Previous to the annexation of this country by the British Government, it
was occupied by various tribes under petty chiefs, ruling each their
separate kraals, the banks of the Vaal and Orange rivers being the most
thickly populated districts. So far back as 1820 there were mission
stations established at Griqua Town and Campbell, by the Rev.--Campbell,
and Anderson and others. The country at that time was peopled by
Korannas, Bushmen, Bechuanas, and Griquas, under the chiefs Choodeep,
Keidebio, Siffonel, and Sebedare; the two latter were Bechuanas of the
Baralong family, who had large kraals and many people. Soon after the
country was overrun by hordes of Kaffirs living more to the east of what
is now the Transvaal, of various tribes, some of the chiefs being the
Bapedi, Makatee or Mantatees, afterwards called Basutu or Musutu, under
Moshesh, whose habits and customs in war were similar to the Zulus--
their weapons, the assagai and long oval shield, the shield of the
Bechuana being square, hollowed out on the four sides.
[These Mantatees are so-called from the name of their queen, who was the
widow of a petty chief and elected queen. The Kaffirs had a fancy for a
queen, and the tribe became very powerful. At last she was deposed by
her prime minister, Moshesh. She fled to Natal, and died there in
obscurity. Moshesh had 20,000 horsemen, and gave us more trouble than
any other chief. At last the Boers of the Orange River Free State wore
him down.]
Soon after, the Rev. Robert Moffat and the Rev.--Campbell established
the mission station at Kuruman, which was made the headquarters of the
London Missionary Society in Bechuanaland, forty miles beyond the
northern boundary of Griqualand West; and, at the same time, two other
stations on the north and north-west of the latter station, Baclairis
and Matelong; and, subsequently, the German mission was established at
Pniel, on the banks of the Vaal, about fourteen miles to the north,
where Kimberley now stands, and a missionary is now doing duty there.
At Griqua Town the mission house is in ruins, the church is still kept
up, and the missionary from Kuruman goes over and holds service. At
Campbell the mission house and church are both in ruins. Upper
Campbell, which is a mile to the north of Lower Campbell, on the top of
a range of hills called Campbell Randt, has only a few houses occupied
by Griquas; a Mr. Bartlett occupies the farm. Another mission station,
established after Lower Campbell, was at Lekatlong, near the junction of
the Harts and Vaal rivers, by the same London Society, under the Rev.
Mr. Ashton, but the church and house are in ruins. Mr. Ashton lives now
at Barkly, and goes over occasionally to hold service. It was a large
Bechuana station under the chief Jantje, who has now removed with his
people to Masupa, beyond the northern boundary of Griqualand West.
The Griquas many years ago settled down on both sides of the Vaal. Adam
Kok settled at Normansland, on the borders of Natal, with his people.
Andries Waterboer settled with his people at Griqua Town, occupying the
whole of the western division of Griqualand West, dividing it into
farms; and at the death of Andries, his son, Nicholas Waterboer, became
chief, and it was with him the British Government arranged to annex the
country to the British Empire in 1871.
Waterboer lived in a nice house, well furnished, and the family live as
respectably as any Boer family. I was invited to a dance one evening by
Waterboer, when the _elite_ of the families were invited. All the
fashionable dances were correctly and well performed to the music of the
harmonium, which one of his sons played; his daughters were
well-behaved, and I was much pleased to see such refinement in this
out-of-the-way corner of the world among the natives. Since that time
he has been made a prisoner, deprived of his chieftainship, and is now
living in Hope Town, the principal portion of his people being driven
from their lands. The Griquas are a religious and well-conducted
people, kind and hospitable, but lazy, and they will only work when
obliged. They plough and cultivate their lands, are fond of coffee and
visiting; like their Boer brothers in habits and customs, being
descended from Dutch and Bushmen, they retain the habits of the former.
Many of the Boers of the Transvaal are descended from these people. In
this province they are found in less numbers than formerly, but some are
living along the Orange river and the western district.
