LIBRARY
«
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
m
L '
Ill
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
VOL. I
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
WILL]
PORTRAIT OF GARDNER F. WILLIAMS.
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
BY
GARDNER F. WILLIAMS, M.A.
GENERAL MANAGER OF DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, LTD.
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. I
NEW YORK B. F. BUCK & COMPANY
1 60 FIFTH AVENUE 1905
COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
COPYRIGHT,' 1904, BY GARDNER F. WILLIAMS.
Norwood Press
J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
PREFACE
THE original edition of my work was submitted to the judg- ment of the public without preface, for I must agree with the view of Thomas Hughes, that a preface is unnecessary if an author is content to have his aim read in what he has written.
I do not depart from this view now in desiring to acknowledge the very kindly appreciation accorded to the first edition by the representative critics of the press and by the public, and my particular indebtedness to the many friends who have taken pains to furnish me with desired information and valuable illustrations.
I may further note simply that the edition now offered has been thoroughly revised, enlarged, and brought up to date, with the addition of a number of new and interesting illustrations.
GARDNER F. WILLIAMS.
KIMBERLEV, SOUTH AFRICA, AUGUST, 1904.
9628 /
Contents
VOLUME I
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE ANCIENT ADAMAS ....... i
Physical Characteristics of the Diamond. The Early History of Diamonds. Mining in India. Golconda. Romance of Noted Diamonds.
II. THE TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND . . . . . .32
The Search for an All-sea Route to India. The Queen of Sheba. King Solomon's Mines. Phoenicians sail around Africa, 600 B.C. Bartholomeu Dias sets Crosses at Angra Pequena and Algoa Bay, A.D. 1486. Da Gama's Voyage. Encounters with Natives. The Mines of Ophir. The Ancient Ruins of Mashonaland. English and Dutch East India Companies. The Landing of Johan van Riebeeck. The Settlement of the Cape by the Dutch. The Search for the Land of Ophir by the Early Cape Settlers. Com- mander Simon van der Stel. Discovery of Copper in Namaqua- land. The British enter Table Bay and take Possession of Cape Town.
III. THE PIONEER ADVANCE ....... 87
Cape Colony. The Dutch Settlers. Emancipation of the Slaves.
The Great Trek of the Dutch to the Interior. The Zulus. Chaka. The Matabele. Tribal Wars. The Clash between the Boers and the Matabele. Boers and Zulus. The South African Republic. The Orange Free State.
IV. THE DISCOVERY . . . . . . . .114
The First South African Diamond. Its Journey to Grahamstown. Its Determination. " The Star of South Africa." The Mission Stations. The First Mining on the Vaal River. The Influx of Fortune-hunters. The Natives as Labourers. Obstacles, Priva- tions, and Discomforts at the River Diggings. The Great Karroo. The Mirages. The Journey to the Fields. Game along the Route. Klip-drift and Pniel.
vii
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
V. THE CAMPS ON THE VAAL . . . . . . .140
Method of mining Diamonds in Brazil. Early Mining at Klip- drift and Pniel. Camp Life on the River. The Climate. Title to the Land along the River. Claims of the South African Repub- lic and the Orange Free State. The Diggers' Republic.
VI. THE RUSH TO KIMBERLEY . . . . . . .164
Discovery of Jagersfontein Mine, August, 1870. Diamonds found
at Dutoitspan, September, 1870. The Competition for Posses- sion of the Farm Dorstfontein. Original Occupation of Farms. Discovery of Bultfontein Mine early in 1871. De Beers Mine discovered, May, 1871. Kimberley Mine discovered, July, 1871, by Fleetvvood Ravvstorne. Native Ownership of Country trans- ferred to Great Britain. Arbitration re Ownership. The Procla- mation of District as the «' Crown Colony of Griqualand West." Stephen J. Paul Kruger. Lieutenant-Governor Mr. Richard Southey. Methods of reaching the Fields. The Rush of Whites and Blacks to the New Golconda.
VII. THE GREAT WHITE CAMPS. . . . . . .190
The City of the Pan. Early Life in Kimberley. The London
and South African Exploration Company. Area covered by the Four Mines. Method of working Kimberley Mine. The Bottom of the Yellow Ground is reached. The Blue Ground. Charac- teristics of Diamonds in Each Mine. Cost of Supplies. The Market. The Climate. The Marvellous Collection of Savages.
VIII. OPENING THE CRATERS . . . . . . .220
Areas of the Open Mine Surfaces in 1888. The Progress of Mining. Hauling Ground in Raw-hide Buckets by Means of Windlasses. The First Whim. The Introduction of Aerial Gears and Trucks. The Falls of Reef into the Open Mines. The Flooding of the Mines, May, 1874. Shafts sunk in the Open Mine (Kimberley). Shafts sunk outside the Areas of the Mines. The Extraction of Diamonds from the Yellow and Blue Ground. Hand Machines. Horse-power Machines. Steam Washing Gears. Diamond Stealing and Illicit Diamond Buying.
IX. THE MOVING MEN 267
Barney Barnato. Cecil John Rhodes. The Race for Supremacy — De Beers versus Kimberley Mine. The Combinations of Claims. Rhodes' Plans for acquiring Territory in the Interior of Africa. How Amalgamation of the Mines was brought about. Mr. Alfred Beit joins Rhodes.
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER PAGE
X. THE ESSENTIAL COMBINATION . . . . . .297
The Formation of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited. The Cost of Properties. The Improved Output of Diamond-bearing Ground. The Reconstruction of the Company, 1901.
XI. SYSTEMATIC MINING ........ 307
Failure of First Methods of Underground Mining. The Various Systems. Incline Shafts. Vertical Shafts. The Present System of Mining. Winding Shafts. Skips. Record Hoisting. Drain- ing. Lighting the Mines. Electrical Equipment. Temperatures Underground. Output of Blue Ground, Labor and Wages. Dutoitspan and Bultfontein Mines. Premier Mine. Jagersfontein Mine. (See Appendix IX for description of new mines.)
Illustrations
VOLUME I
PAGE
The Koh-i-nur (Old Cutting) i
Diamonds Photographed with the Roentgen Rays. I . A Black Diamond in
Gold Setting. 2. Ordinary Window Glass. 3. A Pink Diamond . 2
The Shah 3
The Egyptian Pascha ......... 4
The Polar Star 8
The Hope Blue 8
The Empress Eugenie . . . . . . . . .15
The Nassak 1 6
The Great Mogul 17
The Sancy . . . . . . . . . . .25
The Koh-i-nur (Present Cutting) . . . . . . .27
The Orloff 28
The Regent ........... 29
The Florentine .......... 30
The Piggott ........... 30
The Star of the South ......... 30
Cube Diamond . . . . . . . . . .31
Dutch Ships of the Seventeenth Century . . . . .41, 42, 43
Dutch Ships of the Eighteenth Century ..... 40, 44, 45
Insiza Ruins .......... 48, 49, 50
Khami Ruins 51, 52, 53, 54
Gold Ornaments found in Ancient Ruins . . . . . .52
Zimbabwe Ruins 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60
The Old East India House, Leadenhall Street, London . . . .61
The Landing of Van Riebeeck . . . . . . . .62
Portrait of Johan Antonyse van Riebeeck . . . . . .63
Portrait of Maria de la Querellerie . . . . . . .63
Wine Cellar, Groot Constantia ........ 64
Vergelegen ........... 69
Boschendal 71, 72
Entrance to Boschendal . . . . . . . . .72
Botanic Gardens . . . . . . . . . 73
zi
xii ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Lekkerwijn ........... 74
Bien Donne, Drakenstein ........ 75» 7^
Overmantel and Old Dutch Relics . . . . . . -75
Farm House, Klein Drakenstein . . . . . . . -77
Palmeit Vallei 77, 80
A Wine Farm at Klein Drakenstein . . . . . . .78
Dutch Farm House .......... 79
Muller's Farm, Achter Paarl 78, 79, 80
Mooi Kelder, Lower Paarl . . . . . . . .81
Plaisis de Merle, Groot Drakenstein . . . . . . .81
Donkerhoek, Groot Drakenstein . . . . . . . .82
A Wine Cellar. Herd of Cape Goats . . . . . .82
Tatr, 1757 83
An Old Farm House, Lower Paarl ....... 84
Farm House, Achter Paarl ........ 84
Brand Solder 85
Cape Cart . . . . 85, 276
The Gate of the Castle 86
Fort Good Hope .......... 86
Zulu Chief Cetawayo and Part of his Family ..... 92
Zulu Prince Dinizulu ......... 93
Zulu Family ........... 93
A Zulu and his Ten Wives ........ 94
Zulu Kraal and Huts . . . . . . . . -95
Zulu Hut in course of Construction ....... 96
Zulu Woman grinding Corn ........ 97
Zulu Women .......... 98
Zulus smoking Indian Hemp ........ 99
Old Zulu Women taking Kafir Beer to a Wedding .... 99
Zulu Girls 100
Native Laborers in War Dress . . . . . . . . IOI
Trekbok (Springbok) Hunting . . . . . . . .102
Zulu in War Dress . . . . . . . . . .103
Zulu — Jim Cameel . . . . . . . . .105
A Zulu Laborer in War Attire . . . . . . . .108
Nest of Social Grosbeak . . . . . . . . .112
Native Carvings ......... 112-113
Moshesh . . I 1 3
John O' Reilly 1 20
Mr. Lorenzo Boyes . . . . . . . . .121
Dr. W. Guybon Atherstone 121
ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
Pniel Diggings 139
Delport's Hope, Vaal River Diggings . . . . . . .142
Diggers' Camps on the Vaal River . . . . . . .143
River Diggings at Gong Gong, 1880 . . . . . . .147
Vaal River Diggings . . . . . . . . .149
River Diggings, Waldek's Plant 151
Pniel Diggings, Vaal River . . . . . . . .152
Klip-drift, Early River Diggings 152
Gong Gong . . . . . . . . . . • r 5 3
Washing Diamond Gravel by Machinery at Gong Gong, 1880 . . 155
Lightning at Kimberley . . . . . . . . .156
Day View, Same Scene . . . . . . . . .156
Largest River Diamond ever found in South Africa. . . . .158
Views of Klip-drift . .162
Klip- drift from Pniel, showing the Ferry .... between 162-163
A Digger's Camp, New Rush ...... between 168—169
Main Street, New Rush, January, 1872 .... between 168-169
Kimberley, 1872 . . . . . . . . .169
Mrs. Ravvstorne . . . . . . . . . .173
Mr. T. B. Kisch . . . 174
Kimberley Mine just after the Discovery, July, 1871 . . . 175, 176 Fleetwood Rawstorne . . . . . . . . .177
Native Chiefs . . . . . . . . . .179
The First Government House of the Colony of Griqualand West . .180 Sir Richard Southey's Residence, Kimberley. . . . . .181
Stephen J. Paul Kruger . . . . . . . . .185
Coach leaving Kimberley for the Coast, 1875 . . . . .187
Kimberley, before the Discovery of Diamonds . . . . . 1 90
Dutoitspan . . . 191, 192
Kimberley, 1873 J93
Around Kimberley Mine, 1872 . . . . . . 194-195
Kimberley Mine, 1872 197, 203, 205
Beginning of Staging, Colesberg Kopje, August, 1872 . . between 198-199
Back View from North Stagings, Colesberg Kopje . . between 198-199
Centre Block, Kimberley Mine, 1873 . . . . . 200
The Roadways, Kimberley Mine, 1871-1872 202
Roads in Kimberley Mine, 1871-1872 204,207
Market Square, Kimberley . . . . . . .211, 212
Natives resting, on their Way to the Mines . . . . . .217
Herbert Rhodes 219
The Breaking up of the Roads, Kimberley Mine, 1872 . . . .221
xiv ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Miners going to Work ......... 222
Interior of" Old De Beers Mine, 1873 • ... between 222-223
The Hand Drums used for Winding-up the Blue Ground . . .223
De Beers Mine, 1874 . . . . . . .223
Kimberley Mine, 1873 ......... 224
Interior of Mine with Tramway, Colesberg Kopje, September, 1873
between 224-225
View from Bottom of Kimberley Mine, September, 1873 . between 224—225
Kimberley Mine, 1874 . . . . . . . . .225
Kimberley Mine, 1875 ......... 225
Natives carrying Ground out of Dutoitspan in Buckets .... 226
Back View of the Staging with Grooved Wheels, at Kimberley . . .226 Kimberley Mine, 1875 . . . . . . . . 227
Snow in Kimberley Mine, June 21, 1876 ...... 228
Method of Hauling, De Beers Mine, 1873 ...... 228
The First Horse Whim, Kimberley Mine, 1874 ..... 229
Hauling Gear and Jumpers, Kimberley Mine, 1878 . . . .229
A Nook in Kimberley Mine, 1874 ....... 230
A Section of De Beers Mine, 1874 ..... between 230—231
The Horse Whims, Kimberley Mine, 1875 . . . . . .231
Hauling Gear, Dutoitspan Mine, 1876 . .... 232
Surface Loading Boxes . . . . . . . . .233
Aerial Trams and Surface Chutes, De Beers Mine, 1885 . . .233
Hauling Gear, Kimberley Mine, 1885 ...... 234
The French Company's Sling Gear, 1885. . . . . .235
Loading Tubs at Bottom of Kimberley Mine, 1885 .... 236
The Standard Company's Claim, Bottom of Kimberley Mine, 1885 . . 237 Bottom of Dutoitspan Mine Open Workings. . . . . .238
Pumping Engine in Kimberley Mine, 1875 ...... 239
Incline Tramway for Hauling Reef, 1878 ...... 240
Hauling Reef, Kimberley Mine, 1875 ...... 241
Reef Falls, Kimberley Mine, 1881 . . . . . . . 242
Steam Pumping Engine, De Beers Mine, 1879 ..... 243
The Central Company's Shaft, Kimberley Mine, 1885 .... 244
The Bottom of Kimberley Mine, 1885 ...... 245
Plan of Kimberley Mine, 1883. . . . . . . . 246
Reef Slips, Kimberley Mine, 1874 ....... 247
Kimberley Mine, showing how the Ground cracked before Subsidence . 247
The Central Company's Atkins Shaft ....... 248
The Last of Open Working, Kimberley Mine, 1889 . 249
R. D. Atkins . . . . . . . . . .250
ILLUSTRATIONS xv
PAGE
No. 2 Incline Shaft, De Beers Mine . . . . . . .251
Eldorado Road, Dutoitspan Mine, 1874 . . . . . .251
Claims in Dutoitspan Mine . . . . . . . .252
Bultfontein Mine, 1879 ......... 253
The First Rotary Washing Machine . . . . . . .254
Another Early Washing Machine, 1874 . . . . . -255
Horse-power Washing Machine, 1875 . . . . . .255
Early Horse-power Washing Machine, 1874 ..... 256
The First Washing Machine with Elevator to carry away the Tailings . 257
Washing Gear, Bultfontein Mine . . . . . . .258
Steam Washing Gear, Kimberley Mine . . . . . .259
Webb's Washing Machine, 1878 ....... 260
Cape of Good Hope Company's Washing Gear, 1878 .... 261
Washing Gear, Dutoitspan Mine ....... 262
Washing Gear, Bultfontein Mine, 1878 ...... 263
Mr. Barney Barnato ......... 268
C. J. Rhodes, when a Student at Oxford ...... 272
Sorting the Ground for Diamonds ..... between 274—275
J. Dick-Lauder's Camp, 1872 . . . . . . between 274—275
Silver Trees ........... 275
Mr. C. D. Rudd 279
Mr. Robert English . . . . . . . . .279
Plan of Kimberley Mine, 1882 282
House of Parliament, Cape Town . . . . . . .284
Avenue of Oaks, Cape Town . . . . . . . .285
Mr. Carl Meyer 287
Mr. Alfred Beit 289
The Diamond Market, Kimberley, 1875 . • • • • • 29° The Right Honorable Cecil John Rhodes, and Alfred Beit, Esq., October,
1901 ........... 292
Fac-simile of Cheque given in Payment for Kimberley Mine . . . 295 A De Beers Group .......... 300
Group of Life Governors, Directors, General Manager, and Secretary,
De Beers Mine ......... 303
Mr. E. R. Tymms .306
The Last of Open Mining, Kimberley Mine ..... 308
Plan of De Beers Mine ....... 309, 316, 318
Section through De Beers Mine . . -. . . . . 3 1 o, 3 1 1
Plan of Kimberley Mine . . . . . . . . .312
Kimberley Open Mine, looking South, January, 1 904 . . between 3 1 2—3 1 3
Kimberley Open Mine, looking South, January, 1904 . . between 312-313
xvi ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Section of Kimberley Mine . . . . . . . 3 1 3
Kimberley Open Mine, looking South, January, 1904 . . between 314-315 Bottom of Kimberley Mine, January, 1904 . . . between 314-315
Sketch of Premier Mine . 318
Stoping ... . . .. 319, 320
Timbering Tunnels . . . . . • • . .321, 322
Natives drilling, De Beers Mine . . . . . . . .322
Details of Sets for Rock Shaft 323
A Shaft Station . . . . . . . . . .324
Loading the Trucks . . . . . . . . . • 325
Loading Chutes for Rock Shaft . . . . . . . .326
Plan of Skip for Six Loads . . . . . . . .327
Main Shaft, Kimberiey Mine . 328
The Rock Shaft, De Beers Mine 329
Vertical Tandem Compound-condensing Winding Engines . . 330* 33 1 Winding Engine, Kimberley Mine . . . . . . .332
Mr. Louis I. Seymour . . . . . . . . .332
Plan of Bultfontein Mine . . . . . . . . -333
Dutoitspan Open Mine Flooded, April, 1903 . . . between 334-335 Kimberley Open Mine, looking North, January, 1904 . . between 338—339 Mount Ararat before Blasting ........ 342
Dutoitspan Mine, 1885 . . . . . . . between 242—243
Shots fired ........... 343
A Second after Firing . . . . . . . . .344
The Mine filled with Smoke ........ 345
After the Smoke has cleared away . . . . . . .346
Premier Mine, Open Workings ........ 348
Premier Mine Shaft ........ between 348-349
Premier Mine ........ 350, 351, 353
Premier Mine, 1903 . . . . . . . between 354—355
One of the Early Washing Machines . . . . . . .354
Washing Plant, Standard Company, Kimberley Mine, 1888 . . . 355
No. I Washing Plant, De Beers Floors . . . . . .356
No. 2 Washing Plant, De Beers Floors ..... 357, 370
Excelsior Diamond . . . . . . . . 35 8, 359
Plan and Section, Jagersfontein Mine ..... between 358—359
ILLUSTRATIONS
xvn
MAPS
Waldseemuller's Map of Africa, A.D. 1507 .
Visscher's Map of Africa, 1662, reproduced by Blaeuw
Visscher's Map of Africa, published A.D. 1662
Blaeuw's Map of Africa, published 1665
Outline Copy of the Catalan Mappermonde, 1375
Outline Copy of the Map of Portolano Laurenziano, 1351
Edrisi's Map, A.D. 1154
Andrea Bianco' s Map, A.D. 1436, Venice .
Africa de Mappermonde, Juan de la Cosa, I 500
Chart showing Method of Surveying Coast Lines .
Map showing Position of Ancient Ruins in Rhodesia .
Kimberley Mine, 1877 .
General Plan of the Diamond Mines owned by De Beers
PAGE
between 32—33, 33 34
between 34—35
36-37 . 38
between 38—39 between 38-39
39 . . 46
• 47
between 276—277 between 316-317
PHOTOGRAVURES
Portrait of Gardner F. Williams .....
Farmhouse on the Farm Groot Constantia, near Cape Town
La Rhone, Groot Drakenstein )
Old Le Roux . . )
A View from the Kloof Road leading from the Upper Part of Cape Town .
Zulu in War Attire
The Homestead of the Farm Vooruitzigt on which are De Beers and Kim- berley Mines ..........
Portrait of Sir Richard Southey ........
Natives seeking Work .........
Kimberley Mine, 1872.. . . . . .
Kimberley Mine flooded, May, 1874
Kimberley Mine, 1886 .........
Bultfontein Mine, 1878 .........
Portrait of Cecil John Rhodes ........
Barnato's Turnout ..........
A Group of De Beers Directors, etc. , etc. ......
Premier Mine, looking from Workings up through Incline where the Blue Ground is hauled .........
Premier Mine
FACING PAGE
Frontispiece . 64
82
86 94
172
1 80 188 196 240 246 252 272 296 298
344 352
-*:-"
5?
-rue
UNIVERSITY
The Diamond Mines of South Africa
.<. i
^DAMAS
[T the beginning of the last century, w! blinded Shah-Shuja sought refuge in f of the " Lion of the Punjaub," Runjec his chief treasure was the crystal r<- Nadir Shah had snatched from the last of the Great Moguls. For the sake of the pebble, Runjeet starved r and
children of his friend until he was driven to <h-i-nur
at the feet of his host. " At what price do you value it ? " said the Lion, showing his teeth in a grim smile.
"At good luck," replied the blind Shah, "for it has eve. the bosom companion of him v numphed over his eneni It may have been the tradi- tional talisman of Carna, Rajah We!ght before of Anga, fighting in legendary ^-sght^er first cutting, i86t canus ;
present weight, 106 carats.
wars, hundreds of years before the great Achilles st sulked under the walls of Troy.1 appearance it had been so coveted
Indian History," J. Talboys
the government of India in the Foreign Departmei Great Diamonds of the World," Edwin W. Streeter.
