pass on his neighbor's ground. A system of haulage upon endless ropes stretched between the claims and the edge of the mine, was adopted as a temporary expedient; but this had to yield to the objections that the entire circumference of the mine did not afford frontage enough for the erection of a hauling-gear to each claim; and even if it had been enough, difficulties would have to be encountered in the crossing of the ropes. These difficulties were remedied by the erection of a system of stagings around the margin of the mine, having four or five stories of scaffolds, on which the endless ropes could be landed at different levels, the highest platforms communicating with the claims nearest the center of the mine. This arrangement gave way in time to "horse-whims," and then to steam-engines, the introduction of which was long delayed on account of the cost of transit over the five hundred miles from the coast, and of the uncertainty which prevailed whether the mines would hold out long enough to make the expenditure for them profitable.
The four principal diamond-mines of the Kimberley district have substantially the same formation. They are like bowls of diamond-bearing earth lying in a funnel-shaped inclosure of unknown depth. The surface of the whole country is covered with red, sandy soil, varying from a few inches to about two feet in depth; underneath this is a thin layer of calcareous tufa, never extending beyond a few feet in thickness. Both of these layers are of recent date, or even still in course of formation, and are general. Beneath them, the distinction between the mine formation proper and the outside rocks or "reef," first becomes apparent. The next general formation going down, in which the diamond-bearing funnel is hollowed out—the "reef" of the miners—is a shale, yellow, or colored from gray to pink, the "upper reef" extending to a depth of from thirty-five to fifty feet, beneath which is a black carbonaceous shale, running to from two hundred and sixty to two hundred and eighty-five feet below the red sand, where it gives place to an amygdaloid dolerite, identical with the bed-rock at the Vaal River diggings.
The diamond-bearing soil is, for the first hundred feet down, soft and friable, of a yellowish color, and crumbling as soon as it is exposed to the air. At about this level, although there were variations in the depth on different claims, the character of the rock all at once changed, and it became hard and of a slate-blue color. This feature caused a panic among the miners, for they at once presumed that the bottom of the diamond-deposit had been reached. They, however, treated the matter in a business sort of way, as things are said to be done in the exchanges where speculation rages. According to the story, as told by Mr.George J.Nathan, in "Longman's Magazine," "the claim-holders determined to say nothing about their discovery, but to go at once and try to sell their claims to unsuspecting diggers. Several of them accordingly put back the diamondiferous soil to the depth of a few feet, and
