Through the Kalahari Desert. G.A. Farini
the buyers could not realize any profit on their transactions with him, so several of them agreed together to price his diamonds but not buy, and they found that he asked very much more than any of them cared to give, telling each of them the same old tale that he had been offered his price by a person in the trade.” Who this mysterious person in the trade was, who was always ready to give high prices but never
Scarcity of Women in Kimberley.
bought, they could not imagine; so they at last roundly told him that they would not believe him unless he produced the individual. In fact, they boy- cotted him; until he had to confess that he and his wife were partners, and that it was she who had priced his stones for him. This explanation cleared him of perjury, but lost him a great deal of custom, and he used to complain that no one but a Jew would have found him out.
But still the illicit buying and selling continued. “Vigilance Committees” were appointed by the miners, yet some of these self-elected detectives used their position rather to do a little business on their own account than with the object of discovering illicit dealing. Every other house in Kimberley was an hotel or a “canteen,” the proprietors of which were often the greatest offenders. At that time a white woman in Kimberley was scarcer than a black swan in London, and when such a rara avis was seen she was greeted with shouts and war-dances, while the diggers gathered around her and not infrequently presented her with diamonds. But among the few ladies” in the place was a Mrs. Pound, proprietress of the Rich- mond Hotel, which was a favourite resort of diamond buyers and diggers, under whose patronage mine hostess waxed rich, bank-notes becoming as plentiful as leaves on the trees. At last, however, she became so notorious that the Government was obliged to appoint her to the office of female inspector of the inside of the prison for a term of three years.
At that time, natives as well as whites were per- mitted to hold claims, but this right was taken away from them in 1875, when the Government took this
Floating Bubble Companies.
matter out of the hands of the Miners’ Committee, and appointed an official Mining Board, with a duly quali- fied surveyor. In the following year this board, with the object of abolishing the itinerant diamond-buyer, caused the penalty on buying without a licence to be raised from one to three years’ imprisonment, with the addition of a fine of 500l. But the illicit buying still throve, and the penalty was soon afterwards raised to five years’ imprisonment.
In 1881 the “share” mania set in, and companies were floated for as much as four times the value of the mines they were supposed to buy. Useless and valueless claims were put in for fabulous prices, some of which had never been diamond grounds. The public caught the infection, and bogus companies were floated, the shareholders in which, according to the proprietors, would soon realize enormous profits. But it was all imagination, and in less than a year over half of these companies were bankrupt—the working capital being completely swallowed up by the purchase of too expensive machinery, or in the vain endeavour to find diamonds where no diamonds had ever existed. Conse- quently the deluded shareholders cried out that the prospectuses were fraudulent, and attacked the pro- moters. But the promoters were equal to the occasion, and declared that the companies would have paid handsome dividends had it not been that the diamonds were stolen. This was a splendid defence, and, as some of the promoters were members of the board for the protection of the mining interest, they demanded further legislation; the result being that every dealer is compelled to keep a register of each diamond bought and sold, with particulars of its weight and of the
Illicit Diamond Buying.
person selling or buying it, to show his books to the detectives at all times, to render a monthly account of all his dealings, and to provide two sureties in the sum of 500l. each, which will be forfeited in case of his conviction, while the term of imprisonment has been increased from five to fifteen years. If a dealer’s register shows that he has bought 5000 carats and sold 4000 carats, and the balance in his book is found on inspection to be under or over the difference of 1000 carats, he is liable to conviction, even though he may have lost some of his diamonds, or have given them away, or have had others given to him. The effect of all these restrictions is that the legitimate diamond- traders are being driven out of the place by necessity, as the illegitimate traders keep away from choice. The English element has left some time, and the trade is now in the hands of a few Germans. The number of inhabitants diminishes as the monopoly increases, and the end will be that Kimberley will subside into a one- horse town. Yet the I.D.B., as the “illicit diamond- buyer” is called, flourishes still. He does not patronize Kimberley by making that town his permanent resi- dence, but lives just over the border, where the stringent laws enforced in Griqualand do not exist, and he will never be extirpated till the Orange Free State, the Cape Colony, Natal,—in fact, all parts of South Africa,—agree to adopt the same laws.
The Orange Free State border is only two miles from Kimberley, so that there are always plenty of opportunities of getting beyond the reach of the Diamond Trade Act. Now and then one of the regular I.D.B.’s gets caught. Not long before my arrival a man was arrested, just as he was getting into
Evils of the Detective System.
his cart to drive into Cape Colony, with. 3 lbs. weight of diamonds neatly secured in his overcoat; but for one caught there are scores in the enjoyment of liberty. The chief of the suspects is a rich man who is a registered claim-owner and broker. A favourite plan among the fraternity is to form a company, and buy a cheap claim, or to work up some of the old stuff that was only hand-sorted in the early days of the industry, and put their stolen diamonds into their “wash up sometimes, however, they have been too eager to get rich, and have been found out by washing too many diamonds out of ground which was known to be poor.
The Detective Department claims to have been successful not only in overtaking thieves of diamonds and recRivers of stolen diamonds, but in capturing no less than 16,474-1/2 carats weight of diamonds, valued at 32,471l. 12s. 3d; but seeing that it costs 40,000l. a year, or 4l per head on a population of 10,000, this is not a very magnificent result. It is admitted, how- ever, on all hands that the captures represent but a small proportion of the diamonds successfully ‘‘run,” as may be seen in the fact that a parcel in possession of one Joseph Jacobs, weighing 7162-3/4 carats, and valued at 12,000l., had to be returned in consequence of a legal difficulty. But if the I.D.B.’s escape them, it is generally believed that the detectives make use of their powers in a reprehensible practice of trump- ing up cases, and endeavouring to trap people into purchasing diamonds illegally. Half of the time of
2 The average value of a ton of good “blue” ground is about 30s., and the cost of getting it about 2s. 6d. When the mines are in full swing, each of them will draw up 1000 loads a day.
Treatment of the Kaffir.
the police is taken up in finding out some individual whom they may choose to “suspect,” and in getting up evidence to support their theory. Having marked down their prey, they will supply a nigger with diamonds, and tell him to go and sell “them to you —taking care to search him beforehand to see that he has no money on his person. The nigger knocks at your door, and, while asking if you want to buy a horse or a cow, drops a stone on the door-mat, in payment for which he has already been told that he will find some money on the window-sill, or verandah, where the detective has accordingly secreted it. You do not want a horse or a cow, and order the nigger to be off. As he retires to pick up the money, another policeman at once searches him, finds he now has money on his person, and you are charged with having bought the diamond, which is of course found lying on the floor. On this evidence the smartest lawyer will not prevent you getting five years’ hard labour.
One effect of such operations has been to encourage the natural craftiness of a native who has just been brought into touch with the “seamy side of civiliza- tion. The Kaffir cannot understand the mixed treat- ment to which he is subjected. Those interested in encouraging the illicit diamond-trade employ him as a purveyor of stolen goods. Those interested in putting down the illegal traffic employ him as a spy to get