His most conspicuous financial work was the De Beers Company, of which we have treated elsewhere. From one big venture he went to others more gigantic still. The famous Chartered Company and the splendid province of Rhodesia came virtually into existence as the result of his magnificent foresight. In 1881, in Basutoland, Mr. Rhodes, the newly-elected member for Barkly West, had the good fortune to meet General Gordon, who was struck at once by the immense ability of the young man. In character, it seems, they were the extremes that meet! These two men, of equally strong personality, had an antagonism of character which, clashing, gave forth a resonance that was vastly inspiriting.

Gordon and Rhodes would take long walks together, and discuss the affairs of nations. The General, who was as dictatorial as his associate, on several occasions severely criticised the opinions of young Rhodes. "You always contradict me," he declared. "I never met such a man for his own opinion. You think your views are always right, and every one else's wrong. You are," he went on to say, "the sort of man who never approves of anything unless you have had the organising of it yourself."

It was a new edition of the pot calling the kettle black, and afforded much amusement to onlookers.

On another occasion Gordon begged him to remain in Basutoland and work with him, but Rhodes refused. He demonstrated that his work lay in Kimberley, and there he would remain. "There are very few men in the world," argued Gordon, "to whom I would make such an offer. Very few men, I can tell you; but, of course, you will have your own way."

Once, when they were together, Gordon related to Rhodes the story of an offer of a room full of gold which had been made to him by the Chinese Government, after the suppression of the Tai-Ping revolt. "What did you do?" asked Rhodes. "Refused it, of course. What would you have done?" said Gordon. "I would have taken it," answered Rhodes, "and as many more roomfuls as they would give me. It is no use for us to have big ideas if we have not got the money to carry them out."

When Gordon went to Khartoum he invited Rhodes to accompany him, but Rhodes refused. He accepted the offer made by the same post of the Treasurer-Generalship in the Scanlin Ministry. In 1884 he became Deputy-Commissioner for Bechuanaland, which, as the key to South Africa, he determined to keep under his watchful eye. He was at the same time Treasurer-General of Cape Colony. In 1889 he became Director of the British South Africa Company and Chairman till the fiasco of 1896, at which time he was Premier of Cape Colony. In addition to holding these posts, his activities have been unending. He has been the moving spirit in every enterprise for the expansion and development of South Africa. He has gained the esteem of the loyal Dutch, and has succeeded in making himself feared if not beloved by the disloyal. His great work of attempting to weld together the two races into one united people is for the nonce suspended, but should life be spared him he will doubtless see the realisation of his dream. In addition to his other labours Mr. Rhodes was Commissioner of the Crown Lands in 1890-94, Minister of Native Affairs 1894-95, and served in Matabeleland in 1896.

RHODESIA—UNCIVILISED

In sketching the history of Rhodesia it is necessary to go at least as far back as our friend Chaka, the great chieftain of the Zulus, whose military prowess has been described. In the days of this warlike personage, Matshobane, who governed the Matabele tribe on the north-west of Zululand, preferred to submit to Chaka rather than to be "eaten up." Matshobane was the grandfather of Lobengula, who is intimately associated with the infant history of this promising country. His son Mosilikatze, however, was not so amenable to Zulu discipline. He broke out, annihilated all men, women, and children who happened to come in his way, and betook himself finally to remote regions where he had no masters save the lions. Later on, in 1837, he conceived the ingenious notion of exterminating all the white men north of the Orange River; but the white men were too much for him, and so he promptly retired to fresh fields and pastures new—in fact, to the country now known as Matabeleland. Its inhabitants were then settled between the Limpopo and the Zambesi. Here he again carried on his fell work of extermination. Of the horrors of his triumphant progress nothing need be said. They are best left to the imagination. It is enough to explain that the tribes of the Makalas, Mashonas, and others that happened to be in the way, were speedily wiped out. The Matabele, reigning in this vast now almost desolate region, soon became the terror of other tribes. The ravagers continued their fiendish operations, and finally set up military kraals and installed their chief in the principal of these at Buluwayo.

How long this state of things would have endured it is difficult to say. Fortunately there appeared on the scene a man—The Man—who conceived in his mighty brain a way to clear this Augean stable and transform it into a comparative fairyland. Mr. Cecil Rhodes came—he saw—and he conquered in all senses of the word. He decided that British civilisation must be extended to this "hinter-land"—as the Boers called it—and, being a keen man of the world and no sentimentalist, he argued, moreover, that British civilisation might be made to pay its way! The idea that Mr. Rhodes is "the walking embodiment of an ideal," without personal ambition in his schemes, is as absolutely absurd as are the reverse pictures that have been painted of him. He is no angel and no ogre, Mr. Rhodes is one of Nature's sovereigns, who, conscious of his power and the limitations of human life, uses every minute at his disposal to write his name large in the records of his country. And, since his name is large, he wants as a natural consequence a large and clear area to write it in, and that area he means to have!

