The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-23
AFRICAN DIAMOND FIELDS.
Interesting Letter from . Scientif1<
Es.sS:NDcscr1rsi". ar the Co..trT ~.

Fields- Of the Co1ntry
| From tho Memphis Appeal.l
| CAPE Town, AFRICA, /
| January Is, 1872.
| Editors Appedl-If what little In
formation / can give you relative I
the South African diamond fields
will be OF any use to you, it will affor
me much pleasure to give you all th
points am master of. The bes
route is from New York to South
ampton, thence to Cape Town, ant
thence to Pinal by passenger wagon
two Of which leave Cape Town regu
larly every week. The time con
sumed In making this trip is abou
sixty days, namely: Twelve to ffteeI
days to southampton, thirty to thirty
three days from Southampton to Cap<
Town and ten to twelve days from
Cape town to the diamond fields. Ex
penses for the same-first cabin from
New York Ito Southampton, seventy
dollars; from Southampton to Caps
Town, E3l los. (sterling); from Cap<
Town to Pinal may ut this time be q
couple of pounds less. Second-class
fare from New York to Southampton
IL f0rty.five dollars; from Southampton
| tOCApe town, Ell 0ls.; from Cape Town
| to Pinal, the same as first-class. There
10 an opposition line of steamers from
London to Cape Town the fare being
the same as by Southampton steam
ers. London steamers leave monthly
Southampton steamers leave on the
10th and 25th of each month, carrying
the royal mail. There Is regular line
of sailing vessels from Boston, leav-
ing monthly. / believe the fare by
these Is 500, currency. These vessels
90 to AlgOa bay, on the east coast,
from which place an American line
Of stages are running to the diamond
fields. The distance is . hundred and
fifty miles nearer by this route, but
the roads are much poorer. From
Cape Town the roads are good. The
proper time to leave for the fields is
about this season Of the year, as In
that part Of the world is now the
rainy season, and but little work can
now be done. After the rains cease,
which IL about the middle of April,
the weather Is fine and very healthful,
and work can be prosecuted until the
latter part Of October without any in
Permission. I never enjoyed better
health than / did while in the dig
gings. The country from Cape Town
il . series of plateaus or high table,
lands, rising one above the other until
an altitude of five thousand feet is
reached when in the vicinity of the
Vaal river, ON the banks Of which
Pinal is located. From April to OctO-
Der the days are about as warm as our
New York Summer weather. The
nights are sometimes cool, particu.
larly during July and August, when
overcoats are very comfortable. l
have had ice form in my tent nearly
q half inch thick on an August night.
There are NO prevailing diseases; in
fact, If person be prudent, there is
no reason why heshOuld not enjoy the
finest health. Living is very cheap.
Bread is the most expensive; one
shilling for an ordinary loaf is the
price. English money is the standard.
Meat, three and half to four pence
per POUND; coffee, one to two shillings
per pound tea, five snillings per
pound. Vegetables at times are very
scarce and command, at such tiDnes,
very high price. 1 subsisted princi-
pally upon bread, meat and coffee or
tea and . few vegetables occasionally.
Canned fruits can be purchased at
reasonable figure. When left, there
was do danger of life or property; any
person could travel all through tine
country without need of anything in
shape of . weapon to protect himself.
/ travelled thirty days without even
20 much as . pocket-knife and slept In
the fcldt every night and never was
molested. There are now, however,
. few London thieves in the fields,
and presume more will soon be on
their way. No man should think of
going out to try his luck without am.
Die means to defray his expenses out
and back, and have enough to run
himself ct least one season, When /
was at the fields no white man could
get employment, unless carpenter or
blacksmith, and even they are not
much required. / saw . few whites
working for Is. Sd. per day, or S6 cents
of our money, digging like beavers.
Kaffirs are preferred; they can be
hired for from E2 to f3 sterling per
month, and their board. only paid
for my Ksf1irs 1E, 81 los, and 9l 6s.
3d., respectively, per month. The de-
mand for labor, however, is increasing
very fast. The reason Ksffir labor is
preferable Is because the laws made
BY the diggers do not permit natives
to work claims for themselves, neither
do they permit whites to purchase
diamonds from the natives, under
penalty Of expulsion from the dig
Rings. The consequence Is the ma
lives are pretty honest. Two good
suits Of clothing are quite enough;
under-clothing and good overcoat
are indispensable. can carry quite
enough Ia an ordinary sized valise
for ali my wants. A little essence of
Jamaica ginger Is good, as the water
along the route from Cape Town to
the fields Is bad; in some places, how
ever, good water is abundant. As .
general thing, water is very scarce all
along the route, thirty-five miles often
being travelled without meeting drop
Of water. All implements needed can
be purchased ut the fields for q very
reasonable figure, say $50 for tent and
tools. All the tools needed are q
couple of picks, two shovels, q fine
and o coarse seive, and Q solitary
table, also some few smaller articles
which cost but very little-this at the
dry diggings. At the river the same,
except the sleeves, instead of which
the rocker is used. The country does
not present . very favorable appear
ancs to the tourist; In fact was dis
gusted with it ut fret but soon got &C
customed to its barren mountains and
sterile plains. Wood is very scarce,
not tree is to he seen for miles, and
those which are seen are miserable
specimen of those called wait-a-bits.
The beers or farmers use as a subsli-
tute for wood sheep chips and COW
chips for fuel. All the information
needed on the route from Cape Town
to Pinal will be furnished by the
conductor of the wagons. Parties
wishing to 90 10 the fields can get
some valuable points from the Amer
ican consul at Cape Town, who Is we'll
posted on the fields; his name is Cap
tain Edgecomb. Messrs. Holmes 4
Co., an American house, are very
kind to all Americans who call on
them; they too are well posted on
the fields. Hoping you can gather
from these few lines little infOrma-
ton which will be of benefit to your
readers. w. p. b.
A gentleman one evening was seat
ed near q lovely woman when the
company around him were proposing
cOnundrums to each other, and, turn
ing to his companion, he said:
= 4 H. N OF