UNIVERSITY
i •
The Diamond Mines of South Africa
CHAPTER I
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS
T the beginning of the last century, when the blinded Shah-Shuja sought refuge in the lair of the " Lion of the Punjaub," Runjeet Singh, his chief treasure was the crystal pebble which Nadir Shah had snatched from the head of the last of the Great Moguls. For the sake of the pebble, Runjeet starved the wife and children of his friend until he was driven to lay the Koh-i-nur at the feet of his host. " At what price do you value it ? " said the Lion, showing his teeth in a grim smile.
"At good luck," replied the blind Shah, " for it has ever been the bosom companion of him who has triumphed over his enemies."
It may have been the tradi- tional talisman of Carna, Rajah of Anga, fighting in legendary The Koh-i-nfir. (Old Cutting.)
wars, hundreds of years before the great Achilles stormed and sulked under the walls of Troy.1 From its earliest known appearance it had been so coveted that agas and sultans and
1 "Tales from Indian History," ]. Talboys Wheeler, assistant secretary of the government of India in the Foreign Department, Calcutta, 1 88 1 ; "The Great Diamonds of the World," Edwin W. Streeter.
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
.
rajahs and shahs had snatched it in the first spoils of victory, or tried to extort it by starvation or blinding or boiling oil or some other device of torture ; and the adventurous and blood- stained career of this famous diamond is only one of many like
passages, for every precious stone of renown has a trail like a meteor. Some have gleamed weirdly in the eye- sockets of idols in Indian temples or flashed from the splendid thrones of emperors, or glittered in golden basins amid gems of every hue heaped up in tribute, or sparkled on the crests of warriors, the tur- bans of rajahs, the breasts of begums, and the san- dals of courtesans. To win them temples have been profaned, palaces looted, thrones torn to fragments, princes tortured, women strangled, guests poisoned by their hosts, and slaves disembowelled. Some have fallen on battlefields, to be picked up by ignorant freebooters and sold for a few silver coins, and others have been cast into ditches by thieves or swallowed by guards, or sunk in ship- wrecks, or broken to powder in moments of frenzy. No strain of fancy in an Arabian tale has outstripped the marvels of fact in the diamond's history.
Among all the stones that our world's fancy holds precious, the diamond stands preeminent. It is pure crystallized carbon. It crystallizes in almost all the forms of the isometric system, commonly the octahedral or dodecahedral, and frequently with curved faces.1 Two pyramids with triangular sides and a
i. A Black Diamond in Gold Setting. 2. Ordinary Window Glass. 3. A Pink Diamond. (Photo- graphed with the Roentgen Rays.)
1 The South African diamonds differ in appearance from those found in India or Brazil. They are brighter, and for the most part without any incrustation, and
•KNT ADAMAS
common base make uj ahedron. The dodecahedron has
twelve rhombs or natur lozenge shape.
It is the most impel edge of one of its • or the hardest steel. 1 It refracts entering ray: stance except crocoite,
tints, but it persion are
t all known substances, for the itch the face of any other stone most perfect reflector of light. •ian any other translucent sub- Chrysolite alone :ht into rainbow ion, and dis- color in its
crystalline hearr flashing int fire.
It may be a and col lew, or
.iry colors, such as red, ow,
• ; so that, as John Mandeville qua; . to take pleasure in assuming in turn the i. to other ger It is highly phosphorescent. Even the
of diamonds are transparent to the X-rays. No acid will no solvent will dissolve it. Its brilliance is undecaying, a might roll by without rubbing the minutest partic! mantine face. The diamond that gleamed fire
in an idol's eye before the rising of the be
sparkling to-day with more dazzling radiance in the crown of an emperor. Koh-i-nur and Darya-i-nur and e-mah and Regent and OrlofV
.nd Shah will shine n< vere cm shall be
Present weight, 05 carats.
any, are visible in their natura Dufrc /
)r
A* RICA
in tne nr-> spons of victory, MI or blinding or boiling oil or and the adventurous and blood- Lliamond s only one of many like passages, for every precious stone of renown has a trail like a meteor. Some have gleamed weirdly in the eye- sockets of idols in Indian temples or flashed from rhe splendid thrones of iprrors, or glittered in basins amid gems Hie heaped up in sparkled on the vrtors, the tur- b;i> jhs, rhv? breasts
lit VK! the san-
dals -urte-sans. To
led, pahucs looted, throi\es , women strangled, guests isembowe'led. Some have Lip S> iancrant freebooters nthi"^ nav? been cast into euar,,L, nr sunk in ship- No strain ,. ••,: -he marvels ot fact
. holds precious,
* "fallr/ed carbon.
I the isometric system,
ai, :iru{ frequently with
•lanLrula" sides and a
ci- tier.: :li',~e fnunci ii* India vviihi ••': ;unr incTii^riii(^n, and
i a ?, a v * n u
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 3
common base make up the octahedron. The dodecahedron has twelve rhombs or natural facets of lozenge shape.
It is the most impenetrable of all known substances, for the edge of one of its facets will scratch the face of any other stone or the hardest steel. It is the most perfect reflector of light. It refracts entering rays more than any other translucent sub- stance except crocoite, the chromate of lead.1 Chrysolite alone exceeds its dispersive power to dissolve white light into rainbow tints, but its combined powers of reflection, refraction, and dis- persion are unmatched.2 Hence appears the play of color in its crystalline heart and the resplendent flashing of its radiant fire. It may be as purely transparent and colorless as a drop of dew, or it may display all the primary colors, such as red, orange, yellow, blue, and violet; so that, as John Mandeville quaintly observed, " It seems to take pleasure in assuming in turn the colors proper to other gems." It is highly phosphorescent. Even the blackest of diamonds are transparent to the X-rays. No acid will mar it, no solvent will dissolve it. Its brilliance is undecaying, and ages might roll by without rubbing the minutest particle from its ada- mantine face. The diamond that gleamed with such strange fire in an idol's eye before the rising of the Star of Bethlehem may be sparkling to-day with more dazzling radiance in the crown of an emperor. Koh-i-nur and Darya-i-nur and Taj- e-mah and Regent and Orloff and Sancy and Shah will shine no less re- splendent when the sovereigns that now treasure them shall be dust. The shah.
the imperfections, if any, are visible in their natural state. See note, p. 3 1 , in reference to cube diamonds.
l" Table of Indices of Refraction," Dufrenoy, p. 87. "Treatise on Gems," Feuchtwanger, New York, 1867.
2 " Table of the Distinguishing Characteristics of Gems," Feuchtwanger, pp. 494—499. "Optical Properties of the Diamond," Sir David Brewster, Phil. Trans., VIII, 157, 1817.
3 '« Le Grand Lapidaire," Paris, 1561.
4 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
" With the point of a diamond," Jeremiah (B.C. 600) says,1 records were graven when stones were writing-tablets ; but, unfortunately for our knowledge, the diamond did not tell its own story ; and it is, at best, a groping effort that would search out the rising of this gem through the mists of tradition.
" Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God ; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire."2
How glowing are the words of the Prophet of the Captivity, declaring the vainglory forerunning the doom of Tyre's princes
and people (588 B.C.). Did the three rivers of Eden flow through sands glit- tering with stones of fire ? Did the eating of a little green apple from the tree of knowledge open the eyes of the first woman of earth to the lure of the gems that are now so tempting to every daugh- ter of Eve ? If not, how long was it
The Egyptian Pascha. before ^ ^^ ^ tfo Diamond, the
emerald and the ruby and the sapphire were added to the fig- leaf covering of our first parents ?
Multicycles of refining are needed for a clear perception of beauty. The aboriginal Adams and Eves did not have it. The children of the twentieth century will open their eyes to its light more quickly than those of the Stone Age, because the children of to-day inherit the quickened sense of unnumbered generations, and are taught to trace the range of beauty in nature and art. Prehistoric man, a weakling in perception, turned his eyes to the grand orb of the sun, rising above the horizon and flooding the earth with its rays, to the pale bow
1 Jeremiah xvii.
2 Ezekiel xxviii. 13 and 14 (588 B.C.). Babylonian captivity of the Jews (588-537 B.C.).
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS
of the moon and the ng of the firmament of stars,
the ceaseless surge of tb n and the mountain sumi
wreathed in clouds,-— of nature, — before h the petty circle animal wants by before the s;i ing pebbles and the f Any o;
grander aspects and moti drawn to lesser things outside and the sating of his crude TS of brutal life rolled one of the gleam- ^ith bounding foot r's bank.
as another's,
what lir or
the
idoubtedly found on the fa arisome digging or quarrying, as they ing in the gravel, washed from hillsides over th the courses of rivers swelled by floods and ings of the earth's crust to the sea. Thou garnets, jasper, amethysts, sapphires, rubi were picked up, maybe by children rummag or the clefts of rocks, and thrown away a of flint, before one was preserved and pri.
Is were much easier to collect anci and rude armlets and leg-bands of * were easily forged, and more to th of stones.1
When some of the j: stones v
:r beds , of gra
owers attrib hardness, ar i
Hi- !>!-\\;>iM> MINKS OK SOUTH AFRICA
>V:-h -he pu:nt of a diamond," Jeremiah 'B.C. 600) says,1
ds *cre Craven '\hen stones wen: writing-tablets; but,
tunareiy tor our knowledge, the diamond did not tell its
and ir is, at best, a groping erFo1 'at would search
,'K- r'->ma of this sein through the mist--, oi tradition.
1'ho-.; hast b>-en in Kden, riv £;natn of God; every
us siont WHS thy covering tiie s, topaz, and the
>ri(i, rhc be^-vl, the onyx, and :h<* Kipper, the sapphire,
niotuid. uivl :iu caibuncle. Thyu wast upon the holy
itair; of f .»(.-' ; Hiou hast wulkcti u and down in the midst
word- <>.- Prophet of rhe Captivity,
:orerunnm-j ••_• doom of Tyre's princes
H.r.i. Did the three
, of h- -'--ugh sands glit-
Did the eating
"'n the tree of
of the first
, .'man of r.iith i :e t>t the gems
hat .i;v iH>u, - reruj^ :>J t'1 everv dau^h-
LI;W long was it '\<A.'. ' the «iiamond, the Irtlfcg were :idded to the fig-
td fnr a clear perception of
; I <es did not have it. The
their eyes to its
\!j;e, because the
ot unnumbered
;hc range of beauty in
i in perception,
'he sun, rising above the
• ir'h "h its r.iys, to the pale bow
of the Jews
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 5
of the moon and the sparkling of the firmament of stars, to the ceaseless surge of the ocean and the mountain summits wreathed in clouds, — to all the grander aspects and motions of nature, — before his eyes were drawn to lesser things outside the petty circle of his rambling and the sating of his crude animal wants. Mayhap thousands of years of brutal life rolled by before the savage stooped to pick up any one of the gleam- ing pebbles which the fierce tiger spurned with bounding foot and the flying deer trampled heedlessly on the river's bank.
Any one may guess, and any one's guess is as good as another's, what little pebble first drew the glance of the barbarian's eye or the stoop of the rover's knee. The first-known precious stones of the world were undoubtedly found on the face of the ground, without any wearisome digging or quarrying, as they lay shin- ing in the gravel, washed from hillsides over the plains, or along the courses of rivers swelled by floods and sweeping the par- ings of the earth's crust to the sea. Thousands of carnelians, garnets, jasper, amethysts, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds were picked up, maybe by children rummaging in gravel beds or the clefts of rocks, and thrown away as carelessly as splinters of flint, before one was preserved and prized. White and tinted shells were much easier to collect and pierce and link together, and rude armlets and leg-bands of copper and silver and gold were easily forged, and more to the savage taste than any neck- lace of stones.1
When some of the precious stones were lifted and borne away from their beds in drifts of gravel, they were valued first chiefly for the mystic powers attributed to pebbles of such rich hues, phenomenal hardness, and peculiar lustre. One of them would be worn in a pouch next to the bosom as an amulet or charm, averting peril, inspiring courage, healing diseases, repell- ing evil spirits, or winning the love of scornful maidens. Or, if any one of these magic stones was set to gleam in the buckle of a warrior's plume, it was less for a show of ornament than for
1 " A Treatise on Diamonds and Precious Stones," John Mawe, London, 1813.
6 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
its mystic shielding power and redoubling of valor. The tradi- tion of these virtues has passed from generation to generation, and still finds credence among the masses of Asia. The poor natives of India believe to this day in the efficacy of sapphires and rubies in purifying the blood, strengthening the body, quenching thirst, dispelling melancholy, averting danger, and assuring honor and fortune. The emerald in their eyes is potent to dispel bad dreams, give courage, and cure palsies, colds, and acute dysentery. The turquoise they say will brighten and heal weak and sore eyes, and serve as an antidote for veno- mous snake bites.1 Like the other precious stones, the diamond was early endowed by fancy with medical virtues, and particu- larly prized as a safeguard from madness, in its power to " raze out the written troubles of the brain."1 It was also believed to be potent to touch the heart, and there is a pretty conceit that the darts of Cupid were diamond tipped. Perhaps the passion of women for gems gave point to this fiction.
As the diverse stones of fire became better known and more sharply distinguished, special significance was given to each by some nations of the East, associating them with the planets, the march of the seasons, or with various divinities. Sometimes they were of emblematic service. For the representation of the twelve tribes of Israel, twelve distinct gems were set in gold plates on the robe of the high-priest.3 When the rise of letters and the fine arts brought the devising of symbols and graven inscriptions, the supposed potency of these stone amulets was increased by the craft of priests and sorcerers, cutting the face of the charms themselves or directing the hands of expert work-
1 "Oriental Accounts of Precious Minerals," Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, August, 1832.
2 "Treatise on Gems," Feuchtwanger, New York, 1867.
3 Exodus xxviii. " Natural History of the Bible," Thaddeus M. Harris, Boston, 1820. "Precious Stones in their Scientific and Artistic Relations," A. H. Church, London, 1883. " De Duodecim Gemmis in Veste Aaronis." Epiphanius, 1565. John Peter Lange, Professor University of Bonn, in Schaff's "Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical Commentary" on the Bible.
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 7
men. The Chaldeans are especially charged with the fomenting of superstitions by the exaggeration of this conceit. These engraved stones served often as distinctive seals, and for con- venience in carrying and the gratification of a spreading taste for such ornaments, the talismans were set in rings and clasps. So Solomon's seal, summoning and mastering genii, was the wonder of legends, and so, too, the famous ring of Polycrates and the rival marvels of Oriental romancers familiar in the tales of the " Arabian Nights."
As time and art disclosed more and more of the marvels of the stones of fire in the crust of the earth, the wonder grew and the supernatural potency of the various gems was more deeply impressed. Thus we reach the belief and tribute of the priest Onomacritus (500 B.C.), who declared of the lucent crystal, " Whoso goes into the temple with this in his hand may be sure of having his prayer granted, as the gods cannot withstand its power." Its use to concentrate the sun's rays as a burning glass was highly prized also in priestly ministrations.
Onomacritus says crudely of this use that " when a trans- parent crystal is laid on wood, so that the sun's rays may shine upon it, there will soon be seen smoke, then fire, then a bright flame." Fire kindled through this agency was holy in the sight of priests and people, and no burnt offering was so pleas- ing to the gods as one set in these sacred flames.
The precious stones are so greatly dependent upon the ad- vance in the art of polishing and cutting for the revelation of their qualities and beauty that it was doubtless long after their dis- covery before they came into any considerable use as ornaments. Their hardness defied, at first, any effort to fashion their shape with primitive tools. The most that could be effected was the rude polish that might be obtained by the tedious rubbing of the face of one stone against another. But, as time went on, the lines of natural cleavage were noted, and grinding wheels in the hands of skilful artisans gave a smooth face to the natural contours of the softer stones, and, later, even to the sapphire
1 "Precious Stones and Gems," Streeter.
8 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
and diamond. With the advance in art the demand for precious stones increased apace, and, to meet the demand, keener and wider ranging searches developed new and greater supplies.
There is a certain tracing of the use of precious stones for ornaments to the ancient Babylonian civilization, whose existing ruins extend back to from 6000 to 7000 years B.C.1 Babylonian lapidaries were cutting and polish- ing carnelians, sards, onyx, and rock crystals before the Egyptians had advanced beyond
The Polar Star. , . r' \ • r • T-'I
the carving or their sort steatite. I hen the Phoenicians drew from all parts of the known earth its treasures.2 So Ezekiel testifies of Tyre : " Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of wares of thy making : they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple and broidered work and fine linen and coral and agate. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants : they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold."
Judea had some share of this stream. The Queen of Sheba bore a "great store of precious stones " to Solomon (B.C. 101 5— 975) with her tribute of gold,4 but this was a trivial trickle compared with the flow to Phoenicia and Babylonia. Long before the days of the Captivity (B.C. 598),5 the robes of the princes and nobles of these rich realms were glittering with jewels, and their gor- geous array was the marvel of the poor The Hope Blue, exiles, crying with the voice of their prophet, Ezekiel : " Every
1 " Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," Schaff-Herzog. "Archaeology of the Past Century," Professor W. M. F. Petrie.
2 The Story of the Nations, " Phoenicia," George Rawlinson, M.A.
3 Ezekiel xxvii. 22.
4 " Old Testament History," William Smith. "Precious Stones in the Scriptures," R. Hindmarsh, London, 1851.
5 Date of removal of jehoiachin, according to Prideaux and to Clinton. Ewald makes the date 597 B.C.
THE A
precious stone was thy cove; in the midst of the stom of Eden in the valk den typical of the s]
How th of Eden or el;
its that sprinkling of dug and ing thro
Th< res,
.ien
among the
had climbing of Zulmat Y
>le vali rlet of t!
the
me n :
n in the i
legends, a at Alex to th
precipice; as no way of pt by fin
o
on the mountain wit
: this tale in mind ft 11 be remembc rt island a to the
A1ISW3AINO
3HJ.
1 HK !;|A.\!(.)M)
VklC A
Present weight, 40 carats.
inci tor precious and, keener and .-. -eater supplies, sang of the use of K-nts to the ancient whose existing ruins o to 7000 years B.C.1 re cutting and poiinh- k'x, rind rock crystals id advanced beyond cirife. Then the •M?rh »ts treasures.2 merchant by they occupied work and fine :>'d Kaamah, - *srh chief
Weight before cuttin carats ; weight after first cutting, 67^ carats > pte»- ent weight, 44^ carats.
\rchxology
•cic-* in the jn. Ewald
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 9
precious stone was thy covering. Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." As tradition placed the garden of Eden in the valley of the Euphrates, Ezekiel makes the gar- den typical of the splendor of Babylon in his fervid outpouring.
How the stones of fire were brought into being in the garden of Eden or elsewhere, Ezekiel was not moved to reveal, and the savants that have sought to tell are but groping seers. When a sprinkling of stones was uncovered by the rains and floods, or dug and washed from the beds of gravel, or traced by r.ude min- ing through clay or conglomerate layers or enclosing rocks, there was still no widespread knowledge of the deposits, and even among the most familiar with the search there was ever the hope of finding, some day, some marvellous store. Hence sprung up the romances. Even in the days when the sharp tooth of history had cut into legends, a story was told of the climbing of Zulmat by the great Alexander, to the rim of the inaccessible valley, where, beneath sheer precipices, glittered a coverlet of the stones of fire. There was no way of winning the diamonds that glowed so temptingly except by flinging down masses of flesh and waiting for swooping vultures to bear the lumps up to their perches on the mountain with precious stones sticking in the meat.1
Sindbad the sailor had this tale in mind fortunately in his second voyage. It will be remembered that he was stranded by shipwreck on a desert island and carried away by the flight of a gigantic rukh to the top of a distant mountain. From this mountain he descended into a neighboring " valley, exceed- ing great and wide and deep and bounded by vast mountains that spired high in air." Walking along the wady, he found that " its soil was of diamond, the stone wherewith they pierce minerals and precious stones and porcelain and the onyx, for that it is a dense stone and a stubborn, whereon neither iron or hardhead hath effect, neither can we cut off aught therefrom, nor break it save by means of lead stone."
1 " Oriental Accounts of" Precious Minerals," Journal of Asiatic Society of Ben- gal, August, 1832.
io THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Luckily for the sailor, his descent was by day, for " the val- ley swarmed with snakes and vipers, each as big as a palm tree, that would have made but one gulp of an elephant ; and they came out by night, hiding during the day, lest the rukhs and eagles pounce on them and tear them to pieces." In view of the horrid prospect of soon dropping through the throat of one of these snakes, Sindbad began to wish that he had not flown away from the island, where he was, at least, out of reach of vast vipers, but he soon bethought himself of the old story of the valley from which diamond-studded meat was "plucked by eagles." So he quickly filled his pockets and shawl girdle and turban with the choicest diamonds. Then he put a piece of raw meat on his breast and lay down on his back. Soon a big eagle swooped into the valley, clutched the meat in his talons, and flew up to a mountain above, " where, dropping the carcass, he fell to rending it," leaving the lucky sailor to scramble off with his booty. He gave a parcel of the diamonds to the dis- appointed merchant, who had cast down the meat, but he had stuffed his clothes so full of the gems that he went home, after some strange sight-seeing, with a great store of diamonds and money and goods.1
This amazing tale is less teeming with interest than it was in the days when it was first told, for, even hundreds of years afterwards, diamond-lined valleys and monstrous rukhs and snakes that could gulp down elephants were not beyond cre- dence. If in valleys there might be a diamond lining, why should there not be a massing of diamonds and rubies in the dwellings of genii in caves, awaiting the entry of some lucky Aladdin ? Oriental fancy, teeming with visions, disdained any curbing within the petty confines of crawling experience, and was prolific in marvels far more pleasing to the masses that egged on the story-tellers with craving credulity. Who then could explode these bubbles with any sharp prick of positive contra- diction ? Even if in all known fields the precious stones were gathered by toilsome searches only rarely rewarded, who had the 1 "Arabian Nights," Lady Burton's edition, Vol. Ill, pp. 476-482.