Now, Mr. Rhodes had decided that the British were the best administrators of South Africa, and that if the British shirked the task it would be undertaken by some other nation. He saw the key to South Africa in his hands—he saw the Boer overspreading his borders, he saw Germans and Portuguese intriguing for footholds—there was but one course open, and he followed it. On the 30th of November 1888, Lobengula, the chief of the Matabele, signed a document giving the British the right to search for and extract minerals in his territory. Upon that the British South Africa Company was started. In 1889 a charter was granted by the Imperial Government. The Company was created with a capital of one million sterling. There were eight directors, three appointed by the Crown, and five elected by the shareholders. Mr. Cecil Rhodes occupied the position of managing director. In a brief space of time the wildernesses and the forests were traversed, roads were made, and a strong protective force installed in the country. Dr. Jameson was appointed administrator at Salisbury. A railroad was planned and forts were built. These were occupied by the Company's police.

While the pioneers were at work prospecting for gold, and improving the country in all manner of ways, Lobengula became cantankerous. It must be remembered that he suffered from gout, for which he was treated by Dr. Jameson. Now, Lobengula without gout was sufficiently savage to cause much apprehension; with it, it is impossible to describe the nature of the alarm he must have occasioned. He fell out first with the Mashonas for trivial reasons, and murders were committed. Dr. Jameson then came to the conclusion that, if the place was to be held at all, Lobengula must be crushed. More commotions followed. The Matabeles and Mashona tribes between them contrived to render the country uninhabitable. The peaceable Europeans would stand it no longer. The Matabele war ensued.

The High Commissioner gave Dr. Jameson permission to protect the country, and the forces advanced in two columns upon Buluwayo. Major Patrick Forbes acted as commander-in-chief, with Major Alan Wilson as next in command. This column, with guns, baggage, and attendant blacks (who assisted as camp-followers), kept as much as possible to open country to avoid surprise. They marched from the Iron-mine Hill, at the source of the Tokwe River.

The second column, commanded by Colonel Goold Adams, was composed in equal numbers of Bechuanaland police and South Africa Company's mounted men. In all they numbered about 450. It was accompanied by some 1500 Bemangwats under their chief.

With Major Forbes's column were Dr. Jameson, Sir John Willoughby, and Bishop Knight Bruce. The advance was carefully managed. The column destroyed all military kraals in its line of march, skirmishing at times, but cautiously providing against attacks of the enemy. One of these attacks took place while the force was in laager, on the 25th of October. A Matabele army, 5000 strong, made three savage onslaughts, but were driven back on each occasion with heavy loss.

The column still continued to advance, and Lobengula, hearing of its victory and approach, sent forth to meet it a company of pure Zulus, the flower of his army.

The Imbezu and Ingubo in front of the Matabele army then approached the laager that was being formed near the source of the Imbembesi River. They advanced with all their accustomed dash, and a warlike intrepidity worthy of Chaka, their renowned ancestor.

But they could make no stand against the Maxim and machine guns, and in a few hours all was over. Lobengula's day was practically done!

On hearing of the victory he set fire to his kraal himself, and fled towards the Zambesi, leaving his magazine, whenever the flames should reach it, to explode with ferocious uproar.

In November 1893 the Chartered Company's force came into possession of the smoking, deserted region. Messengers were sent in search of the chief. Lobengula was courteously advised to surrender. His personal safety was assured to him by Dr. Jameson, but he refused to listen. Efforts were then made to capture him. After a long and fatiguing march, news was brought in that Lobengula's waggons had been seen on the road the day before.

Major Wilson, with a well-mounted party, went off to follow the spoor, being advised to return before dark. This he did not do. He remained for the night beyond the Shangani River, and by daylight reached the waggons of the chief.

Lobengula's followers immediately attacked the small company of thirty-four Europeans, which was speedily annihilated. Some of these might have escaped, but they preferred, though largely outnumbered, to fight side by side with their comrades till the last!

