The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1870-08-04
THE DIAMOND LAND OF soUTH
= eIi5laIss.ll AFRICA. - !.


THE DIAhroND LAND OF South
AFRICA.
The special correspondent of the
New York World writes from Port
Elizabeth, South Africa, a very inter-
esting account of the diamond mines
in that region. We extract the fol-
lowing from his letter:
The diamond country in South Az
rica is about $50 miles in a northeast
direction from Cape town. The road.
with few exceptions, is good. The
herbage for the first seventy miles is
grass; then through the Karoo, or
desert it is . species of bush until you
arrive nearly to Hope town, 600 miles,
and on the lower boundary of the
diamond fields, when it is grass again
and continues SO until you have passed
through the diamond fields. The cli-
mate is fine, clear through the dia-
mond fields, excepting in rainy sea-
sons. The rain. does not occur often.
You have bed slung in your wagon.
or you can have tent. Your servants
sleep under the wagon. The daysare
hot-frequently 108 in the shade, but
at night it is quite cool-down to 36.
In winter the cold is intense, snow
sometimes lying on the ground for
three days.
The diamond country is large and
undulating prairie interspersed with
mats. There numerous dry beds of
so-called rivers, which, when full, we
would call creeks. They soon run
dry after the rain ceases, but water
may be obtained by digging in these
apparently dry beds. The diamond
1ields are fully 5000 feet above the
level Of the sea. Tho Vaal, Orange
and Hart rivers run through this dis
trict; they are too shallow and full of
falls for navigation. The country
where diamonds have been found con-
sists of fats and undulating grounds:
the rivers have not been prospected.
The natives have hitherto found most
of the diamonds, and on the surface
only; they never dig for Them. About
a dozen join hands and walk abreast
across plain, and when they see a
shining pebble they pick it MP !; if not
diamond they throw it over their
shoulders and go on. Some white.
men have latterly commenced to sift
the dry sand, and it is said with suc-e
cess. Many small diamonds of half
carat are being found. The beds OF
the rivers cut into the soil from thirty
to sixty feet, with mostly sandy bot
toms; some have stony bottoms.
The line of country along the banks
of Orange, Starte and Vaal rivers,
say three hundred yards from the wa
ter, has been mostprolific of diamonds.
At Jacobsdal, in the Orange River
Free State, over three hundred were
found in one week by sitting. The
following diamonds turned out salts
factorily in Europe, where they were
sent: No. l weighed 81 karats (found
by q child named Jacobs-value ST.
500); No. 2, AZ; No. 8, 1 !; No. f. 81;
No. 5, lSs No. 6, 8; No. Z, 1O1s No. s
BOZ No. 8, 26; No. 10, Is; No. Ii,
ID; No. II -; No. Is, 9;No. ID, At.
Sold all the way from $50 to $4,000.
The Star of South Africa was the
largest, S3% karats.; sold for $4,000,
and sent to Amsterdam to be cut.
There have been found in South Afri-
ca over fifty diamonds of over four
karats weight, and hundreds under
that down to half karat.
There are various modes of mining
for diamonds: OF course washing
for them is best, but in this country
when wateris scarce, dry sitting is
best. The diamond fields cover /, 600
square miles, and extending from lon
gitude "a to 28 east, and from latitude
~ to 80 south. tt confidently antic-
1pated that within one year at least
1000 men will be actively engaged on
the south African diamond fields.
A diamond worth f1, 800 was disin-
TERED from hole at only q short
distance from where. our informant
was temporarily staying, and this was
disposed of by the lucky finder for
wagon and oxen worth about GI2O.
or at most, f14O. Other diamonds,
worth f2o0to e3O0 have been picked |
up, and many worth ESQ to EGO. The
most active diggers are merely. dis
posing of the small diamonds to pay
for the necessaries of life, and are |
boarding up all the more valuable
ones. A few beautiful rubies have |
likewise been discovered, and one
turquoise-a piece of which we have
seen, it having unfortunately been
smashed BY the finder in order to see
what the inside looked like-has been
unearthed.
SOME of the questions proposed for
discussion at n mating of a yuasto,,,, /