Evening star., 1924-10-12

2 shillings a day in the coastal planta-
tions. The diamond industry offered
them personal freedom from taskmas-
ters, and, as at the same time 1t
yielded them very good pay. held a
continual opportunity before each Of
them Of some day making a big
strike. Many had left their planta-
tion jobs. White men could dig their
own gold in the Klondike. in the
Yukon. in California and in South AZ
rica. But in the Guiana wilderness
the climatic and photographic condi-
tions almost prohibited white men
from working themselves.
1t was an ideal labor for the blacks
who quickly became used to the jun
gle. and could roam through it as
freely as their ancestors had trod in
! the wilds of Africa. And the blacks,
working with only a spade and a
prospecting pan, could move from
place to place. digging what diamonds
| they could easily find. and without
excessive labor.
THESE things, and many other con-
i tingent conditions, had led me to
believe that most immediate profit
could be made. not by mining. but by
| trading. Yet all this would take
money-much money-and for an en-
| terprise so very remote and with so
little that was tangible to prove my
case I knew not which way to turn
Nevertheless. l could not refrain from
celebrating upon the scheme even as
the chances OF it's realization
diminished
First. 1 planned I would get hun
dreds OF blacks to go into the interior,
and We would trade provisions and
merchandise to them for their dia-
| monds and gold. We would have suit
| able trading stations throughout the
jungle. and from these stations we
could at the same time keep an eye
on the forest, supervising the de-
velopment, and standing ready to take
up any valuable discoveries.
The blacks had only the most ordi-
nary knowledge of mining. and knew
very little about diamonds. They
knew. for instance, that diamonds
were much harder than quartz: there
fore IL one were uncertain whether q
crystal was a diamond or a piece Of
quartz, he would put it in his mouth
and bite it II 1t broke. 1t was not a
diamond. A diamond was the only
thing they could not crush with their
teeth
They would not be likely to stumble
on the source OF any very valuable
deposit, as they would interest them
selves primarily in the shallow sur
face deposits where they could work
without any trouble. They knew
nothing abount underground mining
But thousands of them in the forest
would be more valuable in opening up
trails and generally reviewing the
interior than they would be detri-
mental to our own chances Of finding
a valuable mine. There would be a
very large profit in trading with
them: they would be in the jungle cut
off from outside assistance and would
come to depend to a great degree
upon the trader
I figured upon having a few assist
ants continually in the adjacent
jungle watching over their discover
les. making Investigations and search
ing the country for new territory, the
cost of such work being amply cover
ed by the profit in the trading sta
tions.
Dudley Lewis would not 60. He took
no interest in the project. i've tried
it once" he insisted when I coaxed
him to join me at least in my opti-
mism. I'm finished with Guiana. It's
little place; 1 want to see more of
the world" And he had sailed away
for the Orient.
MY return to British Guiana was
AvA brought about by a coincidence
so unusual as to sound more like
fiction than the literal truth that 1t Is.
1 was sitting with some friends be-