TREASURE COAST

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 726, 29 December 1933, Page 2

TREASURE COAST

PERILS OF DIAMOND HUNTING IN MAMAQUALAND DESERTS The terrible desert country along | the south-west coast of Africa coni tinues to claim its treasure-hunting victims. It is known to be rich in diamonds, and though prospecting is prohibited and special police watch its borders, men are always creeping into it in the hope of making a haul without being caught. A few weeks ago three natives 'Were found dead on the sands, and a fourth wandering about insane r from thirst. Now six more natives have been found dead from lack of water and food, and probably other bodies lie hidden among the sand dunes. Parties of white men in motor-ears carrying long stretches of fencing wire (to help their ciars over the dunes have been arrested. Aeroplanes scan the d,esert for trespassers, hut it is believed the deaths are more numerous than those reported. The Namaqualand alluvial diamond d iggings in South-west Africa have yielded diamonds worth many millburn of ponnds. The unprecedented wealth was one of the reasons which caused the South Africa Government to decide not to proclaim the area as a public digging. It was feared that had this been lone the diamonds from the field would have been so numerous that they would have knocked the bottom out of the market. Even now a big percentage of the Government "found" stones from the diggings is being withheld from sale. Before the present guard, which inculdes an armonred car fitted with a powerful searchlight in addition to the air patrol, was set on the area it was estimated that £300,000 worth of stones were smuggled from the area monthly. i These gems were aetually sold as the finds of the Lichtenburg (Transvaal) and other diggings. ' The "Diamond" police however, can definitely tell the origin of any uncut stone, as the products of each field possess peculiarities reeognisable to the expert.