Very little remains to be told. Lobengula endeavoured to arrange terms with the British force, but his messengers and money never reached their destination. Babyane and four other indunas—followed after a few days by others—came to inquire what terms of peace would be granted. They were required to surrender their arms before returning to their kraals, which they did with alacrity. Most of the natives followed their example, being well satisfied with British rule. The death of Lobengula, of fever and gout, in January 1894 put an end to further complications.

RHODESIA—CIVILIZED

So far we have seen the establishment of the British in a hitherto absolutely savage arena. It may be interesting to hear what travellers have had to say regarding the region that has recently become our own. Its present aspect, and its prospects for the future, are best learnt from authorities who have personally inspected the place. Mr. Charles Boyd discourses thus on the subject:—

"When you have got out of the train before the corrugated iron building which stands on the edge of the illimitable grey, green veldt, to mark where the great station of the future is to arise, there is one feature of Buluwayo which is making ready to seize hold upon you. It is not, perhaps, the most important feature, but it is conspicuous enough to entitle it to a first place in any jotting of local impressions. It is what a logician might call the differentia of Buluwayo. Put it bluntly it comes to this, that you have arrived in a community of gentlemen. A stranger making his way about the brown streets, neat brick and corrugated iron buildings set down on red earth, and divided into alternate avenues and streets—'little New York,' said a policeman complacently—a stranger pauses to ask himself if he dreams, or if the Household Brigade, the Bachelors' Club, and the Foreign Office have depleted themselves of their members, and sent them, disguised in broad-brimmed hats and riding-breeches, to hold the capital of Matabeleland. Young men of the most eligible sort are everywhere. Some of them are manifestly youthful, others are well on in the thirties, there is even a sprinkling of men of years; but the mass of the population presents the same aspect of physical fitness, that indefinable something besides, which is perhaps not to be expressed save under the single head of 'race.'" In fact, our authority asserts that nowhere can be found a healthier, shrewder, or friendlier set of men. He believes in them, and in the discipline that has toughened them to meet the real needs of life, and kept them alive to a sense of their political and social importance. He says—

"Buluwayo now possesses a population of 5000, a mayor and corporation, daily and weekly papers, and several public buildings, including banks, clubs, and an hospital built as a memorial to Major Wilson.

"The rapid increase in the value of land at Buluwayo is shown by the fact that whilst in 1894 the average price of a town stand was £103, in 1897 it had advanced to £345. By the opening of the railway, in November 1897, it is placed in direct communication with Cape Town, and a still greater increase in value may be anticipated."

Things in Rhodesia are as yet expensive, but Mr. Boyd thinks that railroads will have a cheapening influence. He quotes some present prices, which would make the hair of a Londoner stand on end! Imagine the feelings of the comfortable cockney who found himself face to face with a breakfast bill for nine shillings! For this modest sum Mr. Boyd was supplied with tea, ham, eggs, marmalade, and toast, in fact, the little commonplace things that we have come to consider as the natural fixtures of the metropolitan table!

Of the library, whose foundation-stone was laid by Sir Alfred Milner, he speaks in highly favourable terms. He says that in laying the foundation-stone no one seemed more keenly impressed than the High Commissioner himself. He prophesied the foundation of a rich university at Buluwayo to replace that other and easy one which a library is avowed to supply. At this some one smiled. But Sir Alfred rebuked him for the frivolity. He had seen enough, Sir Alfred declared, of the temper of this place, to believe a university at Buluwayo to be a consummation neither fanciful nor impossible. In regard to the agrestic qualities of this new district, Mr. H. Marshall Hole has spoken at some length in an article which appeared in an issue of Colonia, a magazine published by the Colonial College, Hollesley Bay, Suffolk. He declares that "the great advantage of Rhodesia as an agricultural country is the facility with which irrigation can be carried on; the conformation of the land is undulating, and even the so-called 'flats' are intersected in all directions by valleys, each of which possesses its watercourse, so that by the simple expedient of throwing a dam across these valleys, water may be stored and led on to the adjacent fields as required. The soil is in all parts naturally fertile, but the farmer sometimes has great difficulty in reducing it to a proper state for cultivation, owing to the roots and growth which must be exterminated before the seed is sown. The strongest ploughs and the most careful harrowing are required for this work, otherwise the settler will have to face the annoyance and delay of broken ploughshares, and the disaster of a crop choked by tangle-grass and weeds. The crops to which farmers have hitherto most devoted themselves in Rhodesia are mealies (maize) and forage (oat hay). These find a ready market at all times, as they form the staple food of horses. The next most popular crop is potatoes, which do well, are not liable to disease, and are in so great request that they sometimes fetch 1s. 6d., and seldom fall below 3d. per pound in the market. All kinds of English vegetables prosper with very little trouble, beyond careful watering in dry weather, and weeding during the rains; but, for some unexplained reason, vegetable culture is left almost entirely to the coolies or Indians, who, despite their very primitive methods of irrigation and tillage, make immense profits thereby."

