The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-11-28
THE Riches of Afrtss

Last year anu Tue sc's' c 49, !.asy 80 - :,
startling reports of thediscdxsry ofsT ~ !,
depaosits of gold upon the esstcrn coast OF !.
africa. The country Of Mozambique ana
zanyihar became very attractive, and peo'
~ aockad th,ther to gather up the pre-
c;ons metal which was discovered apun.
dainty along various water courses ana
now we have startling reports from the
co,,.b Of Africa of the finding Of a great
cran,,tv Of precious stones. The valley OF
tho V.al river is The locality In which they
90 nicked up. Such is the number and
y,lue of these stones that there Is great
rushing Of people into the magic region.
settlements are growing up, great hotel
is to be built Mt the main point OF the DIS
coyeries, and all the appliances OF dissipa-
ton and amusement are r-accumulatlns
amidst the scenes of hunting and mining
for Che jewels.
It is announced that diamond of eighty
three carats was found by Natal company.
It Is valued al 800, 600. Another, of one.
hundred carats, worth 100000, was found
by one Captain LUCAS, magistrate Of Al
fredia. Various others are mentioned,
valued from $50, 900 to 100000. The peo-
pie are, as is always the case when such
luck occurs, crazy with excitement, and
the whole valley is being searched and
scratched for the jewels. OF course, IN the
aggregate there is no great gain from TINS
ripping up the earth tor these precious de-
posts, but that does not diminish the zeal
of the hunters as long as it can be said
such successes as we have mentioned above
have rewarded some of them, the rest VIII
be encouraged to prosecute the search.
Besides these brilliant instances Of good
luck, it Is stated that an old man sits down
by bush and scratches up with his fingers
a stone worth $4,000; drunken man,
prone upon the ground, kicks up stone
of fifty.five carats ; and child picked up
one morning stones of the value of $4,000.
These stories viii cheer up thousands in
their delving who do not make support.
1t must be believed, however, that these
African jewel mines are exceedingly rich !;
perhaps equal to the richest yet discovered.
There were but two diamond fields Of
especial note known before this-viz. the
Deccan, in India, and the Minas-Geraes, in
Brazil. In the rural mountains jewels are
occasionally found, but they are very rare.
These new discoveries in Africa are likely
to affect the value Of diamonds. They are
not like gold, medium of exchange, be-
sides being appropriated to variety of
purposes for ornament, furniture, &c. The
uses of the diamond are few, and additions
to the supply in the world very readily af-
feet their value. Several ships have ar
rived in England from Cape Town with
boxes containing jewels.
These developed riches Of Africa show
the wonderful wealth of that quarter of the
globe in precious metals and stones. When
we consider how very limited have been
the explorations with view to these rich
deposits, and how large have been the dis
coveries in these limited examinations, we
must infer that there remains yet world Of
wealth to be uncovered and gathered up.
That these are to have a great influence
upon the country, and bring about radi-
cal change in its condition, is a reasonable
expectation. What will be the nature Of it
cannot be foretold. The tendency should
be decidedly to civilization; but the great
obstacle to this is the unhealthiness of the
richest parts of Africa for the white man
the only great civilizer OH the globe.
1t was knowledge of this serious obsta-
Gle to African civilization that led the great
men Of this country to form the African
Colonization Society, with the view of ac-
comprising the object through the Ameri-
can black man, sent to the land from
whence his ancestors came. Comparatively
civilized in this country, it was thought he
would be an efficient agent in carrying the
knowledge and arts Of civilization into AT.
RIGA, whose climate suited him, and whose
natives would receive his teaching kindly
and READILY.
The idea was reasonable, and was cher
ished by those who entertained it. 1t was
the groundwork and pillar of colonization,
| and filled its advocates with an enlightened
enthusiasm. Most of them are dead. Lived
they now they would be panied to see how
little inclined are the blacks towards re.
| alzation Of their fond hopes. The black
man is content. His mind is not sufficient.
y elevated to take in the philanthropic idea
| Of the civilization of the land of his ances
tors. There is not pulse of his heart that
throbs with solicitude for the enlighten.
| ment Of the savages of his own race. He new.
er thinks of them. The procession with the
| long-tailed coats and the tinsel thereof, and
the drum and bleating DEMONSTRATING the
most abolninable dissonance and the conse
quential drum-major, with his fancifu
wand; the excursion, and the many way!
Of parting with his weekly gains g.; and above
all the wrangle about politics, of which the
great body of negroes are as ignorant a!
the balloons of Borneo, and the vote
These ill up his mind and time. and he ha.
not much temper for other things. Africa
may remain in darkness till doonlsday fol
aim. Hog-and-hominy here lis better thar
gold and jewels in Africa. They find book
learning here quite enough Of muddle
and have no idea Of goingto Africa to teacl
it. And thus, could CLAY, and MARSHALL
and MERCER, and their contemporaries, be
hold the picture now, they would see thei
noble idea and hopeful anticipations vanish
we fear, forever. Proridentially, somethin!
else must be substituted for their pious ant
cherished schemes. ...s.
The "Blondes" resenttully paid thei
respects to the Dispatch Friday night. W
did not suppose they had tender poin