THE ANCIENT ADAM AS u
range of knowledge to deny the possible existence of caverns filled with rubies or mountain summits studded with diamonds ?
Seeing that to this day so little can be asserted positively of the forming of the precious stones scattered in the earth's crust, it is not surprising that the origin of the stones of fire has been, from the first, a baffling puzzle and a fountain-head of conflict- ing surmises. Some wondering people viewed them as splin- ters dropping from the stars, and some, as the creations or transformations of genii. Some Hindoo miners still believe that diamonds grow like onions, though much less quickly, and that their age is marked by the difference in their size and quality. Others suppose the common rock crystals to be immature diamonds, and the distinction is marked by calling the rock crystal kacha (unripe), while the diamond is pakka (ripe).'
For the ripening of the crystals and the quickening of their seeming inward fire, the lightning bolts, that sometimes rived the ground, were thought to be potent. Others again, observ- ing the liquid purity and likeness which is marked to this day in the term " diamonds of the purest water," attributed the forming of the crystals to the supernormal trickle and hardening of dewdrops. It is of this fancy that Dryden makes poetic use in his likening of the tears of Almahide : —
" What precious drops are those,
Which silently each other's track pursue,
Bright as young diamonds in their infant dew ? " 2
Bizarre speculation was stretched even to the point of attrib- uting to these strange crystals animal instincts and reproductive powers. Thus Barreto is quoted in the dictionary of Antonio de Moraes Silva as saying : —
" Que os diamantes se unem, amam e procream." 3
1 "Oriental Accounts of Precious Minerals." Translation by Rajah Kalikis- ken, Asiatic Society of Bengal.
2 "The Conquest of Granada," Second Part, Act III, Scene I, Dryden.
3 "Commonplace Book," Second Series, p. 668, Southey.
12 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
The tradition of the generative power of this marvellous crystal originates with the Hindoos, and to this day the natives of Pharrah will affirm that the diamond beds yield fresh supplies of well-grown stones at intervals of from fifteen to twenty years.
It is seemingly hopeless to attempt to fix with any certainty the time when the diamond was first singled out from the peb- bles in which it lay, and was prized by any one, or even when it entered the list of gems known to the chief nations of Asia. Traditions coming down through the mists of legendary ages are conflicting and uncertain reliances at best. The ancient writers add to this perplexity by loose or erroneous descriptions when the advance of the science had not marked precise distinctions of structure and composition. Thus the Carbunculus of Pliny was probably stretched to cover the spinel or Balas ruby, the garnet and other red stones, besides embracing the Anthrax of Theophrastus or our modern ruby. Many ancient writers con- founded also under the general term Smaragdus various dis- tinct minerals of green color, not only the true emerald, but green jasper, malachite, chryscolla, and fluor spar.1 Among the common people, pretending to no mineralogical knowledge, there was less thought of distinction, and, in days approaching our own, Tavernier observes in his travels, A.D. 1669, after describing the true ruby of Pegu, in Ceylon, " the fatherland of rubies," that "all other stones in this country are called by the name Ruby, and are only distinguished by color, thus, in the language of Pegu, the sapphire is a Blue Ruby," etc.2 This confusion is not surprising, and a much more discreditable one occurred within the last thirty years in the sensational touting of the discovery of rubies in the garnets of the Macdonnell Ranges in South Australia. It seems highly probable that the stone of exquisite blue, now particularly distinguished as the typical sapphire, was the ancient Hyacinthus ; and the Sap- phirus of the ancients certainly included the lapis lazuli and
1 "Precious Stones and Gems," Streeter, London, 1892.
2 " Voyages en Turquie, en Perse et aux Indes," Paris, 1676.
THE ANCIENT ADAM AS 13
covered the range of corundums of every tint except red. Thus green sapphires are noted, although very rarely, and yellow and gray, as well as pure white or colorless, and this stone is pre- sumed by Streeter and other investigators to have been the " adamas " first known to the Greeks.1
There can be no question that sapphires or corundums of varied hue were much more common than diamonds in the hands of the merchants of the East or any other ancient collectors before the Christian era. The sapphire was, indeed, one of the most widely known of all gems, and how highly it was valued may be surmised from the dignity given to it by the sacred writers. The prophet Ezekiel likens to a " Sapphire stone " the appearance of the throne in the firmament above the cherubim. Job makes it the representative of all gems in his splendid description of the daring of miners.2
Like the sapphire, the diamond is repeatedly referred to by the Hebrew writers. It formed one of the typical stones in the high priest's breastplate, and Ezekiel puts it in the first rank of the stones of fire. Jeremiah speaks of the sin of Judah as written with the point of a diamond, " puncto adamantinis" of the Latin Bible, but Streeter holds that this pen point was probably a corundum and not the true diamond.3
This is a stretch of assumption largely based upon the lack of any precise description applying to the diamond until close to the beginning of the first century of our reckoning. Adamas, the indomitable, the adamant of the ancients, was the name given to the diamond because of its distinguishing hardness. Pliny was greatly impressed by what he heard of this characteristic, but obviously knew little or nothing of the stone by personal handling or test. For he wrote down soberly : " The most valuable thing on earth is the Diamond, known only to kings, and to them imperfectly. It is only engendered in the finest gold. Six different kinds are known, among these the Indian
1 " Traite de Mineralogie, avec application aux Arts," Brongniart, Paris, 1807.
2 Job xxviii. I— 1 1. 8 " Precious Stones and Gems," Streeter.
i4 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
and Arabian of such indomitable, unspeakable hardness, that when laid on the anvil it gives the blow back in such force as to shiver the hammer and anvil to pieces.1
Unfortunately for the aim of identifying the diamond with the references to the ancient adamas, the term was commonly and loosely applied to any substance of peculiar hardness. So moun- tains of iron-stone, like unto that upon which the ship of Sindbad was dashed, were called adamant, and so too were the arms and armor of gods and heroes. Addison only transmits a tradition in the fine lines of his poem —
" And mighty Mars, for war renowned, In adamantine armor frowned."
In Homer, as Streeter notes, adamas occurs only as a per- sonal name, and in Hesiod, Pindar, and other early Greek poets it is used to signify any hard weapon or metal like steel or an alloy of the harder metals.3 No distinct identification of the diamond with adamas appears, according to Streeter's view, until the first century A.D., in the writings of the Latin poet and astron- omer Manilius, and his contemporary Pliny (A.D. 62-114). In the fourth book of Manilius's poem " Astronomicum," occurs this line, " Sic Adamas, punctum lapidis, pretiosior auro," which, Streeter says, " is supposed to be the earliest indubitable reference to the true diamond." It is difficult to see how this " stone's point, more precious than gold," is any more distinct and indubi- table in its reference to the diamond than the diamond pen point of Jeremiah hundreds of years before. But Pliny, with all his erroneous amplifications, unquestionably describes the true Indian diamond as " colorless, transparent, with polished facets and six angles ending either in a pyramid with a sharp point or with two points like whipping tops joined at the base." 4
1 "Historia Naturalis," XXXVII, 15.
2 Poem addressed to Sir Godfrey Kneller, referring to William III. of England.
3 " a8a/Aas yevos otSv^ov," ^Eschylus. See Stanley's Commentary on ^Eschy- lus, " Prometheus Vinctus."
4 Plinii Secundi (Caii), " Naturalis Historia," XXXVII, 15.
In view of the han scratch every other pre* fore contended that th Greek writers as adat doubted that, even at a pale yellow topaz or a , mond in the hands selling. Whatever or the application ot reason in this f monds were found in Christian, era. As far were particularly prizec and were strictly exacted in diamond-bed washers. But t were less jealously guarded, have found their way ir with the other peoples < It seems most probable their first knowledge 01 the Egyptians chiefly, f of Egyptian derivation, for the assumption that version of the Hebi. that allusions to the wholly unreliable or The main sur onds with th the appa the site < are brought settings have h
1746. " Elem. de Wor or.
1 » " Em
i or a f gem
Present weight, 51 carats.
. > K1CA
hardness, that such torve as to
j ;hf vbamond wuh i was c Mnrnonly and
!i;ird:i<--. So moun- h the <ivi.i of Sindbad
oo vvcr : :it<* arms trans; ^~s a trad
•v as a per-
-'.'k poets
r an
tHi
in
irs
, And six with two
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 15
In view of the hardness of the sapphire, so great that it will scratch every other precious stone except the diamond, it is there- fore contended that this was the stone known to the earliest Greek writers as adamas.1 This may be so, and it cannot be doubted that, even at a much later day, a white corundum or a pale yellow topaz or a good rock crystal often passed for a dia- mond in the hands of collectors or in the sharp practice of gem selling. Whatever may have been the blundering of the Greeks or the application of adamas, there is, nevertheless, no sufficient reason in this for questioning the probability that genuine dia- monds were found in the gravels of India many centuries before the Christian era. As far back as tradition goes the largest stones were particularly prized by the native princes, and were strictly exacted in tribute from the diamond-bed washers. But the smaller stones were less jealously guarded, and may readily have found their way into the hands of traders with the other peoples of Asia or with Egypt. It seems most probable that the Jews derived their first knowledge of precious stones from The Empress Eugenie" the Egyptians chiefly, for the Hebrew names of the stones are of Egyptian derivation.2 Thus there is no approach to certainty for the assumption that the stones called diamonds in the English version of the Hebrew Scriptures were not rightly named, or that allusions to the diamond in other ancient writings were wholly unreliable or mistaken.
The main support for the questioning of the mingling of diamonds with the other gems noted by the ancient writers is the apparent failure to uncover diamonds in the excavations on the site of ancient temples and cities where other precious stones are brought to light. Thus emeralds and other gems in various settings have been exhumed from the volcanic overflow that
1 "History of Stones," Theophrastus. Edited by Sir John Hill, London, 1746. " Elem. de Min.," Lessing, II, 61. "The Great Diamonds of the World," Streeter.
2 " Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," Schaff-Herzog.
16 THE DIAiMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
buried Herculaneum and Pompeii, from the ruins of old Rome, and the tombs of Egypt.1 In the course of explorations on the site of Curium and other ancient towns in Cyprus, scarabs and scaraboids of agate, onyx, jasper, and variously tinted car- nelians were found, as well as gold ornaments, relics traced to the days of Eteandros, king of Paphos in the seventh century B.C. ; but no diamonds were unearthed in this collection.2 Nor is
there record, as yet, of the discovery of diamonds in the explorations in Baby- lonia.3
But this is, at most, evidence pointing to what is undoubted, — the comparative rarity of the diamond among the gems that served as amulets or ornaments for the people of western Asia, northern
The Nassak. . r . IT-- • i
Africa, or southern Europe prior to the
Christian era and for centuries afterward. Pliny expressly asserts this rarity in his allusion to the diamond ; but the fact that the gem was scarce, outside of India, is entirely compatible with its occasional inclusion in the collections of sovereigns, which the same writer remarks, and the high value set upon it would naturally limit its use as an ornament.
It is impossible to mark with any precision in what district of India a search for diamonds first began. Rajah Sourindo Mohun Tagore, in his account of the precious stones of India, gives the names of eight localities in which diamonds have been found according to tradition or more certain report. These are Harma (Himalayas), Matanga (Kistna), and Godaveri (or Gol- conda), Saurashtra (Surat), Paunda (probably including the Chutia Nagpur Province), Kalinga (the tract between Orissa and the Godaveri), Kosala (the modern Ajodhya or Berar), Vera Ganga
1 Clarke's " Travels," Vol. VIII, p. 150.
2 Story of the Nations, " Phoenicia," George Rawlinson.
3 " Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 160-161, 602 et seq., Layard ; " Arch- aeology of the Past Century," Professor W. M. F. Petrie.
^.OUTH AFRICA
Present weight, 82! carats.
. from the ruins ot u)d Rome, •he course of explorations on the -.. vnt towns in Cyprus, -if >., jasper, and various; tin red car- nold ornaments, :-ehcs traced to the ''iphos in t'-u- ^evenrh century B.C.; .TiMrrhed in this collection.* Nor is •;/;-• record. ;<> •.•", 'it the disrown of .t?ii'>nds in • explorations nt K
But thi' fo xvlvrii ;s li rnriiy ot t.!. thar vf.TVv.-ii the people Africa, or ,
Most, evidence pointing
- the comparative
j among the gems
ornaments for
Asu, northern
prior to the
: x-^CMsi', asserts
?a- r that the
. *' («»»e Vrith its
v which the
it would
u in, irk -,s 'in .in •r cii'.ir.i-".pi'..s fir>f • . ; .uTnuin ot tjv. ''\! localities in • ..••;<.'.'! or more <. '•-! i-.>:ufM. : Ki<tr. -
Hat district
j Sounndo
s ot India,
r.,i\'«; been
I hese are
:i (or Gol-
the Chutia
sa and the
era (.janga
ADA
(the Wemganga and Indus rive:
According r howir
wide ranging r\ comprehens; surface deposits, and -. logic antiqu borrows its i It seem^ pre?
n the Sarhund
ored over a
•
indyha-
Hills of old £ t the surface wast from th the diamond in i
glomer gravels there arc
quently no d z of a conglomei
rounded pv It is likely that
firs'. he surface wash and that the
mon
In some of the diamond-bearing districts of India to-day the native villagers are searching for diamonds exactly as their fathers did in days of remotest tradition. After a heavy rain that washes away loose soil, a sprinkling of diamonds may be found in expos .stone brec-
cia, and sh;i. Him.
scrape the face of the ground for the precious cr
Along the banks of the Kistna and Godaveri rivers the Golconda
of tradition outstretched, and this
diamond-studded ground came later in;- .nds of the Nizam \\
of 1 id, and was included
in the bounds of the Madras Preside^
bed of the Koh-i-nur and and «f the jewels most renow
Here, of a certainty, was the richest d
1 "Mani Mala," Calcutta, 1879.
1 " Manual of Geological Survey of India," P
ight before cutting, 787! carats; present weight, 279^ carats.
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 17
(the Wemganga), and Saubira (the stretch between the Sarhund and Indus rivers).1
According to this showing the diamond is scattered over a wide ranging region, but it occurs everywhere in one of two comprehensive formations, — alluvial or otherwise disintegrated surface deposits, and conglomerate rocks of far receding geo- logic antiquity, belonging to the Vindyhan formation, which borrows its name from the Vindyhan Hills of old geographers.2 It seems reasonable to presume that the surface wash comes from the disintegration of the seat of the diamond in con- glomerate beds, — for even in alluvial gravels there are fre- quently no diamonds found outside of a conglomerate of rounded pebbles and sandstone breccia. It is likely that the first diamonds were taken from the surface wash and that the more solid breccia was opened later.
In some of the diamond-bearing districts of India to-day the native villagers are searching for diamonds exactly as their fathers did in days of remotest tradition. After a heavy rain that washes away loose soil, a sprinkling of diamonds may be found in exposed sandstone brec- cia, and sharp-eyed Hindoos scrape the face of the ground for the precious crystals.
Along the banks of the Kistna and Godaveri rivers the Golconda of tradition outstretched, and this diamond-studded ground came later into the hands of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and was included The Great Mogul,
in the bounds of the Madras Presidency. Here, it is claimed, was the bed of the Koh-i-nur and Regent and Great Mogul, and others of the jewels most renowned in history and romance. Here, of a certainty, was the richest diamond field in India, in
1 "Mani Mala," Calcutta, 1879.
2 "Manual of Geological Survey of India," Professor V. Ball, Vol. III.
i8 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
the days of Tavernier's travels (1669 A.D.). Here was the famous mine, " Gani-Coulour," that he saw, where sixty thou- sand natives were then at work, and " Gani-Parteal," and twenty more of lesser note.1 Gani-Coulour has probably been identified with the modern Kolur on the Kistna, Gani being simply a slight change of the Persian " Kan-i " or "mine of," so that Gani-Coulour is the mine of Kolur as Gani-Parteal is the mine of Parteal.2 The surface ground of this district along the rivers is a black " cotton soil " washed down by floods, and underlying this at an average depth of twenty feet is a layer of broken sandstone, quartz, jasper, flint, and granite, interspersed with masses of calcareous conglomerate, forming the stratum in which the diamonds were embedded. When the black soil had been dug up laboriously and carried away, the diamond-bearing layer was exposed, and was removed, piecemeal, to level stretches of ground or prepared floors, where it was scraped and picked over by hand to find the diamonds.
The whole of this rich mining district and a tract stretching for many miles away was loosely called Golconda, or the King- dom of Golconda, by foreign traders and travellers, because the town of Golconda was its capital and the trading centre where the diamonds from the mines were chiefly bought and sold. The only mark of this old mart to-day is a deserted fort near Hyderabad, but its fame will endure until traditionary Golconda ceases to be a standard of riches.
Next in importance and prestige to the mines of Golconda was the diamond field of Sumbulpur, in the Central Provinces, between the rivers Mahanadi and Brahmini. The diamonds of this district were remarkable for their purity and beauty, though no very large crystals have been traced to this region, and the few which the washings still yield rank with the finest of the Indian stones. Here the precious stones were found chiefly along the course of the Mahanadi, in a stratum of tough clay and pebbles stained reddish by iron oxide. At the opening of
1 " Voyages en Turquie, en Perse et aux Indes," Tavernier, Paris, 1676.
2 " Manual of Geological Survey of India," Vol. III.
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 19
the dry season, thousands of villagers, men, women, and chil- dren, began to search every cleft and cranny in the river beds for diamonds. With ankovas, or light picks, the men broke and scraped out the diamond-bearing bed and piled the broken ground on the river bank. Then the women scooped up ground from the heaps with their daers. These were shovel- shaped boards, about five feet long, with ridged sides and hol- lowed in the centre. Resting one end of the daer on the ground and tilting the other slightly, they washed away the clay and sand and picked off the rock splinters and larger pebbles. After this rude sorting they spread out the finer gravel on a smaller board, the kootla, and scraped it over very carefully to separate the diamond crystals and grains of gold. When there was a level stretch along a bank, the native workers would some- times make an enclosure on this flat, with a low wall pierced at several points by small waterways. Then they would dump the diamond-bearing ground into this shallow basin and wash away the clay and dirt with running water. After two or three washings they would pick out the larger stones from the cleaned gravel, and dry the remainder, to be picked over on their kootlas or on any smooth, hard flooring.
Perhaps the most laborious diamond digging in India has been in the pits of Panna and neighboring villages in the Prov- ince of Bundelkhund. Here the diamond-bearing conglomerate was buried under a cover of heavy ground, ranging in places over thirty feet in thickness. To reach the diamond strata large pits were dug, with inclines leading to the bottom in or below the conglomerate. There was no drainage, and the diamond diggers were forced to work in the rainy season knee-deep in water, breaking the conglomerate, and filling baskets which were hauled by hand to the top of the pits. In this primitive fashion the diamond beds of India were opened, and diamonds are to-day won by these simple methods or others essentially similar.1
1 "A Treatise on Diamonds and Precious Stones," John Mawe, London, 1813. " A Treatise on Gems," Feuchtwanger, New York, 1867. "Precious Stones and Gems," Streeter, London, 1892.
20 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Color and size were the chief distinction in diamonds, as in the other precious stones, in the early days before the advance of the art of diamond cutting which has added so greatly to the brilliancy and beauty of this gem. Centuries ran by before the ancient lapidaries attempted more than the polishing of the surfaces of the natural facets of the crystal, though the compara- tive ease with which this hardest of stones may be split by fol- lowing the natural cleavage lines may have been observed. Size was rated so highly by the Hindoos in valuing a gem that the conception of increasing the worth of a jewel by cutting away the greater part of it would not have been tolerated even if it had been feasible. When cutting to a limited extent began to be practised in India, it was generally unsymmetrical and unsci- entific, as the oldest known diamonds bear witness, and there was comparatively little advance for many centuries, as every celebrated gem of Indian workmanship plainly shows.1 But even with imperfect cutting and crude polishing the inherent beauties of the ancient stones were more or less fully disclosed.
In the mines of Panna there were four noted divisions in grading. Clear and brilliant stones were in the class Motichul, Mansk was the class name applied to diamonds of greenish tint, Panna to light yellow, and Bunsput to sepia colored stones.2 In India at large there was a comprehensive divisional grading corresponding to the main caste distinctions, — the "twice-born," priests, warriors, and merchants, and the " once-born," tillers of the land.3 The Brahmans were the diamonds of highest range, clear and colorless crystals ; the Kshatriyas, clear crystals, amber tinted or of the color of honey ; Vaisyas, the cream colored ; and the servile Sudras, the grayish white stones. Grades in rank were more minutely marked in the rubies of the famous Badak- shan mines in Persia, where the common people believed that the precious stones were deposited in the " rag-i-lal " or parent vein in successive layers. The outside layer contained the small
1 " A Treatise on Diamonds and Pearls," David Jeffries, London, 1751.
2 " Precious Stones and Gems," Streeter.
3 "Annals of India," J. Talboys Wheeler, Calcutta, 1881.
