THE DIAMOND-FIELDS.
Ups-and-downs of medical practice--Mode of working
the diggings--The kopjes--Morning markets--My first
baboon-hunt--Preparation for first journey.
I had a still further cause to be downcast. It was not only that the
aspect of the diamond-fields was altogether unattractive, and that the
weather was so rough and changeable that I felt it depressing in the
extreme, but I was perplexed at what seemed to me the hopeless state of
my finances.
Relying upon the promises of the Fauresmith merchant who had
befriended me, I had not taken the precaution, before leaving Port
Elizabeth, to obtain from Herr Adler the letters of introduction
which would have been of service to me on my first arrival at the
diamond-fields; and I found myself in the predicament of having only a
few shillings of ready money, barely sufficient to pay for a night’s
lodging and a day’s victuals. I had to gain the means of subsistence,
and I had to provide for my further journey. One of two courses lay
open to me: I must either dig for diamonds, or I must at once secure a
practice, or at least earn some fees among the heterogeneous and often
doubtful characters of which the population was composed. My difficulty
was increased by the very slight knowledge I had of either Dutch or
English; the few words I had acquired barely sufficed to enable me to
make myself understood, and were quite inadequate to allow me to carry
on a conversation upon the most ordinary matters, far less to offer my
services to a patient whose sickness required advice. But on the horns
of a dilemma I was not long in coming to a decision. I knew that even
to commence the avocation of digging necessitated the possession of at
least some capital, which I could not command, whilst, by borrowing a
few simple articles of furniture for a week or two, and starting as
a doctor, in a tent for a surgery, I might hope to be consulted by
clients who would pay me fees enough to ward off starvation.
I had one letter in my pocket which was the means of introducing me
to an opening. The person to whom it was addressed was out of health,
and was contemplating a visit to Europe for the medical advice which he
could not obtain in the diamond-fields. By good fortune he understood
German, and having ascertained from the letter which I forwarded to
him that I was a doctor, and being of a practical and frugal turn of
mind, he came to the conclusion that, before incurring the delay and
expense of the long journey, he would try whether I could do him any
good. In the course of a week he found my treatment of his disorder
so successful that he professed himself quite satisfied as to my
capability, and definitely abandoned his projected return to Europe. I,
for my part, had not quite the same practical qualities as my patient;
and not having made any precise terms as to remuneration, was obliged
to submit to whatever payment he chose to make. Under the circumstances
I was only too thankful to accept an old half-rotten tent-hut and a
few items of common furniture; although I should not omit to mention
that, at the solicitation of my friend of Fauresmith, he subsequently
consented to advance me the sum of 5_l._ by way of loan.
The hut of which I had thus become the proprietor was about eleven
feet wide by ten feet long and seven feet high. It consisted simply
of deal laths covered with canvas so decayed by damp that it kept
out neither wind nor dust. The laths creaked and rattled with
unintermitted vibration; and had it not been for the shelter afforded
by a substantial warehouse erected by its side, I am certain it would
not have survived the gusts that beat upon it; as it was, it seemed to
be warped and twisted out of shape as often as the wind blew with any
violence from the south. It was situated in the direct road leading
to Kimberley, which is the chief settlement of the district, but it
was separated from the highway by a broad gutter, over which it was
necessary to jump in order to reach the door; and this was nothing
more than a light framework covered with canvas, which I endeavoured
by night to make somewhat secure by supplementing its fastening with
an iron bar that I happened to find on the bare earth which formed the
floor of my apartments. A piece of old sheeting that flapped backwards
and forwards with every breeze did duty as a window.
The interior was partitioned into two chambers by a dilapidated green
curtain. The larger compartment was my work-room and surgery, the
furniture consisting of an unpainted table, two old chairs, and a
couple of chests, one of which held my drugs and the other my books.
If patients happened to flock in unusual numbers, as they would when
a farmer brought his whole family of children, these chests were the
best substitutes I could provide for the comfortable arm-chairs and
lounges with which my European colleagues are accustomed to furnish
their consulting-rooms. The second apartment, considerably smaller than
the other, was my kitchen, dining-room, and bedroom all in one, and
necessarily the place where, until I could afford to keep a servant, I
was obliged to perform the most menial offices in my own behalf. The
bed, in which during the cold weather I spent many a sleepless night,
corresponded only too well with the rest of the furniture, the only
article with the least pretension to respectability being a little case
which I had brought with me from Europe.
My desire to get away into the interior grew stronger and stronger.
However, before I could gain the means to start, I had first to pay
off my liabilities, which included 300 florins owing to the Holitzer
Savings Bank, and 16_l._ due to Herr Michaelis. I resolved
accordingly to limit myself to the barest necessaries of life, and
for some months, in spite of being absolutely compelled to incur the
expense of changing my abode, I practised the most rigid economy, and
lived in the completest seclusion. The high price of provisions, and
the low value of money considerably alarmed me, and I made a point of
transacting all my housekeeping myself. My rule was to wait until it
was dark, and the streets were empty, and then to go out, and after
making my few purchases to get in a sufficient supply of water for the
next day; of this I always required plenty, not only because it was
necessary for the preparation of my drugs, and the general demands of
my profession, but because I was my own laundress and my own cook. It
is almost superfluous to add, that I was likewise my own tailor.
But I have no wish to dwell upon any further details of my
household difficulties at that time, beyond making the remark that
all my proceedings had to be carried on with the utmost secrecy.
