MINING MEMORANDA. THE CAPE DIAMOND MINES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 225, 23 May 1872, Page 8

MINING MEMORANDA. THE CAPE DIAMOND MINES.

A correspondent of a London paper gives the following interesting description of "Life on the South African diamond mines " :—: —

A diamond field is thus described :—: — " Fancy a broad plain, scarcely broken by any ridge, extending for twenty miles. Paint it in the, dullest, dingiest grey and brown ; mottle with a stain of whitish sand or burnt red earth. Let never a slip of the brush suggest a tree, save at mile distance, some windworn, harassed bush, all thorns and prickles. Bound the picture with blue^-grey, flattened, barren hills on the one hand, and on the other mountains of snowy sand. On the other side be it all solitude and silent heat. At most- a few stray cattle seek the wherewithal to browse among the burnt bushes and sapless dried-up scrub. A- cloudless sky and a pitiless sun overhead. The rays poui down white and blinding on the dizzy plain. A strong breeze is blowing. The dust flies before it in clouds, and chokes and blinds you. Over yonder a dust whirlwind, reels along, its dusty head staining the deep Wue sky, its foot dancing over the earth. An everlasting, but ever-shifting, mirage spreads a sheet of tempting water under those grey hills, and even reflects their flattened tops upon its surface. Such is the prospect on that side. On the other — on those snowy ridges, and under them — what a different view* Human figures, black and white, naked and clothed, of all ages, colours, aud nations, and of either sex, are busily working there like ants. At every few feet on the hilltops sits a solitary figure at a table, motionless save that his arm works mechanically to and fro. Each few minutes a black man clambers up from the hole" behind, and pours a bucket out upon the table. The toiling sorter, whose whole capital is probably iuvested in those pails of .earth, scrapes the pile gradually, bit by bit, before his ■eyes. He is armed with a metal implement, and spreads ; the. earth thinly. Practice has enabled him to do his work with incredible quickness. Though his eyes are bleared and swollen with theglare — though perspiration blinds him, and the dust has altered all his face and hair to one grey tone — he labours on, inspirited with the confident hope of gain. Now and again — once in a day, perh aps. for we are not yet at New Rush — the mechanical action of his arm will cease, and out comes a purse from some receptacle, or a tin box,- and something is put safely by. It may be such a stone as used to be a week's wonder in Brazil, or it -.may- be -a- tiny spec. In neither case does the worker say anything, or think of leaving work. We live in Fairy Land, and the marvellous rouses no astonishment.

It is not customary to invoke, the muse at the. beginning of a newspaper letter. But, on the other hand, never had special correspondent ' such a theme as mine. I have to tell greater marvels than ever were, performed by the eumelios „ Achilles — wonders more astonishing than the feats of Madoc. If there were on authentic record afly proof that a goddess of truth had once beer credited, her I would .invoke ; for it is no light' asseveration which will gain belief for the story I have, to relate. Gods and sages should be my guarantees, , and none are forthcoming in these parts. My first statement of simple historical fact will be received with a Bhout of incredulous laughter that makes me thrill forbodingly even at this distance. Shall I plunge at once into the yawning gulf of scorn ? It must be done ! ~ I clasp my hands j above, my head, gather up the straining muscles, and plunge downwards. I am living, and at this moment I write, in a house of which a component part of the structure was — diamonds. Have you done laughing? there, on the opposite wall, they were picked out by. ; visitors, and if- the rude bricks had not been newly- stuccoed I could yet see .the little holes which held them.- My feet are resting on that* very spot' where a gentleman and fricrid of mine, lying at full length one Sunday afternoon — there was no canvas church nor refuge for the piously disposed at that time— picked up a three and a half carat jewel from the, bard mud. floor. It js but last week that a passing boy brought in a pretty gem picked- up on the roadway —a ; path as ■ well known alid hard beaten, as any high road in England. ' .Yesterday a man ,smoothing the ground about \liis. tent, turned* up a diamond as big ,as a 'stoney.' marble. Just over yonder, a waggon passing after rain, tore up a little gem. ' The roots of the bushes, "wrenched out, are found to hold them. Why multiply examples!? The dreams of the Arabian romancers are changed to reality here, and.no one so much as stares. The diamond which lighted all the palace is thought no. impossibility. .Have we not on every side wonders as great ? • Tout est dit, to those who have heard the reports current for some months past in Europe, when I declare that the South African diamond fields,- and the, tales we have received. from them are facts! Perhaps the 1000 carats stone, of' which we-fcaye heard, has not'yet been dis-eo£ere'd-M;hough I am not wholly sure of that; but if it hasn't, we live in riot unreasonable, hopes. Diauionds not bo greatly' beyond .comparison , with that /fabulous monster are turned up every. Jweekv -> TJhere never was in the world's history such a Tom .Tiddler ? s