Further on he says that farms of about 3000 acres may be bought at from £250 to £2000, according to their situation as regards neighbouring towns, or the extent of cultivation done on them; and while the farmer will not derive much more than a bare subsistence for the first year or two, he may, by combining dairy-farming and timber-cutting with his more extensive operations, make both ends meet at any rate, and enhance the value of his land without being out of pocket. One with a small capital has, of course, a better chance of immediate profit, and such an one would do well to join some established and experienced man in partnership, or as a pupil, in order to learn something of the business before entering it finally. His advice to adventurous youth is, "By all means go, if you can manage to put together enough money to pay your passage and to keep yourself for two or three months after your arrival."

Of the towns he speaks appreciatively. "We have buildings of a very substantial type, built for the most part of brick. There are blocks of rooms which form bachelor 'diggings' for single men, and small but comfortable suburban houses for families, while the railways on the east and west afford facilities for the importation of excellent furniture. Eight years ago it was so difficult to obtain furniture that every little packing case was carefully treasured, its nails drawn out and straightened, and its boards converted into tables, stools, and shelves. To-day it is no uncommon thing to find pianos and billiard tables in private houses in Buluwayo, and even in Salisbury, which has not yet been reached by the railway, while the club-houses at both places are models of comfort and luxury."

A writer, who signs himself "W. E. L.," in British Africa says of Rhodesia, "That the soil is mostly very fertile; in Matabeleland alone 6000 square miles are suitable for cultivation without any artificial irrigation, or other extensive preliminary work. In 1891, a commission of Cape Colony farmers visited the country, and reported favourably on the land from an agricultural standpoint. Mr. Lionel Decle said, 'I am the first traveller who has crossed Africa from the Cape to Uganda, and I must say the British South Africa Company may certainly boast of possessing the pick of Central Africa on both sides of the Zambesi.'

"Teak forests cover 2000 square miles in North-West Matabeleland; and Mashonaland is very well timbered, mostly with trees of the acacia family.

"The native crops are rice, tobacco, cotton, and india-rubber. All European vegetables can be grown to perfection, especially cabbages, lettuces, beetroot, turnips, carrots, and onions. There were in 1897 over eighty market gardens in the neighbourhood of Buluwayo, and for the half-year ending September 1897, the value of the produce sold was £9630.

"Fruit orchards are being planted, and nearly all fruit appears to flourish, especially grapes, figs, oranges, peaches, almonds, walnuts, lemons, bananas, quinces, apricots, pomegranates, and apples. All kinds of European cereals can be grown, and maize does well.

"The average rainfall is 30 to 35 inches, 90 per cent. of which falls during the wet season—November to March.

"The temperature rarely touches freezing point, except on the highlands round Salisbury and Fort Charter, and owing to the great elevation (4000 to 5000 feet) of most of the country, rarely exceeds 90° in the shade. In the low-lying Zambesi valley, however, it is very hot from December to March."

Of the mineral wealth, it seems as yet dangerous to prognosticate. Prophecies are many, and there is every reason to believe that the mines will be prolific as those of the Transvaal. In regard to this matter, however, time alone can show.

GOLD

It may be remembered that in and after 1854, the Boers commenced to block up the path of travellers, and in some cases to cause expulsion of visitors across the Vaal. Doubtless this policy of expulsion originated in the nefarious traffic in "apprentices," which they wished to carry on uninterruptedly, but there was also another reason for their precautions. Stray discoveries of gold had been made from time to time, and gold prospectors began to take an uncomfortable interest in the district. Now the Boers had no desire to open up their country to the mining population, or to run any risks which might interfere with their hardly won independence. After the discoveries of the German explorer Manch, however, they were unable entirely to resist invasion. The ears of the public were tickled. The hint of nuggets in the Transvaal naturally drew thither a horde of adventurous Europeans who would not be denied. The first immigrants betook themselves to Barberton, and some three or four years later to the Witwatersrandt. These appear mostly to have been Scotsmen, for President Burgers christened the earliest goldfields Mac Mac, in consequence of the names of the invaders. Miners and speculators of all kinds commenced to pour into those districts, some to make a fortune as quickly as possible, and rush off to spend it elsewhere, others to settle themselves in the country and develop schemes for financial outlay, profitable alike to themselves and to the land of their adoption. Now these permanent visitors were scarcely appreciated by the Boers. They foresaw the alien transformed into the citizen, and objected to him. The power which they had acquired, both by long years of hardship and long hours of scheming, they wished to keep entirely in their own hands. With the arrival of further settlers they feared this independence would be materially weakened. In order that further possible citizens might not be attracted to the Transvaal, the Volksraad passed a law calculated to damp their ardour. This law imposed on all candidates for the franchise a residence of five years, to be accompanied by register on the Field Cornet's books, and a payment of £25 on admission to the rights of citizenship.

