second
Great Trek to the Vaal from the Cape, a myriad of adventurers that
spread down the stream like a locust swarm, amazing the natives,
worrying the missionaries, and agitating the pioneer republics on the
north and the east.1
The
first organized party of prospectors at Hebron on the Vaal was formed
at Maritzburg in Natal, at the instance of Major Francis, an officer in
the English army service, then stationed at that town. Captain
Rolleston was the recognized leader, and after a long plodding march
over the Drakens-berg and across the veld, the little company reached
the valley of the Vaal in November, 1869. Up to the time of its arrival
there had been no systematic washing of the gravel edging the river.
Two experienced gold diggers from Australia, Glenie and King, and a
trader, Parker, had been attracted to the field like the Natalians by
the reported discoveries, and were prospecting on the line of the river
when Captain Rolleston's party reached Hebron.2 Their
prospecting was merely looking over the surface gravel for a possible
gem, but the wandering Koranas were more sharp-sighted and lucky in
picking up the elusive little crystals that occasionally dotted the
great stretches of alluvial soil.
It
was determined by Captain Rolleston to explore the ground as thoroughly
as practicable from the river's edge for a number of yards up the bank,
and the washing began on a tract near the Mission Station. The
Australian prospectors joined the party, and their experience in placer
mining was of service in conducting the search for diamonds. The
workers shovelled the gravel into cradles, like those used commonly in
Australian and American placer washing, picked out the coarser stones
by hand, washed away the sand and lighter pebbles, and saved the
heavier mineral deposit, hoping to find some grains of gold as well as
diamonds above the screens of their cradles. But the returns for their
hard labor for many days were greatly disappointing. They washed out
many crystals and brilliant pebbles,
1 "South Africa," Theal, 1888—1893. "Among the Diamonds," 1870-1871. 2 " Among the Diamonds," 1870-1871.
