The wretches, cruelly tasked and badly fed, broke down and perished miserably.
The government worked the mines for its own benefit, entirely by convict labor, and made a handsome profit out of it, for the labor cost them nothing but what they paid for food, and often diamonds of large size, first water, and great value were found when the mines were reached. The prisoners were detailed to certain sections, and Jack had to work underground with a desperate-looking ruffian whose name was Alfonso.
The most favored prisoners worked above ground, receiving the "dirt" as it came up the shafts, and washing it in the streams which flowed down from the sides of the mountains.
These were watched by overseers, and the diamonds were, when found, handed to superintendents.
The men worked in couples, and were allowed to talk. They had three meals a day of coarse food, and slept in wooden huts at night, laboring from dawn to dusk.
Jack and Alfonso were supplied with a pickax, a shovel and a basket.
They first picked down the earth or diamond-studded dirt, then shoveled it into the basket, afterward carrying it to the nearest shaft, where it was taken in hand by others, and sent up to the surface.
"What are you in for?" asked Alfonso.
"They say I took a man's watch, and I got five years," replied Jack.
"That's nothing," continued Alfonso; "I killed my man, and I was sent 'down' for life."