The first discoverers of the great goldfield are reported to be the Brothers Struben, owing to whose perseverance and patience the Witwatersrandt became the Eldorado of speculators' dreams. In 1886 this locality was declared a public goldfield by formal proclamation, and the South African golden age began.

In a little while the regions north of the Limpopo began to be investigated, and each in their turn to yield up their treasures. In 1888 a concession to work mineral upon his territory was obtained from Lobengula, the Matabele king. A year later the British South Africa Company was founded. The Company having obtained its charter, no time was lost. In 1890, we find the now noted pioneer expedition plying its activities in Mashonaland.

Mr. Basil Worsfold, in a most instructive article in the Fortnightly Review, affords an excellent insight into the energy that characterised the Company's proceedings:—"In the space of three months, a road 400 miles in length was cut through jungle and swamp, and a series of forts was erected and garrisoned by the Company's forces. After the Matabele war, which occupied the closing months of 1893, the prospecting and mining for gold was commenced in Matabele, as well as in Mashonaland, and at the present time Buluwayo, Lobengula's kraal, has become the chief centre of the industry. These operations were checked by the revolt of the Matabele and Mashona in 1896, but since that period gold mining has been steadily progressing. The Buluwayo yield for December 1898 amounted to 6258 oz.: while that of the four last months—September to December—of the same year was 18,084 oz., of the value of about £70,000!"

The other fields which yield gold are the Transvaal, Lydenberg, and De Kaap fields, and the Klerksdorp and Potchefstrom fields. The output of these fields continues to grow apace, but how much longer the growth will be maintained is uncertain. The opinion of Mr. Hamilton Smith, who wrote to the Times on the subject in 1895, is worth consideration. He says, "In 1894 the value of the Randt gold bullion was £7,000,000, and this without any increase from the new deep-level mines; these latter will become fairly productive in 1897, so for that year a produce of fully £10,000,000 can be fairly expected. Judging from present appearances, the maximum product of the Randt will be reached about the end of the present century, when it will probably exceed £12,500,000 per annum."

It is interesting to find that Mr. Smith's maximum figure was already exceeded in the year 1898, when the total yield of gold was 4,295,602 oz., valued at £15,250,000!

The following table, based on Mr. H. Smith's and Dr. Soetbeer's estimates, affords us an opportunity for comparing the South African output with that of other countries, and the world's present supply with that of former years:—

Gold Output for 1894.		World's Output.
	Value.	From	Average annual value.
United States	£9,000,000	1700 to 1859	£ 2,000,000
Australasia	8,000,000	1850 to 1975	25,000,000
South Africa	7,000,000	1875 to 1890	20,000,000
Russia (1892)	4,000,000	1894 (one year only)	36,000,000

Of the stimulus given to railway construction by the establishment of the gold industry Mr. Worsfold speaks with authority. He says, "To-day, Johannesburg—built on land which in 1886 was part of an absolutely barren waste—is approached by three distinct lines, which connect it directly with the four chief ports of South Africa—Delagoa Bay, Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town. Of these lines the earliest, which traverses the Free State from end to end, and links the Randt with the Cape Colony, was not opened until July 1892. The Pretoria-Delagoa Bay line was completed in the autumn of 1894; and the extension of the Randt railway to Charlestown, the connecting-point with the Natal line, was not effected until the following year. These, together with some subsidiary lines, represent a total of 1000 miles of railway constructed mainly under the stimulus of the gold industry in the Transvaal. To this total two considerable pieces of railway construction, accomplished in the interest of the gold industry in the Chartered Company's territories, must be added. Of these, the first extended the main trunk line of Africa from Kimberley successively to Vryburg and Mafeking, in 1890 and 1894, and then finally to Buluwayo in 1897, and the second, the Beira line, by securing a rapid passage through the 'fly country,' brought Salisbury into easy communication with the East Coast of Africa at the port so named. Taken together, they measure 930 miles. It should be added also that arrangements are already in progress for the extension of the trunk line from Buluwayo to Tanganyika—a distance of about 750 miles. This will form a new and important link in Mr. Rhodes' great scheme of connecting Cape Town with Cairo."

