Mines
de Diamant du Cap de Bon Espérance, which everyone, not unnaturally,
called simply the French Company. Barnato was piqued when he heard that
Rhodes, right under his nose, had tried to buy out the French Company
with money borrowed from the Rothschilds in London.
The
story of the maneuvering that followed brings in names that were later
to be famous in England as well as South Africa, when the English at
last got around to admitting that there were diamonds down
there. Alfred Beit was Rhodes's good friend, and he lent money for
Rhodes's schemes. Rhodes himself didn't yet have much money to throw
around. Beit came from Hamburg; he had been sent out originally to
represent Lippert's, a diamond-buying firm, that had been in Africa
since the beginning of the rush. Then there was Julius Wernher, a
German who helped to organize the French Company: later Wernher and
Beit were to combine. There were Max Michaelis and a number of others,
who were destined to build palaces in London's West End as befitted
millionaires, and make costly collections of paintings or ivory
carvings or jewels or race horses, or in some cases all these things
together. Beit was already rich, but he didn't have enough money for
Rhodes's enormous plans, and that is why Rhodes had gone to Rothschilds
in London. Until then Rothschilds weren't very much interested in South
Africa. They had been influenced by pronouncements such as those of The Times, and
distrusted far-off colonies. However, Rhodes had great powers of
persuasion, and without much argument they agreed to lend him a
million pounds with which to buy the French Company's holdings. The
French owners accepted an offer of £1,400,000, half of this to be in
De Beers shares. Rhodes and Beit would be able to manage this, and