Any revelation of the true state of my private affairs would have
seriously affected my position as a medical man. It was with no little
satisfaction that I found myself working my way, little by little,
into a very fair practice. Between the 26th of August, the date of my
arrival, and the beginning of October, I had accumulated enough to
discharge my liabilities.
By degrees I was able to launch out a little in my expenditure, and
to emerge in some measure from my seclusion; and although I was
obliged still to reside in a tent-hut, which was a source of personal
inconvenience to myself, I never found it any detriment to my public
position. It was a very great relief to me that a considerable number
of Germans, on hearing of the arrival of a new doctor who could speak
their language, were glad to make their way to my quarters. Their
visits were a mutual advantage to both parties, for while they had the
benefit of my German, I managed, from my intercourse with them, to make
a wonderful progress in my knowledge of Dutch.
The diamond-fields of South Africa lie chiefly in the English province
of Griqualand West, a district that simultaneously with the discovery
of its subterranean treasure became an apple of discord among the
native princes. The Griqua king Waterboer, and the Batlapin chiefs
Yantje and Gassibone, all strove for an absolute possession, though
it was very certain that none of them had any definite or just claim
to assert. Waterboer possessed the principal part of the land on each
side of the lower course of the Vaal and Modder Rivers; Yantje held the
territory north of the mouth of the Harts River; while Gassibone made
good his sway over the district that lay between the Vaal and the Harts
on the north-east. The Korannas occupied the Vaal valley from Fourteen
Streams to the mouth of the Harts.
Although the first diamonds that were found were by the Boers somewhat
contemptuously called “pebbles,” the discovery stirred up amongst them
a keen desire for the acquisition of territory; and when the annexation
of the diamond-fields was subsequently effected by the English, the
controversy that was waged between the Boers and the Government of
the Orange Free State was very bitter, both sides claiming to be the
rightful possessors by virtue of concessions that had been made to
them by one or other of the native chieftains, Waterboer, Yantje, and
Gassibone.
As the weakest must always go to the wall, so the Orange Free State,
after a brief effort to assert the rights of ownership, was obliged
to yield; nevertheless it did not cease to insist upon the justice
of its original claim. All attempts of England to arbitrate between
the new province and the Republic, all efforts to gain recognition
for laws that should compass on equal terms the mutual benefit of the
conflicting States, were altogether unavailing, until at last England
herself, either prompted by her own magnanimity, or impelled by some
sense of justice, finally purchased the claims of the Free State by a
compensation of 90,000_l._, besides giving a pledge to contribute
15,000_l._ towards the extension of a railroad which should
connect the Free State with one of the lines in the eastern portion of
Cape Colony.
The whole region of the diamond-fields may be subdivided into three
districts. The oldest fields are on the Vaal River, and extend from
the town of Bloemhof, in the Transvaal, to the river-diggings, at
the confluence of the Vaal and the Harts; next to them are the
dry-diggings, so called because the “pebbles” were originally obtained
by sifting the earth and not by washing it--these lie around the town
of Kimberley; and thirdly, there are the fields at Sagersfontein and
Coffeefontein, in the Orange Free State, beyond the English dependency
in Griqualand.
The settlement at the river-diggings sprang up with a rapidity as
marvellous as those of California. At first, Klipdrift, opposite Pniel,
a mission station, was regarded as its capital and centre; but within
the last nine years, Kimberley (formerly known as New Rush) has become
so important, that it necessarily holds first rank.
Within a year after the discovery of the first “crystal stone” in the
valley of the Vaal, where the indolent Korannas alone had dragged on
a dreamy existence, long rows of tenements had started up, although
for the most part they were merely unsubstantial huts; but very soon
South Africa, from end to end, became infected with the diamond-fever.
Young and old, sick and healthy, servants and masters, country-folk
and townsmen, sailors and soldiers deserting their calling; and Dutch
Boers, with their whole families, yielded to the impulse to migrate to
the alluring scene that had suddenly become so famous. The encampments
that they made were transformed with incredible speed into regular
towns of 4000 or 5000 inhabitants; and when the intelligence was
circulated that the “Star of Africa,” a diamond of eighty-three carats
and a half, had been picked up, every European steamer brought over
hundreds of adventurers, all eager to take their chance of securing
similar good fortune for themselves.
Thus in addition to Klipdrift grew up the town of Hebron, River Town,
Gong Gong, Blue Jacket, New Kierk’s Rush, Delportshope, Waldeck’s
Plant and others, the glory of many of them, however, being destined
to be very transient, some of them passing away as suddenly as they
had risen. The report was no sooner spread that on the plain of the
Dutoitspan Farm, below the river-diggings on the Vaal, diamonds had
been found in abundance on the surface of the earth, than the old
stations were forthwith abandoned, every one hurrying off in hot haste
to the dry-diggings, which were supposed to be much more prolific.
Out of the large number of those who succeeded in quickly realizing
large fortunes, a large proportion squandered their wealth as rapidly
as they had acquired it; and as the new settlements soon developed
themselves into dens of vice and demoralization, the majority of the
population, being mere adventurers, came utterly to grief.
