Parliament
that no lands containing valuable minerals should be considered waste
lands of the crown for purposes of sale. This did not apply to
Griqualand West, as there was no mineral or precious stones act or
ordinance in force in this territory until Ordinance No. 3 of 1871, of
the Orange Free State Government.1 Whether there were
mineral reservations in the diamond-bearing-farm deeds was not
questioned by the inrush-ing diggers. They would not suffer exclusion
without a fight, but they were willing to pay small license charges to
the farm owners for the privilege of working allotted claims. The size
of these claims was fixed by agreement with representative " Diggers'
Committees," chosen by the prospectors in mass meeting, and these
committees determined also the simple mining regulations and camp
rules. One committee had charge of the Dutoitspan and Bultfontein
mining camps, and another directed the mining at De Beers and the
Colesberg Kopje, pitching its official tent midway between these two
diamond beds.2
The
Orange Free State claimed the new diamond fields as part of its
territory, but its right of control was not vigorously asserted in
practice. There was a rising issue from the time of the discovery at
Dutoitspan touching the ownership of the district containing the
diamond-bearing farms and the diggings on the line of the Vaal. The
South African Republic claimed
1 "On Veld and Farm," Frances MacNab, London, 1897.
2 "The Diamond Diggings of South Africa," Pay ton, 1872.
