at
a farm for the night. The owner of the farm showed him some stones,
among which he found a diamond. From a letter addressed to the Governor
of Cape Colony (Sir Henry Barkly) by Mr. O'Reilly, some five years
after the first discovery, we learn :—
"
In March, 1867, I was on my way to Colesberg from the junction of the
Vaal and Orange Rivers. I outspanned at Mr. Niekerk's farm, when I saw
a beautiful lot of Orange Eiver stones on his table, and which I
examined. I told Niekerk they were very pretty. He showed me another
lot. out of which I at once picked the first diamond. I asked him for
it, and he told me I could have it, as it belonged to a bushman boy of
Daniel Jacobs. 1 took it at once to Hope Town, and made Mr. Chalmers,
Civil Commissioner, aware of the discovery. I then took it on to
Colesberg and gave it to the Acting Civil Commissioner there for
transmission to Cape Town to the High Commissioner. The Acting Civil
Commissioner sent it to Dr. Atherstone, of Graham's Town, who forwarded
it to Cape Town."
Dr.
Atherstone wrote that the specimen was a veritable diamond, weighing
21-1/4 carats, and that it was worth £500, and also that from where it
came there must be lots more.
Although
returning at once to the locality where it was obtained, he was not at
all successful in searching for other specimens, and it was not until
1869 that Van Niekerk secured from a Griqua or Hottentot, a large
stone, for which he gave the sum of £100 or live stock to that value.
He sold it at once to Messrs. Lilienfeld, of Hope Town, for over
£10,000. This was the famous " Star of South Africa." It weighed 83-1/2
carats in the rough, and was estimated to be worth £25,000.
How
many of the settlers in the interior of this and the other colonies
have had at one time or another a prize in their possession (not,
perhaps, as valuable as the diamond referred to) and have not known it
? In the early days of the Mudgee fields, diamonds were cast on one
side undiscovered, gold being then sought for. I would impress on
anyone finding or collecting a peculiar stone the importance of
ascertaining what it really is.
The
Gani Mine,-or " Gani Coulour," described by Tavernier, and at his time
employing 60,000 persons, was situated in the celebrated province of
Golconda, in South Central India. It was accidentally discovered by a
native labourer whilst digging a piece of ground for agricultural
purposes, his first important find being a stone of 25 carats. A very
large number of diamonds were soon obtained, some of large size. The "
Great Mogul" was obtained here, an immense diamond weighing 787-1/2
carats as the lowest estimation; it was of the first water and valued
at an enormous amount.
As
will be seen, when we come to deal with the geological formation of the
diamondiferous strata of the various countries where diamonds are found
in any quantity, the conditions of occurrence are not the same in
different countries, so that we can hardly judge by analogy where to
look or what part to prospect; the only thing that we can do is to
obtain as much Benefit from previous experience as possible. There
appears to be no definite reason why mining for diamonds, and other
precious stones, should apt be an industry of the greatest importance
in this Colony, and confer the me benefits on New South Wales as it has
done in Africa, Brazil, and other countries.
It
will be better, perhaps, before proceeding to give an account of the
individual gem-stones, to describe the methods adopted in their
discrimination. It is evident that methods have to be taken to arrive
at this result without destroying the specimen, and it is by taking
advantage of the physical properties of the stones themselves, that we
are enabled to decide
at the specimen is that is under investigation.
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