PRINCIPAL SOUTH AFRICAN MINES 291
the
evidence of the annual reports showing the contrary, notwithstanding.
The yellow ground of the Kimberley, from all accounts, contained more
diamonds than any level of the blue under it, but in the other mines,
both the yellow and the upper part of the blue were much poorer than
the blue from about 200 to a thousand feet down. Below that, however,
the yield per load appears to decline steadily with depth in all the
mines.
The Kimberley.
The
Kimberley diamond mine is situated at the city of Kimberley in the
Griqualand West district of Cape Colony, South Africa, in lat. 28° 43 S. and long. 240 46
E. By rail it is 647 miles northeast of Cape Town and 485 miles north
of Port Elizabeth. It is a few miles from the borders of the Orange
River Colony, formerly the Orange Free State. The town and mine were
named after the Earl of Kimberley, H. M.'s Secretary of State for the
Colonies when the town came into existence.
At
the time of its discovery, July 21, 1871, the mine was called the " Old
De Beers New Rush " or " Coles-burgh Kopje New Rush," because a " rush
" was made by the diggers from the De Beers mine lately discovered
nearby, to a new field on Colesburgh Kopje which was reported to be
exceedingly rich.
The
district was then supposed to be in the Orange Free State, because the
English had agreed not to interfere with the Boers north of the Orange
river. All the Kimberley mines were on Boer farms so-called, though
they were little more than wild tracts of land