The Korannas had large kraals along the Vaal and Orange before diamonds
were found; since then they have gone more to the west into the Kalahara
desert. They are, as I have before stated, a dirty and dishonest tribe,
not to be trusted in any way; their main stronghold is at Maamuosa, on
the Harts river, under the chief Moshoen. The Bushmen also have
considerably decreased. When I first knew them, in 1864, these two
tribes lived together with scarcely anything to cover them. At the
present time they all wear clothes of some sort, and are in a better
position in consequence of the Diamond-Fields bringing money into the
country. I have had several of them for my servants at different times,
but could make nothing of them. Speaking to my Koranna boys about their
marriages, they tell me when a man and woman agree to be man and wife,
as soon as that is settled between them, without asking any one's
permission or going through any ceremony, they are then and there
married, so long as it suits them; if either wish to break off the
engagement, they tell the other party that he or she can go and get
another wife or husband, as the case may be; the children, if any, are
divided by agreement. In 1867 I had a Koranna boy, about twenty, who
got married when in my service; seven months after they got tired of
each other, so he took another girl, and his old wife married the other
boy I had. In 1877 I had another Koranna, who changed his wife three
times when in my service. The Hottentots and Bushmen do the same; they
never have more than one wife at a time.
All the other tribes can have as many wives as they are able to keep.
They belong to the Bechuana family, and live more in the northern part
of Griqualand West, near the Harts river, as all the lower parts are
occupied by English, Dutch, and others in farms, allowing small native
kraals to remain on them, that the occupiers may have the use of their
labour when required, and they are allowed a piece of ground to
cultivate and grazing for their cattle.
Diamond-digging first commenced in the latter end of 1869 at Hebron, on
the Vaal river; then at Klip Drift early in 1870, now called Barkly, and
on the opposite side of the river Pniel, where large camps were formed
employing many thousand people at each place, all living under canvas.
Then prospecting parties went down the river, forming large camps at
Delporthope, Esterhanger, Blue Jacket, Forlorn Hope, Keisikamma, Union
Coppie, Gong Gong, Webster's Kops, Waldeck, Plant, and down the river
from Barkly fifty-five miles to Siffonel. These composed the principal
river diggings. Diamonds have been found much lower down in the Orange
river at Priska, and 100 miles above Barkly, and at Bloemhofbut; no
claims have been worked beyond those named. All these river diggings
are now abandoned, with the exception of a few hundred, where thousands
once occupied the ground. The discovery of diamonds at New Rush, now
Kimberley, Old De Beers, Du Toit's Pan, and Bultfontein, and from the
great quantity of diamonds found, drew all the diggers from the river to
take claims in those four rich and valuable mines, which are now being
worked with expensive machinery at an enormous expense. The Kimberley
mine is the largest, being nearly half a mile in diameter and 360 feet
deep, with engine and hauling-gear round the whole distance. It is the
same with the other mines; the population, including whites and blacks,
must exceed 30,000. Kimberley is twenty-five miles south-east from
Barkly, and is the great diamond centre, where the government of the
province is carried on. These four principal mines cover an area of
over six square miles, and are situated in a part of the country the
most wretched, barren, and exposed I have ever been in; no trees, but
open dreary plains, surround the mines in all directions. Up to 1884,
the people and machinery were supplied with water from wells, which did
not give sufficient for their wants. A company was established to draw
the water from the Vaal river, distant some twelve miles, by an engine
pumping the water into reservoirs and by pipes.
Kimberley is the great mining centre and the important town in
Griqualand West, and in all this part of Africa roads branch off in all
directions. It is the terminus of the Cape railway. From Bloemfontein,
the capital of the Orange Free State, the distance is about 100 miles;
from Kimberley to Bloemhof 90 miles, and from the latter to Pretoria, in
the Transvaal, 210 miles. To Barkly it is 25 miles, and from that town
to Taungs, in Bechuanaland, 80 miles, and to Kuruman, north-north-west
from Barkly, 120 miles.
There is also a direct road from Kimberley, through the Free State to
Maritzburg, in Natal; the distance is about 400 miles; besides many
others to all parts of the country.
Barkly, up to 1875, was the seat of the government, when it was removed
to Kimberley. It was then a busy and thriving town, several hotels,
clubhouses, bank, high court, and other offices. The town, since this
change, has fallen off considerably. It stands on the lofty bank of the
Vaal, 100 feet above the river, with stone koppies surrounding it bare
almost of vegetation, not an inviting locality to settle in. It has
become now the frontier-town for the interior trade; the river being 500
feet broad, there is plenty of room for boating. Many of the
inhabitants enjoy, in the summer, a sail on its waters, which is in many
parts deep. The banks are well clothed with trees that add greatly to
the beauty of the river. Two passenger-carts run daily between this
town and Kimberley, passing over the pont, which is capable of taking a
waggon and span of sixteen oxen on at one time. Since then a bridge has
been erected.
