The Osceola times., 1881-02-26
THE LAND OF DIAMONDS.
Land which sells fer $4,000 for Thirty
one square Feet.


South Africa Correspondence Hartford Times.
perhaps a brief description Of this land
of GEMS may interest your readers
This place is about 700 miles inland from
Cane Town. and about 500 miles from
port Elizabeth. To reach Kimberly
from Cape Town one has TO travel
through a country called the Great
Karro, a barren. rocky tract, with scarce
any signs of life in il. Ii IS about 3UO
miles through it. A more desolate re-
pion can scarcely be found. l do not
think saw 10 acres for distance OF zoo
that could possibly be plowed; and, judg-
ing from appearances, ! think q rat, to
travel through the karro, would need a
knapsack on his back, well laden with
provisions, to sustain life on his louney,
unless he was of near kin 10 Dr. Tanner.
Kimberly, like its surroundings, is bar
ren waste, very unpleasant for family
home. Most of the country here Is
worthless for farming purposes. water
is scarce; wood very scarce. 1t is brought
here bv ox-teams from distance OF 100
miles. and sold on the market at aucti %
for from $50 to $50 per load, according
size and quality. None of it would be
merchantable in your city. Old dead
wood dug up by the roots and brought TO
market, roots and all, sells for from so
to $50 per load; and load of live wood
(unsplit), containing one a half cords,
sells for $40 to $50 per load. Potatoes
grow to about the size of English wal
nuts; beets, carrots, onions, cucumbers
and lettuce are luxuries nearly unknown
here. The dust and dirt is fearful. |
can not describe it and do justice to the
subject. 1t fills your eyes, nose and ears,
and mats your hair and whiskers; and as
for clothes, the natives, who wear none,
have the advantage, as the water is hard
and miserable, full of dirt and sells for
80 cents per barrel for washing purposes,
and, as for drinking something stronger
is the common thing here. But the
diamonds:
It's truly land of diamonds. Already
over Sl25,OO000O worth have been dis
covered. In the late war one Of the
chiefs (Saccahunil offered quart
measure full of diamonds for a cannon.
Claims of 81 square feet have sold for
$4,000 per claim, The mines are all
worked by large companies The largest
II
formed me that their expenses were
$4,000 per month. They take out OF
their claims 400 loads of diamOndlierOus
earth per day, worth on the average
Sl44O per load. There are several large
companies in the same mine. A mile
and half from here is another mine
called old De Beers mine. Three miles
further there is another one, called Du
Tait's Pan, and one mile from that is
another called Bulpantein. All these
are extensively worked by large compa-
nies. Bulpantein mine was originally .
farm, on which was built brick house
and on the discovery Of diamonds the
house was found TO contain the precious
gems in the plaster used to lay the brick
and in the plastcrcd walls, while the
children played with what they called
| the shiny stones" There has recently
been a diamond mine discovered eight
miles from here, called Oliphant's Fan.
tein. Claims to the number of 900 have
been surveyed and sold in that mine
and people here are wild with specula
tion. An acquaintance of mine bOugh
claims in Jager's Fantein, 40 miles from
| here, which cost him $40, and in a shor
time he was offered S33GO for sal,
claims. 1t seems that men are like bub
bles the world over. Some 20 up an,
some explode, financially, the explodin,
portion being by far the most numerous
The penalty for buying a diamond Of
negro is five years imprisonment a
hard labor and a fine of -, 400 for tn,
first oiiensc, and ten years for thesecond
And yet the temptation is so great tha
out of population of 10000 there ar,
over 600 nowin prison forillicit damon,
buying and diamond stealing. Some O
these prisoners are worth from $4,000 t,
100000. Surely the way Of the trans
gressor is hard