousand or more people to gather round the dry river diggings. When the great rush was over, and men settled down to steady labor in the mining districts, the population naturally decreased to a great extent, as the mere fortune hunters left the field of labor to the real workers.
The New Rush Mine of Kimberley has been described as the center of interest. A town has been built around it, and there are churches, clubs, hotels, halls, and even a fine market place, as attractions.
The mine is said to have the appearance of a hollow. This has a circumference of three-fourths of a mile. The mine had naturally a slight elevation above the plain in which it is situated. Since mining operations began, it has been scooped out to quite a depth, the lowest point being estimated as lying more than two hundred feet below the surface.
The greater part of the work in the mines can, of course, be done by the natives. They labor with pick and spade, load the buckets, which are constantly being pulled up and let down by means of ropes and pulleys, and carry them off to the sorting ground. Here they throw the "stuff" into sieves, where it is carefully sifted, then examined with the closest scrutiny, after having been spread on tables in the open air for the purpose.
WASHING SAND FOR DIAMONDS.
Just as in the early gold-mining days in America, "claims" were set off by the diamond diggers in South Africa. The owner of a claim then set to work to examine the soil, which he collected in a heap by the aid of his pick and shovel. This done, he removed the loose stones, and separated the sand by means of fine sieves. The remaining earth and stones he then carried to the washing place on the river bank.
The washing was done in a curious kind of "cradle," as it was called. It really consisted of a double sieve. The upper sieve had holes in it about half an inch in diameter, while the lower one had holes so small as to prevent a diamond of one-half carat from slipping through. When the washing process was once accomplished, it was followed by that of sorting.
The diamond sections have been the scenes of the most intense excitement. It was no uncommon thing for one man to pay another a fabulous price for his claim. One case is cited where half a claim, which measured only thirty by sixteen feet, and which had been dug out to a depth of fifty feet, brought the immense sum of twenty-four thousand English pounds.