South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 1 (of 8) / From the Foundation of Cape Colony to the Boer Ultimatum of 9th Oct. 1899

by Louis Creswicke

The diamonds have their home in beds of clay, which are usually covered with calcareous rock. These beds are the remains of mud pits, due to volcanic action. Mr. Bryce, in his "Impressions of South Africa, says:—

"Some of the mines are worked to the depth of 1200 feet by shafts and subterranean galleries. Some are open, and these, particularly that called the Wesselton Mine, are an interesting sight. This deep hollow, one-third of a mile in circumference and 100 feet deep, enclosed by a strong fence of barbed wire, is filled by a swarm of active Kaffir workmen, cleaving the 'hard blue' with pickaxes, piling it up on barrows, and carrying it off to the wide fields, where it is left exposed to the sun, and, during three months, to the rain. Having been thus subjected to a natural decomposition, it is the more readily brought by the pickaxe into smaller fragments before being sent to the mills, where it is crushed, pulverised, and finally washed to get at the stones. Nowhere in the world does the hidden wealth of the soil and the element of chance in its discovery strike one so forcibly as here, where you are shown a piece of ground a few acres in extent, and are told, 'Out of this pit diamonds of the value of £12,000,000 have been taken.' Twenty-six years ago the ground might have been bought for £50."

To encourage honesty in the miner good wages are given, and ten per cent. is allowed to finders of valuable stones who voluntarily deliver these to the overseer. Apropos of this subject, Mr. Bryce relates an amusing tale, which, if not true, is certainly ben trovato: "I heard from a missionary an anecdote of a Basuto who, after his return from Kimberley, was describing how, on one occasion, his eye fell on a valuable diamond in the clay he was breaking into fragments. While he was endeavouring to pick it up he perceived the overseer approaching, and, having it by this time in his hand, was for a moment terribly frightened, the punishment for theft being very severe. The overseer, however, passed on. 'And then,' said the Basuto, 'I knew that there was indeed a God, for He had preserved me.'"

Before leaving the subject of diamonds, it may be interesting to note the material increase of the products of the mines year by year. The following is a table of statistics of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, since its formation, 1st April 1888:—

TABLE OF STATISTICS.

	Year ending	Number of Loads of Blue Hoisted.	Number of Loads of Blue Washed.	Number of Carats of Diamonds Found.	Amount Realised by Sale of Diamonds.			Number of Carats per Load of Blue.	Amount Realised per Carat Sold.		Amount Realised per Load.		Cost of Production per Load.		Number of Loads of Blue on Floors at Close of Year, exclusive of Lumps.	Dividends Paid
																Amount.			Equal to.
					£	s.	d.		s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.		£	s.	d.
De Beers and Kimberley Mines	March 31, 1889, prior to consolidation	944,706	712,263	914,121	901,818	0	5	1.283	19	8¾	25	3¾	9	10½	476,403	188,329	10	0	5 per cent.
	March 31, 1890	2,192,226	1,251,245	1,450,605	2,330,179	16	3	1.15	32	6¾	37	2¾	8	10½	1,576,821	789,682	0	0	20 "
	March 31, 1891	1,978,153	2,029,588	2,020,515	2,974,670	9	0	.99	29	6	29	3¾	8	8	1,525,386	789,791	0	0	20 "
	[A]June 30, 1892	3,338,553	3,239,134	3,035,481	3,931,542	11	1	.92	25	6	23	5	7	4.3	1,624,805	1,382,134	5	0	35 "
	June 30, 1893	3,090,183	2,108,626	2,229,805	3,239,389	8	6	1.05	29	0.6	30	6	6	11.6	2,606,362	987,238	15	0	25 "
	June 30, 1894	2,999,431	2,577,460	2,308,463½	2,820,172	3	9	.89	24	5.2	21	10.6	6	6.8	3,028,333	987,238	15	0	25 "
	June 30, 1895	2,525,717	2,854,817	2,435,541½	3,105,957	15	8	.85	25	6	21	8	6	10.8	2,699,233	987,238	15	0	25 "
	June 30, 1896	2,698,109	2,597,026	2,363,437¾	3,165,382	1	4	.91	26	9.4	24	4.5	7	0.1	2,800,316	1,579,582	0	0	40 "
	June 30, 1897	2,515,889	3,011,288	2,769,422¾	3,722,099	3	3	.92	26	10.6	24	8.6	7	4.3	2,304,917	1,579,582	0	0	40 "
Premier Mine	June 30, 1897	271,777	...	...	...			...	...		...		...		271,777	...			...
De Beers and Kimberley Mines	June 30, 1898	3,332,688	3,259,692	2,603,250	3,451,214	15	3	.80	26	6.2	21	2.1	6	7.4	2,377,913	1,579,582	0	0	40 per cent.
Premier Mine	June 30, 1898	1,146,984	691,722	189,356¼	196,659	18	8	.27	20	9.3	5	8.2	2	7.1	727,039

[A] These figures are for a period of fifteen months. Add 10 per cent. for other products.

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CHAPTER VI

THE TRANSVAAL OF TO-DAY