COLLECTING THE GEMS
T
HE sorting room in the pulsator house is long, narrow, and well lighted (Fig. 9). Here the rich gravel is brought in wet, a sieveful at a time, and is dumped in a heap on tables covered with iron plates. The tables at one end take the coarsest lumps, next comes the gravel which passed the f-inch holes, then the next in order, and so on. The first sorting is done by thoroughly trustworthy white men ; for here the danger of robbery is greatest. Sweeping the heap of gravel to the right, the sorter scrapes a little of it to the centre of the table by means of a flat piece of sheet zinc. With this tool he rapidly passes in review the grains, seizes the diamonds and puts them into a little tin box in front of him. The stuff is then swept 55