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 21
and imperfect stones styled piadehs, foot soldiers ; the next, a better class of stones called sawars, horse soldiers; and so on through layers of amirs, bakshis, and vazirs until a single stone was reached, transcending all in size and beauty, which the min- ers polished dutifully, and took in tribute to their sovereign.1
With the expansion of Greek commerce and the entry of Greek mercenaries into the employ of satraps in Asia Minor (about 500 B.C.), the riches of the Orient were made known, and precious stones began to pass into Europe. Herodotus, 484 B.C., was first of the early Greek writers 2 to mark particularly the dis- plays of precious stones in palaces and temples — the signet rings of Darius, the magnificent emerald in the ring of Polycrates, and the marvellous show of the emerald column in the temple of Hercules in Tyre, gleaming like a pillar of green fire at night. This fiery column has a certain likeness to the traditional stone as big as an ostrich egg, to which homage was paid as the " God- dess of Emeralds" by the people of the Manca Valley in Peru. Sceptics would clip the marvel of both by substitution of beryl, or aquamarine, or colored glass ; but this trimming of legend does not question the extraction of true emeralds from mines in Upper Egypt, or the superb yield of the deposits in Peru and New Grenada.8
The conquests of Alexander the Great (334-323 B.C.) made the Greeks familiar with the precious stones of India as well as of Western and Central Asia. His successors revelled in pro- fuse displays of jewelled rings and bracelets, and wine cups and candelabra, in luxurious banquets. Pliny tells a glowing tale of a statue of Arsinoe, wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus (283 B.C.), four cubits in height, made of topazon.4 The true topaz was undoubtedly known to the ancient Egyptians, and is still obtained at Risk Allah near the old emerald mines of Jebel Zabara ; but the Oriental topaz is presumed to have been the yellow sapphire ;
1 "Oriental Accounts of Precious Minerals," Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, August, 1832. '2 Rawlinson's "Herodotus."
3 Brun's " Travels." Rawlinson's " Herodotus," II. 44. Prescott's " Con- quest of Mexico." 4 "Historia Naturalis," XXXVII, 32.
22 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
and the Greek topazios, the yellowish green chrysolite or the peridot, of deeper green tint. The word is derived from Torra£a, " to seek," because the traditional source was an island in the Red Sea, often difficult to reach through its envelope of fog.1 The loose use of the term by Pliny and other old writers makes it impracticable to mark with any certainty from what greenish hued stone Arsinoe's statue was cut. Still, in spite of current exaggeration and confusion of distinctions, there can be no doubt of the rising production and circulation of the precious stones.
With the spread of the Roman Empire prodigality in dis- plays ran riot. After Pompey's victory over Mithradates, (B.C. 66) precious stones and pearls poured into Rome and the demand of vanity rose to a passion.2 Pliny writes : " We drink out of a mass of gems crusting our wine bowls, and our drinking cups are emeralds." To heighten the wonder he tells in his gos- siping way how emeralds were set as the eyes of a lion sculptured in marble on the tomb of King Hermias in the island of Cyprus. So great was the size and so piercing the light of these emerald eyes that the tunny fish in the surrounding sea were frightened away until the fishermen of Cyprus put common stones in place of the dazzling gems. Later scepticism would make these emerald eyes of malachite, for copper ores were of common occurrence in Cyprus3 and the glory of the emerald was scattered by loose usage over green fluor spar, jasper, aquamarine, malachite, and perhaps even green glass. There is also a shaking of the marvel of the cups, holding a pint, that were made out of solid carbuncles ; for these are supposed to be cuttings from the common garnets of the Bar- bary coast, flowing out from Carthage in such profusion that the carbuncle was called "the Carthaginian stone."4
Beryl was largely used in the ornamentation of cups and
1 Diodorus Siculus, Lib. Ill, c. 38. Jameson's " Mineralogy," p. 48. Kidd's " Mineralogy," I, izi. 2 " Historia Naturalis," XXXVII, 6-7.
3 Cleaveland's "Mineralogy," p. 565. Theophrastus, " De Lapid.," c. 49.
4 "The Story of Carthage," p. 121, Alfred J. Church, M.A. "Story of the Nations."
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 23
for cameos ; 1 and carnelian was particularly prized as a base for the engraving of seals or cameos, sometimes elaborately pictorial. The great scarab in the Prussian cabinet, representing the five heroes of Thebes, is a recognized masterpiece of old Etruscan art, and a deep-cut carnelian once belonging to Michael Angelo portrays the birthday festival of Dionysius.2 Amethyst ranked with carnelian as a favorite stone with engravers, and it was of peculiar traditional service in the fashioning of drinking cups, from its supposed checking of drunkenness, whence its Greek name, — a, " not," and /u,e0uw, " to intoxicate." Opals were placed in the first rank of gems, and Pliny tells of a senator, Nonius, who bore banishment and the loss of all his estate rather than the sacrifice of his opal ring to the greed of Mark Antony.3
Pearls were even more highly valued and lavishly displayed than any of the precious stones. Swelling the yield of the Mediterranean shores there flowed into Rome a profusion of still finer pearls from the Persian Gulf and Ceylon, to be set in necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and clasps of all kinds. Rich robes were bespangled with jewels, and it is reported that Lollia Pau- lina, the wife of Caligula (A.D. 37-41), wore a dress covered with pearls and emeralds. Cleopatra's famous pearls were said to have cost her ^80,000. Julius Caesar (B.C. 102-44) gave Servilia, Cato's sister, a pearl valued at over ^£50,000, and Nero dropped handfuls of pearls in the laps of his mistresses (A.D. 54-68).
From personal adornments, the decoration of arms and trap- pings, and the embellishing of banquets, the use of gems spread to the mounting of pictures in frames studded with precious stones, and the ornamentation of statuary. Nero viewed the combats of gladiators in a mirror of jewels,4 and Constantine
1 " Historia Naturalis," XXXVII, 20.
2 "A Treatise on Gems," Feuchtwanger.
3 "Historia Naturalis," XXXVII, 21.
4 Ibid. XXXVII, 1 6. Beckmann thinks the mirror of Smaragdus in which Nero gazed may have been green obsidian, green jasper, or even green glass. "History of Inventions," III, 177.
24 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
challenged the splendor of Oriental monarchs by his entry into Rome in a chariot of gold sparkling with precious stones (A.D. 312-337).
Amid all this profusion, in which millions of sesterces were lavished, the diamond is noted only by rare allusions. This is probably accounted for by the check in the advance of lapidary art on reaching a stone of such indomitable hardness. Even the diamonds set in the clasp of the regal mantle of Charlemagne, after the opening of the ninth century, show only a partial polish- ing of the natural planes of the crystals. There was no scientific cutting of facets to heighten the brilliancy of the stone until the fifteenth century. When artificial shaping was attempted before that time, it did not go beyond the production of a flat top or table, or a convex surface, with a truncated pyramid as a base. Even when a large number of facets were cut, as was sometimes
O '
done by East Indian lapidaries, there was no scientific propor- tioning, as was signally shown in the instance of the remarkable stone known as the " Beau Sancy," which came into the posses- sion of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. It was the recut- ting of this stone in 1465, by the true artist Louis de Berquem of Bruges, that marks the rising of the modern art that has enhanced so immensely the resplendence and beauty of the diamond, and established its place securely as the chief among gems that are prized for adornment.
Then begins the entry of the famous diamonds passing over the face of Europe with meteoric trains of adventure. The Beau Sancy glitters for a moment in the splendid array led by Charles the Bold against the Swiss peasants. On the bloody field of Granson (3d March, A.D. 1476) where the best knights of Burgundy were killed or put to flight by the mountaineers, the jewel that might ransom a king is trampled under foot in the rout. A Swiss soldier picks it up. It is no more in his eye than a bit of glass which he is well pleased to sell for a florin to a priest. Philip de Commines says that the priest knew no more of its value than the soldier, and thought he did well to make a franc by selling the diamond to the burghers of Berne.
TH !
There appears
reappear oi: irer in i
of Portugal, who plet!- :Vom
Nichoh
of France. soon buys it oi.
thousand t: !e for a
of his kin^. When i (1589), M. ii< him
and i_one
So his body is thro his
the place of burial is later Resent weight, 531.* carats. seai \1. de Sancy, the 1
found in th ;>mach.
Undimmed -cly adventure, it r"
to shine on the ; jth of England
From the la- the few treas from his throne buys the gen
ie of tru lution. In i bear it offwi years, till it the Den
less a
hand of the c< by the a
1 "A Treatise on ' Streeter.
\ ; /r I
>KjJ W
ujth ;; trui: • -t f:uc:^- \\
F SOTf if AFKK'A
monarchs ;i:s entry into .ling *irh . jous stones
sesterces were cions. This is
re of lapidary ^-iness. I'.ven ? I harkmagnc, 1 partial jv>lwh-
as no scientific
•j.ne until the tempted before f a flat top or mid as a base, was sometimes •-.-p^hc propor- remarkable
rhe
! he
'<rd by
hioody
•>'. knights
t.ntaineers,
-ifr foot in
.•>ri- in his
'or a florin
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 25
There the diamond disappears. One current story makes it reappear one hundred years later in the possession of the king of Portugal, who pledges it with other jewels for a loan from Nicholas Harlai, Seigneur de Sancy, and treasurer of the king of France. M. de Sancy soon buys it outright for one hundred thousand francs and loans it to sparkle for a time on the head of his king, Henry III. (A.D. 1574-1589). When Henry of Navarre comes to the throne (1589), M. de Sancy sends the diamond to him by a trusted servant. Thieves waylay and kill the messenger, but the precious stone is seemingly not in his keeping. So his body is thrown into a grave hastily made by his murderers. When the place of burial is later The Sancy.
searched out by direction of M. de Sancy, the lost diamond is found in the dead man's stomach.
Undimmed in this ghastly adventure, it rises from the grave to shine on the breast of Elizabeth of England (A.D. 1558—1603). From the last of the Tudors it passes to the Stuarts, and one of the few treasures that James the Second carries off in his flight from his throne (A.D. 1688) is the brilliant Sancy. Louis XIV. buys the gem from the king in exile (A.D. 1695), and it is held as one of the most precious of the crown jewels until the Revo- lution. In 1792 robbers break open the treasure chamber and bear it off with other plunder. Again it is beyond tracing for years, till it reappears in the hands of a noble Russian family, the Demidoffs, from whom it passes to London merchants, and finally to the Maharajah of Puttiala. It may be that the adven- tures of two diamonds are fused in this tale, but it is none the less an outline of truth with the marvel of romance.1
Even Aladdin's wonderful palace, reared in a night by the hands of obedient genii, scarcely outstripped the glittering show of the court of the Great Moguls, enthroned in Delhi (A.D. 1526) by the arms of the Sultan Baber and his grandson Akbar, of the
1 " A Treatise on Gems," Feuchtwanger. " Great Diamonds of the World," Streeter.
26 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
line of Timour the Tartar. Here embassies passed through the main gate of the palace along a magnificent avenue to the grand central square. Thousands of bodyguards in splendid dress lined the way, and behind the ranks richly caparisoned elephants were massed, waving flags of satin and silver. Dark eyes peered through the crimson hangings of the howdahs and the gilded lattices of the zenana cloisters bordering the square. Beyond the cloisters gardens outspread, with beds of lovely flowers and sheltering arbors and fountains splashing in sculptured basins.
The entrance to the durbar or audience hall was through a pavilion hung with tapestries of purple and gold to a stately marble chamber, whose pillars and walls gleamed with rainbow hues. Under a canopy of flowered tissue on silver poles was set the imperial throne, the matchless triumph of Indian art. There strutted two peacocks fashioned deftly of jewels and gold to depict every plume and hue of the living creature. The out- spread tail seemed to flutter in mimicry of life with the sheen of sapphires and emeralds. The body was of enamelled gold and the eyes two radiant diamonds. Peacocks were emblems of the sun and of the descent of the Great Moguls from the sun through Chenghiz Khan. Ranged beside these splendid figures were stands bearing masses of unfading flowers, for every stem and leaf and petal was counterfeited in precious stones and metals.
When the Great Mogul took his seat on his throne of solid gold studded with jewels, all bent low before his imperial majesty attired in cloth of gold blazing with precious stones in armlets and necklaces and crusted embroidery. Over the entrance to the hall was engraven in letters of gold : " If there be an elysium on earth, it is this." Here was at least a splendor of luxury beyond all rivalry. Never was shown, in vain Babylon, adventurous Tyre, or imperial Rome, any display as dazzling as the jewels of Delhi.1
1 "The Turks in India," Henry George Keene, London, 1879. "His- tory of British India," Sir W. W. Hunter. Hunter's "Indian Empire." "Tales from Indian History,"]. Talboys Wheeler. "Travels in the East," Vol. Ill, Forbes.
AW! 27
Here the Ko!i-i-nur, Mounts^ i price-
less trophy. In ?he great battle of i when the last ei of the Afghan '
beaten by Baber, the Rajah of Gwa! .ell," as
Baber wrote g I — valued "at
half the dai' > hole wor'ii " — came in tribute to
Humaiun, ; lere, too, were the
Koh-i-t -nur, Sea of Light,
and the loon, and that prodigy of
diamonds, the :o Shah Jehan by the
Emir
These j /eted and hoarded with insane
passion wh her lure in the boasted elysium was as
Dead .S to the jaded senses.
Shah Jehan, dethroned and impris- oned at Agra, sank to dotage, clasp- ing his casket of jewels, and trickling diamonds and rubies over his head and breast. When his son, Aurung-
zeb, sent a messenger to borrow some V \^^ <^\~-.\/ of this hoard, the resentful old man threatened to break up the gems in
rr-. Present weight, 106 carats.
a mortar. Shah Rokh, the feeble son
of Nadir Shah, who broke the peacock thrjt
was blinded by the Aga Mohammed in
the Koh-i-nur. Then his head was
ring of paste to hold boiling oil, but even this
onl the surrender of a ruby plucked from tfie crown of
Aurunp >hah Zaman, blinded by his brother Shuja, hid
the Koh-i-nur defiantly for years in the plaster of his prison
cell ; and Shuja, blinded by a third brother, Mahmud, yielded
up the priceless stone to Runjeet Singh, only 8 his family
from agon; /-ing death.
In the sa k of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739, t^le wonderful
1 Memoirs of Sultan Baber.
1 "Voyage- en Turquie, en Perse et ttr , Paris, 1676.
>< HTTU AI'kK A
s:ts passed through the
; :uc; -;e to the grand
i-.'idid dress lined
i -i: , ' «iied elephants
1 ark e\-.-s peered
' ...vi i:ii»s ::nd thr gilded
• u :%.f Miuare. Beyond
.;t i./volv flowers and
!-i sculptured basins.
;v;-e hail was through a
i ••; i xuid to a stately
.: ltd with rainbow
I'ver poles was set
1 I :..;i jn trr. There
and gold to
The out-
"h^cn of
and
m penal
stones
(\er the
"If there
• ;i splendor
- .an Babylon,
as da/zling as
^~y. "Hts- V.UM Empire." ;n the East,"
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 27
Here the Koh-i-nur, Mountain of Light, sparkled, a price- less trophy. .In the great battle of Pariput (April 2ist, 1526), when the last emperor of the Afghan-Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim, was beaten by Baber, the Rajah of Gwalior was " sent to hell," as Baber wrote grimly, and his most precious jewel — valued "at half the daily expense of the whole world" — came in tribute to Humaiun, the great sultan's favorite son.1 Here, too, were the Koh-i-tur, Mountain of Sinai, and the Darya-i-nur, Sea of Light, and the Taj-e-mah, Crown of the Moon, and that prodigy of diamonds, the Great Mogul, presented to Shah Jehan by the Emir Jemla.2
These precious stones were coveted and hoarded with insane passion when every other lure in the boasted elysium was as Dead Sea fruit to the jaded senses. Shah Jehan, dethroned and impris- oned at Agra, sank to dotage, clasp- ing his casket of jewels, and trickling diamonds and rubies over his head and breast. When his son, Aurung- zeb, sent a messenger to borrow some of this hoard, the resentful old man threatened to break up the gems in
01 i T> i i i c \ i The Koh-i-nfir. (Present Cutting.)
a mortar, bnan Rokn, the feeble son
of Nadir Shah, who broke the peacock throne of the Moguls, was blinded by the Aga Mohammed in the vain effort to extort the Koh-i-nur. Then his head was shaved and circled with a ring of paste to hold boiling oil, but even this intensity of torture only forced the surrender of a ruby plucked from the crown of Aurungzeb. Shah Zaman, blinded by his brother Shuja, hid the Koh-i-nur defiantly for years in the plaster of his prison cell ; and Shuja, blinded by a third brother, Mahmud, yielded up the priceless stone to Runjeet Singh, only to save his family from agonizing death.
In the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739, the wonderful
1 Memoirs of Sultan Baber.
2 "Voyages en Turquie, en Perse et aux Indes," Tavernier, Paris, 1676.
28 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
store of jewels in the court of the Mogul emperors was borne away by the plunderers. It is supposed that the Great Mogul was broken at that time, and other famous diamonds were beyond tracing for years. The great gems were still more widely scat- tered upon the assassination of Nadir Shah, and some of the finest of the crown jewels of Europe have probably come from the hoards of Delhi. The Darya-i-nur and Taj-e-mah were set in a pair of bracelets which Sir John Malcolm saw at the court of Persia,1 and they are still the most precious of the jewels of the Shah. Some have seen in the Orloff or Sceptre diamond of the Czar, the reappearance of the Great Mogul, but Streeter thinks that the Great Mogul has never come to light since the loot of the treasures of Nadir Shah by the Abdalli-Afghans.
When the Koh-i-nur came into the hands of Runjeet Singh, he had the stone set in a bracelet which he wore proudly on every parade day. On his death-bed he sought to propitiate the gods by presenting this, the chief of his jewels, to the shrine of Jaga-nath (Juggernaut), but his hand was too weak to sign the warrant of delivery. So the gem descended to the young rajah
Dhulip-Singh, and was held until the Indian mutiny and the seizure of the Punjaub by the English forces. Then the state property of the province was confiscated to pay debts due to the East India Company, but the Koh-i-nur was reserved for the English crown, and on June jd, 1850, this jewel, from earliest The orioff. tradition the emblem of conquest, was
placed in the hands of Queen Victoria by the messengers of Lord Dalhousie.
Every precious stone of uncommon size has some adventure to tell, though its tale may not be a drama of as many acts as the Koh-i-nur's career. What a strange story might be drawn from the Orloff of the sights in the temple of Mysore, when it was the eye of the Hindoo god, Sri-Ranga.2 There was no other
1 " Sketches of Persia," Sir John Malcolm, 1827. 2 Ibid.
AFRICA
Present weight, 194* cnrats.
>t the Moini! emperors was borne away
supposed that the drear Mogul was
other MPKHIS diamonds were beyond
eir !„'• •'!>> vsere <-riil more widely seat-
\a«jir Siuih, a iid some of the finest
probably conic from the
. u.i ai:d Taj-e-mah were sei in a
Malcolm saw at the court of
o>t i>recio','s ot the jewels ot the
h !••?!' or Sceptre diamond of the
Mouul, but Streeter thinks
> iij.';ht since the loot of
Afghans.
i' kunjeet Singh,
: proudly on
:{!u to propitiate
;, to the shrine
i s lu!...i ---as roo ^\ik ro sign the
.--ided to rn^1 young rajah
•,;.",, ami \\»^ hi Id until rhe
,.lim • : :••- aiui t'he .ei/ure of the
forces. Then
sfi'v :\ of tf province was
i.-t «> the Fast
: ( k -»h-t nur was
: ..-AH, and on
in.t'r. earliest
Conquest, was
• ••. : lie -Messengers of
has some adventure
],;i!!vi of as manv acts as the
" in tie ::>;>rs' micrht be drawn from
(:-.-Mpit of Mvsorc, wh. • was
• R intri.- 'i'luie w.is ; • ..rher
witness of the ? a devotee on ti- the precious stone «. to Madras. Here tru ^£2,000 for his times this sum v favor of the
The Rege gems of th- in the bank 1701, c< the s:
first opt *>e sei
coast and to;
mere'1
big diamond was
the captain. When
open sea, he flung th rboai
to drown, and took
merchant, from wh<
George, Thomas Pitt, gr.i:i-
It was one of the stone weighing 410 " to be out of h; racked by the fear ot ful gem was in his !-* * Mid
at a i
peace of
for ^135,000 to
minority of Louis X
made une of the
most prodigal and luxu
the Bourbons until the
stolen by the robbers who earn*
:h rough r
Weight before cutting, 410 carats; present weight, 136}! carats.
arm-
n the
stone
iter in the
was held by
1792 it was
:y and thrown into
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS 29
witness of the sacrilege of the French grenadier, masquerading as a devotee on the black and stormy night when he plucked out the precious stone eye and ran off through the British army lines to Madras. Here the captain of an English ship gave him ^2,000 for his prize, but it cost Prince Orloff more than fifty times this sum when he bought it in Amsterdam to win back the favor of the Empress Catherine.
The Regent lies in state, most lustrous and precious of the gems of the old French crown. The slave who found it buried in the bank of the Kistna River, A.D. 1701, cut his leg deeply to pouch the stone in his flesh, and wrapped the wound in a thick bandage. At the first opening he ran away to the sea- coast and found refuge on an English merchant ship. But the lure of the big diamond was too tempting to the captain. When his ship was in the open sea, he flung the slave overboard
to drown, and took the stolen diamond to sell to an Indian merchant, from whom it passed to the governor of Fort St. George, Thomas Pitt, grandfather of the great Earl of Chatham.
It was one of the largest of all known diamonds, the rough stone weighing 410 carats, and Thomas Pitt would not suffer it to be out of his sight or touch day or night, though he was racked by the fear of thieves and murderers. While the alarm- ful gem was in his keeping, it is said that he never slept twice under the same roof, and moved from place to place in disguise, at a moment's caprice, to cover his tracks. Fortunately for his peace of mind, as well as his purse, he was able to sell his prize for ^£135,000 to the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France in the minority of Louis XV. (A.D. 1715-1723). So the splendid stone made the fortune of the house of Pitt, and came to glitter in the most prodigal and luxurious court of Europe. It was held by the Bourbons until the French Revolution, and in 1792 it was stolen by the robbers who carried off the Sancy and thrown into
30 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
a ditch in the Champs Elysees. Here it was picked up with other plunder which the thieves did not dare to keep or offer for sale.
