St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-12-29
DIAMOND rHlEvING.
How the Zulus Have Been Cor
rupted---Unprincipled Whites.


Philadelphia Times.
Diamonds, as most people are aware,
are sorted out of the diamondiferous
stuff by native ''hands." Some of these,
says the London Saturday Review, are
probably in the pay of the fraternity, or
to be more accurate, are humble men,
berS of it. A fine stone is turned up by
one of them when nobody is looking.
He Seizes it. hides it in his hair, in his
mouth, or in some other portion of his
person. Or if goat lie handy he twists
it in his wool and tends the animal
affectiOnately till an opportunity oc-
ours of redeeming the stone. Or
perchance he cOncealS it behind q
rock or forces it down the throat Of
a dog, or, Homeric device, he Swal-
lows it himself. The gem being re.
stored to the light of day from its hid.
ing-place, wherever it may have been
and many a diamond now sparkling on
lady'S neck has made acquaintance
with the stomach of a Kafr-the dusky
thief in due course puts himself in COM
munication with another native of
superior class. This man is tout in
the pay of low white man; a ''mean
white" as he is called in the colonies.
The tout buys the stone for, let us say,
a Tooth part of its value. and the thief
spends the money on the vile drink
which it is the peculiar pride of civili-
cation to supply to the unsOphSticated
savage, and, so far as he is concerned,
there is all end of the transaction.
Then the tout carries the stone to the
mean white and receives from him a
sum of money, perhaps double what he
has given to the actual thief. The
in, dol
it to the licensed buyer of diamonds,
who is possibly a person of glaring and
even aggressive reSpectability-a church
warden or member of the municipaly,
or at the least merchant of good ante
cedentS-and from him receives, per-
hapS, tenth part of the worth of the
gem. So far so good; but still there are
slips between the cup and the lip, and
it is sometimes found difficult to convey
the stuff out of the country to the final
receiver in London. To this end many
articles are resorted to. We have heard
of innocent-looking fowling-pieces.
which. on examination, have been found
to be loaded with diamonds to within
an inch of the muzzle. while
such repositories as novels with
holes cut in the leaves. the quills
of ostrich feathers, and boots with
hollow heels, are not uncommon. Often
the fair sex are found to be useful aux
iliaries in these adventures, for there is
a peculiar sacredneSS about lady'S I'M
derclothing that appeals to the mind of
the customs officer. The man would be
bold who merely ventured on her back
hair. However this may be, by far the
greater number Of stones so produced
arrive safely in Europe. Most people
will naturally think that the native
rascal who takes the stone is RESPONSE
bic for this state of things, but it is not
the case. The native, as is well known,
and as DR.. Matthews is careful to ex-
plain, never dreamed of stealing dia-
mOndS until he was taught to thieve by
the white receiver of stolen goods, and
after his simple nature had been de-
bauched by Cape smoke" More es-
pecially is this true of natives of the
Zulu race, among whom, as they are yet
uncontaminated by civilization, honesty
is not only policy, but universal
practice.
DR.. Matthews tells some interesting
tales of the |. ID. Il. Gllicit diamond
buyers) fraternity. In the dead of a
certain night in the year 1872 he was
reused from sleep and confronted by "a
trembling and middle-aged citizen of
the Fields, who informed him that he
had swallowed 30-carat diamond and
two sovereignS-lust to show his friends
how the scoundrels did it, and was now
anxious to be rid of these foreign sub
to disagree. Ultimately they were re-
covered, and the happy citizen departed
with the diamond, leaving the gold in
payment. Of course, this man had dis
posed of the diamond under imminent
fear of detection; but why he took the
two SOvereigns, not knowing we can
not say-unlesS it was to get his
hand in. Some people, by the way,
appear to be able TO swallow very large
stones, for SO lately as last year native
dying under suspicious circumstances
his body was opened and 60-carat
stone found in his stomach. Here is
another tales. A white gentleman lived
with a pretty Fing0 woman, who also
acted as his agent in the trade" He
fell i'll of fever. and for weeks lay in a
state of delirium, between life and
death. She nursed him tenderly through
it ALL and. what is more, kept up his
connection with the "boys;" so that
when he came to himself again she was
enabled to present him with hundreds
of carrots of fine stones. And now mark
the sequel! No sooner was he strong
enough than he departed to Europe.
taking every gem and farthing that
she had collected with him, and
leaving the unfortunate girl to starve
on she streets. On certain occasion
DR.. Matthews was called in to attend q
dying digger who had once worked
claim for him. These were the words
that greeted him when he told tine man
there was no hope: Il sha'n't can't,
| won't die without telling you how
nd Il l.1r
claim in No. ! robbed you of nearly all
your diamonds"
In the face of stories such as these
and of mass of other evidence it is
sometimes difficult not to believe that
civilization is a failure and that the ed
ucated Christian man, except under
very exceptional circumstances, and
when restrained by the strictest press
ure of the law, is lower animal at
heart than the savage he despises and
destroys with drink and rifle bullets.