natives
haven't been seen since; they must have drowned. No, it's not so easy
nowadays. . . . We had to decide between complete disappropriation,
which was going on every day no matter how we fought it, or
negotiation. So we negotiated."
The result of these negotiations, which went on for months between Sierra Leone government ministers and the company, was
that the agreement of 1933 has been set aside. The S.L.S.T. has given
up all ordinary prospecting rights, retaining only some special leases.
In return it has accepted compensation of slightly more than a
million and a half pounds. From now on the land will be open to
Africans under ordinary mining law, and they will be able to stake out
claims with the usual paraphernalia of pegs and so forth. Also, of
course, they will have to pay for their licenses. "They won't like
that," said my informant, with a certain grim relish. No doubt he is
right, and the Sierra Leone Government will find it hard to combat
I.D.B. But the interesting fact remains that history has not repeated
itself. Sierra Leone's diamonds now belong to the natives of Sierra
Leone. Cecil Rhodes wouldn't have cared for that.