The telegraph advanced more speedily even than railroads, and the population has kept pace with wire and rail. Johannesburg has a population of 120,800 souls, and Buluwayo, a savage desert not long ago, has now an European society of over 5000 persons. It is therefore somewhat questionable if Mr. Froude is justified in his opinion that diamonds and gold are not the stuff of which nations are made. Nations, if they are to expand, must be fed, and while diamond and gold mines give up of their wealth, we are assured of sufficient food to foster expansion. That done, it remains merely with the Government of the flourishing nation to decide whether its work shall be little or large.

It is curious to note that in spite of the disturbance in the Transvaal the mines continued to maintain their position, with the result that the gold output from the Randt for July shows a considerable increase upon previous months. According to the official figures received from the Chamber of Mines, the returns were as follows:—

456,474 ozs.	for the Witwatersrandt district
22,019 ozs.	for the outside district
————
478,493 ozs.

The production in June 1899 was:—

445,763 ozs.	for the Witwatersrandt district
21,508 ozs.	for the outside district
————
In all 467,271 ozs.

And in July 1898:—

359,343 ozs.	for the Witwatersrandt district
22,663 ozs.	for the outside district
————
In all 382,006 ozs.

This table shows that during the twelve months since July 1898 the production of gold on the Randt has increased by 100,000 ozs. a month—equivalent to 1,200,000 ozs. a year. It will be found that, if these returns are compared with the estimates made by competent authorities, the actual output is far in excess of all estimates, following is the gold output table, Transvaal, to July 1899:—

month.	1895.	1896.	1897.	1898.	1899.	total to date.
	Ozs.	Ozs.	Ozs.	Ozs.	Ozs.	Ozs.
January	177,463	148,178	209,832	336,577	431,010	369,557—1889
February	169,296	167,019	211,000	321,238	425,166	42,000—'87-8-9
March	184,945	173,952	232,067	347,643	464,036	494,817—1890
April	186,323	176,003	235,698	353,243	460,349	729,238—1891
May	194,580	195,009	248,305	365,016	466,452	1,210,867—1892
June	200,942	193,640	251,529	365,091	467,271	1,478,473—1893
July	199,453	203,874	242,479	382,006	478,493	2,024,163—1894
August	203,573	213,418	259,603	398,285	...	2,277,640—1895
September	194,765	202,562	262,150	408,502	...	2,281,175—1896
October	192,652	199,890	274,175	423,217	...	3,034,674—1897
November	195,219	201,113	297,124	413,517	...	4,555,009—1898
December	178,429	206,517	310,712	440,674	...	3,193,777—1899
Total	2,277,640	2,281,175	3,034,674	4,555,009	3,193,777	21,899,562 ozs.

Government Returns; some additions to be made for Rhodesia.

DIAMONDS

The discovery of diamonds in South Africa was made by a curious accident. One day a trader travelling along in the neighbourhood north of Cape Colony happened to stop at a farm. While there, he was interested in a small child who was toying with a bright and singularly lustrous pebble. His curiosity was aroused, and he suggested that the thing might be rare enough to be of some value. Thereupon the stone was sent to an expert in Grahamstown, who declared it to be a diamond. The stone weighed twenty-one carats and was valued at £500. From that date search was made in and around the locality, and more diamonds, smaller and of inferior quality, were found. During the years 1867-68 nothing very active was done, though now and again these precious stones were discovered near the Vaal River.

In the month of March, 1869, the world was startled and began to open its eyes. The diamond known as "the Star of Africa," weighing some eighty-three carats in its raw state, was obtained from a Hottentot. This individual had been in possession of the valuable property for some time, and had kept it solely on account of its rarity as a charm. The stone was eventually sold for the sum of £11,000.

The north bank of the Vaal where the discoveries were made was, at that time, a species of "No-Man's-Land." The southern bank belonged to the Free State, but for the other side there were many claimants, none of whom could prove a title to it. The community of miners which there gathered was consequently lawless and ruffianly, and its mode of government was distinctly primitive.