On the Vaal itself the diamonds are collected from the alluvial
rubble. This rubble consists of blocks of greenstone, containing fine,
almond-shaped chalcedonies and agates, some as large as a man’s fist
and like milk quartz, others smaller and of a pink or carmine tint, and
occasionally blue or yellow; it covers the district between Bloemhof
and Hebron, and is known distinctively as Vaal-stone. But besides
greenstone, the rubble includes a number of other elements; it consists
partially of fragments of the trap-dyke that is characteristic of the
district between Hebron and the mouth of the Harts, as well as of
nearly all the hills in the east of Cape Colony, in the Orange Free
State, and in Griqualand; it contains likewise a certain proportion
of milk-quartz, clay-slate, sand yielding magnetic iron, and numerous
pyropes; these vary in size from that of a grain of millet to that of
a grain of maize, and were awhile mistaken for garnets and rubies;
moreover, it contains portions of the limestone that extends both ways
from the Vaal, though not forming the actual valley of the river; it is
a stone in which I never discovered any fossils.
The diggers, after obtaining their portion of diamond rubble from the
“claims,” as the parcels of ground allotted them by the authorities
were called, had first to convey it down to the river; they had next
to sift it from the heavier lumps of stone, and then to wash it in
“cradles,” three or four feet long and about one and a half wide, until
they had entirely got rid of the clay. In the residuum they had finally
to search carefully for the treasure. The stones found in this locality
were, as a general rule, very small, but their colour was good and
their quality fine; they were called “glass-stones,” whilst the larger
and more valuable brilliants obtained in the two other districts were
distinguished as “true river-stones.”
[Illustration: SQUARE IN DUTOITSPAN.]
The second, and hitherto the most important diamond-field, is that
which I have called the central-diggings; they are what formerly were
understood by the dry-diggings. They include the four mines in the
Kimberley district, and form two separate groups, the north-western
containing Kimberley, and Old de Beers adjoining it on the east, and
the eastern group containing Dutoitspan, with Bultfontein closing it
in on the south and west. This eastern group lies about two miles from
Kimberley, and about one mile from Old de Beers. Kimberley itself is
about twenty-two miles to the south-east of Klipdrift, and is the most
important of the four mines I have mentioned, being that where the
greatest numbers of diamonds of all qualities are found. The stones
found at Dutoitspan are valued very much on account of their very
bright yellow colour, those obtained at Bultfontein being generally
smaller, but equal in purity to the “river-stones.”
Diamond-mines vary in depth from forty-five to 200 feet, and may be
from 200 to 700 yards in diameter. The diggings are locally called
“kopjes,” being divided into “claims,” which are either thirty feet
square, or thirty feet long by ten feet wide; of these a digger may
hold any number from one to twenty, but he is required to work them
all. For the ordinary “claim” the monthly payment generally amounts
to about twenty florins for ground-rent and for water-rate, made to
the Government and to a Mining Board, which consists of a committee of
diggers appointed to overlook the working of the whole. In Dutoitspan
and Bultfontein there is an additional tax paid to the proprietors, i.
e. the owners of the farms; but in the Kimberley and Old de Beers group
the Government has purchased all rights of possession from the firm of
Ebden and Co.
I have little doubt in my own mind that these pits are the openings
of mud craters, but I am not of opinion that the four diggings are
branches of the same crater; it is only a certain resemblance between
the stones found in Old de Beers and those found in Kimberley that
affords the least ground for considering that there is any subterranean
communication between the two diggings. At the river-diggings I believe
that one or more crater-mouths existed in the vicinity of the river bed
above Bloemhof.
The palmy days of the diamond-diggings were in 1870 and 1871, when,
if report be true, a swaggering digger would occasionally light his
short pipe with a 5_l._ note, and when a doctor’s assistant was
able to clear 1100_l._ in seven months. But since 1871 the value
of the diamonds has been constantly on the decline; and although the
yield has been so largely increased that the aggregate profits have
not diminished, yet the actual expenses of working have become tenfold
greater. Notwithstanding the fall in the value of the stones, the
price of the land has risen immensely. At the first opening of the
Kimberley kopje, the ordinary claim of 900 square feet could be had for
10_l._ It is true that the purchase only extended to the surface
of the soil; but now that the excavations are made to the depth of
about 200 feet, some of the richer pits fetch from 12,000_l._ to
15,000_l._, a proof that the real prosperity of the diamond-fields
has not deteriorated, because (just as in the gold diggings) the
rush of adventurers eager for sudden wealth has been replaced by the
application of diligent and systematic industry.
As time has progressed, the mode of obtaining the diamonds has
gradually become more skilled and scientific. As the diggers at first
worked in their allotments with the assistance of what hired labourers
they could get, Hottentots, Kaffirs, and Bechuanas, their apparatus
was of the rudest character. It consisted only of a stake, driven
into the ground at the upper edge of the pit, with an iron or wooden
pulley attached, enabling them to draw up the buckets of diamond-earth
by hand. This acted very well as long as the walls of the mine were
perpendicular; but when they were at all on the incline, or when, as
would sometimes happen, the earth had to be carried a hundred yards
or more over the heads of other workers, one stake was driven in at
the bottom of the pit and three at the top, and between two of these a
cylinder, two or three feet in diameter, or a great wheel, was kept in
motion, by natives turning handles at both ends; by this means the full
buckets were lifted, and the empty lowered simultaneously; a rope of
stout iron-wire connected the third upright stake with the one at the
bottom of the pit, and along this there ran two grooved iron rods, that
supported a framework, provided with a hook to which the bucket could
be attached. As the excavations grew deeper, and the diggers became the
owners of more than one claim apiece, the expense of raising the larger
quantities of earth, and the waste of time, began to be seriously felt,
and led to the introduction of wooden whims--great capstans worked by
horse-power. Many of these cumbrous machines are still in use; but the
more wealthy diggers, as well as the companies that have recently been
formed, now generally employ steam engines.
