Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-03-02
DIAMONDS.

AuNuoiS IIOllOpoi tue IuStlSH lloNellSt,
has been making tour of the world and
writing home to English papers his OBJ
servatlons. In n letter from the town of
Kim berley, in the South African dia-
mond fields, he says :
The various diamond shops to which |
was taken were near the mine, or in the
streets leading from the mine to the
square. These were little counting
houses in which the dealers would sit,
generally two together, loosely handling
property worth many thousands of
pounds. l was taken to them to see
diamonds, and | saw diamonds without
stint. Parcel after parcel was opened for
me with almost as little reserve as when
Lothair asked for pearls The stones
were packed in paper parcels, each parcel
containing perhaps from so to 200, ac-
cordng to their size. Then four or FIVE
of these parcels were fitted into paner
box. which would again be enclosed in
paper envelope. Withoutother safeguard
than this, tho parcels are registered and
sent by post, to London, Paris or Am.
sterdam, rs the case may be.
l was sick Of looking at diamonds, and
was specially disgusted at the terms of
reproach with which most of the stones
were described by their owners. Many
of them were "off fcolors'-stones of vel
lowsh hue, and therefore of comparative-
ly little value. Some were stones with
flaw, or stones which would split in the
cutting, or stones which would not be
cut to advantage. There were very many
evil stones to one that was good. The
purely white, cOrrecty-anglod, eight
sided diamond was rare. The diamonds
sent away by post from Kimberley in
1876 were worth eI ,4l4 $50, and weighed
773 pounds avoirdupois weight.
There can hardly be doubt that Kim
berley and the diamond fields have been
of great service to the black race, who
obtain work. And there can be as little
doubt that the finding of diamonds has,
in n commercial point of view, been the
salvation of South Africa. The custom
duties OF Cape Colony in 1862 before dia-
monds were known, was less than $780,
600. In 1875 that sum had been very
much more than doubled. The sudden
influx of national wealth which this in
crease betokens has come from the con-
sumption created by the now industry
1t is not the wealth found which directly
enriches nation, but the trade created
by the finding OF tho national benefit
accruing from the diamond there can be
no doubt; whether they have been equally
beneficial to those who have searched for
them may be matter for question.
What fortunes may have been made in
the pursuit no one can tell. If they have
been numerous or great | have not heard
of them. 1t is certain that many have
ruined themselves by fruitess labors, and
that others who have suddenly enriched
themselves have been unable to bear their
prosperity with equanimity. The effect
of valuable diamond upon digger who
has been working perhaps month for
nothing was almost maddenlng. Now,
however, diamond digging has settled it..
self down to a paid industry. Companies
have been form ed dividends are divided
monthly, and there is something like II
fixed rate of finding from this claim or
that. There is less of oxctement, and
consequently less Of evil.
Nevertheless, there is a stain sticking
to diamonds, a stain which sticks also to
gold as it is dug out of the earth, which
almost compols tho visitor to Kimberley
to view the trade with disgust. If there
be an employment in which the laborer
has actually to grovel in the dirt, it is this
search for diamonds. There is much of
it in gold seeking, but in the search after
diamonds it is all grovelling.