238 THE GREAT DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD.
Nicholas
Waterboer, who afterwards ceded his territory to the British
authorities. That territory, which became a Crown colony, and in which
are the diamond diggings and mines, is situated between the Cape
Colony, the Free State, the Batlapin territory, and that which is set
down in the old maps as occupied by Hottentot tribes, and in which the
copper mines are found. I shall endeavour to avoid embarrassing you
with more of such details than are unavoidable. The latitude and
longitude are not at all essential to the subject with which I am
dealing. It will be sufficient for you if I state that Griqualand West
is about 600 miles from each of the sea ports, and that it is
approached by various routes ; those most frequented are the western,
or Table Bay route, the eastern, from Port Elizabeth, the frontier, or
the East London route, and the Durban or Natal route.
"
Albania, of which I commenced to speak, was a portion of the Griqua
territory, settled by colonists, under terms made with Waterboer, some
two years before the discovery of diamonds had been heard of. One of
the colonists who had helped to form the settlement was a Mr/ Van
Niekirk. Mr. O'Reilly, who was returning from the interior to
Colesberg, called upon Van Niekirk, and remained with him the night. In
the course of the evening, one of Van Niekirk's children, a little
girl, was playing on the floor with some of the pretty pebbles which
are common in the neighbourhood of the Vaal River. Mr. O'Reilly's
attention was directed to one of the stones, which threw out a very
strong light, to which Mr. O'Reilly's eyes had been unaccustomed. He