[Illustration: KIMBERLEY KOPJE IN 1871.]
This is specially the case at the Kimberley kopje. Although these
are the smallest of the diamond-mines, they are the richest, and
consequently attract the largest proportion of diggers. It soon became
impossible to find space for the separate hand-pulleys to stand side by
side, and huge deal scaffolds were erected, three stories high, so that
three distinct lifting-apparatus could be worked one above another,
without requiring a basement area of much more than six square feet. At
present, however, the edge of the embankment is almost entirely covered
with horse-whims and steam-engines that have been brought from England.
[Illustration: HORSE-WHIMS IN THE DIAMOND QUARRIES.]
It is no longer allowable for the diamond-earth to be sorted near the
place where it is brought up, a practice that was found to lead to much
annoyance and disagreement; but the owners are obliged to subject their
earth to scrutiny, either within the limits of their own allotments, or
to have it conveyed to a piece of ground hired outside the town for the
purpose.
[Illustration: KIMBERLEY.
_Page 69._]
The process of sorting is also more complicated than it used to be.
Formerly the earth containing the diamonds was cleared of its coarser
parts by means of sieves; it was then turned over and shaken out on to
a flat table, where it was merely examined by the help of a stick, or a
little piece of iron. It necessarily resulted from this rough-and-ready
method that many diamonds were overlooked, and the earth thus examined
was afterwards sold as being very likely to yield a number of small
stones, and often proved very remunerative to the buyer.
Now, however, washing-machines, some of them very elaborate, worked
by steam-power, horse-power, or hand-labour, according to the means
of the claim-owners, are almost universally employed. The earth is
gradually cleared of clay, until only the stony particles remain;
and these are rinsed repeatedly in water until they are thoroughly
clean; then they are placed, generally every evening, in sieves for
the moisture to drain off, and after a slight shaking, they are turned
on to a table before the claim-owner or overseer. Whatever diamonds
there may be, are generally detected at first sight; being heavier than
other stones, they gravitate to the bottom of the fine-wire sieve, and
consequently come uppermost when the contents are turned out for the
final inspection.
In proportion as the machinery has become more elaborate, and the
modes of working more perfect, so have expenses increased, and
diamond-digging now requires a considerable capital. This of course has
tended to clear the work of a large crowd of mere adventurers, and made
it a much calmer and more business-like pursuit than it was originally.
The authorized rules and regulations for the protection of the diggers
and of the merchants have likewise materially improved the condition of
both.
[Illustration: KIMBERLEY KOPJE IN 1872.]
As viewed from the edge of the surrounding clay walls, the appearance
of one of the great diamond-fields is so peculiar as almost to defy any
verbal description. It can only be compared to a huge crater, which,
previously to the excavations, was filled to the very brink on which we
stand with volcanic eruptions, composed of crumbling diamond-bearing
earth, consisting mainly of decomposed tufa. That crater now stands
full of the rectangular “claims,” dug out to every variety of depth.
Before us are masses of earth, piled up like pillars, clustered like
towers, or spread out in plateaus; sometimes they seem standing erect
as walls, sometimes they descend in steps; here they seem to range
themselves in terraces, and there they gape asunder as pits; altogether
they combine to form a picture of such wild confusion, that at dusk, or
in the pale glimmer of moonshine, it would require no great stretch of
imagination to believe them the ruins of some city of the past, that
after the lapse of centuries was being brought afresh to light.
But any illusion of this sort is all dispelled, as one watches the
restless activity of the throngs that people the bottom of the deep dim
hollow. The vision of the city of the dead dissolves into the scene
of a teeming ant-hill; all is life and eagerness and bustle. The very
eye grows confused at the labyrinth of wires stretching out like a
giant cobweb over the space below, while the movements of the countless
buckets making their transit backwards and forwards only add to the
bewilderment. Meanwhile to the ear everything is equally trying; there
is the hoarse creaking of the windlasses; there is the perpetual hum of
the wires; there is the constant thud of the falling masses of earth;
there is the unceasing splash of water from the pumps; and these,
combined with the shouts and singing of the labourers, so affect the
nerves of the spectator, that, deafened and giddy, he is glad to retire
from the strange and striking scene.
To this brief and general description of the diamond-fields, I would
be allowed to add one or two characteristics of the street-life in the
settlements.
The morning-markets, or public auctions, which are held every day,
except Sunday, in the open places in Kimberley and Dutoitspan, are very
interesting. They are presided over by a market-master or auctioneer,
appointed by the Government, with permission, however, to hold private
sales for his own benefit. The office may be somewhat trying to the
lungs, but it has the reputation of being very lucrative. From six to
eight a.m., the whole of the unpaved market-place, which lies in the
heart of the iron and canvas dwellings, is covered with ox-waggons,
laden not only with flour, fruit, vegetables, potatoes, maize,
butcher’s meat, poultry, and other items of consumption, but with
firewood, forage, wood for thatching, and all the other necessaries
of domestic economy. The sales are exclusively by auction. Five per
cent. of the proceeds goes to the Government, and two per cent. to the
market-master. The prices of the commodities are very fluctuating,
demand and supply being continually out of proportion. I have known the
cost of a sack of potatoesto vary from 15_s._ to nearly 4_l._
Besides the ordinary morning-markets, public auctions are held on
all days except holidays in halls erected for the purpose; and in
the evenings, sales of articles not included in the usual routine
of business are carried on in the canteens, to which purchasers are
invited by announcements on large placards, notifying that drink will
be distributed gratis during the proceedings.