ground as that which it is my duty to: describe." He then- aays :—": — " The latest arid greatest rush was to the spot' variously' known as New De .Beer's Colesberg Kopje (pronounced ' copy ') and New RiisjL On this last spot the marvellous has its full play and its amplest justification. I should be afraid to deal in .figures about New Rush. There is, of course, no official information, and I must depend only < on my eyes and ' ears. > Trustworthy people estimate that £20,000 worth of j diamonds is taken from it every day. If we divide this by one-half* I would imagine that we: should be* under the ! mark. I will tell you- only- what I can ayer — so far as reliance can be placed in man's veracity. • A digger owning but half a claim— that is fifteen feet | bj fifteen, from which, on one side or J the other, three feet and a-half must be deducted • for .the- roadway — aold diamonds in a single week — that ending Saturday, 18th November — to the value of £1800. In the week ending 25th November he sold and found gems to the value of £2050. Another digger in one week, making up his finds every other day, • was the happy possessor of carats, of 34 carats, and 24 carats. The largest stone Was sixteen, off coloured, the rest all white. His bit of a claim was seven" feet by thirty. Three partnßrs*admit~the impeachment of £200 profit per diem for tour months. An American digger, who arrived here last April with a partner, and who was glad to, work on hire. for a, shilling a day, had a claim lent to him at last by a fellow-country-man, who was going home. On Ist November he and his friend , found their first stone. On the 27th November I met him again at Klipdrift, whither he had gone to bid good-bye to his partner, who was returning home for a while with £3000 in cash, and a douceur of £1000 which they had agreed to give, beside his share of profit, to the man who lent them the claim. Ibis shrewd fellow never kept a diamond after sundown. As he said, 'I don't understand this thing, but I'm a whale at money. ' I take the best offer I can get.j|and I he^r' about a panic with considerable contempt.' These are facts on which I think I can rely. Your readers may exercise their fancy in imagining what fables must be."

The "Times" publishes a letter from the Cape diamond-fields, which is in its way a curiosity. Englishmen and Americans have, except in India, not too much respect for the rights of " natives," but a plebiscite forbidding any native, to own property in his own country is an unusual stretch of injustice. It appears, however, to be diggers' law at the diamond-fields that no native shall own a diamond or sell one, and the writer actually complains that the officials will not' enforce these " good regulations," and that the white diggers have been obliged to resort to lynch law to prevent dealers buying stones from the proscribed people. The assumption is that the natives must be thieves ; but as all the diamonds are- in some sense theirs, as many of them_ as digging^claims of thjeir own, and" as the stones can be protected against them as well as against anybody else, their proscription is nothing better than high-handed oppression. The writer complains also of a new labour-tax imposed on diggers who employ more than six natives, and at the same time wants more magistrates and police, his gene-, ral notion appearing to be that the white man should have a right to rob the copper-coloured, and get a Government grant-in-aid "for the operation.

The " Inangahua Herald " has the following: — We have to note the arrival of Mr. Horton, treasurer of the County of Westland. The purpose of his visit appears to have been to inspect the reefs with a view of securing any stray valuable intere"sts' : qn advantageous terms. Assuming theiiabiliments of a miner, acting on behalf of a Hokitika capitalist, the above gentleman, is said, to have wended his way to Larry's, but his disguise" was so transparent and, the character assumed so badly presented that it was immediately discovered.

We take the following extract from a letter' kindly handed to us by a Charleston resident, by whom it was received from Reefton recently. • The facts stated therein are worthy of the fullest credence as they are penned by one totally unprejudiced: — "Dr. S. . .. . ■'. But to give you an idea of this placa The town at the present f time f^s large enough, supposing there -were ,fifty or a hundred crushing, machines in full working order and .all doing well ; and as yet there is only one completed, namely, Mace's, and- that. is far from being in good working order. They can't get ' up steam enough, T not more than forty strokes, per .minute, and have to stop occasionally. They are burning ratta, which costs 40s per cordi They have at work, , three drivers^ three feeders, one man wheeling, wood- and six loafers. .Their, watep. supply .is limited.. The stone is supposed - f to be good ;• but it will require to be' Wto.niake it pay. Charleston' is well>renresenlted here, but what many intend doing for a living I cannot say. They- will' have to take to the road [making] dr b^ve to' travel, one' or the other, for* there's 'but little jjyojr'k' here. I expect Vgood .m^ny/will gQ \ back, for they will not be afcje to make j much on the roads. : l Theresa next to no. work going oa.on^nyof^the reelk ( There is a little.doingaft,the|»rospeQtors'

and ,one, or two, other t .claims, but the, remainder are; scheming, ;and to. yery little purpose. as, far. as I can see. The, first move a,fter, taking.up.a claim is to, apply to have it.pegister.ed ; that takes seven days. After that, . two agree- to, amalgamate ; that takes .seven days more. At. the expiration of that time (if they can raise the "sugar "..and there is not a great deal here) they apply for a lease. That relieves them from all care for a few. months; and I may be allowed to suppose when the lease is granted, they will (if they can raise the funds) form a company under the Limited Liability Act, and they will be able to do as they like. It will retard the opening up of this place not months but years. How some of the speculators manage to live beats me out of time. Beggars that have not a cent do a considerable loaf, and hold four, five, or six interests, upon which they could not raise a pound if it were to save them from being hung. There is no business doing, in scrip ; the market is full and no buyers ; yet scores of seedy looking individuals go about talking of their interests — in thousands. The great mania for stands and buildings is gradually subsiding, and the people are again recovering their senses. It sounds well at a distance — 120 pair of sawyers and can't get timber. That has been true, but is not so at present, for where the ready cash is there is plenty of timber. As for carpenters, they are here in flocks ; I should think there are at least from 250 to 300 here. The, report about 30s. a day is false, and you can tell C. so. There are jobs taken ' here that will not pay ss. per day, and his is one of them. A fair price for 'one .company's work that I know of would have Jbeen £320, but one party took it for £140, and even after giving vit up, the next tenderer would not continue it at £260. . . . Anderson's will not be ready to crush for three or four months..