The Evening post. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1888-1889, 1888-11-30
STOLEN DIAMONDS.
Some Curiosities Of tho South African
Traffic in Illicit Gems.

AfgOHuW.
DR.. Matthews, AN English practitioner,
who spent many years in the diamond
field of South Africa has Just published
in England book on the subject An
interesting part of his book is that which
deals with the development Of the great
diamond digging industry, and the
schemes and articles of that rascally fra
ternity, the |. ID. B., or illicit diamond
buyers. There Is saying that five years
in South Africa is sufficient to corrupt
the most immaculate, and that man
who has lived there for seven should not
be believed upon his oath. DR.. Matthews
revelations certainly give color to the
saying. According TO his account the
larger part of the community of Kim
berey is mixed up in this nefarious traf-
fic.
Diamonds, as most people will be
aware, are sorted out of diamondifcrous
stuff by native hands" Some of these
hands are probably in the pay of the fra
tcrnity. a fine stone Is turned up by one
of them when nobody is looking. lie
selzes 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 occurs
of rcdeeming the stone Or, perchance,
he conceals it behind a rock, or forces it
down the throat of n dog, or, Homeric
device, he swallows IL himself
The gem being restored to the light of
day from its hiding place, whatever II
may have been-and many diamond
now sparkling on a lady IS neck has made
acquaintance with the stomach OF a
Kallr--the dusky thief in due course
puts himself in communication with
another native of superior class. This
man is tout in the pay of low white
mana ''mean white" as he is called in
the colonies.
HOW TT is DONE.
The tout buys the stone for, let us say,
hundredth part of its value, and the
thief spends the money in the vile drink
which is the peculiar pride of civiliza-
ton to supply to the unsophisticated
savage, and, SO far as he Is concerned,
there is an end of the transaction Then
the tout carries the stone to the "mean
white" and receives from him q sum of
money, perhaps double what he has
given to the actual thief.
The "mean white" in his turn takes
it to the licensed buyer Of diamonds,
who is possibly a person of glazing and
even aggressive respectability-a church
warden or a member of the munich
pality, or at least merchant of good
antecedents-and from him receives per-
haps a 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
hs Oh ~ nf fIn ntrxy tn 1tn
receiver in London.
To this end many articles are resorted
to. Innocent looking fowling pieces, 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
quilts of ostrich feathers and boots with
hollow heels are not uncommon.
Often the fair sex are found to be
useful auxiliares in these adventures,
for there is peculiar sacredness about a
lady's underclothing 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 pro-
cnred arrive safely in Europe. Most
people will naturally think that the ma
| tive rascal who takes the stone is respon-
sible for this state of things, but it is not
the case. The native never dreamed of
stealing diamonds until he was taught Ia
thieve by the white receiver of stolen
| goods.
SOME INTERESTING STORIES.
DIR. Matthews tells some interesting
tales of the I. d. b. fraternity. In the
dead of a certain night in the year 1879
he was aroused from sleep and con
fronted by a trembling and middle-aged
citizen of the fields, who informed him
that he had swallowed a thirty CARAT
diamond and two sovereigns-just to
show his friends how the scoundrels did
it, and was now anxious to be rid OF
these foreign substances, which had pre-.
sumably begun to disagree,
Ultimately they We're recovered, and
the happy citizen departed with the dia-
mond, leaving the gold in payment Oh
course this man had disposed of the dia-
mond under imminent fear of detection
but why he took the two sovereigns it is
difficult to say, unless it was to get his
hand in. Some people, by the way, ap
pear to be able TO swallow very large
| stones, for so lately as last year native
| dying under suspicious circumstances, his
body was opened and sixty carat stone
found in his stomach.