Then it was uplifted again to the French crown and has held its place through revolutions that have unmade kings and emperors.
So it might be told how " The Flor- entine " wandered from India through Tuscany to the Austrian crown, — how the " Piggott " saw Clive's conquests (A.D. 1751-1767) and travelled to Eng- land with the governor of Madras and
was crushed to powder by the dying Ali Pasha, — how the " Star of the South " made its way from the sands of Brazil to glitter on the breast of the fantastic Gaikwak of Baroda while he killed disagreeable people with diamond dust, — and how banished con- victs won their pardon from the Portu- guese crown by the discovery of the Braganza, the largest diamond, if genu- ine, that the world ever saw.1 Thepiggott.
No one can say of a true diamond story, " it is closed " ; for diamonds outlast dynasties, and their wander- ings may be on the verge of renewal when they seem to be ended. " A jewel may rest on an English lady's arm that saw Alaric sack Rome, and beheld before — what not ? The
The Star of the South.
1 " Great Diamonds of the World," Streeter. «< Diamonds," W. Pole, London Archsological Trans., London, 1861. " Diamonds and Precious Stones," H. Emanuel, London, 1865. "Outlines of Mineralogy," J. Kidd, Oxford. "Traite Complet des Pierres precieuses," Charles Barbot, Paris, 1838. "The People of India," J. Forbes Watson and J. W. Kaye, Editors. " Gemmarum et Lapidum Historia," etc., Boetius, 1647.
p of t!1 vulgar pro i at the amph
the peacock Armenian t. last, come !
The made origif
been fouiv
I ^^V\ \ x\
i. 1 ne ting the
at
1
:-in\J> MINIvi Oi- SOUTH AFRICA
yst'Ch. Here ;t was picked up with other
L-S '.ii-d not vitirc to ka -jr ortcr for sale.
Then it v\as uplifted i^.iin fo the French h.is he :ts place through ?!-.;U h;i' v •, i a made kings and
Present weight, 133^ carats.
Weight before cutting, 254! carats; present weight, 124^ carats.
^i^h*- he :•>!(! how " Tht Flor-
i troiii India through
-i.;uiy : > tiic AUS:.H.IM crown, — how
•• Fi^uo't ,aw Chve's conquests
and. travelled to Eng-
;nvernor of Madras and
t'asha. — how the
Present weight, 82^ carats.
Js," W. Pole, c'.ious Stones,"
Kidd, Oxford. i«;S. "The • ( •••mmarum et
THE ANCIENT ADAMAS
31
treasures of the palaces of the Pharaohs and of Darius, or the camp of the Ptolemies, come into Europe on the neck of a vulgar pro-consul's wife to glitter at every gladiator's butchery at the amphitheatre ; then pass in a Gothic ox-wagon to an Arab seraglio at Seville; and so back to its native India, to figure in the peacock throne of the Great Mogul; to be bought by an Armenian for a few rupees from an English soldier, and so, at last, come hither."
The illustrations of the historic diamonds shown in this chapter have been made from photographs of facsimiles of the stones, and are the exact sizes of the originals.
Dana and other mineralogists mention that diamonds in the form of cubes have been found. While one might expect to find diamond crystals in cubic form, as this is the fundamental form of the isometric system, still very few specimens have come under my own observation, and none until within the past two years. De Beers Company's Premier Mine has produced most of these, while a few are reported as coming from Bultfontein. The usual form of these diamonds is a cube with bevelled edges, representing the combination oo o 2 and oo o oo. See illustration below.
CHAPTER II
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
CHILD picking a shining pebble for a play- thing from the gravel edging a river — was this sport of blind chance the revelation of the mar- vellous diamond fields of Africa ? In narrow fact, yes ; but in a wider, truer range of view, this discovery was the crown that sooner or later must reward the search of daring adventurers and the push of stubborn pioneers into the dark heart of the continent.
There was no chance in the strain of pluck that braved strange perils to reach traditional Ophir and the pits of King Solomon's mines, that wandered far in quest of the golden cities of Monomotapa, that tore the wilderness from the clutch of the lion and vulture, and beat back the frantic impis of Tchaka, Dingaan, and Umsilikazi. The ardor and the toil and the courage and the blood of ten generations of explorers were spent before it was possible for a little child to play pitch and toss with the pebbles of the Orange River and clasp a rough diamond in his heedless hand.
Two dominant motives were fused with the high-spirited zeal for exploration that so signally stamped the fifteenth century, — the opening of an all-sea route to the Indies, and the grasp of the riches of lands behind the veil. In the unknown there is space for any vault of fancy, and in that romantic age her soaring wings were rarely clipped. One may be moved to smile at the fantastic visions of the men who found the southern waterway to the Indies, and added a new world to the old ; but there will be no sneer in the smile of any one who can measure his own debt to experience, and put himself back five centuries to stand
- Of THE
UNWERS«TV
CALIFGr'
N^jV*, • .<<?£. * :•;• _v . /_ A^ -.. -v 4 • -'.-• •s ? \'^/<5^i
i -• >'>:'N'>; ': ;''';V/';:> -U-k-' • \ **^m-> i. ' ; :-i ^•^»=^- '-'/ ^V-" '• ''.
• •J^':-A'5 ^ ". : • v/'i; V . "'' .'; *^j , ',.--":^ •••",.
- ' '• ' *?>tt " /-v-' V?.^7:S^^-:' " (:
1 r-:^ y'---;^» - '
K/rf^^^:§^^^^ 1^ 7^ "T^ / ^J^^A^ v' v" > ^2-S*^- j^!:-^ . ' * /
••^y^-/-1';^^^ ;.?4 ":^". ' :*$i^:-^J '$JJI " Jl- \£&s tjivs-fK* ^~^T~~
m^, '-wP^/^/^-C ^^^> % v • rw/ // H^ ^-/
LiJ
- Aa
.
-
5 cj
9 % I <
w 'i < ^
u S
_ rt
6 c
U d)
§ -s
S -e
•a .-
2 *
~ D.
2 a
i ^
E S
3 U
HH O
05 (i ft, «
O »
CL "o
U
":TY
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
33
on the deck with Cam, Dias, and Da Gama, or the still more greatly daring Columbus.
Visschcr's Map of Africa, A.D. 1662. (From a copy in the British Museum.) Reproduced in English by Guiljelmo Blaeuw.
But who can to-day feel the hopes and fears that shook those strong hearts ? Who can lay the course for their clumsy caravels over the unknown stretches of ocean ? Who can sail on with them day after day and night after night without a chart
34
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
or buoy or beacon or surf-rocked bell ? Who can start from fitful sleep to pierce the night with straining eyes or watch for the glimmer of the dawn on sea-girt horizons ? Who can recall their racking fears or the dazzling images ever forming and dis-
- ~
^^^M;^te£.J5*-:<
Visscher's Map of Africa, published A.I). 1662.
solving in the alembic of their fancy ? With every daybreak the isles of Atlantis might spring into view, or gardens fairer than the golden Hesperides, or monsters more horrific than dragons, guarding hoards beyond the dreams of avarice, or, per-
BI.AEUW'S MAP OK AFRICA, PUBLISH!
Y-.tJh" i ."< x"5"9!S T
xr^jt^^
(From a copy in the British Museum.)
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND 35
chance, even the realms of some potentate accustomed to make footstools of princes with stiffer necks than haughty Xerxes or the terrible Tamburlane.
Amid the drift of such cloudy conceits there was one more clearly shaped and persistent than the rest. Somewhere below the equator, in the unknown expanse of Africa, tradition placed the home of the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon's mines, and the marvels of Ophir. Every adventurer skirting the South African coast hoped to touch with certainty the shore of this delectable country. The alluring recital in Kings and Chronicles glittered before his eyes.1 In fancy he saw the gathering of the ships in " Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea," and how this fleet came to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon. He saw, too, the coming of the Queen of Sheba to the king to prove him with hard questions, and the great train that followed her with camels that bare spices and very much gold and precious stones. Then it was told him how the queen was overcome by Solomon's wisdom and grandeur until " there was no more spirit in her," and she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones. Following this tribute came the regular flow, from Ophir to Judea, of gold and gems and almug trees in the transports of Tyre. With such a fountain of supply, it was easy to credit the wonderful tale of the targets and shields of beaten gold, of the throne of ivory overlaid with gold, and of all the other displays of Solomon's splendor. If the king's gold made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones in the eyes of the chronicler, it is not surprising that this vision came down undimmed to the days of Da Gama.
But how to find the source of this flow was the puzzle that faced the explorer. Unfortunately the old chroniclers had omitted to give any landmarks of King Solomon's mines. Sur- mise strayed down the eastern coast of Africa, and the close commercial connection between southwestern Arabia and the
1 1 Kings ix., x ; 2 Chronicles viii., ix.
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Outline Copy of the Catalan (In the original the shore line has almost illegible names,
equatorial coast region of East Africa was unquestionable. Herodotus declares that East Africa at its furthest known limits supplied gold in great plenty as well as huge elephants and ebony. The Alexandrian geographers mark rudely the East African coast line to Zanzibar, and attest the relations between
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
37
Mappermonde, 1375.
which, for the sake of clearness, have been omitted here.)
this coast and Arabia Felix. Eratosthenes observes that naviga- tion extends down East Africa beyond Bab-el-Mandeb, " along the myrrh country, south and east as far as the Cinnamon coun- try, about five thousand stadia." Ptolemy, in the second cen- 1 Strabo, XVI, Chap. IV, 4.
38 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
tury A.D., describes quite accurately the east coast of Africa as far as Zanzibar and Ras Mamba Mku. His information was chiefly derived from Arabian merchants. But, as Schlechter has closely pointed out in his admirable monograph,1 there is no trace or hint anywhere during the Greek and Roman periods of antiquity of any colony or emporium south of the Zanzibar
Outline Copy of the Portolano Laurenziano, 1351.
coast, and not long after the time of Herodotus the gold im- ports of Arabia had shrunk to inconsiderable importance. With the decline of the Himyaritic Kingdom in Arabia, soon after the second century of our era, there was a falling off of commercial enterprise and intercourse with Africa, so marked that even the
1 " Periplus of the Erythraean Sea," Henry Schlechter, The Geographical Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, July, 1893.
EDRISI'S MAP, AO>. 1154.
ANDREA BIANCO'S MAP, A.D. 1436. VENICE.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
39
notable map of the Arabian Edrisi, in 1154 A.D., shows how slight and vague was the advance in the knowledge of the Dark Continent from the days of the Alexandrian geographers. Still this old chart gives some substantial proof of the communica- tion of Arabian traders with the natives on the East African coast. But on this map the African coast appears to curve
Africa de Mappermonde, Juan de la Cosa, 1500. (This map was made only fourteen years after the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, and is one of the earliest known maps giving the entire contour of Africa with approximate accuracy.)
east continuously from the mouth of the Red Sea, and Edrisi was plainly ignorant of the abrupt trend to the south from Cape Guar-da-fui. Yet he shows rudely the islands lying off the east coast of Africa, and, south of Sokotra, traces the African main- land in three divisions, Zendj (Zanzibar), Sofala, and Vakvak.
With all its imperfections this Arabian map was in advance of any European portrayal of South Africa. It was the prevail- ing belief in the Middle Ages, " bequeathed from antiquity," as
40 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Justin Winsor observes, that " owing to the impassable heats of the torrid zone, it could not be discovered whether this region were inhabited or whether land existed there." Map makers plainly made the bounds of land and water beyond the equator from sheer surmise, and the confession was commonly frank that the land was terra incognita and the ocean a sea of darkness. " Most famous of all these early maps " (of the Atlantic Ocean),
Dutch Ship of the XVIIIth Century.
says Winsor,1 " was the Catalan Mappermonde of 1375." It was probably the one best known by the sailors sent out by Prince Henry of Portugal, in the year 1413, to follow down the Atlan- tic shore line of Africa. On this map, all known Africa is bounded on the south by a line drawn eastward from Finisterra, off the mouth of the Rio Del Oro, about 23° north of the equator, nearly across the continent to the Egyptian Nile. In the Portolano Laurenziano of 1351, the outline of Africa is given
1 " Narrative and Critical History of America," Vol. I, p. 55, Justin Winsor.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
Dutch Ships of the XVI Ith Century.
an approach to reality that is highly remarkable, but it is clearly a happy stretch of guesswork.1
All of the region south of Cape Non was practically un- known to the adventurers of the fifteenth century.2 Their ears were filled with doleful tales of the calms and storms, the
Dutch Ships of the XVI Ith Century.
1 " Life of Prince Henry of Portugal, surnamed the Navigator, and its Results," R. H. Major, London, 1868.
2 Chief of the charts in the fifteenth century were those of Andrea Bianco, "Atlas," 1436, and " Carta Nautica." Justin Winsor, "Narrative and Critical History of America," Vol. I, p. 55.
42 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
mud-banks and the fogs, of the Sea of Darkness. If by any stretch of daring they might cross the equatorial line, they were
Dutch Ship of the XVI Ith Century.
burdened with the fear that they would begin to slide down an inclined plane with a rush that would pitch them headlong into
Dutch Ships of the XVIIth Century.
some bottomless abyss. The only assurance of a happier issue was the bare tale of old Herodotus of some nameless Phoenician
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
43
sailors who had skirted the coast south from the Red Sea in the days of Pharaoh Necho (610—594 B.C.), and returned nearly three years later through the Pillars of Hercules and the Medi- terranean. These sailors brought back, with their load of ivory, feathers, and gold, the report that during a considerable part of this voyage they had the sun on their right hand. It is this detail that now chiefly confirms the story, bat this was beyond the credence of Herodotus,1 and it would seem that this ancient mariner's tale was soon generally disbelieved, for the special
Dutch Ships of the XVI Ith Century.
searches made in the Alexandrian library by Eratosthenes and Marinus of Tyre in the third and second centuries B.C. brought to light no other records or traces of the voyage. So it was not with reliance on this alleged circumnavigation that the adven- turers of Portugal groped painfully for seventy years along the coast, until the daring Dias set his stone crosses at Angra Pequena and Algoa Bay and sighted the turning point of the path to the Indies in the frowning Cabo de Todos los Tor- mentos.2 King John was quick to see the promise in the land
1 " Herodotus," Bk. 4, 42, Rawlinson. ZA.D. 1486.
44 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
of Dias and change the Cape of Storms to Cabo de Boa Espe- ranza, but ten years passed before Vasco da Gama followed down the trail and rounded the Cape in the immortal voyage that reached the long-sought Indies six years after Columbus had touched the island hem of the new world.1
Dutch Ships of the XVIIIth Century.
The completed circling of Africa by European adventurers was a no less memorable achievement of Da Gama. He touched at Mozambique on the first of March, 1498, and there saw gold, in the hands of Arabs, that had passed up the coast from Sofala. Nearly twenty years before, a Portuguese courtier, Pedro de Covilhao, had reached Sofala in an attempt to pass to India by way of Egypt.2
For many years and possibly for many centuries there had been a trickle of gold from Sofala through Arab traders, and Da Gama saw enough of it to move his king to lay his hands upon it. In the expedition of Cabral, which followed in the wake of Da Gama in 1500, the great captain, Bartholemeu
1 " Prince Henry the Navigator," C. Raymond Beazley.
2 "The Portuguese in South Africa," George McCall Theal. " South Africa from Arab Domination to British Rule," R. W. Murray, editor, London, 1891.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
45
Bias, was specially commissioned to seek the source of the gold stream. Bias was drowned in the storm which sunk four ships of this fleet, but Cabral took a vessel carrying gold from Sofala and sailed to Kilwa, where the Arab Ibrahim and his forefathers had been drawing gold from Sofala for a long term of years. Upon the report of Cabral, Ba Gama turned out of his way to Mozambique in his second voyage, in 1502, to enter Sofala and take possession of Kilwa, and three years later Pedro da Nhaya sailed from Lisbon with six ships and built a fort and trading station at Sofala.
Behind this persistent push to Sofala there was more than the actual showing of gold. Here was one of the traditional gateways to King Solomon's mines, and the Portuguese were quick to embrace the tradition. They gave the glittering name of Ophir to their fort. South of the fort there runs a river, called by the Arabs Sabi, and this was pounced upon as a
Dutch Ships of the XVIIIth Century.
probable twist of the old Hebrew Sheba. From those days Fort Ophir was the starting point of Portuguese adventurers in search of the fountain head of Solomon's treasures.
The Portuguese then had uncommonly sturdy sea-legs and asked nobody to show them the way over the ocean foam, but
46 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
47
they were far less ready to weary their legs with trudging over mountain ridges or scrambling through the dense thickets of the rugged land west of Sofala. The Arab traders were more ready to venture inland, but there is no evidence to show that any of them went farther than a few hundred miles, at most, from the seacoast. It was an exceedingly difficult country to penetrate, and the savage natives were jealous of any approach, if they did not stubbornly bar the way and murder intruders.
* - \
B!S« I
5: ^^^mm./:^
V --' Dr Macloutsie
Map showing the Position of Ancient Ruins in Rhodesia.
The horrid death of the first Portuguese viceroy was a warn- ing that struck deep into the hearts of the earlier adventurers. Francisco d' Almeida, returning with his fleet from India in 1510, touched the African coast near the first landing of Diaz. To resent some little clash with the nearest native tribe he led a troop of soldiers inland to surprise their village, but was way- laid in the bush and his troop was put to flight by a hail of darts and stones. D' Almeida put his ensign in the hand of a trusty follower, but in the next moment he was stabbed in the throat by an assagai and his head was crushed by the swing
48 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
of a knob kerrie. Sixty-five of his picked swordsmen fell with him and the rest only saved their lives by abject flight, chased to the shore by a little band of naked negro dwarfs.
This was the greeting of a weak and puny coast tribe. What then might be feared from the rallying of the fierce and stalwart blacks of the Bantu tribes, under some ruthless chief, in the fastnesses of the mountain land encircling the gold of Ophir ?
Insiza Ruins.
Still there was an enticing trickle of gold dust and nuggets from inland mines to Sofala, and the flow of resplendent stories was vastly bigger than the golden stream in sight. So in 1569 it was resolved to make an extraordinary effort to penetrate to the source of the gold. The East African coast was placed under command of a governor independent of the viceroy of India. Francisco Barreto was made the first governor, with instructions to raise a force of a thousand men and lead them on to the capture of Ophir. The young cavaliers of Lisbon flocked eagerly to Barreto's standard. He led the way up the Zambesi with a high-spirited troop, but the gay soldiers were soon
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
49
scorched by the sun, torn by thorns, and cast down by fevers. The Kalangu tribe was then the strongest of any living between the Sabi and Zambesi, and Barreto sought to win the good will of its head chief by offering to beat his rival. This offer made him
Insiza Ruins.
welcome, and he kept his promise, but he was soon after obliged to appoint Vasco Fernandez Homem to the command of his troop and to return to the coast. Homem soon followed him with the dispirited remnants of the adventurers. Barreto did not live to see the return of his broken expedition, and Homem
50 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
succeeded him as governor. Then the new governor tried an- other way of approach to the gold field, and finally pushed a party through from Sofala to the foot of the mountain which the Kalangu tribe called Fara and the Arabs Aufur, transmuted forms, it was thought, of the Hebrew Ophir. Near the base of this mountain were placers yielding nuggets worth from two
Insiza Ruins.
to three thousand dollars, but the ordinary toil of placer wash- ing was so disgusting to the Portuguese visionaries that they gloomily turned their backs on the mines of Abasia and the rock mark of Ophir and wearily made their way back to Sofala.1 This disappointment dulled the glitter of some old stories, but there were plenty of new ones to dazzle men's minds.
It is likely that the most accurate, as it certainly is the full- est extant, account of the mining in Ophir land is given in the story of the old Spanish author, Joano de Barros, whose life spans the first three quarters of the sixteenth century.2 It is too much to expect that his " Da Asia " should be free from the coloring of the ardent fancy and the myths of the age, but underlying his narrative there is, at most points, a credible basis of personal observation and the current reports of many witnesses. He held several high offices in the Indian and
D
1 "The Portuguese in South Africa," Theal. " Conferencias Celebradas na Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa, Acerca dos Descobrimentos e Colonisa- 9068 dos Portuguezes na Africa." [At Lisbon, 1892.]
• "Da Asia," Joano de Barros (1496—1570).
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND 51
African establishments of Portugal, and had exceptional oppor- tunities for preparing his remarkable memorial.
In his description the "mines of Manica" are placed "some fifty leagues west of Sofala." The Portuguese league was 3.84 English miles, and De Barros was as loose as contemporary writ- ers in the measure of distances. " All gold found there is in dust," he writes, " and the workers have to carry the earth which they dig to some place where water can be had. Nobody digs more than six to seven spans deep (four to six feet), and if they go to twenty, they come to hard rock."
Beyond the Manica placers, in positions not defined, were the mines of Boro and Quiticui. There nuggets were found
Khami Ruins.
" embedded in reefs — some already cleared by the winter tor- rents ; hence, in some of the pools, such as remain in summer, the miners dig down and find much gold in the mud brought up. In other localities, where are some lagoons, two hundred men set at work to drain off about half the water, and in the mud which they sift they also find gold, and so rich is the
52 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
ground, that if the people were industrious, great quantities could be had ; but they are so indolent that stress of hunger alone will keep them at work. Hence Moors (Arabs) who
visit those districts have recourse to a ruse to make them diligent. They cover the negro men and women with clothes, beads, and trinkets in which they delight, and when all are pleased trust every- thing to them, telling
Khami Ruins.
