3-047-007 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

At the sorting table in the Diamond Diggings, 1872. 'The South African diamond-diggings...are situated, for the most part, in the extensive valley of the Vaal river...The land here is intersected by long stony ridges, which consist of large fragments of rock thrown together, and covered with a deep ferruginous gravel. In this gravel,...between the loose rocks, the precious gems are found. The manner of working is simple enough. A claim, or piece of ground 30 ft. square, is occupied by two diggers in partnership, attended by their black servants. They remove the loose blocks of stone...they take up the gravel, and sift it thoroughly in a sieve rocked by a cradle. When the pebbles have been thus separated from the sand, they are cleansed and placed upon the sorting-table, and are most carefully examined, to find any diamonds that may lie in the heap. The result is often disappointing, but sometimes the diggers are richly rewarded for their toilsome drudgery by the discovery of a glittering prize. The n*gro assistants, being almost naked, have no pockets in which to conceal what they might be tempted to purloin; but they have been known to hide much larger articles of value about their persons, when they are not strictly watched'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.