In former years, the majority of the canteens were shocking dens of
vice, forming the worst feature of the district; latterly, however,
there has been a considerable diminution in their number. The wells
that have been made in various parts of the streets, and in the
outskirts of the settlements, have been an inestimable boon, and the
throngs that ever surround them show how highly they are appreciated.
The water is drawn up in buckets by Kaffirs, or by horses; it is sold,
not given away, and many hundreds of pounds are readily expended for
the supply of that which is as indispensable for the diamond-washing as
for the common offices of life.
A residence in the diamond-fields undoubtedly has various
inconveniences, but nothing is so trying as the atmosphere. Every day
during the dry winter season, lungs, eyes, and ears are painfully
distressed by the storms of dust that impregnate the air with every
conceivable kind of filth, which, penetrating the houses, defiles (if
it does not destroy) everything on which it rests. The workers in the
diggings, the drivers of waggons, and all whose occupations keep them
long in the open air, are especially sufferers from this cause.
Nor is the summer much less unpleasant. During the rainy season the
country is flooded by the violent downpour; the rain often fills up the
shallow brack-pan (one of the salt lakes that dry up every year, lying
in a depression about half a mile long at the south end of Dutoitspan,
in a single day; and as the immediate consequence, the streets of
Kimberley become so deluged that the traffic is impeded, and foot
passengers can only with difficulty proceed at all. The new corporation
has endeavoured to remedy this difficulty by laying down gutters, and
taking other measures for draining the thoroughfares.
For a few days’ recreation at Christmas, 1872, I agreed to go on an
excursion, baboon hunting, on the neighbouring hills in the west of the
Orange Free State--the party consisting, besides myself, of a young
German merchant, who found more opportunity for such diversion here
than at home; a young Pole from Posen, whose mere love of adventure had
brought him to the diamond-fields; and a Fingo, engaged to carry our
baggage, and whose burden kept him in a perpetual vapour-bath. The Pole
and myself were both duly equipped in proper hunting-costume.
I was very anxious to make myself acquainted with the animal-world
on the hills that bounded the eastern horizon; and, having visited my
patients, and ascertained that they could dispense with my services for
a short time, I started off from Dutoitspan early in the afternoon of
Christmas Eve. Involuntarily the memories of former Christmas Eves rose
up within my mind, and I could not help comparing the past with the
present, contrasting the festivities of the cheerful room, well warmed
to defy the wintry rigour, with the tropical glow of an African sun,
where not a single external circumstance recalled an association with
the season.
Our way led at first across a plain covered with dwarf bushes, few of
them exceeding eighteen inches high. Here and there, in depressions of
the soil, were patches of soft green turf, long grass only growing upon
higher and more rocky places.
All over the wide flats were innumerable swarms of insects, of which
several species of locusts especially attracted our notice. Some of
these were very beautiful in colour, and were armed with a kind of
projecting shield. Varying from two to three inches in length, their
cylindrical bodies were either of light or dark green, the wing-sheaths
being bordered with red. In quite a sluggish condition thousands of
them had settled on the milk-bushes (_Euphorbiaceæ_), and the
least touch made them fall to the ground, apparently lifeless. On my
journey from Port Elizabeth I had wondered how it was that the locusts,
subject to the attacks of almost countless enemies of the feathered
tribe, from the eagle to the wild duck, should venture so constantly
to settle in the most exposed parts of the bushes; and I now solved
the mystery by discovering through my sense of smell that they eject a
most offensive fluid, the disgusting odour of which we had the greatest
difficulty in removing from our hands even after a thorough scrubbing
with sand.
Besides the locusts, we found several kinds of beetles--some
sand-beetles, two large ground-beetles, and a leaf-beetle that gleamed
amidst the foliage with a metallic sheen. The small variety of the
vegetation, and its scorched-up condition, was quite enough to explain
the entire absence of butterflies, although moths of many kinds were
present to supply their place.
We saw hardly any quadrupeds. Excepting some great shrew-mice, we
came across nothing but a bright red rodent (_Rhyzæna_) and a
ground-squirrel. These were sitting up on their hind quarters, close
to the aperture of their underground retreats; only waiting a moment,
as if to scrutinize the new comers, they made off with all speed, the
_Rhyzæna_ grunting softly, the squirrel giving a shrill, sharp
whistle.
The bird of which we saw the greatest numbers was the small dark South
African starling, which ever hovers over the numerous ant-hills or
perches on the top of solitary thorns. It is a lively little creature,
careful to survey a stranger only from a prudent distance, and given to
frequent the deserted holes of rodents and ground-squirrels, especially
betaking itself thither when chased or wounded.
After we had proceeded about an hour and a half we reached the
border of one of the rectangular “pans” which are the miniature
representatives of the large shallow salt-lakes that are so
characteristic of South Africa. The saltpan itself was dry, but close
beside it was a small rain-pool full of greenish water, a little of
which, mixed with a spoonful of brandy, we found palatable enough.
Hereabouts we fell in with a Kaffir tending some sheep; and having
purchased his goodwill by a little present of tobacco, we induced him
to give us what information he could about the various farms lying
further eastward. We had fixed upon a farm known both as Kriko Farm
and as Kuudu Place for our headquarters, from which we could make
excursions to the hills.
[Illustration: KAFFIR SHEPHERD.]
