The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1878-08-15

The modern discovery OF diamonds
came about in this wise: In 1867 GER
tain John O'Reilly, trader and hunter,
on his way from the interior, reached
the junction Of the rivers, and stopped
for the night at the farm of Dutch
farmer named Van Niekerk. The chill
dren were playing on the earth floor
with some pretty pebbles they had found
long before on the river. One of these
pebbles attracted O'Reilly's attention
He said, picking it up, "That might be
a diamond" Niekerk laughed, and said
he could have it i; it was no diamond if
it was, there were plenty around there.
However, O'Reilly was not to be
laughed out Of his idea, and said that if
Niekerk didn't object he would take it
down with him to Cape Town and see
what it was, and if it proved to be of
value he would give him half the pro-
ceeds. On the way down, long jour-
ney, he stopped at Colesburg, at the ho-
tel, and showed the pebble, scratching
with it pane of glass. His friends
laughingly scratched glass with gun
flint and threw the pebble out Of the
window, telling O'Rourke not to make
fool Of himself. However, O'Reilly
persevered, got it to DIR. Atherstone,
near the coast, who announced that it
was, in truth, a diamond of 49, carats.
It was sold for $4,000. I am glad to say
that O'Reilly divided fairly with Me
kerk. The latter remembered that he
had seen an immense stone in the
hands of a Kaffir witch doctor, who used
it in his lamentations. He found the
fetish-man, gave him 500 sheep, horses,
and nearly all he possessed, and sold it
the same Gay to an experienced dia-
mond-buyer for $50, 900. This was the
famous "Star of South Africa" It
weighed 49, carats in the rough, and
was found to be gem quite the rival of
any Indian stone in purity and brill
lance. After it had been cut it
was bought by the Earl of Dudley and
it is now known as the "Dudley" dia-
mond. The natives crawled over the
ground and found many more, and the
excitement grew and became intense. By
1869 parties in ox-wagons had worked
their way over the weary plains to the
Vaal river. From all parts of the colony
and from foreign lands, people swarmed,
and soon, like the creation of dream,
a tented city of twelve thousand, and
more grew at Pniel and Klipdrift, the
opposite banks of the stream where dia-
monds were found plentifully and OF ex-
cellent quality by sorting over the
bowlder-drift. Soon hundreds of cradles,
like those used by the Australian gold
diggers, were rocking on the edge of the
stream, supplied with the precious gravel
by a large force of diggers. sievers, and
carriers. People were thunderstruck at
their success. Poor men with a turn of
the hand became rich. Hotels, bakeries,
breweries, drinking saloons and shops
we're erected, and reaped rewards quite
as large as did the diggers. It was a
marvellous scene at night when the oppo-
site camps were lit up with the warm
glow of lights shining through the tent
cloth buildings and the brilliant camp
fires of their II, 900 inhabitants glinted
across the water, from bank to bank.
Far into the night were kept up the
shouts and laughter and singing and
music, and the crossing and recrossing
of the boats. The excited crowds shifted
their quarters up and down the river,
making new discoveries during 1870 and |
1871, over an area of from forty to fifty |
miles of the stream, and forming many |
camps such as Gong Gong, Union Kopie, |
Colesberg Kopje, Delport's Hope, Blue |
Jacket, Forlorn Hope, Waldeks' Plant,
Larkin's Flat and Niekerk's Hope
ScrI6aey. for AqZ0aIet