followed
the find, and the rush made the Boer farmers glad to sell the land to
rid themselves of the trouble it caused them. This they did to an
English company, for one hundred and twenty-five thousand marks. The
Bultfontein was then discovered south and a little west of the Du Toits
Pan. Then the " Old De Beers," on the Vooruitzigt farm, owned by a Boer
named De Beers; an^ on July 21, 1871, the Old De Beers " new rush" on
Colesburgh Kopje was discovered. This, known later as the Kimberley,
proved to be the richest of all. These four mines produce about ninety
per cent, of all the diamonds found in South Africa. The Wesselton mine
was discovered on the Benaudfontein farm, in the Kimberley district,
in 1891. It was owned by Mr. J. J. Wessels, Sr., and named after him.
The
town of Kimberley, lying between the Kimberley and the De Beers mines,
now has a population of thirty thousand. Beaconsfield, a town two miles
southwest, has ten to twelve thousand inhabitants.
Soon
after the Kimberley was opened up, the Jagersfon-tein, near Fauresmith,
and the Koffyfontein, on the Riet River, between Jacobsdal and
Fauresmith, in the Orange Free State, were discovered. The
Jagersfontein is about eighty miles to the south and a little east of
Kimberley. These two mines produce, when worked, about six to seven per
cent, of the total African output, and have been lately acquired by the
syndicate.
When
the mines of the Kimberley district were discovered, a question arose
as to the domain. The Orange Free State claimed that the land was in
its territory, and England maintained that it was part of Griqualand
West, over which she held some sort of protectorate. Finally, England
annexed the fields and paid the Orange Free State £90,000 in
settlement of its claims.
At first, the people sought for the diamonds in and along the edges of the river; then they found that the sand lying