Towards evening we reached the first spur of the heights in the Free
State, running due north and south. The vegetation was already becoming
more luxuriant. A large number of shrubs that from the diamond-fields
had looked mere specks turned out to be camel-thorn acacias, their
broad-spreading crowns and great flat seed-pods declaring them akin to
the mimosas. Since that date most of them have fallen under the axe,
and they have been reduced to ashes as fuel at the diggings. Their
trunks are often two feet thick, covered with a rough dark-grey bark,
full of knots, and yielding a sound hard wood. Two things particularly
arrested our attention; first, the great thorns growing in pairs three
inches long, with their points far asunder, and at the base as thick
as a man’s finger; and, secondly, the collections of strange birds’
nests hanging down from the branches. These nests belonged to a colony
of the sociable weaver-birds (_Philetærus socius_), and their
construction was very singular. When the birds have found a suitable
branch, the whole flock sets to work with the industry of bees to make
a common erection that may shelter them all. Each pair of birds really
builds its own nest of dry grass and covers it in; but so closely are
the nests fitted together, that when finished the entire fabric has the
appearance of one huge nest covered in by a single conical roof, the
whole being often not less than three feet high and from two to five
feet in diameter. The boughs which project beyond the structure are not
unfrequently known to break under the accumulated load. The entrances
to all the separate nests are from below, an arrangement by which they
might be presumed to be sheltered, not merely from the rain, but from
attacks of any kind; this, however, is by no means the case, and they
are liable to be invaded by the larger kinds of snakes, such as the
cobra. I myself, some years later, was successful in killing a great
snake just as it had crept into one of these weaver-birds’ nests. I
was at Oliphantfontein Farm, and happened to catch sight of its tail
just as the huge reptile was beginning its work of depredation. It had
killed and thrown out several birds, and was commencing to devour the
eggs and fledglings inside; it snapped viciously at every parent bird
that was not scared away by its hissing. I was afraid, if I fired, that
I might only kill the birds that I was desirous to save; accordingly,
I took up a stone, and flung it with so good an aim that I brought the
creature down to the ground, where a couple of shots soon despatched it
before it could make good a retreat.
As evening drew on we arrived at a grassy plain that extended to the
hills, three miles away. Here, beneath a jutting eminence, were two
small huts, forming a canteen kept by a native; but its existence was a
proof to us that we were in the road between the diamond-fields and the
Free State. We declined an invitation from the host to sleep here; and
although we had to make our way through deep sand-drifts, we resolved
to go on further.
It was quite late when we reached the Kriko Farm. I had made up my
mind to spend the night in the open air; and as we were all very
thirsty, we followed out the glimmer of some water until we reached a
half-dry pool, at the edge of which was a level spot that we selected
as our camping-place for the night.
Supper was soon ready. A few red-legged plovers and some small bustards
(of the kind that the Boers call “patluperks”), which we had shot in
the course of the day, afforded us a meal that we thoroughly enjoyed;
nor had we a less hearty relish for a cup of tea, although it was made
from the water of the pond which, when we came to see it by daylight,
we were compelled to confess that nothing but the most agonizing pangs
of thirst could have induced us to taste. Even in the fire-light it
flickered with all the colours of the rainbow, but by the light of day
it revealed putrescence itself, and even the cattle refused to drink it.
While we were sitting round our fire, talking over the incidents of
the afternoon, we were favoured by a visit from three Korannas. They
had seen our light from the farmhouse, about a hundred yards away, and
had supposed that we were a body of Basutos, from the west of the Free
State, travelling in search of work, and were not a little surprised to
come upon a party of white men enjoying themselves in an encampment.
They did not stay long with us; and as soon as they were gone, and the
barking of the dogs at the farm had ceased, a dead silence ensued,
broken only by the chirping of a little grasshopper. After the dusty
atmosphere of Dutoitspan, the pure, fresh air was most delightful to us
all, and we soon resigned ourselves to sleep.
Early in the morning we explored the immediate neighbourhood of the
farm. It lies in a wide valley, into which open several cross-valleys
formed by outlying chains of hills. The hillsides are steep, often
almost perpendicular, exhibiting huge blocks of trap. It was a
refreshing thing for our eyes to look upon such a rich expanse of
vegetation, even the flat summits of the hills being clothed with
arborescent mimosas. Except some striped mice, we saw no mammalia
at all, but birds of many sorts--turtle-doves, plovers, long-tailed
black and white shrikes, and a whole flock of common brown carrion
hawks--were perching upon the rocks, which were so white with the
guano that they could be seen fifteen miles away. Besides these, we
came across some small red falcons and several handsome fork-tailed
kites. Altogether it was a favourable opportunity, of which we did not
fail to take advantage, of filling our bags betimes with some dainty
morsels for dinner. Meanwhile we were able to make some additions to
our entomological spirit-flasks, in the way of curious frogs, spiders,
lizards, and chameleons.
On our way back from our morning ramble we met the farmer. In answer
to my inquiry how we ought to proceed to get at the baboons on the
hills, he was extremely communicative. He said that there were two
herds in the neighbourhood, the smaller and wilder of which generally
went in the morning to drink in an adjoining glen, but the other was
not so shy, and ventured every day to the second pool beyond where we
were standing. He complained of them as a great and perpetual nuisance.
They were always on the look-out, and no sooner was a field or a
garden left unguarded, than they would be down at once, break through
the hedges, and devour the crops. They were likewise very destructive
amongst the sheep. If a shepherd happened to leave his post for ever
so short a time, or even to fall asleep, the baboons, who had been
watching their chance from the heights, would be down upon the flock in
the valley, and seizing the lambs, and ripping up their stomachs with
their teeth, would feast upon the milk they contained; then leaving
the poor mangled victim writhing on the ground, would lose no time in
repeating the terrible operation upon another. This was a statement
that I have since often had confirmed.