The geological formation has many varieties of rocks:--The siliceous and
crystalline limestone of the Campbell Rands, a range of hills that runs
through the northern portion of this province, from the chief
Monkuruan's town at Taung, in a south-west direction, on the north side
of the Harts river, down past Campbell Town to the Orange river, where
it breaks up into many spurs, where are amygdaloidal and ancient
conglomerates, and schistose rocks, with shale and sand, form the lofty
hills along the Vaal, which is the same throughout the whole course of
this river in Griqualand; and on the opposite side, at Puiel, Backhouse,
Hebron, and the koppies on its banks, is jasper with magnetite along the
Kuruman range which passes Griqua Town, and quartzite sandstone at the
Langberg range of mountains, which runs north for several hundred miles
into the Kalahara desert, and forms part of the western boundary of
Griqualand West. Plumbago, shale, sandstone, and ferruginous breccia at
these peculiar hills at Blauw Klip and Matsap. Limestone on the
northern boundary and at Danielkuil. Felspathic rocks, olive shales,
and gravels are seen in the hills on the river near Langberor mountain.
The boundary of this province commences at Kheis on the Orange river,
the extreme western point, opposite Scheurberg mountain, following the
river up to Hope Town on to Ramah, the Cape Colony being on the south
side, then in a north-north-east direction to Platberg, near the Vaal
river; the Free State boundary also; thence in a north-north-west
direction, crossing the Vaal, and Harts river, the joint boundary of the
Transvaal by the last convention, and also the boundary of Monkuruan's
territory, then turns west-south-west to a tree, north of Nelson's
Fountain on to a point in Langberg, thence to Kheis on the Orange. This
part of Griqualand West is wild and grand, lofty mountains broken up
into isolated and perpendicular masses, a thousand feet high, with lofty
projecting rocks jutting out from their sides; the dark colour of the
stone gives additional grandeur to the landscape. This kind of scenery
continues up and down the river from Kheis for nearly 100 miles.
From Griqua Town to Bultfontein, over sixty miles, the country is of the
same character, the road passing along from that town to Wittwater,
Reedfontein, Modderfontein, Bluebush Kalk, to Bultfontein, on the Orange
river, a pretty site for a town. It is a Kaffir station of several
tribes.
At Modderfontein, nearly on the summit of one of the lofty hills, are
several Bushmen's caves. The largest is capable of holding 200 people;
the rocks within show evidence of fire by their smoked appearance, and
many years ago were occupied by that bloodthirsty tribe mentioned in my
description of the Kalahara. The Griquas living here told me they have
passed away, but the old man stated their fathers could remember them.
The mountain road leaves Bultfontein and goes west no great distance
from the river, over a very stony, road, on to the Pits, where several
Griquas have comfortable houses, situated on a pleasant open space,
rarely to be equalled for beautiful views in all directions. I remained
here several days to ramble and explore the mountain tops. I took my
driver in case of accidents, as leopards and lions were known to be
there, as one old Griqua told me they frequently lost a goat by being
taken from the kraal at night. Vegetation up the kloofs and on the
slopes of the hills is very fine; beautiful tree-ferns, and every
variety of other kinds, particularly the maiden-hair, which grows out
amongst the rocks on the mountains, are very beautiful; also some very
fine ground orchids, and a thorny bush with crimson flowers, as also
many varieties of aloes.
This district contains copper and lead, and from the appearance of the
quartz which crops out, I believe gold will be discovered when this part
is prospected. One road from this place goes down to the river through
a fearful valley; it is necessary to "reim" (tie) the four wheels of the
waggon, otherwise it would go crash down into the precipice below, and
then turn over and be smashed. This was the road I took to the river on
a previous journey. The other passes on to Milk Stort Pass in the
Langberg range, fifty miles more to the west, which I crossed on the
western side, and outspanned under some fine old trees, close to a
perpendicular rock at the foot of the Berg, where we found a small pool
of water in the rocks, collected from the recent rains, and good grass.
The pass over the mountains was a most difficult and dangerous road,
large holes and boulders blocking the way. The scenery on both sides
was grand, lofty and perpendicular rocks, 2000 feet high, with beautiful
shrubs and flowers growing out from every crevice. The light and
shadows thrown on the opposite hills by the setting sun gave beauty to
the landscape.