(.Jlem
the mines, and on their return, they can pay for those advances ; so that in this way, by giving them credit, they oblige them to work, and so truthful are the negroes that they keep their word. " Other mines lie in the district called Toroa, ruled by a vas- sal of Benomotapa. These are the oldest known in that region. They are in a plain, in the middle of which stands a square fortress, all of dressed stones, within and without, well wrought and of marvel- lous size, without any lime showing the join- ings. The walls of this fortress are over twenty-
^^^^•^llf5^ *9S&
'
Gold Ornaments found in Ancient Ruins.
five spans high (18 to 19 feet) but the height is not so great compared with the thickness. And above the gateway of that stronghold there is an inscrip- tion which some learned Moorish traders who were there could not read nor say what writing it was. And around this build- ing are others on some heights, like it in the stonework, in
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
53
which is a tower twelve bracas (72 feet) high. All these struc- tures the people of the country call Symbaoe, which with them means a royal residence. They stand west of Sofala, under latitude 20° and 21° south, one hundred and seventy leagues more or less in a straight line. ... In the opinion of the Moors who saw them, they seemed to be very ancient and were
Khami Ruins.
built there to hold possession of those mines, which are very old, from which for years no gold has been taken owing to the wars." The latitude and position of the Symbaoe of De Barros cor- respond closely with the site of the ruins of Zimbabwe, described three hundred years later by the explorer Karl Mauch. Both Zimbabwe and its antique form, Symbaoe, are plainly versions of the local Bantu nzimba-mbuie, a house of the chief. It is true that the Zimbabwe of Mauch is only two hundred and forty miles west of Sofala, but the leagues of the old chroniclers were not laid off with the tape line.
54 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Who was this Benomotapa whose vassal was housed in such a castle ? — the mighty black sovereign of whom Camoens sings —
" Ve do Benomotapa o grande imperio, De Salvatica gente, negra e nua."
In dull fact Benomotapa was simply the corrupted plural form of Monomotapa, signifying Lord of the Mountain, or by a possible stretch of derivation, Master of the Mines.1 This was one of the hereditary titles of the head chief of the Kalangu
Khami Ruins.
tribe, the largest and strongest of any then living between the Sabi and Zambesi. His dwelling was at the foot of Mount
1 "The Portuguese in South Africa," George McCall Theal.
Bent says the name Monomotapa should be written Muene-matapa, or " lord of Matapa," simply " a dynastic name, just as every petty chief in Mashonaland to-day has his dynastic name, which he takes on succeeding to the chiefdom." "The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland," p. 285. Both titles have in fact the same meaning : the first components bena and mono being the still current Bantu words bwana, bana, muene, mwana, that is 'lord,' 'master,' 'chief,' 'ruler.' The second part, motapa, common to both, probably means a mine, from the Bantu word tapa='to dig,' 'excavate.' "Africa," Vol. II, p. 372. (Stanford's Compendium.) A, H, Keane.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
55
Aufur, which was held in such traditional reverence that the chief would not permit the Portuguese to ascend it. There was nothing of imposing splendor in the huts of the chief who re- ceived the embassy of Francisco Barreto, but no lack of evi- dence could prevent romance from creat- ing an African em- pire under the sway of Monomotapa. Some corner-stones for this structure were found in the remains of the works of a people of far higher civilization than any of the existing native tribes, and these relics were prizes to a fancy that clutched greedily at every drifting straw of report, tradition, and myth supplied by Arabs and negroes.
Every one in the suc- cession of romancers, in the sober cloak of histo- rians, of South Africa would outdo his forerun- ners in inflating the bal- loon of the traditional empire. The old Dutch writer, Kleveer, finally puffed it up to the bursting limit by bounding it " on the east, south, and west by the Atlantic, and north by the king- doms of Congo, Abyssinia, and the Zanzibar country. Even
Zimbabwe Ruins.
Zimbabwe Ruins.
56 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Dapper,1 whose really great work is by far the most important, comprehensive, and creditable presentation of the Africa of the seventeenth century, jots down gravely most fantastic details of the empire ruled by the royal line of Monomotapa. He paints a mammoth palace with four grand gateways leading to a succes- sion of halls and chambers, rivalling the handiwork of the slaves of the lamp of Aladdin. All the ceilings of the rooms were gilt or covered with golden plates. For the furnishing of sumptuous
. ,
M«^^
"
Zimbabwe Ruins.
couches and chairs there was gilding and painting in rainbow hues and artful inlaying with enamel. Ivory chandeliers, hanging on silver chains, filled these resplendent halls with light. When his majesty deigned to rise from his imperial bed, he was clothed by his valets in garments of native silk. All his servants approached him on bended knees and served him like dumb slaves. His table service of the finest porcelain was decorated with wreaths of gold, cunningly wrought in the fantastic forms of natural coral.
1 " Naukeurige Beschrijringe der Afrikaensche Gewesten," etc., Dr. O. Dap- per, Amsterdam, 1668.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
57
Zimbabwe Ruins.
Two pounds of gold was daily spent in perfume for the royal nose, and torches of incense flamed day and night around him. When he took an airing, he was borne in a gorgeous palanquin on the shoulders of four of his trembling nobles, and his head was shielded from the profaning sun by a canopy studded with precious stones. If he was impatient of this slow promenade, he
Zimbabwe Ruins.
58 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
might mount on an elephant's back, but on nothing meaner, for nobody in that wonderful country would ride on any other animal. It is small wonder that the court of monarchs of this splen- dor, and their golden cities of Davaque and Vigiti Magna, were ardently hunted for by adventurers, thirsty for every romance gilding the dismal stretches of sand and thickets and rocks which encircled them with the threads of a trail to the glittering realm of Monomotapa. But the expeditions of Barreto and
Homem were so painful, costly, and discouraging that for many years no more explorations were undertaken by the Portuguese crown. The spirit of chivalric adventure drooped low after the gallant young king Sebastian fell in battle with the Moors in 1578, and even the spirit that had so greatly spread the commerce of Portugal was los- ing its vigor. There was a momentary arousal in the be- ginning of the seventeenth cen- tury, when some rich silver ore was sent to Lisbon by the governor of Mozambique. It was believed that this ore came from veins in a region called the Kingdom of Chicova, stretch- ing north from the bank of the Zambesi: but there was no
o
definite report of the location. Still there was such an impulse in the sight of this silver that the order was sent to despatch five hundred soldiers to Chicova. No such force could be mustered, but Nuno Alvares Pereira set out from Mozambique with a hundred men. Soon Pereira was the victim of jeal- ous maligning, and was superseded in his command by Diogo Sinoes Madeira. This commander succeeded in placing a few
Zimbabwe Ruins.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
59
trading stations along the Zambesi, and made a pretence of opening mines by shipping some little silver to Portugal ; but
Zimbabwe Ruins.
after a dozen years of costly maintenance, it was shown by the search of Pereira that the pretended discovery of silver was a
Zimbabwe Ruins.
fraud, and disgusted Portugal abandoned the enterprise in I622.1
1 "The Portuguese in South Africa," Theal.
6o THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
From that year nothing of note was attempted from the stretch of seaboard loosely held by a few feeble garrisons. Beyond the vague traditions and romances there were no guide- books to the rich realm of any African monarch, and there was no point on the South African coast outside of the Portuguese strip where the least enticement was shown to any visiting ship. Nowhere was there any evidence of an approach to civiliza- tion, and there was not even the gilding of barbarism. The
shore tribes were filthy, famine-hunted negroes, who had, at most, a little ivory or a handful of feathers to bar- ter for trinkets. There was an intermixture of blood and a medley of tribes and tribal names that
confounds any tracing of distinction beyond a few blurred divi- sional lines.
When the Dutch and English began to tread upon the heels of the Portuguese in Africa, in the opening years of the seven- teenth century, the tribes of the extreme south and along the southwesterly Atlantic coast might be roughly grouped under the name of Hottentots, or, as they called themselves with monstrous conceit, Kwa-Kwa, men of men. In this assertion there is plainly to be seen the origin of the Arabic Vakvak, the name sketched in by Edrisi on his map beyond Sofala. The south- east African coast was held by tribes of the wide-spreading Bantu family, lumped together by the Arabs as Kafirs. Filtered in between the Bantus and Hottentots were the pigmy Sana,
Zimbabwe Ruins.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
61
rudely bunched as Bushmen.1 There was endless wrangling and fighting among the tribes, regardless of any common flow of blood, and the Bantus and Hottentots were continually clash- ing like wildcats. Their only union was in their hate of the Bushmen, who were hunted from cover to cover, to hide in crevices in the rocks or in holes in the desert sand, from which they might sally, wasp- like, with the deadly sting of their poison-tipped arrows. In view of the repulsive face of the South African coast lands it is not surpris- ing that Francis Drake and many other bold voyagers circled the Cape of Good Hope without landing to seek for traditional treasures. But with the opening of the seventeenth century, Table The Old East India House- Leadenhaii street,
' London.
Bay became a regular stop- ping place and refitting station for the ships of the English East India Company. For twenty years this slight hold on the con- tinent was maintained, but it was so lightly prized that it was dropped in 1620 by a shift of the station to St. Helena. Thirty- two years later the Dutch East India Company took formal possession of the Cape and its adjoining bay without any chal- lenging protest, and built their fort Good Hope as the first stronghold of the Dutch dominion in southern Africa. With this foundation the search for the golden realm of Monomotapa was vigorously and persistently revived.
Jan van Riebeeck, the leader of the Dutch colonizing expe- dition and the first commandant of the fort and settlement at
1 "South Africa," George McCall Theal, London, 1888-1893. African Tribes," Sutherland.
f< South
62 THE DIAiMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Cape Town, was a man of ardent spirit and uncommon energy. He had entered the company's service as a surgeon's assistant, but his ambition and ability had soon pushed him to the front and marked him as a man to fix and strengthen the grip of the great trading company on the turning-point of the way to the Indies. In his portrait dark, sanguine eyes are set under a high, full forehead, crowned with thick waving hair of a cavalier cut, in keeping with his trim mustache. His well-moulded features and resolute chin have the stamp of refinement as well as action. He quickly put his hand to every practical device to make the new settlement productive and self-supporting. Nine months after his landing the first crop of wheat was reaped at the Cape. In the following year he set out vines from the Rhine. In his own vineyard the muscatel grape grew luxuri-
The Landing of van Riebeeck, 7th April, 1652.
antly, and a few years later he made the first Cape wine, a high- flavored Constantia. In the same year, 1658, maize was brought to the colony from the coast of Guinea and successfully planted. To the introduction of the olive, particularly urged by the direc- tors of his company, he gave unremitting pains, and succeeded in rearing a fine grove of fruitful trees on his own plantation at Wynberg. In his stretch of experiment he even tamed young ostriches and stocked the neighboring islands with rabbits.1
Such a man was not likely to be heedless of the chances for
*" South Africa," Theal. "On Veld and Farm," Frances MacNab, London, 1897.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
the possible enrichment of his company by penetrating to the seat of the traditional empire and possibly to King Solomon's mines. He reckoned that, in any event, his exploring parties would be likely to succeed in uncovering ore beds of some use- ful metal, if not of gold and silver. But he seems to have had great confidence in the traditions of Monomotapa, and it is known that he had before him the highly colored work of the Dutch traveller and author, Linschoten, as well as current
Portrait of Johan Antonyse van Riebeeck. First Commandant of the Cape of Good Hope. Born 1618, died January 18, 1672.
Portrait of Maria de la Querellerie of Que- rellerius, Wife of Johan Antonyse van Riebeeck. Born October 28, 1629, died November 2, 1664.
Portuguese books infused with the romance of Africa. His calculation plotted the location of Davaque, the chief seat of the splendors of Monomotapa, at a point 828 miles N.E. of the Cape of Good Hope, and 322 miles W. from the Indian Ocean, curiously near the present Witwatersrand. Davaque was built by tradition on the banks of the river Spirito Sanctu, flowing into the Indian Ocean at Delagoa Bay. Nearer still to the Cape was another El Dorado, the city of Vigiti Magna, which was confidently located on or near the meridian of 30° S., and not much more than three hundred miles from the Cape.
64 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
The first push into the unknown land north of Fort Good Hope was made in 1657 by a little party headed by Abraham Gabbema, Fiscal, and Secretary of the Council of the colony. Gabbema led the way to the first big beacon in sight, a peak with a grotesque flat top which the colonists had already chris- tened Klapnuits, or night cap mountain. Skirting the base of this peak he pushed to the next conspicuous landmark, bearing toward the west, a mountain with bare rugged pinnacles of rock, which the explorers dully called Great Berg, and gave the same name to the river flowing below.
Wine Cellar, Groot Constantia.
It was in the middle of October when the party set out, but this was the prime of the springtime in South Africa. On the lower slopes of the Great Berg herds were grazing that had never seen the face of a white man nor felt the sting of a bullet.
o
Zebras capered over the hillsides, the unwieldy rhinoceros wal- lowed in the high grass, and hippopotami plunged and snorted in the turbid rivers. Every step of the way was a new wonder- ment to the explorers, and when the rising sun struck the moun- tain tops with its flame, two transfigured peaks gleamed like prodigious gems in their eyes, and were forthwith distinguished
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND 65
as Paarl and Diamant. These sunlit crests were the only things in sight, however, that had any glitter of the realm of Mono- motapa, and after a little further advance into the unknown field, Gabbema's party turned back.
The next excursion was more daring. By promising rich rewards van Riebeeck formed a party of thirty volunteers headed by Jan Danckert. They took along a small stock of bread on three pack oxen, relying for their main supply of food on the game which they might kill on their way. These hardy volunteers plodded north, inclining to the west along the foot of the coast range. They saw whirlwinds of dust and a few roving Bushmen, but nowhere any trace of a monarchy except what they called " A Kingdom of Moles," where the burrowed ground sank under their feet and they could hardly flounder along. In December they reached a river flowing toward the Atlantic, on whose far- ther shore they saw a herd of more than two hundred elephants feeding. So they called the stream Olifants River, a name which it has borne since that day, and trudged back wearily to tell their story to the commandant at the Cape. Within ten days after their return, January 20, 1661, van Riebeeck, the un- tiring, mustered another party, of thirteen adventurers and two Hottentot attendants, and sent them away on the track of the discoverers of Olifants River.
Corporal Pieter Cruythof led off this party, which succeeded in crossing the river of the elephants and reaching the land of the Namaquas, a Hottentot tribe of the highest class. Here the explorers found natives who had rude copper ornaments twisted in tufts of their hair, and wore rings of copper and ivory on their arms. They entertained the white visitors with cheering hospitality and gave a grand dance in honor of the embassy. This was the nearest approach to the civilization of the tra- ditional empire that had hitherto been reached by Dutch ex- ploration, and the return of the adventurers on March n, 1 66 1, after forty days' wandering, was warmly welcomed by van Riebeeck.
Before two weeks had passed he had another excursion under
66 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
way led by Corporal Meerhoff, which penetrated into Namaqua- land farther than any white man had ever gone, but brought back bitterly discouraging reports. It was learned that the Namaquas had uncovered some veins of copper and iron ore and had some crude process of smelting and working both metals, but it did not appear to be practicable to undertake to open mines at points so far from the Cape in a region that for many months in the year was a torrid desert. There was no trace of gold or rumor even of any distant land of gold. Over every day's march was the hanging terror of death by thirst or hunger or savage attack.
Still the unflagging commandant would not give up the search, and in the following November Corporal Meerhoff went back with another party of volunteers to Namaqualand, as second in command under Sergeant Pieter Everaert. This expedition was better equipped for exploration than any previ- ous one that had set out from the Cape, and it was three months before it returned to the Fort. Yet it had nothing new to tell — only to repeat the same dreary story of painful tramps over sun-scorched sands and jagged ridges of rock, of blinding whirls of dust and the blare and clash and drench of terrific thunder-storms, of sleep broken by nightly alarms, of lurking Bushmen and prowling lions. One of the party had been gored and trampled to pulp by an elephant, and his comrades counted themselves lucky in reaching the Cape fort empty-handed, gaunt, and footsore.
Even after this sickening rebuff, the next year saw a renewal of the attempt to reach the elusive empire of Monomotapa. Then Sergeant Jonas de la Guerre set out with a little troop of adventurers not yet disheartened. But they were not able to push their search into Namaqualand as far as former explorers had gone, for they could not find a mouthful of water in the desert sands, and were in imminent peril of dying from thirst. This repulse was a crushing blow to the stubborn spirit that had borne so many buffets. The enterprising van Riebeeck had been transferred to the government of Java in the previous year,
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND 67
and his successor was a man of much fainter heart and energy. So for nearly a score of years the search for the traditional empire lagged, although there was a considerable show of less venturesome prospecting. One notable undertaking was the despatch of a party of expert assayers and miners from the Netherlands to Cape Town in 1669 by the Dutch East India Company, with instructions to search for any promising outcrops of ore in the region of the Cape. This party prospected for several years, but found nothing to inspire any investment in mining.1
A revival of the dazzling old visions came in 1681, with the appearance at the Cape of a party of Namaquas bearing pieces of rich copper ore. This exhibit spurred the East India Com- pany to direct another exploration of Namaqualand. Then the commandant at the Cape was a man of the stamp of van Rie- beeck, commander Simon van der Stel.2 He was quick to despatch a company of thirty soldiers, a draughtsman, and a reporter to make the venture so often tried in vain. Again, after months of struggle, the desert drove them back. Van der Stel then resolved to make an effort far surpassing any put forth before by adventurers from the Cape. He formed a party of forty-two white men, soldiers, miners, and draughtsmen, with ten Hottentot servants and guides. The expedition was provisioned for four months, and equipped with two boats, a train of wagons, several horses, and a herd of pack oxen. Ensign Olaf Bergh was put in command and led his company on to Namaqualand. But it was the same old story. No strength of men or oxen availed against the desert. No rain had fallen in the wilderness north of the Olifants River for twelve months, and the whole region was an arid waste without a trickle of moisture. So Bergh and his companions faced about in despair, and marched back to report their failure. Sergeant Izaak Schuyver and another forlorn-hope party tried their luck in the following year, and pushed over the desert a little farther than Bergh, but brought nothing back except a sack of copper ore on a pack ox.
1 "South Africa," Theal, Vols. I and 2.
2 Commander from I2th October, 1679, to 1st June, 1691.
68 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
As a last resort the unflinching commander van der Stel resolved to head an exploring party himself. He obtained special permission from the directors of the East India Com- pany, and his expedition was ordered in keeping with his distinc- tion as the head of the Dutch power at the Cape, and with the labors and perils of the venture. He left the Castle of Good Hope, August 25, 1685, with fifty-six white followers and a troop of Hottentot attendants. Twenty-three wagons and carts were packed with supplies. Besides the draught teams, there were two hundred spare oxen, thirteen horses, and eight mules. For the dignity and comfort of the commander there was a coach, but this touch of parade was chiefly introduced to impress the native tribes and possibly a negro emperor with the grandeur of the sovereignty despatching such an embassy.
The time of year chosen for the start was precisely the same as that picked for the expedition of Bergh two years before, but the difference in the face of the country would amaze any one who had never seen the magic of rain-falls on South African deserts. Fresh, juicy grass and vernal flowers were sprouting from a soil of seemingly lifeless sand. Birds were building their nests in the leafy thickets, insects were creeping or buzzing in swarms, and a myriad of butterflies were fluttering their gay wings over the green sward and blossoms. After years of drought there had come a season of heavy rains. The arid sands were soaked, torrents foamed through the windings of the dry water-courses, and the region north of Olifants River, which had been an impassable barrier to so many explorers, was quite easily penetrated by the cumbrous procession of van der Stel. Van der Stel's first farm, " Constantia," was near Wyn- berg, where he resided until he resigned and retired to his estate, " Vergelegen." The fine old houses, " Constantia " and " Verge- legen," are still some of the landmarks of these sturdy old Dutch settlers. They planted avenues of oaks, camphor trees, and pines, which to-day tend to make Cape Town and its environs one of the most charming spots on the face of the earth. The old picture of van der Stel's house, " Vergelegen," shows it
•
90fl9bia9i
.§130
JINKS OF SOUTH AFRICA
unflinching commander van der Stel
i.-ring party him -c it". He obtained
- directors of the Fast India Com-
\vi ; ordered in keeping with his distinc-
p iwer at the Cape, and with the
He left the Cast Is of Good
rh fifty-six white followers and a
Twenty-three wagons and carts
ik.>!des tlie draught teams, there
en horses, and eight mules.
."inturt ! tiu' ">unander there was a
ot parade was icri\ introduced to impress
'• possibly a negro empi r with the grandeur
i.:es|utching such an embassy.
v-hosen tor t'u- start w^. precisely the same .xpc.lri'.n of Itr f-\rs before, but
Farmhouse on the Farm Groot Cohstahtist.'rtear Wynberg. The first residence of Simon van der Stel, and now owned by the Cape Government. Tfifen farm is celebrated for its wine.
