THE CAPE DIAMOND' FIELDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1280, 5 September 1872, Page 2

THE CAPE DIAMOND' FIELDS.

The following letter, signed Bain," appears- in a recent issue of the Argils':— 1 '" 1 '" 1 '

As some account of "Inese I wonderful regions may in%t6ifc' > fyoiir numerous readers and my; Melbourne topds, and a.lsci serta W&ieglc th.o 'safogmne 4W tljft rash from being .deceived by, " the whil* pers of fancy -and the phantoms of hope," I submit my observations forpublication, if worthy of aplace^in ypnr influential journal. ' '■ :'"-' ' '* i! " " ' ■ These diatnbnd-fielda. are distant from 1 {T!Urbah; Fatal,-abouijisoo miles, and; 60/ irailes 'fiirthdr from PoH Elizabeth, Al«jo!»' J Bay. • Gape Town f a« abniut 1 50 miles more* ■reihbteC'- -'- ' f "' rf ' !- • !>i+ ■''■'' ';■■■« | The people here number about 25,000' ;of all classesj and /th*6 adjoining 'diggirigs, iknown- saaif '^old^e 1 3e«t'*," and those ■neighboring,' of; ; " t)}l''Tdit*B Pan" aiid ; ! " Bultfohtein "-^re ' V ''pbpjcrlation bf . |abbu't r 8000. ! The o! nainer6tfs .diggings on ; j probably "have jpepp^ engaged upon •them. j The description of the country where 'the^ttikmond'fieWs are situatjid ik an arid] [waste, and excepting '{h r e' diggings jthojp^ighlyj^espiied for .pastoral .capacity, ■prior to the' diamond discoveries. : The present ptdpribtbrs acquired the farm known as " J)e Beer's " about eight months : It now yields jan iacpme .at therate of L 40,000 a year, • deri^eHt' J f iSm : mdiitHly .^cjjnge^ jbo} ,d^gj s , of (5s a month, from' 'licenses io keep can-, 'teens and stores, and from wood, and iwatoiJerises* ! T 3 Jl '- '■; '^J ( A claim is an area of 30ft square, and; iso rich are some of the claims at this ikopjie, or mound, that., a few are subdivided and sol& ! iMo < ta I ma'riy as tions, each of which pays a separate ilicenco for the party that owns it, and 10s per^icence. is joharged, v if 1 the. party of six working hands. ' I jQa-an-ayerage-L-tWnk-that the claims;are subdivided into r ;wathfourmti« ! each : Th^o^HanePaftd'alWe nejgh. jboriiig^ diggings is nea.^ly of a uniform :characte¥, chie^y,fc^lca^o)i%'arid ; iri somer places diamonds 'are 'f bund 'from close to the, aurfacei Jo & dfepth ( of. ; 7,oft) i which il - think is the greatest depth yet attained. There are claims ; which did not produce diamonds for some time after digging, and not till a certain depth was reached, after which they produced largely and continuously, and are among the best on the field ; ! s6 that'what might have been abandoned by one as a poor claim would prove a lucky spot to ahothof. The rich localities ,at this field , are , now so wplj ku6wn,''4aat''a good cla.it», yielding diamonds, may be acijtiired with certainty, and purchased foYitscompensurate value. At Dv Toit's Panr^abont* three miles distant, the diggings "toe seldom deeper than 28ft ; water then appe,a.rß,' and noefforts, to the present, areninad^

to surmount that obstacle to diggirg deeper there. In the early days (Jigging was seldom deepor than 2ft to 3ft a^iDu ToitoPan ; claims were then abanddoid. Ttspn ore only & few raairi 'stYeela I)u Toit'aPan ; the moßt of the'daJms are hefnjned in and oncu'mbere^^by huge mounds of 'refuse, often pijed ujpbn,pa/tiallj^wprked ground ; and earTj^aOande^M chti^B, which, were thejr freed, wjotfid affjOrtl excellent working ground. Tn«^Dprieitotß of the ground are about tOgOTake tramways to facilitate the remlfru< of the debrti -mounds, and tjhus thrdw open additional ground to the w«t^ qf the diggers. Thy diamonds found in South Africa fat-exceed in size those usually found in IfftKa and Brazil. The larger world-re-nowned diamonds are very few. In Brazil thdiljbdiag of a diamond of 20 carats was considered so great an event that- the sla^pifcder was freed. In South Africa the^utde'r of such a stone receives but a trimng reward, and is no remarkable man. The largest stone that I have seen on thjise fields was one got at/'Dti Toit's Pw." In shape it was a perfect octahedret, but much flawed and " off colored." It weighed 148 carats/was the property of George, Knox, of Natal, and probably only -worth 1*3001,, J Ae^d. /of r dramond lately found at •^rT^s weighing 186 carats, off colored, rfhd imperfect. The precarioua pursuit of the diamonddigger, the prizes being to the few and the disappointments to the many, the cost of reaching the fields, and the heavy expense of purchasing the bare necessaries. of fife there, should deter many from adventuring hither who' may be captivated by thei daraling prospect of pictibg up a brilliant; fortune In a sudden and Irregular manner.

To men without means there is no encouragement to Visit the diamond fields. I know many people who, have been working steadily, with all appliances for success, s and are heavy out of pocket, after trying their lock patiently for two years. Thew tore numbers of others who find diamotods yet their dxpenseß, exceed their profit: I know k man who worked for six racptbJ atid bbly'got a f carat stone ; and

(For contbttMtion of News, set 4th page.

others who get nothing for four and five months. I wSaked at Dv Toit's Pan on half of a good claim that was reserved for me by my brother. The other half had been worked by two distinct parties, who had found satisfactorily ; therefore I had every reason to hope for similar good fortune. The second and third day after I commenced- digging I found a 1 carat and a 1$ carat stone, and nothing for three months afterwards. I then removed here and have worked on a quarter of a claim that cost'L2so, in a fair locality, and have found L 5 worth of diamonds in two months. My share of diamond finds has been L3 lss for five months' worK There are heaps of people who can give no better - account of themselves.

There are some who possess good claims by roerejaccident, and others by purchase, paying very high for them, when known to be productive and good. I know of L 650 given for 4ft of ground by 15ft, and L2sßfor4ftby7ft. Of the disappointed, those who have spent their all, take to other callings, if obtainable at the fields, or return home ; while the independent, who have been losing time and money for two years, may continue their infatuation for digging, if such be their taste, like dilettanti treasure seekers elsewhere. I know a family who have devoted themselves to digging for three years ; two have passed unsuccessfully, and the third has to be obstinately passed through. Such blind dedication of one's energies to Dame Fortune is extraordinary, as humanity is more alive to present benefits than to future advantages. ' The search for diamonds is carried on in a steady, methodical manner, and the working is so expensive that owners of really good claims allow others to work them, and to receive one-half of the value of all finds in payment After the ground is raised from the claim to the road, it 1b generally carted off to the owners' tents, where it is passed through a coarse sieve, and again through a finer one that will retain one quarter of n carat stone ; the contents of the sieve are then placed on a wide table, and carefully examined by scraping .small quantities slowly along and off thetable. The system of work at these and the neighboring diggings is known as " dry sifting. "' At the Vaal River diggings, the gravelly earth has to be washed to free the stones from adhesive mud, and then sifted. It is a much more troublesome occupation. The diamond is easily discovered on the Borting table, and never confounded with any other crystal. The diamond in a' pock of cards is precisely a perfect diamond shape ; there are other forms which' it takes, such as dodocahedron, and variations, and the larger the girdle of the stone the better for the diamond cutter.