THE DIAMOND FIELDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1086, 20 January 1872, Page 3

THE DIAMOND FIELDS.

(home news.) . The* diamond mines of South Africa Kave"^>roved attractive to a good many of tho Australian diggers resident in England. Several miners who made money in the Inglewood reefs have already taken their departure, and others only await further intelligence to follow them. An old Victorian, Mr Thomas Breeze, late of Inglewood, an old friend of the parties referred to, has favored its with the following particulars with reference to them: —"Their first letter reported that they had been on the diamond fields about a fortnight, after a hard ride by post cart from Port Elizabeth, a journey of 500 miles, which they did iv six days, travelling night and day. They first went to the Khp Drift diamond field, but there was a new rush thirty miles off, and they went to it and marked out a claim in. the middle of the hill or lead. They got a diamond of a carat and a half the first morning, but had found nothing since, but considered that nothing ; others were getting diamonds all around them. And with regard to diamond digging, as far as their experience went, it was simply this. On the hill where they were working, plenty of men were making fortunes. It was dry diggings. All the stuff had to be diy sifted, the claims are easily worked, and their opinion and that of others was that every claim on the hill would pay handsomely for working. The country all round was diamondiferous, and not yet worked. 'Dutvitspan' was about two miles from them, and had 12,00 men there. Their opinion was that diamond digging was much more profitable than gold digging, if a man had capital to keep him twelve or eighteen months, and if he worked steadily he was bound to succeed. Wood and water were scarce ; they had to go a mile and a half for it and pay 3d per bucket, but they had then had rain, and could get it for nothing by going to a dam the same distance off. The work was not so hard as gold digging. The above '"account induced the second party to make a start, but another letter had arrived of later date from , Whiteside, who sent his a small sum of money, reported the |)arty to be in high spirits and likely to do well. They had also heard encouraging reports from others they knew. One little fellow had secured LSOO worth of diamonds."