So pitiable was the farmer’s account of the losses he had in various
ways sustained through the baboons, that we could quite understand
the grin of satisfaction with which he learnt our object. He became
more and more loquacious in his desire to render information; and
when I further explained to him that we were anxious to get some of
their skins to stuff, and to carry off some of their skulls, he was
quite astounded; he had never heard of such a thing, and exclaiming,
“Allmachtag, wat will ye dun?” he walked off, shaking his head, to tell
his wife of the doctor’s “wonderlijke” proposal to shoot a “babuin,”
and to send its skin and its skull all the way to “Duitsland.”[2]
Many of the Free State farmers are simple and thoroughly good-hearted
people, requiring only a little more culture to make them most
agreeable companions. Among all my patients I never found any more
grateful.
About the middle of the morning we left Kuudu Place and started
eastwards, in the hope that we might be in time to catch the smaller
herd at their drinking-place. We passed several huts occupied by
Basutos and Korannas employed as labourers on the farm. The Basutos
come from their homes in the east, with their wives, to hire themselves
to the farmers; in return for which they receive their food, and an
annual payment of a stipulated number of sheep, or occasionally one or
two oxen, or a mare and foal, being moreover allotted a certain portion
of land, where they may grow sorghum, maize, gourds, or tobacco.
During my subsequent travels, I learnt that many of the better class
of farmers are really owners of small Basuto villages, from which they
hire the population in this way. Mynheer Wessels, the proprietor of the
canteen we had passed the day before, was a type of this class; his
farm had a circumference of many miles, although he did not cultivate
a thirty-sixth part of it. To provide himself with labourers, he had
obtained the ownership of a district where the harvest had been lost
through drought, and had found the residents only too glad to leave
their homes on the Caledon River, and to migrate to more favourable
quarters.
One very marked ethnographical distinction exists between the tribes of
the Basutos and the Korannas in the way they build their huts; those
of the Basutos being made of boughs in a cylindrical form, about three
feet in diameter, and protected by conical roofs of reeds and dry
grass, while the Korannas usually adopt the form of a hemisphere, and
construct them of dead branches loosely covered with mats.
We had the honour of being surveyed by one of the black ladies;
she wore nothing but a short petticoat of grey calico, and her
forehead, cheeks, and breasts were tattooed in dark-blue ochre with a
complication of wavy lines. She only looked at us from the boundary of
her own domain.
Outside one of the Koranna huts my attention was caught by a man
shabbily dressed in European costume, towards whom an old woman, also
in dirty European dress, was hastening, brandishing a huge firebrand,
from which a volume of smoke was pouring into the air. I was curious to
know what the enormous firebrand could be wanted for, and could hardly
believe that it was merely to light the man’s short pipe; he did not
move a muscle of his countenance, but lowering it steadily with his
hand, brought it into its due position and completed his object. I
advanced towards the phlegmatic smoker, and found him courteous enough
to answer a few inquiries as to what was the best route we could take
to the hills.
It took little more than half an hour to reach the top of the hill,
which proved to be an undulating plain, covered with bushes and blocks
of stone. When we had advanced some distance along it, we found
ourselves approaching the pool of which the farmer told us, and could
distinctly hear the hoarse barking of the baboons. Looking across to
the opposite side, about 300 yards away, we caught sight of a herd of
seven, only four of them full grown, that seemed to pause and scan us
carefully before they decamped to a glen on the right. With all speed
we followed them for a little way, observing how the wet footprints
showed that they were just returning from their drinking-place.
We did not, however, go very far in pursuit, being more desirous of
falling in with the other and larger herd. Having knocked over another
brace or two of doves, as a further contribution to our larder, we
sat down to enjoy a mid-day repast, keeping up a careful scrutiny
of the slopes all around us. We seemed to be watching all in vain,
when suddenly, in the direction of the farm, there was to be heard an
outcry, which as suddenly again died away. Some tall mimosas prevented
us seeing to any great distance one way towards the farmhouse, and
a stone wall, some twelve feet high, hindered us the other way from
getting a view of the bottom of the hills, so that we really had not
the chance of ascertaining the cause of the commotion. By way of a
joke, I said that perhaps the baboons had taken advantage of our
dinner-hour to go and pay the farmer a visit. Scarcely had I said the
words when a big baboon came springing up, not much more than 200 yards
away, to the left; then another, then another and another, until there
was a whole herd of them, going leisurely enough, and squatting down
ever and again upon the stones. The farmer, with a bevy of servants,
was in full chase; they were armed with sticks and stones, and kept
shouting vehemently. Here we thought was a good chance for us; we would
mount the hill across the line of the retreat, without diverting the
attention of the baboons from the noisy crowd that was following them;
and thus I hoped we might be able to get within gunshot unobserved.
As one of our party had only small shot, and the other nothing but a
stick, I insisted upon their remaining close at my side, knowing that a
full-grown baboon, when infuriated, is as dangerous a foe as a leopard.
We were more than half-way up the hill before there was a chance at
all; and when a baboon did appear at last above us, it managed so
adroitly to be always either beneath a bush or behind a stone, that to
take a fair aim was simply impossible.
When the brute had gained the top of the hill, of course it was hidden
from view; but we persevered, in hopes that on reaching the summit, if
we did not catch sight of the same one again, we might see another. So
far we were not disappointed. We had hardly finished our ascent when
we spied a full-grown female, scarcely fifty yards in front of us.