The various claimants, notably the Griqua Captain, Nicholas Waterboer, commenced disputes regarding the valuable portion of the Free State territory, and finally it was decided to submit to British arbitration. President Brand refused the offer, but President M. W. Pretorius of the South African Republic, who had grievances against the Barolong, Batlapin, and Griqua tribes, agreed. A Court was appointed, the Governor of Natal acting as umpire. The interests involved were many, and on the subject of their rights the various claimants seemed somewhat hazy. The Free State was not represented, and the umpire, acting on the evidence of Mr. Arnot (the agent of Nicholas Waterboer) gave judgment against the South African Republic, and allowed the claim of the Griqua Captain, including in the award the tract claimed by him in the Free State. The complicated situation is thus described by Mr. Bryce in his "Impressions of South Africa":—

"As Waterboer had before the award offered his territory to the British Government, the country was forthwith erected into a Crown Colony, under the name of Griqualand West. This was in 1871. The Free State, whose case had not been stated, much less argued, before the umpire, protested, and was after a time able to appeal to a judgment delivered by a British Court, which found that Waterboer had never enjoyed any right to the territory. However, the new Colony had by this time been set up, and the British flag displayed. The British Government, without either admitting or denying the Free State title, declared that a district in which it was difficult to keep order amid a turbulent and shifting population ought to be under the control of a strong power, and offered the Free State a sum of £90,000 in settlement of whatever claim it might possess. The acceptance by the Free State, in 1876, of this sum closed the controversy, though a sense of injustice continued to rankle in the breasts of some of the citizens of the Republic. Amicable relations have subsisted ever since between it and Cape Colony, and the control of the British Government over the Basutos has secured for it peace in the quarter which was formerly most disturbed.

"These two cases show how various are the causes, and how mixed the motives, which press a great power forward even against the wishes of its statesmen. The Basutos were declared British subjects, partly out of a sympathetic wish to rescue and protect them, partly because policy required the acquisition of a country naturally strong, and holding an important strategical position. Griqualand West, taken in the belief that Waterboer had a good title to it, was retained after this belief had been dispelled, partly perhaps because a population had crowded into it which consisted mainly of British subjects, and was not easily controllable by a small State, but mainly because Colonial feeling refused to part with a region of such exceptional mineral wealth. And the retention of Griqualand West caused, before long, the acquisition of Bechuanaland, which in its turn naturally led to that northward extension of British influence which has carried the Union Jack to the shores of Lake Tanganyika."

Griqualand West, whose capital is the salubrious Kimberley, was settled in 1833 by the Griquas or Baastards, a tribe of Dutch Hottentot half-breeds. As we have seen, the territory was claimed by the chief, Waterboer, and his claim was allowed by the Governor of Natal. When he subsequently ceded his rights, the province was annexed to Cape Colony, but with independent jurisdiction. In 1881 it became an integral part of Cape Colony. Griqualand East comprises No-Man's-Land, the Gatberg and St. John's River territory, under eight subordinate magistrates.

A word, before passing on, of Kimberley. This town, hitherto known as the City of Diamonds, has now the distinction of being the casket where Mr. Rhodes, with the price of £5000 on his head, was incarcerated. Its real birth dates from 1869-70, when all the world rushed out to win fortune from its soil. Happily at that time Mr. Cecil Rhodes happened to be in the neighbourhood. With his usual gift of foresight, he recognised that some process of amalgamating the various conflicting claims and interests, and merging them in one huge whole, would be necessary if the value of diamonds was to be kept up. He invented a scheme, and succeeded—the great corporation, the De Beers Consolidated Mining Company, limited the output of diamonds to an annual amount such as Europe and the United States were able to take at a price high enough to leave an adequate profit. This arrangement has, in a measure, had the effect of depopulating the place. At least it has thinned it of the crowd of adventurers who previously infested the region and struggled to maintain an independent existence there. In the absence of these loafers the town is civilised, and comparatively refined. There are groves of gum-trees to promote shade, and thickets of prickly pear, which have ever a rural, though touch-me-not aspect. The low-storeyed houses, built bungalow-wise, have an air of capaciousness and ease; and further out, in Kenilworth, there are comfortable dwellings, surrounded with trees, and suggestive of a certain suburban picturesqueness. This region owes its cheerful and well-ordered aspect entirely to Mr. Rhodes, who is at the same time the parent and the apostle of all progress in South Africa.

