186 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
pect
of fortune in this African wonderland, so phenomenal in character and
so slightly explored ! Here was a strange, luring beacon in the heart
of traditional Ophir, where river banks were apparently lined with
diamonds, where diamonds were strewn on the face of farms, where
children had diamonds to roll like marbles, where wells were driven
through diamond beds, and huts were plastered with diamond-studded
cement. Who would not rush to a region so sparkling in promise, so
embalmed in traditions of resplendent empire, where another Koh-i-nur
might be lying in wait in the dust for the first passer-by, and where a
lucky adventurer might stuff his pockets with gems far surpassing the
hoard of any extortionate nabob, and return home with a treasure that
he could carry as lightly as a full purse !
The
river placers had not drawn largely outside of the southern African
colonies, but the discoveries at Dutoitspan, Bultfon-tein, De Beers,
and Kimberley were so unexampled, and the mines on the surface were
soon shown to be so marvellous, that their magnetic attraction was felt
all over the globe. Who can wonder, then, that the flying, inflated,
distorted rumors from this African hot-bed puffed up ardent fancy
everywhere as tongues of flames in tinder, and that men of all nations,
callings, and characters were swept along in the rush to the South
African Diamond Fields ! Every sailing ship or steamer that was bound
for a South African port from any part of the world, in 1871, bore some
adventurers to the new fields. Some had good outfits and supplies of
money, while others had barelv been able to scrape together their
passage costs. The seamen on the ship caught the infectious diamond
fever, and ran awav when the vessels were moored on the African coast,
as their mates had done, years before, in the ports of California and
Australia. Nothing but actual bonds could hold back the diamond
seekers, and these would not serve if there was any chance to cut cords
and break irons.
The
swarming of adventurers over mountain terraces, veld, and karoo was
more motley and ardent than the first rush to the Vaal, and every one
was consumed by the fear that others ahead
