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THE DISCOVERY
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of
birds somewhat resembling the bush korhaan rudely " dik-kops," thick
heads, from their appearance when wounded ; but they are none the less
handsome birds, and they were eagerly shot and eaten by the diamond
seekers on the way to the fields and in the camps on the river. There
were great numbers, too, of the paauw or cape bustard near the Modder
River, and red-winged partridges and Guinea fowl that gave a welcome
variety to the meals of the travellers.1
Over
the rolling ground the prospectors pressed rapidly to the Diamond
Fields and soon reached the river border where the plains ran into the
barrier of ridges of volcanic rocks. Jolting heavily over these rough
heaps and sinking deeply in the red sand wash of the valleys, the heavy
ox-wagons were slowly tugged to the top of the last ridge above Pniel,
opposite the opened diamond beds of Klip-drift, where the anticipated
Golconda was full in sight. Here the Vaal River winds with a gently
flowing stream, two hundred yards or more in width, through a steeply
shelving, oblong basin something over a mile and a half in length and a
mile across. A thin line of willows and cotton-woods marked the edge of
the stream on both banks. On the descending slope toward the river
stood the clustering tents and wagons of the pilgrims waiting to cross
the stream.
In
the dry season the Vaal was easily fordable by ox-wagons at a point in
this basin, and the ford, which the Boers call " drift," gave the name
to the shore and camp opposite Pniel, — "Klip-drift," "Rocky-ford."
When the river was swollen by rains, the impatient fortune-hunters were
forced to wait, fuming, in sight of the diamond diggings until the
flood subsided; but, a few months after the rush began, a big,
flat-bottomed ferryboat, called a pont, was constructed to carry over
the wagons and cattle, while the men crossed in rowboats, making
regular ferry trips between Pniel and Klip-drift.
How
stirring were the sights and sounds from the ridge at Pniel to every
newcomer while the swarming diamond seekers were crossing the river and
spreading out over the northern 1 "Among the Diamonds," 1870-1871.
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