By ill-luck, however, I failed to secure a shot at it; first, one of
the black farm-servants came between me and my mark just at the very
instant when I was about to fire; and when I next managed to get within
fair range, one of my friends raised such a prodigious shout that
the creature bounded far away; so that I had to go on in a prolonged
pursuit, only at last to find that the chase must be abandoned as
fruitless.
It may well be supposed that it was not quite in the best humour that
we retraced our steps. It was not only that the last chance for that
day had been missed, but it was most unlikely that so favourable an
opportunity for getting near that herd would occur again.
On our return the Korannas informed us that what I had spoken of only
in jest, had really transpired in fact; the baboons, at the very hour
when we were taking our refreshment, had been attracted by the bleating
of some lambs, and began to make an attack upon the sheep-kraal.
Detected in time, they were driven off; and in order to prevent them
from repeating their visit, a pursuit had been set on foot.
The men told us, however, that so far from being effectually scared
away, the baboons would be sure to come and drink at the other pond.
Upon hearing this all our disappointment and fatigue were forgotten at
once, and we were off without delay to the spot that was pointed out.
[Illustration: BABOON-HUNT.]
The pond, full of rain-water, lay in the valley; on the left, not
a quarter of a mile off, were the hills we had just quitted; and
opposite, on the right, was another ridge of hills, perhaps a mile
away. Three sides of the pond were embanked, the embankment facing the
house being of stone; the soil was sandy; the muddy water in one place
was running in a little creek; some shrubs were growing between the
clefts of the stones, and behind one of these, high enough to conceal
our heads, we took up our position.
Only a few minutes had elapsed when one of the farm-boys drew our
attention to what seemed little more than a couple of dark specks
on the slope of the hills to the right; but we could soon see that
they were moving, and when they came within half a mile of us, we
could distinctly recognize them as a herd of baboons. The boy said he
was quite sure that they were on their way to the water; but to our
surprise they did not make any further advance. A quarter of an hour
elapsed; half an hour; still no symptom of their approach. All at once,
as if they had started from the earth by magic, at the open end of the
pond, not sixty yards from our place of ambush, stood two huge males.
When or how they had got there no one could tell; probably they had
come by a circuitous way through the valley, or it might be that they
had crept straight down through the grass; they had certainly eluded
our observation.
Being anxious to watch the movements of the animals, and to ascertain
whether they belonged to the herd playing under the mimosas, I
refrained from firing, and determined to see what would follow next.
Both baboons sprang towards the water, and leaning down, drank till
they were satisfied; then, having gravely stretched themselves, they
stalked away solemnly on all fours in the direction of the herd.
There was little doubt, therefore, that they belonged to them, and
had been sent forward to reconnoitre; for as soon as they got back,
the entire herd put itself in motion, and made its way towards the
pond. There were mothers taking care of their little ones; there were
the half-grown animals, the boys and girls of the company; but there
did not seem to be more than three or four full-grown males. At first
only one baboon at a time came to the water’s edge, and having taken
its draught retired to the rest; but when about ten of them had thus
ventured separately, they began to come in small groups, leaving the
others rolling and jumping on the sand.
Our amusing study was very nearly being interrupted by the approach
of two Koranna women, who came from the farm with their pitchers, to
fetch water; but we were able to make signs to them not to come on, and
thus continued to abide our time till we could get a shot. It was not
long before two males--the same, I had no doubt, which we had noticed
before--came and squatted themselves one on each side of the little
creek, which certainly was not more than two feet across. When they
stooped to drink, their heads could not have been four inches apart.
Here was my chance. Crack went my rifle. But instead of either of them
dropping, the two baboons started up; by a mutual instinct they both
clutched their noses, gave a ringing bark, and scampered off. The whole
herd took the alarm, and joining in the shrieking clamour, were soon
lost to sight. One or two, however, of the larger animals seemed to lag
behind, and to look inquiringly, as if to ascertain the true condition
of affairs.
We went down and examined the spot where the baboons had been drinking,
and could come to no other conclusion than that the bullet had passed
exactly through the narrow interval that had parted their heads; it had
lodged just about three feet behind them.
Until the evening we waited and watched, coming to the conclusion that
we would make our night encampment upon the spot; but nothing more
was seen of the herd, although their noise could be heard all night
long. Again next morning we kept a steady look-out, but they did not
allow themselves to be seen. Likely enough they could spy us out from
their position on the heights, and they were not inclined to venture
from a retreat where their instinct told them they were masters of the
situation.
After the exertions and disappointments of the day, all my companions
seemed only too glad of their repose, and were soon fast asleep. I
could not sleep at all; the perpetual barking of the baboons disturbed
me; but beyond that there was not a sound to be heard; the breeze even
was hushed. It was one of those nights which, under South African
skies, never fail to leave a lasting impression upon the traveller’s
mind. Although the sky was dark the atmosphere was clear, and countless
little clouds, varying in tint from milk-white to a brownish grey,
hovering everywhere overhead, formed a canopy so exquisite in its
beauty that it could never fade from the memory.
Our Christmas excursion thus came to an end.
My medical practice continued to increase so rapidly, that I was able
to lay by considerable sums towards the undertaking on which I was
resolved. During the month of January, 1873, I purchased a waggon and
a good many of the requisites for travelling; and early in February I
considered my resources such as to justify my setting out on my first
long journey, which, however, was to a certain extent to be only one of
reconnaissance.