-cein.nu;'^ lifeless sand. H-.-.ls were building :itv thvkcrs, insects wen: < reeping or buzzing •'.•rterrlies w-cre fluttering their gay •-• .irti and blossoms. After years of .0 ison of heavy rains. The arid M';ik' • — f'-'amed through r . *jgs of
i ti: region north « River,
barrier to so n\ rers, was
cumbrous pr uf van der
rst farm, *' C"onsran:\. > near Wyn-
liv- rcsi^Mcd ar.d i. -'.;•, d to his estate, •>ld houses, "( on>rantia " and " Verge- udmarks of th^se sturdy old Dutch or oaks, camphor trees, and ,l;u tend fo tn.ike C. .qn1 Tou n anJ its environs •• harmincr ^pors or the f;uv of the earth. The •>- in der Sre!\ house, 4l' \\r^c-i"-jen," shows it
"'X
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
69
partly hidden by a huge camphor tree, which measures nine feet in diameter.
As the expedition advanced, it found various promising showings of copper ore, and the croppings were particularly rich in a range lying a little below the meridian of 30° S., where one peak was singled out as " copper mountain." Van der Stel had succeeded in reaching the line of the supposed location of the golden city of Vigiti Magna, and he pushed his search along
Vergelegen.
this line to the Atlantic, but he could nowhere pick up a trace of the traditional city or any other vestige of the realm of Monomotapa. He did not even meet with any strange mon- sters or romantic adventures, except perhaps the charge of a huge rhinoceros, which upset his coach and forced him to fly for his life. After six months of travel his notable exploring party came back to the Cape, without any tidings of good cheer to the founders of the colony. The only relic of the tradition of empire left in the lands it had traversed was the attaching of the name of Vigiti Magna to the great river first shown on any map in the chart of this exploration. It had found rich copper ore in Namaqualand, but the deposits were too far from the base
70 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
of transportation and supply to warrant the undertaking of mining.1
Van der Stel was fitly rewarded, four years later, by an ap- pointment as the first governor of the Cape Colony, in recog- nition of his exploring enterprise and other displays of energy ; but his pricking of the painted bubble of Vigiti Magna was a bitter disappointment to the Dutch East India Company, and a grievous thing to all adventurers filled with the conceit of a cen- tury of tradition. It was true that Davaque or some other glit- tering city might lie farther to the east and north than any point yet reached by Dutch explorers, but with the growing familiarity with the land and natives of southern Africa there was a swelling discredit of the fine tales of the Dutch and Portuguese roman- cers. The myth of the realm of Monomotapa was practically starved to death at the close of the seventeenth century, and unfortunately the greatly persistent daring of the Dutch explor- ers grew cold with its impulse. When adventurers began to disbelieve in the marvellous empire and even doubt the location of the mines of Solomon and the throne of Sheba, there was no very potent lure in the dusty karroos and rocky ravines of South Africa* No discovery of ore, except possibly of the precious metals, was likely to be of any reward to a prospector, and it was even questionable whether rich veins of gold or silver could be successfully opened and worked at any considerable dis- tance beyond the narrow range of the Dutch settlement at the Cape.
So the credulous search for Ophir and the mythical realms in Africa came to an end, and for more than one hundred and fifty years there was little life in the tradition of King Solomon's mines, until its embers were rekindled by the daring advances and glowing fancies of the intrepid explorer, Karl Mauch. In 1858 Mauch marked the Lydenburg district as a probable gold-
1 "South Africa," George McCall Theal, Vol. I, pp. 370-380.
These copper mines came into possession of an English company known as the Cape Copper Company in 1853, since which time copper to the value of ^11,000,000 has been produced.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
71
field, and in 1871 he won the honor of reaching and first clearly describing the extraordinary ruins of Zimbabwe and its adjacent gold-fields. Unfortunately for his credit as an archaeologist he insisted on the fancy that the old building on the hill was a copy of King Solomon's temple on Mount Moriah and that the lower ruins reproduced the palace inhabited by the Queen of Sheba during her stay of several years in Jerusalem.1 This does not impair, however, the probable accuracy of his main contention
Boschendal.
that he had revealed part of the ancient workings of the people who furnished the flow of gold to Arabia and Judaea in the days of King Solomon.2
^'The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland," J. Theodore Bent, London, 1896.
2 " It was really (Adam) Renders who first discovered these ruins three years before Mauch saw them, though Mauch and Baines first published them to the world, and they only described what the old Portuguese writers talked of hundreds of years ago." E. A. Maund, " Geo. Proc.," February, 1891, p. 105.
72 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Entrance to Boschendal.
The extent of these old workings has been proved beyond doubt by the reports of Hartley, Mauch, Baines, Nelson, and later explorers, and a precise and graphic study of Zimbabwe and
other ancient structures in Mashonaland was made in 1891-92 by J. Theodore Bent and his associates in the expedi- tion chiefly promoted by the Royal Geographical Society, the British Char- tered Company of South Africa, and the British Association for the Ad- vancement of Science. Bent's expedition located Zimbabwe in latitude 20° 16' 30" south, longitude 31° 7' 30" east; slightly differing from the position given by Mauch.1 Bent holds that Zimbabwe is of Abantu origin and may be freely translated " Here is the great kraal," meaning the kraal of the native head chief of the dis- trict. This name, however, marked only the native occu- pation of the buildings, and Bent sees in the ancient ruins and workings " evidence of a cult known to Arabia and Phoenicia alike, temples built on accurate mathematical prin- ciples, containing kindred objects of art, methods of producing gold known to have been employed in the ancient world, and evidence of a vast population devoted to the mining of gold."
1 " List of Stations in Mashonaland astronomically observed, with Altitudes," by Robert M. W. Swan.
Boschendal.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
73
74
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Lekkerwijn.
Without entering into the varied researches supporting the views of Schlechter, Keane, and other leading authorities, it may be observed that the main conclusions pithily summarized by
Professor Keane are strongly backed. Ophir was not a source of gold, but its dis- tributer, as the port on the south coast of Arabia through which the flow of gold came by sea. It is identified with the Moscha or Portus Nobilis of the Greek and Roman geographers.
Havilah was the land whence came the gold of Ophir, a great tract in southeastern Africa, lying north of the Limpopo and largely identified with the range of the modern Rhodesia. The ancient gold workings of this region were first opened by the South Arabian Himyarites, who were followed (but not before the time of Solomon) by the Phoenicians, and these very much later by the Moslem Arabs. Tharshish was the outlet for the precious metals and stones of Havi- lah, and stood probably on the present site of Sofala. The Queen of Sheba came by land and not ovef the seas to the court of Solomon. Her kingdom was Yemen, the Arabia Felix of the ancients.
Lekkerwijn. (Back view.)
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
75
Bien Donne, Drakensteiti.
In a word, the "Gold of Ophir" came from Havilah (Rhodesia), and was worked and brought thence first by the Himyarites (Sabaeans and Minseans), later by the Phoe- nicians, the chief ports engaged in the traffic being Ezion-geber in the Red Sea, Tharshish in Havilah, and midway between the two, Ophir in South Arabia.1
For sixty years from the opening of the eighteenth cen- tury there was no considerable exploration, or even prospect- ing of any consequence, in the region north of the meridian
o
passing through the Olifants River. Yet even in this ap- 'A. H. Keane.
Monomotapa, The Hon. A.Wilmot, 1896.
Overmantel and Old Dutch Relics. (Lekkerwijn.)
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Bien Donn6, Drakenstein.
parent cessation of enterprise there was a continuous progress, almost essential to the successful advance of later exploration. The Dutch settlement at the Cape was expanding. Year after year pioneer settlers pushed out farther from the Castle, moving
up the river valleys, and cling- ing at first to the base of hill ranges where the essential sup- ply of water was most surely attainable. After the taking up of the choice locations, later comers passed on over the open veld, and it was seen that there were large tracts of land, un- suited to agriculture, which would serve well as ranges for cattle and shee^>.
For many years, however, the raising of wheat was of prime Donne, Urakenstein. importance in the eyes of the
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
77
Dutch farmers ; for this product fetched the highest price rela- tively, and any surplus was eagerly called for by ships that
touched at the Cape or by the
demand for the supply of East
Indian settlements. In 1685
the first export of grain was
shipped, and strenuous efforts
were made to extend the area
of land in cultivation. A bo- tanic garden had been one of
the early undertakings of the
company, to serve as a nursery
for European, East Indian, and
native plants, and under the
direction of Commander van der
Stel this nursery was made the
pride of the Cape as an exhibit
as well as a very serviceable
source of supply of seeds and
plants for the garden and farm lands. The growth of the olive
had been particularly urged, and it seemed at first to be likely
to flourish, but the success of the grove of van Riebeeck was not attained by plant- ers generally. There was a considerable advance in vine plant- ing and the produc- tion of wine, and in 1672 the distillation of brandy was begun.
Doorway, Palmeit Vallei. Jt was hoped that the
Cape wine could be made an export of consequence, but the taste of the Dutch planters preferred a sweet, strong fermentation to clear, light wines, and they lacked the skill or the strong desire
Farm House, Klein Drakenstein.
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
to modify their product to compete with French vine growers.1 So the only considerable consumption of Cape wine, outside of
the colony, was from the crews of visiting vessels.
There was no lagging on the part of the East India Company in efforts to stimu- late the industries of their colony. Upon the revoca- tion of the edict
(Oct.
A Wine Farm at Klein Drakenstein.
28, 1685) by Louis XIV., the steadfast Huguenots were forced to seek new homes in foreign lands, and many were cordially encouraged and aided to pass over sea to the young Cape Colony.
Muller's Farm, Achter Paarl.
Their expert knowledge of the growth of the vine and olive was
highly valued, and it was also desired to bring in tanners, har-
1 " On Veld and Farm," Frances MacNab.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
79
Dutch Farm House.
ness makers, wheelwrights, metal workers, and other artisans of essential service to the spreading settlements of farmers. In the allotments of land special care was taken to distribute the influx of foreign blood so that it must necessarily fuse with the main body of settlers. This design was so well carried out that in a few generations the only abso- lutely distinct survival of this Huguenot migration was the perpetuation of the old French family names. But the combination of these two strong strains of blood made a compound of remarkable character.
Besides this promoted Muller's Farm, Achter Paarl.
8o
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
immigration of men there was an equally shrewd effort on the part of the company to advance the breeding of horses, cattle, and sheep. Stallions were imported from Persia to improve the stock, which had been falling off in size and quality though increasing in number. Spanish rams were used to lay the foundation of the South African breed of meri- nos, and the Angora goats bore transplacing
Palmeit Vallei, Klein Drakenstein. excellently, and SOOtt
browsed greedily on the coarse grasses of the Cape.
By the advances of the voortrekkers or pioneer farmers the range of settlement was extended so far in 1761 that the start of
D '
Muller's Farm, Achter Paarl.
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
8r
Mooi Kelder, Lower Paarl.
the first large exploring party since the return of the van der Stel expedition was made in that year from a rendezvous near the mouth of Olifants River. This party was led by Captain Hendrik Hop of the burgher militia, and was made up of seven- teen whites and sixty-eight half- breed Hottentot servants. It started in August and advanced on the track of the former expedi- tion, passing the Copper Moun- tains of Little Plaisis de Merle, Groot Drakenstein.
Namaqualand, and reaching the river Vigiti Magna on Septem- ber 29. This river was familiarly called by the colonists the Groote (Great) River, and held this name until both the tradi-
82
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
tional and common names were supplanted by a new christening in 1779, when Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon, commanding the
garrison at Cape Castle, led another expedition up the river, and named it Orange in honor of the stadtholder.
Hop's exploring party met a troup of giraffes soon after crossing the Groote River, and won the distinction of furnishing the first skin of a giraffe from South Africa to the Museum of the Univer- sity of Leyden. But except- ing this novel chase there was little to attract the explorers. The sun scorched them relent-
Donkerhoek, Groot Drakenstein. i i • i i i
lessly in the open desert, and
they could nowhere find water except in the deep sand-pits dug by the roving natives. Sometimes there was a shallow puddle at the bottom of one of these pits, and even when the sand was barely moist, further dig- ging to the under- lying stone would sometimes yield a trickle of water. Still they pushed on stubbornly to the farthest point
Vet reached from A Wine Cellar. Herd of Cape Goats.
the Cape, in latitude 26° 18' S., before turning back to bring home their discouraging story.
It was thirty years before this advance was outstripped by
BJ QJO
M) AilNK.s Of v « it •>» ML A
:e\v christening . ommanding the ( "ape -Castle, led
• ffet expedition up the
and named it Orange •:>ur of the stadtholder.
op's exploring party met . /p of giraffes soon after the Groote River, T, the distinction of ^he first skin of a ^outh Africa to •f the Univer- But except-
i f there was LA RHONE, GROOT DRAKENSTE1N.
explorers.
lem relent- ^eNrrt, and OLD LE ROUX.
V- "
g b;i.k to bring '- Outstripped by
or THE
UNIVERSITY
C41.I!
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
Willem van Reenen, of the farm Zeekoevlei on the Olifants River. This adventurous farmer set out in 1791 with four fellow colonists and a number of Hottentot servants, and reached on the 1 8th of November the end of the trek of Captain Hop's party. Prowling Bushmen and lions beset their camps continually, and in January, 1799, they had to beat off a fierce swoop of a party of Namaquas. Yet they pressed on until March 14, when they came to a little oasis which they named Modder Fontein, or muddy spring. Then they turned back after a few days' rest, and plodded home to the farm Zeekoe- vlei, which they reached on the 2Oth of June. They had killed sixty-five rhinoc- eros and six giraffes, without reckoning their bag of smaller game, and brought back exultantly wagon loads of copper ore, which they supposed to be gold until their hopes were blighted by assayers at the Cape.1
The depressing reports from these expeditions were not the
least of the straws that finally broke the back of the Dutch East
India Company. For nearly a century and a half their colony
in South Africa had been a continual drain and burden. All
1 " South Africa," George McCall Theal.
Tatr, 1757.
84
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
An Old Farm House, Lower Paarl.
the expedients and efforts of the energetic directors of the com- pany in the seventeenth century, and such faithful servants as van Riebeeck and van der Stel, had failed to develop any mines or any product for export of any considerable importance. With
the beginning of the eighteenth century there was an evident drooping in the enterprise of the company, and a drift toward hopeless discour- agement, which culmi- nated in 1794 with the declaration of bankruptcy. The company's debt was ;£ 1 0,000,000 sterling, and its credit was utterly exhausted. It could no longer under- take even to maintain a feeble garrison at the Castle for the defence of its colony. Issues of depreciated and irredeemable paper had driven out all gold and silver from circulation at the Cape. Debts could be paid in this paper, which was legal tender, but nobody would receive it in exchange for goods except at such a discount that there was a general resort to barter. Internal trade was para- lyzed, and a little wheat, wine, and tallow was all that could be squeezed out of the colony for export to Java and India. The straggling settlers on the north- ern frontier were continually
fighting with the IshmaelitC Farm House, Achter Paarl.
Bushmen, and the Kafirs on the northeast were still more harassing and formidable. Every kraal was a rude fort and every family a garrison. Ammunition was growing scarce and costly, and there was no hope of succor from the Castle at the Cape.
In view of this patent collapse, the stretching out of the
IN TRADITIONAL OPHIR LAND
strong arm of Great Britain to seize the Cape in 1795 should have been as welcome as rescue to a wreck. Then for the first time a power took hold of the way station of East Indian trade, and its straggling offshoots, that had the strength and the skill and the far-reaching conception to do more than repress savage on- slaughts and defend grazing grounds, — to open great mines, to convert arid karroos into irri- gated plantations, to extend the network of railways, and stretch in time the steel band of civiliza- tion across the darkest zone of Africa. This Britannia has done and is doing, either in her imperial way, or by the hands of the sons who have labored to make her
Brand Solder (Fire Loft). For the prevention of fire.
greater.
But the coming of this saving and transforming power had the appearance, at the time, of a hostile attack. The Netherlands, in 1793, were wholly under the thumb of the new French republic, and war was declared against Great Britain through controlling French influence. There had been some revolting against the further collection
of taxes by officers of the East India Com- pany, but the colonists as a body did not want any foreign interference. So the little garrison in the Castle at the Cape put on a defiant front, and rallied to its support a number of burgher volunteers when a strong British fleet sailed into Table Bay in the first week of September, 1795. It was ap- parent, however, even to the boldest Dutch defender, that resist-
86
THE DIAiMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
ance was hopeless, and Cape Town, with its castle and garrison, surrendered to Admiral Sir George Elphinstone and General Sir Alured Clarke, on the sixteenth of September. So was ended one hundred and forty-three years of rule of the Dutch East India Company, and from this date British ascendancy in South Africa began. There was a brief intermission, it is true, some years later, when the treaty of Amiens
(1802) transferred the Colony to the Ba- tavian Republic. But the breaking out of war again in the following year ruptured the treaty, and ex- posed the Cape Colony again to the hazard of capture, which actually followed early in January, 1806, when Cape Town was retaken by Major General David Baird. From that time the Cape was held con- tinuously by the strong arm until the convention at London, August 13, 1814, when all claims of the Netherlands to South Africa were extinguished by cession, and Great Britain became the heir of all the Dutch advances from the Cape of Good Hope.1
1 " South Africa," George McCall Theal. "Precis of the Archives of the Cape of Good Hope," H. C. V. Leibbrandt. "South Africa," Augustus Henry Keane. "Heroes of South African Discovery," N. D'Anvers (Henry Bell).
Fort Good Hope.
:'t wsiV A
M -UR1CA
•::istie an ' garrison,
'Stone and General Sir
Briber. So was ended
ruie of the Dutch East
;sh ascendancy in South
a brief intermission, it is
^hen the treaty of Amiens
iiSo2) transferred the
|i . a Colony to the Ba-
tavian Republic.
But the breaking
out of war again
•'i the following
•- ruptured the
and ex-
rhc Cape
: i! lowed
A View from the Kloof Road leading from the Upper Part of Cape
.
S;H- v»,;s held con-
.(.;,ti(»n at London,
\erht-rlands to South
rat Britain became the
t-f Good Hope.1
' the Archives of the -iia," Augustus Henry * A livers '.Henry Bell)..
UNIVERSITY
OF
CHAPTER III
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
HEN Lord Charles Somerset came to the Cape as the first Governor of the Colony after the cession, how slight and infirm was the hold of any civilization on the indurated barbarism of the vast expanse of Africa south of the equator! In the three hundred years that had passed since Vasco Da Gama made known the bounds of the continent, the outer rim of the traditional Ophir land had barely been pierced. From the Atlantic side the Portuguese had not pushed beyond a fringe of trading posts on the Lower Guinea coast, and were clinging feebly to insignificant stations along the shores of the Mozambique channel: The Dutch grip was more obstinate, in spite of all disappointments, but the range of their advance was only a few hundred miles from the Cape, and out- side of Cape Town the population was a mere sprinkling on the face of the land. When the British first wrested the Cape from the Dutch, Earl Macartney, who held the government in 1797, defined by proclamation the bounds of the Colony. It only ran east to the Great Fish River and on the north to the Zuurberg Mountains and the southern edge of Bushman's land, trending up to the Kamiesberg, and thence along the coast to Buffels River in Little Namaqualand. The total extent was roughly 120,000 square miles, merely the extreme tip of South Africa, and the entire population, both white and black, was reported to be less than 62,000, or about one person to every two square miles. This was a petty fringe on the skirt of the dark continent. Not only was the Colony weak in numbers, but it was seem- ingly without any uplifting leaven of enterprise and ambition.
87
88 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
For generations the Dutch settler had been treading in the foot- steps of his forefathers without any wish to stride ahead. What they had done, he would do if he could. No new way of work- ing or living or thinking was as good to his mind as the old way. The pioneer farmer and grazier had often been constrained to pack all his goods on the backs of oxen or in a wagon with his wife and children. A little hut of " wattle and daub " sheltered the family. Rude frames of wood overlaid with raw hide strips were their bedsteads, and sheepskins, their bedclothes. They cooked their food on the coals of wood-fires or boiled it in an iron pot. They cut their meat with clasp knives and drank from tin cups. A big chest served them for a table. Their house floor was the bare earth, unless a strip was covered with a wild beast's skin. Their children were brought up from their birth in this habit of life and the lack of comforts was not to them a privation. Their standard of living was scarcely higher than that of the imported Guinea slaves who worked for them, or of the native tribes that surrounded them. Their isolation from civilized society and their life in the wilderness in familiar con- tact with slaves and savages was inevitably degrading. When the English took the Colony, there was not a bookstore or a single good school in it, and outside of Cape Town almost the only tutors were soldiers who were allowed to live with the farmers.1 Still there was one sustaining and universal spirit which kept even the rudest grazier from* sinking to the barbaric level. They clung to the God of Israel and to the Bible as God's revelation. They never wearied of searching the Scriptures, and they prayed with the fervor and faith of the old Covenanters. Their creed was the strait and narrow way of Calvinism and the synod of Dordrecht, and they turned to the Old Testament as confidingly as to the New for guidance. They recognized the holding of slaves as a practice permitted to Israel, and they made bond ser- vants of the Hottentots in their apprenticeship contracts. In their eyes the Bushmen were Ishmaelites and the Kafirs Philis-
1 "South Africa," George McCall Theal. "Handbook to South Africa," S. W. Silver & Co.
THE PIONEER ADVANCE 89
tines, who were cumbering the ground that might be occupied by God's favored people.1 But the settlers were phlegmatic and peaceful by nature, content with their bare living, and with no ardor for extending their bounds by conquest. An extraordinary impulse was needed to convert them into adventurers and wan- derers in the desert.
This impulse was given by the capture of the Cape, the influx of jostling immigrants from Great Britain, new and vexing legis- lation, and disasters to crops which exalted the comparative value of pasturage lands.2 At the opening of the administration of Lord Charles Somerset there was a marked effort on the part of the Home Government to promote the growth of the Colony. A regular mail packet service was established between England and the Cape, and ^50,000 were voted by Parliament in 1819 to be disbursed in aid of emigration to South Africa. This contribution was a powerful stimulus, and it is estimated that nearly 5,000 new settlers of British birth were added to the population of Cape Colony from March, 1820, to May, 1821.
