THE WORKERS IN THE MINES
OWHERE else on the face of the
earth is there an assemblage of workers of such varied types of race,
nationality, and coloring as are to be seen in the South African
Diamond Fields. There is hardly a nation of Europe or Colony of the
British Empire that has not some representatives. There are
adventurers from the United States, Mexico, and South America; and
white men from all the Colonies of South Africa mingle with the masses
of native Africans of every shade of dusky hue shown by the tribes that
range from the Cape to the equator. Even the American Indian is not
unknown in the fields, one specimen at least having resided there for
many years. Add to this motley throng a sprinkling of dark East
Indians, Malays, and Chinese, and the kaleidoscopic shifts and
coloring of this babel in the Diamond Fields may be dimly conceived.
Only
about a sixth of the workers in the mines are whites, and the larger
part of these are employed above ground on the floors, in the
workshops, and in the offices of the mining companies. The majority of
the white miners are of English descent, largely coming from the
hematite mines of Cumberland, and the tin, lead, and copper mines of
Cornwall. They come to the fields in search of employment, which is
given as occasion arises. Experience in other kinds of mines is soon
adapted to the conditions in the Diamond Fields, and the men in the De
Beers mines show a high average of efficiency. The nationalities
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