At night some leopards paid my camp a visit; a few sheep I kept as a
reserve for the road appear to have been the cause of their troubling
me. A Bushman and his son came early in the morning and told my boys
where the leopards could be found, and as their skins made splendid
karosses, we arranged to hunt them down if possible, taking the Bushman
as guide to point the way. Three of my boys, myself and two dogs,
followed the spoor for several hundred yards. Up amongst the spurs of
the mountain, the old Bushman pointed to a ledge of rocks overhanging
others, surrounded by bush. We then sent the dogs to ascertain their
whereabouts, for we knew there were at least two by their spoor on the
sand. As soon as the dogs, by their barking and unmistakable fear,
showed exactly where they were, we took up our position on separate
rocks, forty yards distant from the tigers' den. Two of my boys were to
keep up a fire into where we knew them to be, myself and driver kept
ready to overhaul any that might come out. We heard nothing but low
growls from time to time; the affair began to be interesting. After
nearly a dozen bullets had been sent in, out came a fine male leopard at
one bound over some bushes, looking anything but amiable, and took a
deliberate survey of his surroundings, his fine spotted skin shining in
the sunlight--a beautiful animal. But this was only for a few moments;
three bullets entered his body at once, when he gave a spring, and fell
on one side, and as he did not appear quite dead I gave him another in
the region of the heart, for I have known them drop like this, and then
spring up and seize upon those near them. The other, which we concluded
was the female, made her escape amongst the rocks. I then set the
Bushman and my Hottentot boy to take off the skin, and the rest returned
to the camp, where we found the dogs lying down by the fire, evidently
ashamed of their desertion by their fawning manner to make friends.
Animals have more sense than instinct; they knew perfectly well they had
done wrong in leaving us.
This range of mountains, which runs due north, as I have stated, forms
the south-eastern boundary of the Kalahara desert, and looking towards
the west for thirty miles from the base the country is almost level, a
few sand-dunes and gentle rises up to the Scheurberg mountain range,
which looks one compact mass of lofty peaks. But on a close inspection,
there are many detached and deep valleys running between. A native road
passes about midway through on to the Koranna and Bastard stations on
the Orange river. There are a great many lions in these hills, as it is
uninhabited, except by Bushmen. On my previous exploration, where I
outspanned near a Bushman kraal, one of them told my boys that a few
days before our arrival a lion had entered one of the huts and carried
off a young boy; they followed him in the dark with burning brands, but
had to give up; they could only trace him by the screams of the lad, but
they soon ceased. Across the desert from this point westward, it is 330
miles.
Leaving the camp the next morning after the leopard-hunt, we proceeded
in a northerly direction for thirty-three miles along the west base of
Langberg, and arrived, on the second day, opposite Speck Kopjie, where
another pass crosses the mountain, which is a very stony and rough road,
but the scenery grand on both sides, similar to that we passed through a
few days ago, and arrived at a farm belonging to Potgieter, a Boer.
From thence on to koppies, Mr. Hyland's farm, Blaaw Klip, is six miles
beyond, where, in a hill, a soft stone is dug, which the natives form
into pipes, plates, vases, and many other useful articles. And beyond,
in a north-east direction, is Mount Hexley, Maremane and Coses, a Kaffir
station. The formation of the hills is very peculiar, lofty, isolated
koppies, covered, many of them, with thick bush, others almost bare, the
naked rocks piled one upon another in grotesque forms. The dry
river-bed passing through this part is a branch of the Kuruman river.
We then crossed the Kuruman range, and arrived at the mission station
2nd April, 1865.
Before leaving this part of the Griqualand West, I should like to
describe that peculiar sand-formation on the west side of the Landberg
mountains, which is in fact part of it. I heard from many of the
Griquas and Potgieter, living near it, that the lofty hills are
constantly changing; that is, the sand-hills, 500 and 600 feet in
height, in the course of a few years subside, and other sand-hills are
formed where before it was level ground.
_May 5th, Sunday_.--Attended Mr. Moffat's church; the service is held in
the Bechuana language. About 400 natives present. The singing is as
well performed as it is in any English church at home. The Kaffirs, who
are Bechuanas, have fine clear voices, and the women are well known to
have sweet, musical voices. The service is well-conducted, and the
natives as attentive as any white congregation in a civilised country.