Unfortunately the South African climate in 1820 and the years immediately following was peculiarly aggravating. In 1819 there had been a heavy wheat crop and the consequent tempta- tion to farmers to extend their wheat growing. So they did, but the crop of 1820 throughout South Africa was fatally blighted. The next year's crop fared no better, and thousands of farmers were ruined and brought even to the verge of starvation. Rations were distributed by the Colonial Government in the fall of 1821 to those who had no means to buy food, but the unrelieved suffering was widespread. Following hard on this scourge of blight came the prodigious floods of October, 1823, when it seemed to the colonists in the eastern districts as if the heavens were open for another deluge. Rain fell in torrents for days without ceasing, and overflowing rivers ran foaming to the sea, carrying millions of tons of earth in their turbid floods as well as the shattered houses of settlers who had barely time to fly for
1 " Impressions of South Africa," James Bryce. "South Africa," Theal.
2 " Annals of Natal," John Bird, p. 505.
90 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
their lives. These staggering rebuffs in the face of the new emi- grants were greatly demoralizing. Some fled from the Cape in despair, and many more wrote home to their friends that the Col- ony was hung between flood and famine, and that the greater part of South Africa was a dismal Karrooland. Still there was a notably plucky rally and an immediate turning to other resources when wheat cultivation was shown to be an uncertain reliance. Cattle and sheep breeding was largely extended at once, and in 1828 hides and skins ranked only second to wine in the list of exports.1
The failures in wheat growing and the resort to pasture land were strongly moving influences urging on the advance of pio- neer settlers from the southern river valleys north and east over the veld into unclaimed territory. This natural flow of migra- tion was greatly swelled and impelled by the clashing of the old settlers with the newcomers from Great Britain, and by their resentment of British control and administration measures. By the census of 1819 the white population of the colony was 42,217, and outside of Cape Town this people was almost wholly of Dutch descent or of the fused Dutch and Huguenot strains. It was inevitable that a stock of such breeding and tra- dition should be impatient of any ordinances or ways except its own. It was peculiarly irksome to bow to a nation which had captured the Cape by the strong arm, and was only represented by a small minority of the" settlers. The inevitable heart-burn- ing; was aggravated by the contact and rivalries of the new and
O OD *
old settlers. Neither faction had the knowledge or temper to recognize the best traits in the other and show tolerance for dis-
o
similar habits and prejudices. The Dutch boer has an old Anglo-Saxon root and is simply correspondent to the German bauer, a farmer or countryman ; but in the English mouth all the Dutch colonists were lumped as Boers, and in the English eye Boer was too often confounded with the clownish boor. The Boers faced this contempt with a glowing resentment that burned like a slow-match.
1 "South Africa," Theal.
THE PIONEER ADVANCE 91
In the new measures of government there was a succession of vexations also to colonists attached to the old customs and ordinances. The expense of the new colonial establishment was a grievance. The adjustment of the currency aroused bitter complaint. The substitution of English for Dutch in official papers, and the abolition of the old Dutch courts, were heavy humiliations. But the keenest resentment was excited by the measures designed for the protection of Hottentot bond servants and free natives, and the emancipation act of 1833. There had been a rapid increase in the importation of slaves from Guinea after the first conquest of the Colony by the British, but in 1807 the last cargo of slaves was landed at Cape Town, and the slave trade was formally brought to an end by law in the following year. Still the colonists continued to hold and breed slaves as their fathers had done, and there were 35,745 slaves in the Colony when the emancipation act went into effect on the first of Decem- ber, 1834. These slaves were valued at ^3,000,000, but only ^1,200,000 were appropriated as compensation to their owners. The loss fell heavily on many owners already sinking under the weight of mortgages, and there were rumblings and outpourings of bitter indignation. The deficiency in compensation was called Imperial confiscation, and the Boers resented it sorely, not merely on the score of the loss measured in money, but as a crowning instance of their political subjection.1 Alien Imperial rule was the deep-seated grievance which was the underlying and impel- ling cause of the extraordinary exodus from Cape Colony called the Great Trek.2
In 1835 Louis Triechard led out the first pioneer company of this migration, and his advance into the wilderness beyond the
o *
bounds of the Colony was followed by a succession of slow-mov- ing caravans pushing northeast to the head waters of the Orange River and the terraces of Natal, and moving on, in course of years, across the Vaal to the Limpopo water-shed. This out- push of pioneers in large parties, overcoming all barriers of
1 " Annals of Natal." " South Africa," Theal. " The Great Trek," Henry Cloete, her Majesty's High Commissioner for the Colony of Natal. 2 Ibid.
92
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
mountains and deserts, and fearlessly venturing into the strong- holds of the fiercest native tribes, undoubtedly hastened and secured the acquirement of the marvellous diamond and gold fields of South Africa. The march of the caravans and the winning of the land was a drama full of barbaric color and movement.
At the time when the Cape first fell into the hands of Great Britain, there was an insignificant tribe, the Amazulu, living in
kraals on the banks of the river Unvolosi, which flows into the Indian Ocean at St. Lucia Bay. In their name there was an arrogance of high de- scent, for its meaning is " the people of the sky "; but the Amazulu had then nothing else to brag of, and while their head chief, Senzanzakona, lived, there was no terror in the Zulu name. But there was a son born to Senzanzakona in or near the year 1783 1 who made the Amazulus masters of a region far exceeding any bounds of the Kalangu Monomotapa, and stamped his name across it in indelible blood.'2
The boy was called Tshaka or Chaka, which, in the Sechuana tongue, is " battle axe." There is another tracing of his name to Cheka, a wasting disease afflicting his mother. In either translation the name was ominous. But this chief's son had no deformity that an eye could see. When he came to manhood, a sculptor would have picked him as a model of his tall, athletic 1 « South Africa," Theal. «« Annals of Natal." 2 Ibid.
/ulu Chief Get away o and Part of his Family.
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
r
race. He was more than six feet in height, and every inch was pulsing with vigor. No rival could leap as high or hurl an assagai as far. In later life his
o
shapely features were swollen with ugly passions and debauch, and his lithe body was overlaid with fat, but he never lost the beauty of his deep-set, brilliant black eyes, fringed with their long, curved eyelashes.
For some cause Chaka, while only a lad, was forced to fly for refuge to Dingiswayo, chief of the Abatetwa, the master tribe of the district. Under protection of this chief he was made a sol- dier, and took by craft the head- ship of his own Zulu tribe when his father died. Then he was Zulu Prince- Dinizulu"
able to betray and put to death his protector Dingiswayo, and
spread his mastery by force or terror over the surrounding tribes. As he grew in power he showed an unfolding genius for war and command. He pressed every young and strong man within reach into his army. He marshalled his men in impis or regiments. He discarded the old bunch of assagais and armed each man with a single, short-handled, long-bladed unkonto or spear, and protected him with a shield of oxhide. He aimed with his weapon to make every fight hand to hand, where every man must kill or be killed. If a soldier lost his spear he was
/ft
Zulu Family.
94 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
doomed to die, unless he could show another in place of it, torn from an enemy.
No barbaric figure was ever more terrific and martial than the Zulu soldier in war-dress. Chaka's hair was cut close, except on the top of his head where the thick, crisp locks were matted or moulded into a ring made of a tree gum and polished to the likeness of ebony. Thick folds of otter pelt were wound round his head and great earrings of carved sugar-cane hung from the cut lobes of his ears, which were covered with pads of
A Zulu and his Ten Wives.
jackal's skin. From this turban projected two feet or more a jet-black crane feather, waving with every toss of his head. A circlet of twisted monkey and genet skins hung over his breast and back, and from his waist a thick flexible kilt of twisted skins hung to his knees. Bands of short-cut white oxtails circled his legs and arms, and the ruffles round his ankles made his bound- ing feet oddly like the winged Mercury. In his right hand he grasped his spear and swung at his left side his oval shield of white oxhide. Now pin with thorns a dozen bunches of the red feathers of the louri in the crisp tufts of his crown and scat-
j\ '.MONO MINES Oi SOI "I » .A
• . ,t .. i u t;>s lie could show .iur»r!-: 'iUvf ot u, torn
• >«*.'C r>'.Ture AUS ever JTH • -*i» and martial than
tidier in war-' hair was cut close,
.t the top of his hcKvi ^Mtrr rlnck, crisp locks were
'Moulded into i PMC- • -t a rrce gum and polished
.I-, /ness ot'ebonv. o . ot otter pelt were wound
iis head and urcaf c.if fit" carved sugar-cane hung
»• It!' Acre covered with pads, ot
ZULU IN WAR ATTIRE.
:oi.,ted rwo feet or more a ? t-vi.ry toss of his head. A hung over his breast flexible kilt of twisted skins >rr -cut unite oxtails circled his •.a his ankles made his bound- ercury. In his right hand he his left side his oval shield of - horns a dozen bunches of the N-.I tufts of his crown and sxrat-
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
95
Zulu Kraal and Huts.
ter some other brilliant feathers on a circlet above his breast, and see Chaka dressed for parade.1
Then fancy the marshalling of an army of men like him, for the chieftain in arms was one of ten thousand. When the lead- ing division marched on in review, every man was more or less closely the image of Chaka. These picked men were his Unbala- bale or Invincibles, scarred veterans who had never been beaten. They bore white shields marked, like their chief's, with a black spot, and behind them followed in grade of honor divisions with red-spotted shields, gray shields, and black shields. Only the Invincibles had kilts of skins, the others wearing instead a trap- ping of oxtails. As these fierce troops marched on before Chaka's keen eye, the men of chief mark would bound from the ranks and show a marvel of vaulting, darting to and fro, whirl- ing of spears and mimicry of fight, in which few athletes could compare with the supple Zulu.
In formation for battle Chaka curved the van of his impis
1 "Annals of Natal," pp. 90-100.
96
THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
like a crescent. He called the end his horns and the centre his breast. This was the old array of the warring Bantu tribes, but Chaka greatly strengthened it by a formation behind in an oblong block of men held in reserve to repel any break in the crescent or reenforce it when wavering. His force of disciplined soldiers ranged up to fifty thousand strong.
Zulu Hut in course of Construction.
With this prodigious engine of war shaped to his hand, he overran all the country from Delagoa Bay to the Unzimvulu River and far into the interior, scourging its face mercilessly. Some of the terrified tribes in his way were blotted o*ut com- pletely. " There was a white mark from the Tugela to Thaba N'chu, and that was our bones," said an old Hlubi to Theal, the historian of South Africa. Sometimes stragglers escaped to lurk in mountain recesses. These wretched survivors of the scourge were covered by one new and pitiful name, Amafengu, because their first cry to strangers was Fenguza, " we want." Only one tribe held Chaka in check, the warlike Amaswazi, which stub- bornly guarded their mountain paths and cliffs. Even the fierce Amangwane were forced to fly before Chaka's resistless impis ; but they kept massed together, and in their retreat drove off or massacred most of the tribes between the Orange and the Vaal rivers. Then the Amangwane, still hot pressed by the Zulus,
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
97
began to rub against the frontiersmen of Cape Colony. This inroad was bravely met by a muster of a thousand soldiers and Boers under Lieutenant Colonel Somerset, who finally put the Amangwane to utter route in a sharp battle, August 27, 1828, near the banks of the Bashil River.1
Chaka was a warrior capable of measuring the efficiency of the white man's organization and firearms. When the Aman- gwane were thrown back, the Zulu chief withdrew his own impis without risking a collision with the whites. A few weeks later he was murdered by two of his half brothers and his best-trusted attendant. Dingaan, his half brother, and one of his assassins, grasped the headship of the Zulus, but his succession was dis-
Zulu Woman grinding Corn.
puted by the commander of one of the chief divisions of Chaka's army, the unruly Matabele. This revolting chief, Umsilikazi, was the model of a Zulu warrior, tall, sinewy, shapely, and, except in war dress, naked save for a cord around his waist from which leopards' tails dangled. A string of little blue beads was drawn about his sturdy neck, and three green feathers of a paroquet were stuck in his crisp hair. His followers were like him, and the wild charge of the legion of such men armed 1 "South Africa," Theal. "Annals of Natal."
98 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
with their keen-bladed spears was a sight that would try the nerve of any white soldier. How the rudely armed and undis- ciplined Boers would face it was soon to be tested.
Umsilikazi, revolting from Dingaan, led his Matabele divi- sion across the desert to fall upon the country north of the Orange River and west of the Drakensberg, the Dragon Mountains. Much of this country had been ravaged before by the Amangwane, and the Matabele spared nothing that had escaped slaughter and pillage. Dingaan sent an army of Zulus in 1834 to dislodge his rival, but the warriors of Umsilikazi
' '* • *^
"x \ «
^ :ic3S
Zulu Women.
beat back the attack. By the Zulu raids and massacres and wars, the whole country from the seaboard of Natal nearly to the junction of the Orange and Vaal was desolated, and the native tribes of the region almost destroyed. Thus great tracts of land were opened to the advance of the migrating Boers, but the push of the trekking pioneers soon brought them in conflict with Umsilikazi and Dingaan.
Then the remarkable traits of this peculiar people stood out in high relief. To English immigrants, jostling the old settlers, the ordinary Boer appeared a Dutch clodhopper, sullen and jeal- ous, unkempt in person and dress, immovably set in his traditional ways, pig-headed in his obstinate prejudices, a block to every suggestion of progress, Pharasaical in his prayers, absurd in his
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
99
customs, and often clutching to the last penny.1 There were some true lines in this partial portraiture, with a natural warping
Zulus smoking Indian Hemp.
of prejudice and lack of insight. In face of the foreign intru- sion the Boer had something of the instinct of the turtle and
Old Zulu Women taking Kafir Beer to a Wedding.
1 "The Great Thirst Land," Parker Gillmore. "South Africa," George McCall Theal. " South Africa ; a Sketch Book of Men, Manners, and Facts," James Stanley Little.
ioo THE DIAMOND MINES OE SOUTH AFRICA
porcupine. But in the heart of the wilderness, in his venture- some trek over the pathless veld, and in the traverse of moun- tains and deserts, he showed what scornful eyes had not seen, — the self-reliance, the fortitude, and the pluck of the true pioneer. He packed his wife and children and all his needful supplies in a huge, low-bodied wagon under an arched frame covered with
waterproof canvas. To this stout wagon sixteen strong oxen were yoked to the chain or rawhide rope forming a trektouw. Every ox was a helpmate. Every one knew his name and place and resented a change in yoking. The Boer and his Hottentot helpers spoke to them all familiarly, and could cut at will a fly from the ear of any one with a flick of their long-lashed whip. When these prairie-schooners lum- bered off, creaking and swaying, with a chorus of Dutch and native calls, the Beers and their sons rode beside them on ungainly flea-bitten horses, trained to herding and hunting, and often possessing uncommon bottom and speed.
The Boer was by nature prudent and wary. For comfort and safeguard the advance of the Great Trek was in companies, camping at night on plain and hillside, with wagons ranged to form a rough palisade and kraal. No morning or nightfall ever passed without prayers and the reading or recital of Scripture. For every step of his way he looked to his God for guidance, and he felt that the old promises to the chosen people were renewed to him. His faith in the literal inspiration of the Bible was unwavering. He did not doubt that the sun stood still at the call of Joshua, or wonder at the slaughter of Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. In face of every privation and the direst peril he was sustained by his certain reliance on the help of One who could make a spring gush from the desert rock, or deliver
Zulu Girls.
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
101
any heathen host into the hands of a few faithful servants. But with all this reliant devotion he never forgot " to keep his powder dry," and used every opportunity to perfect his skill as a marksman.
Back of his faith and prudence was an unflinching spirit. In the uncouth Boer smouldered the fire of an ancestry that charged at Ivry and starved at Leyden. Even the women and children were dauntless at the pinch of need. With her white grease-cloth wrapped about her face, the Boer's vrouw was an uncouth object, but with her eye on the sight of a rifle many a fat old woman was a guard to be feared.
No impediments nor dangers stayed the advance of these pio- neers. When a heavy wheel dropped into a deep gully or earth- crack or ant-bear hole, it was pried out with un- tiring patience. When thunder-storms changed the red soil to beds of mire and the wheels were clogged masses of mud from nave to felloe, the mud was laboriously scraped away and the wagons tugged to firmer ground. When the violent wrenches and strains snapped trektouws and wagon-poles and king-bolts like pack- thread, the same inflexible temper relinked the broken touws with riems of rawhide, chopped out new wagon-poles, and forged new fastenings with rude blacksmith's art. No karroo was so forbid- ding and no stream so swollen as to bar the onward march.
Native Laborers in War Dress.
102 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
The tired Boer snored serenely at night behind the bulwark of his wagons, regardless of the wild beasts prowling and sniff- ing outside. The giggling calls of the gray and brown jackals, the doleful howl of the slinking hyena, even the deep breathing sough of the lurking lion, did not open his eyes, and it must be a fiercely menacing roar indeed that would lift his head. His only haunting dread was the crippling of his march by the deadly tsetse fly or the wasting diseases that made his horses and oxen the prey of the vulture.
Trekbok (Springbok) Hunting.
In the passage of these pioneers the destruction of wild ani- mals of all kinds was enormous, partly for the sake of needful food, and partly for the skins, but much wantonly and waste- fully, for the Boer would rarely let pass a living mark for his rifle. Of lesser game there was no attempt to keep tally, but by a common report thousands of lions were shot in the march to the Transvaal. Any such reckoning must be largely guesswork, though there is no doubt that few beasts within range escaped with- out the sting of a bullet. But a foe more formidable than any multitude of lions sought to bar the progress of the Great Trek.
The revolting Umsilikazi was the first of the great Zulu chiefs to try the temper and the arms of these pioneers. One
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
103
of the larger divisions of the Great Trek, led by Hendrik Pot- gieter and Gert Maritz, left the Cape Colony in August, 1836, and pushed north of the Caledon River.1 Some of the pioneers in this advance were cut off suddenly and killed by Umsilikazi. Flushed with this bloodshed, he made a swoop with six thousand men upon a part of Potgieter's trek — a com- pany of a few score men, women, and children. But the startled Boers were now on their guard. They ranged their big, white-tented wagons in a square, lashing the wheels to- gether with rawhide riems, and filling in the chinks in their barricade with thorny mimosa bushes. In the cen- tre of this laager a few wagons were placed as a cover for the women and children.
Upon sight of the ad- vancing Matabele, all knelt and prayed. Then some of the men rode out boldly to meet the attack with their heavy rifles. Their fire was deadly, killing, at times, two or three at a shot, when their guns were loaded with slugs, but the impis pressed on, driving the Boers back to their laager in a sullen retreat, turning to fire as fast as they could reload. Within the laager all was made ready for a defence to the death. Back of every wagon a little heap of powder and bullets was put on the ground, and the women stood by to hand spare guns and reload. It was sternly ordered that there should be no shrieking or crying by women or children. In silence the rush of the Matabele was awaited.
1 The Caledon River divides Basutoland from the Orange River Colony.
Zulu in War Dress.
io4 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
On came the impis in raging masses that dashed on every side of the laager like surf on a reef, wrenching at the wheels, clambering over the canvas, plunging through the thorns. The heavy wagons were shaken and swayed, but the lashed barricade held fast. The grim Boers met the shock with withering volleys, piling up the blacks in bloody heaps around the laager. Crouching behind the firing line, the women moulded bullets and helped to reload.
The firing was so deadly and the laager so impenetrable that the surges massed against it recoiled. But, after a moment of rallying,on came the billows of men, flinging their assagais, and howling like madmen as they crashed against the barrier which shielded the Boers. They stabbed and slashed at the canvas covers in frenzied efforts to cut their way over the wagons, and wriggled through the crevices packed with thorn bushes, until some, torn, bloody, and gasping, squirmed into the square, where the Boer women killed them with knives and hatchets. The Boers fired as fast as they could lift their rifles, not stopping to use their ramrods, but grabbing handfuls of powder to charge their guns, and dropping in slugs with scarcely any wadding.
So intense was the strain of that hour that even these men of iron nerve were entranced. " Of that fight," wrote one, " nothing remains in my memory except shouting and tumult and lamentation, and a dense smoke that rose straight as a plumb line upwards from the ground." l
Four times the black impis charged and four times their onset was beaten back before Umsilikazi drew off his men. The field around the laager was a fearful sight, and the white tops of the barricade were slashed into strips and dripping with blood. Seventy-two stabs were counted in the cover of one wagon, and eleven hundred and seventy-two assagais were flung through into the camp. But none of the stout defenders were killed, and all joined devoutly in a psalm of thanksgiving.
In retaliation for this attack Hendrik Potgieter and Pieter Uys led a troop of one hundred and thirty-seven in a swift
1 "Annals of Natal," p. 375.
THE PIONEER ADVANCE
105
march and onslaught upon the main division of Umsilikazi. The attack was so well timed and aimed that the array of fierce impis was shattered and their chief was driven in flight to the wilderness beyond the Limpopo. There, in the present Mata- beleland, Umsilikazi brought together the remnants of his people, and ruled in awe of the pioneers until his death in 1870.
Hard upon the defeat of Umsilikazi came the greater clash with Dingaan, when the trekking Boers crossed the Dra- kensberg or Dragon Mountains
O O
to the terraces of Natal. This cunning and tricky chief made smooth professions of friendship to the Boers at first. He wel- comed as allies the company headed by Pieter Retief and re- ceived the commander at his kraal. The chief's house was a spherical hut about twenty feet in diameter. Its floor was pol-
ished till it shone like a mirror, and