Not infrequently these half-worked claims were worth the money and time expended, and many a lucky "find" gladdened the hearts of the fortunate purchaser.
A case is mentioned of the finding of a diamond, after a few hours' search, which brought the fortunate possessor three thousand pounds. Another stone picked up on a deserted claim was described as one of a hundred and fifteen carats' weight.
In those early days life was hard and the barest necessities for existence difficult to obtain. Meat was not only dear, but of poor quality; butter was even worse, and vegetables so scarce as to be veritable luxuries.
It must be remembered that everything for Kimberley had to be brought up either from the coast, five hundred miles from the Orange Free State, or from some of the more accessible parts of Cape Colony.
All goods had to be brought with ox teams. This was a very slow and sure mode of transportation, and an extremely costly one.
Many changes have taken place in the neighborhood of the mines and dry diggings. Some of the mines have become exhausted, but new ones have constantly been discovered each year. The population has become more settled. The queer "shanties" of canvas and wood have disappeared, and whole towns of substantial brick and stone houses have replaced them.
An air of comfort and thrift pervades the settlements, and the energy and activity of the scene are enhanced by the steam railway, which forms the connecting link between the various mining sections. Improved methods of irrigation tend to relieve the country from the discomfort of dust and flies, and Griqualand West of the present time is as great a contrast to that of the past as can well be imagined.