I first attended at this church in February 1868, when the Rev. Robert
Moffat was living there, previous to his finally leaving for England.
On 29th December, 1869, I was again there, detained for many weeks with
a severe illness, and through the kind nursing of Mr. and Mrs. John
Moffat, Mr. and Mrs. Levy, and other English residents, soon recovered.
I remember well before leaving at that time they got up a little picnic
party, to visit some ancient Bushmen caves, a few miles from the mission
station towards the hills, taking a cart with provisions, the party
riding, and a very enjoyable day we had. As we approached the hills the
country became covered with bush and long grass, where I may safely say,
several hundreds of baboons were busy seeking roots. The old men were
very large, and to see the whole troop scuttle towards the hills with
the babies on their mothers' backs, with their little arms clinging
round their necks, was a pretty and novel sight. Arriving at the caves,
we found a long sand cliff projecting many yards over the lower part,
affording shelter for several hundred families, perfectly secure and a
safe retreat--but its ancient inhabitants are passed away and forgotten.
We procured some very beautiful specimens of the trap-door spider; the
workmanship of the door and its hinge, and the lining of the passage
down to their nest is something marvellous. So far as I have
discovered, there are three kinds of this species, distinguished by
their size. The largest is a black spider, the body nearly an inch in
length; the opening, or passage, and the door to their nest is the size
of our English florin; the hole to the nest is perpendicular for from a
foot to two feet, when an open space is beyond. The coating of this
opening and the under side of the door is of a greyish white, and as
soft and smooth as satin, and when the door is shut it fits so exactly
as to be quite watertight. The top of the door is made to represent the
ground round about, to be undistinguishable by an enemy. The second
size trap-door is the size of a shilling, and the third the size of a
fourpenny-bit. But the spiders are of the same type; where one kind is
found in a district the others are not, showing they occupy separate
localities. I have frequently found the door open and thrown back,
showing the spider is abroad hunting up game to supply his larder. On
several occasions when finding these doors open I have watched the
return of the spider, sitting down a few feet from the door, and waited
sometimes nearly half an hour. Presently he will be seen coming along
in great haste. On arrival at the door he looks down for a few seconds,
as if to listen if all is right below; then he makes a small circuit
round, again approaching; this time he goes in a few inches, then out,
and another inspection of the locality, back again, and down into his
nest, where he remains about two minutes; out he comes on to the top,
looks round, then goes in, turns round and puts out one of his
fore-legs, takes hold of the door and pulls it close down over him, and
when shut it is difficult to see where it is. Frequently I have watched
these spiders (three kinds) when they have left their doors open, and
invariably the same cautious movements have been adopted on returning
home. There are other spiders very similar in form and size to the
above; they make their nests and passages down after the same fashion,
but with no trap-door, the entrance being quite open and exposed.
Another peculiar spider, common in these parts, is the two-headed
spider, with two mandibles; they are the largest I have seen, two inches
in length, with six legs, and of a greenish-brown colour. They are
night spiders, and the Bushmen tell me their bite is death. This may,
or may not, be true; I had no desire to try. The number that must be
hidden in the ground in the day must be legion. When I have had my
camp-fire at night, on an open piece of ground near which I have been
sitting, after hunting, hundreds of spiders and creeping things, as also
moths, are drawn to it for warmth and light; amongst them are these
two-headed monsters, seen running about, and finally become destroyed by
rushing into the burning embers. I found their retreat during the day
by a pet meercat, the long smooth-tailed kind, similar to the ichneumon.
He would, on my outspanning, jump off the waggon and begin to smell the
ground in all directions, and frequently stop, begin to scratch with his
fore-feet down two or three inches, poke his long nose into the hole,
and bring out one of these spiders and devour it with evident relish.
The ground being perfectly smooth with no aperture exposed, I could not
discover how they could conceal themselves so cleverly. In some cases,
I counted the number this little animal would find in a given space,
when roughly hunting over the ground; it would average seventeen, in a
surface ten feet square, and leaving probably as many in the ground.