The diamonds have their home in beds of clay, which are usually covered with calcareous rock. These beds are the remains of mud pits, due to volcanic action. Mr. Bryce, in his "Impressions of South Africa, says:—

"Some of the mines are worked to the depth of 1200 feet by shafts and subterranean galleries. Some are open, and these, particularly that called the Wesselton Mine, are an interesting sight. This deep hollow, one-third of a mile in circumference and 100 feet deep, enclosed by a strong fence of barbed wire, is filled by a swarm of active Kaffir workmen, cleaving the 'hard blue' with pickaxes, piling it up on barrows, and carrying it off to the wide fields, where it is left exposed to the sun, and, during three months, to the rain. Having been thus subjected to a natural decomposition, it is the more readily brought by the pickaxe into smaller fragments before being sent to the mills, where it is crushed, pulverised, and finally washed to get at the stones. Nowhere in the world does the hidden wealth of the soil and the element of chance in its discovery strike one so forcibly as here, where you are shown a piece of ground a few acres in extent, and are told, 'Out of this pit diamonds of the value of £12,000,000 have been taken.' Twenty-six years ago the ground might have been bought for £50."

To encourage honesty in the miner good wages are given, and ten per cent. is allowed to finders of valuable stones who voluntarily deliver these to the overseer. Apropos of this subject, Mr. Bryce relates an amusing tale, which, if not true, is certainly ben trovato: "I heard from a missionary an anecdote of a Basuto who, after his return from Kimberley, was describing how, on one occasion, his eye fell on a valuable diamond in the clay he was breaking into fragments. While he was endeavouring to pick it up he perceived the overseer approaching, and, having it by this time in his hand, was for a moment terribly frightened, the punishment for theft being very severe. The overseer, however, passed on. 'And then,' said the Basuto, 'I knew that there was indeed a God, for He had preserved me.'"

Before leaving the subject of diamonds, it may be interesting to note the material increase of the products of the mines year by year. The following is a table of statistics of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, since its formation, 1st April 1888:—

TABLE OF STATISTICS.

	Year ending	Number of Loads of Blue Hoisted.	Number of Loads of Blue Washed.	Number of Carats of Diamonds Found.	Amount Realised by Sale of Diamonds.			Number of Carats per Load of Blue.	Amount Realised per Carat Sold.		Amount Realised per Load.		Cost of Production per Load.		Number of Loads of Blue on Floors at Close of Year, exclusive of Lumps.	Dividends Paid
																Amount.			Equal to.
					£	s.	d.		s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.		£	s.	d.
De Beers and Kimberley Mines	March 31, 1889, prior to consolidation	944,706	712,263	914,121	901,818	0	5	1.283	19	8¾	25	3¾	9	10½	476,403	188,329	10	0	5percent.
	March 31, 1890	2,192,226	1,251,245	1,450,605	2,330,179	16	3	1.15	32	6¾	37	2¾	8	10½	1,576,821	789,682	0	0	20"
	March 31, 1891	1,978,153	2,029,588	2,020,515	2,974,670	9	0	.99	29	6	29	3¾	8	8	1,525,386	789,791	0	0	20"
	[A]June 30, 1892	3,338,553	3,239,134	3,035,481	3,931,542	11	1	.92	25	6	23	5	7	4.3	1,624,805	1,382,134	5	0	35"
	June 30, 1893	3,090,183	2,108,626	2,229,805	3,239,389	8	6	1.05	29	0.6	30	6	6	11.6	2,606,362	987,238	15	0	25"
	June 30, 1894	2,999,431	2,577,460	2,308,463½	2,820,172	3	9	.89	24	5.2	21	10.6	6	6.8	3,028,333	987,238	15	0	25"
	June 30, 1895	2,525,717	2,854,817	2,435,541½	3,105,957	15	8	.85	25	6	21	8	6	10.8	2,699,233	987,238	15	0	25"
	June 30, 1896	2,698,109	2,597,026	2,363,437¾	3,165,382	1	4	.91	26	9.4	24	4.5	7	0.1	2,800,316	1,579,582	0	0	40"
	June 30, 1897	2,515,889	3,011,288	2,769,422¾	3,722,099	3	3	.92	26	10.6	24	8.6	7	4.3	2,304,917	1,579,582	0	0	40"
Premier Mine	June 30, 1897	271,777	...	...	...			...	...		...		...		271,777	...			...
De Beers and Kimberley Mines	June 30, 1898	3,332,688	3,259,692	2,603,250	3,451,214	15	3	.80	26	6.2	21	2.1	6	7.4	2,377,913	1,579,582	0	0	40 per cent.
Premier Mine	June 30, 1898	1,146,984	691,722	189,356¼	196,659	18	8	.27	20	9.3	5	8.2	2	7.1	727,039

[A] These figures are for a period of fifteen months. Add 10 per cent. for other products.