The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-08-05
DIAMONDS IN
AFRICAN DESERT
NEW FIELDS FOUND IN A GER
MAN COLONY WHERE NO RAIN
EVER FALLS.

EVER FALLS.
LONDON, July 24.-The Standard
has the following letter telling of the
new German diamond fields: Luder-
itzbucht, German West Africa-Rich
diamond fields have been newly dis
covered in this country. The dia-
monds occur in alluvium from two
and a half miles to--as far as at pre-
sent known-thirty-sev miles from
this terrible hole, in a country that
is desert extending 500 miles along
the coast and 10 miles inland No
thing lives here-not an animal, a
bird, an insect, or any kind of vegeta-
ton, nothing but low, rocky kopjes
and shifting sand halls; it is a land
of desolation. Yet parts of this des-
ert are enormously rich in diamonds.
The alluvium is usually located in
the valleys, but also frequently on the
sides of the kopjes, and is generally
extremely rich. The diamonds are so
plentiful that in some places, by
scratching about the surface with a
penknife, a couple of match boxes can
be filled by one person in half day.
The deposit is, however, very thin,
averaging about four inches thick, but
in one locality small patch has been
found that is four feet deep. The con-
centrating work of nature accounts for
the richness of the deposits, but the
shallowness of the same means short
lives for all the claims
GEMS OF FINE QUALITY.
The diamonds, although of superb
quality, are very small, about a quar-
ter of a carat each. The wind blows a
hurricane twenty-nine days out of
thirty-one, and one is struck on the
face, not only with coarse sand but
| by pieces of rock and pebbles. This
may appear an eXaggeration, but l can
assure you that it is a fact, to this
action l ascribe the wonderful rich
ness of the deposits. The smaller dia-
monds are, even at the present day,
windborne. This fact has been demon
| strated by working out ground, and
two days afterwards finding diamonds
there. This will give you some idea
of the force of the wind To show
you how rich the deposit is in parts
l heard yesterday of an Englishman
who picked up over 5000 carats in one
day! 1t is incredible, is it not? Yet
my information is from a trustworthy
source.
On the face of this, the average in,
dividual would think that it is the
easiest possible thing to make a for.
tune in a week, but Nature guards hel
treasures too well for that. On &C.
count of the lack of water, most of the
places are inaccessible except for {
few hours at a time. The desert is
waterless, and the furthest one car
penetrate at a time is two and one
half days away (about fifty miles,, ant
it is impossible to carry sufficient wa
ter for man and beast for longer thar
five days Every drop of water has
to be taken from here, and it is there
fore most precious
PROSECUTORS NOT WELCOME.
The pegging of claims has now beer
stopped by law. The country belongs
to Germany, and the authorities arr
trying to keep everything themselves
and exclude everybody else They will
never do any good without British en-
terprise and capital If this were
British colony it would be thrown
open to the whole world, and all res
pectable individuals of all nationali
ties welcomed, the result being tina
10000 people would be here explor
ing the country and gradually over
coming its natural difficulties, maxim!
it accessible to the pioneer and win
ming its wealth. AS IL is, the own
ers are so jealous of it that they ar
placing the most absured restriction
upon people Titles are utterly in
secure, and the consequence is tina
the country is kept back Everybod,
is absolutely disguised and loyal Ger
man subjects particularly so.
1t has not rained for ten years, i
being one of those parts of the worl,
known as "rainless." In consequence
there is absolutely no water and con
densed sea water has to be used. l
is nauseous stuff and is CONSTANT
making one i'll, but there is no sub