|
The Diamond 33
|
||
|
|
||
|
on
the Vaal believed the presence of garnets to be an indication of the
probable proximity of diamonds, began prospecting one day in August,
1870, and, sifting the gravel in an ordinary wire sieve, at the depth
of six feet he found a blue diamond of fifty carats. Soon after, in
September, a still more remarkable discovery of diamonds was made at
Dutoitspan, on the farm of Dorstfontein, about twenty miles south-east
of Pniel; here diamond seeking merged into diamond mining, the diggers
penetrating the ground many feet and finding the best stones below the
surface. Because of the character of the rotten rock encountered here,
the miners made open cuts instead of sinking shafts. The army of
diamond seekers spread over the adjoining ground, and early in the
year 1871 diamonds were found at Bulfontein, and early in May on De
Beers's farm; in July, diamond miners were digging a well for water
and, seventy-six feet below the surface, a well-digger was amazed to
see a magnificent diamond, which proved afterward to weigh eighty-seven
carats, sparkling on the wall of the well. This location was then
called—because of the great massing °f prospectors there—New Eush or
Colesberg
|
||
|
|
||