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CHAPTER XIII
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PRINCIPAL SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND MINES
The Dutoitspan.
DIAMONDS
had been found in the dry bed of a stream on the Jagersfontein in
August, but the first opening on a diamondiferous volcanic pipe in
Africa was made in 1870, when-prospectors discovered diamonds on the Du
Toit's Pan, owned by a Boer farmer named Van Wyk. After trying in vain
to regulate the diggers and collect license fees, he sold his farm for
£2,600. The farm lay about twenty-four miles south and a little east of
Pniel on the Vaal, where the diggers first made their headquarters. All
the so-called mines worked prior to this discovery were merely
diggings in alluvial deposits, as this also was supposed to be at that
time. Many diggers were attracted to it in the beginning, but the
discoveries of the Bultfontein, De Beers, and Kimberley, following in
rapid succession, drew many away, especially when it was learned that
the two last were much richer in diamonds. So small was the yield near
the surface that little persistent work was done on this field until
1880. As the diggers neared a depth of 200 feet, the yield improved so
greatly, and the diamonds were distributed so evenly through the rock,
that the work was prosecuted with more vigor, and the mine's output was
brought up to a considerable amount.
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