The tarantula is also very common, some of them the size of the palm of
one's hand, well covered with long brown hair. A large camp-fire at
night would draw the scorpions to it also, particularly if it should be
made near a stone koppie. They grow to a great size. I have caught
them from one inch to twelve inches in length. When young they are of a
green colour, but full-grown they are black. The sting of the young
ones, if on the arm or leg, causes a numbness with a burning heat that
may last a day, with no other bad symptoms. The sting of the full-grown
ones must be dangerous; the natives tell me it is death. The study of
the insect-world is a lifelong study in Africa alone, consequently my
attention was only drawn to those kinds that took my special attention.
There is every indication that this country is drying up. Fountains
that gave out fine springs of water, so the old Kaffirs told me, in
their fathers' time, have not been known to flow for many years. This
is a common remark all over the country, and there is evidence that it
is so. Extensive pans, some more than a mile in circumference and 100
feet deep, with rocks or cliffs generally on the north-east side, with
sandy bottoms, are now without water, when evidently they must have been
full at some time. From the long drought, seven or eight months of the
year, it cannot become a corn-growing country to any extent. The
greater portion of the ground is of that stony and rocky nature it is
incapable of growing anything but a coarse grass that suits cattle, but
not sheep. A farm of 3000 morgan, or 6000 acres, will not maintain
throughout the year more than 200 head. That is where water is on the
farm, otherwise that number of cattle can only be maintained for seven
months out of the year.
The northern border of Griqualand West, on the north of the Campbell
Randt, is a fine country for grazing and keeping cattle. There is more
permanent water, the district being limestone. From Daniel's Kuil,
where there is a singular cave, and between Neat's fountain, Marsaipa
and Boetsap, is now laid out into farms. Fourteen years ago I
frequently hunted the ostrich all through that region. Lions and wolves
would visit me every night. Bushmen also were found, but of late years
they have disappeared. An old Bushman at that time told me one evening
many tales of his escapes from lions, and one of his brothers, only a
few months before, was seized by a lion in the arm, when he had the
presence of mind to take a handful of sand and throw it in the lion's
eyes, when he let go, and the Bushman made his escape before the lion
had recovered from the pain and surprise, then gave a roar and bounded
away. I saw his brother a few days afterwards, and the marks of the
teeth on the arm. A similar occurrence happened in the desert when I
was there four years before. A lion had seized a Bushman in a similar
way, when he could manage to reach the hind part and squeeze his leg,
when the lion gave a roar and sprang away. Many other such tales I have
heard from these children of the desert of lions leaving the victims
they have seized. I have met with three kinds of wolves in these parts:
the tiger-wolf, hyena striata, the largest kind, the striped hyena, a
large animal, and the maned hyena, the small kind. The wolf-hyena is
the most numerous.
Porcupine-hunting is very good sport at night when the moon gives a good
light. They visit the Kaffir gardens, when the corn is getting forward.
The plan is to go in with a few dogs, and several Kaffirs with sticks;
the dogs drive the porcupines about; when they come near a good rap with
the stick on their nose soon kills them, but care must be taken they do
not run back and plant some of their quills into your legs, for they
make dangerous wounds.
The old Bushmen tell me they recollect when all the large game was
plentiful over the whole of this part of Griqualand West, north of the
Vaal and Orange rivers, and also the hippopotami were found in them.
The Blood Kaffirs, along the lower part of the Orange, also tell me
there is one at the present time to be seen occasionally.
The flora in these parts, in the spring and through the summer, is an
interesting study alone. Some of the flowers are perfectly crimson,
others of a deep purple; the creepers, with their rich scarlet flowers,
climbing up amongst the bushes, and long yellow pods, make the veldt
interesting. The Vaal bush is the most common in this province; it
flowers in the winter, and has a pleasant perfume; the tea made from its
leaves is an excellent tonic. Many of the Bechuanas live in small
kraals along the Campbell Randt, the Harts river, and at Great and
Little Boetsap, and possess many waggons and spans of oxen, supplying
the people at the Diamond-Fields with vegetables, corn, cattle, and also
wood from their forests, to keep the machinery at work. The general
altitude of this part of the country is 4300 feet above sea-level. This
is the cause of grass being more coarse throughout the interior of South
Africa than it is at a lower level, and why winters are colder than they
would be, the south latitude being only 28 degrees.
Griqualand at the present time is as much occupied by a white population
as any part of the Cape Colony, and, from its being the great diamond
centre, has now become the most extensive and business part of South
Africa; millions of pounds change hands annually, where fifteen years
ago it was a howling wilderness.