compound or
walled enclosure, within which they must remain constantly during the
whole period of their work until they are discharged from the mines.
These
compounds are some seventeen in number, the largest being at the De
Beers mines, where four acres are enclosed; the walls are ten feet in
height and the compound is covered with a fine wire screen to prevent
the throwing of diamonds outside to a confederate. The huts of
galvanized iron for the workmen are built in the compound, and there is
also a swimming pool and other means of amusement, so that the natives,
while virtually prisoners within the compound, are well cared for. When
they leave the employ of the company they are again searched in the
most thorough fashion, being stripped and then placed in a detention
room provided only with a blanket. Here they are kept for a period of
five to seven days, so that even if the men swallow diamonds it is
impossible for them to escape with their treasures. Finally they are
given their old clothes, which have been kept in sacks numbered for
each man, and allowed to leave the compound.
The diamonds are found in what is called blueground, which when mined is about as hard as sandstone. After being excavated
