A NEW ZEALANDER IN KIMBERLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 46

A NEW ZEALANDER IN KIMBERLEY.

WHAT A BLENHEIM BOY HAS TO SAY ABOUT SUUTH AFRICA.

The following interesting notes on Kimberley are from a letter written by Mr John M. Gillefpie, an old Blenheim boy, son of Mr Giliespie, now of that town, but formerly an Otago settler •.—. —

As you aie aware, I now consider myself a fullblown cit'z^n of the great diamond fields' camp, Kimberley, atid can only sum it up by saying that it is on a par with all other South African towns I have seen — a doubtful compliment. By the papers I have sent you will notice paragraphs about the iernble weather experienced lately on the coast. Well, on tbe way round to East London from Durban per Norman we caught it properly. At, E-iSt London the ships anchor some miles off the land, and the passengers are taken ashore in a tug about the siz3 of tbe one that dodges about Picton Harbour. About a dcz?n at a time are crammed into a basket (not a Maori ki 1 -) and hoisted up into midair until cl«!ar of tbe ship, and then dropped with a thud in to the deck of the lug.- If you happen to be suffering from rheumatism or any other little complaint, when careful handling is a i ecesi-ity, this mode of exit is peculiarly adapted to such ailment. They treat a basket of passengers as if it were a basket of eggs— cast-iron ones. Well, when our tug reached* the ship a 20 ; knot sea was running, and the gyrations of a boneless acrobat were nothing compared to the movements of that tug. First she appeared to be making circles round the vicinity of the yardarms, then to bs endeavouring to creep under the bottom of the ship, and finally, for a wind up, to be heeling and toci'g it (with her bow and stern like a Scotchman throwing his whole heart and soul into a Highland schottische). To be brief, we were slung on to the cockleshell — men, women, and children bundled into a cabin aboul Bft x 6 ft, battened down, with the thermometer at 150Jeg; and then commenced indescribable trouble, especially with our inner parts. Everybody, with a few txceptiobs, sick ; women fainting, and others making things merry generally. After battling away gamely for over an hour and a-half we got into the smooth waters of the Buffalo River, and, ok ! what a relief. Honestly speaking, I thought when we loft the steamer that we just had as much chance of leaching the river in that tug as we had of all becoming millionaires ; but I did that cockleshell an injustice by such thought?. She is the gamest little sea craft I have struck, and I will always look back on that trip with feelings of don't want another.

The Buffalo River is a thing of beauty in South Africa, and it is some time since I so much erjoyed a steam on a Sunday afternoon as when we travelled on its placid waterp. East London is rather a pretty place, trees growing in,abundacce and gardens nicely laid out; bufc judgirg from a Sunday afiernoon aspect I should imagine it would be a nice place to live. out of. There I met at the hotel where I h&dt meals several ex-drapers, exclerk.c, and ex-vaiious-other- beings who had just returned from the front, where they had been engaged shooting natives. Judging from the amount of blow indulged in by these would- have-you-believe warriors, the men who took Sabastopol and the men who took part 5n the charge of the Ligbt Brigade were babies in- valour compared with themselves. From what I could hear from the more truthful ones of the contingent the outiner was a vtry nice little picnic, and most of the niggers shot were first c jpiured and disarmed, and given CJ to run, whereon they were bulleted like rabbits. The paper I send along with this will vouch for this statement-.

I left East London at 8 p m. by train and travelled along for over 40 hours at varkus speede — fast, moderately fast, and slow, but chiefly slow. The journey is exceedingly uninteresting. Several tmall Dutch settlements, like oases in a desert waste, are seen in tbe midst of veldt, veldt, veldt for hundreds of mile?, with not a stream or a tree, save a few aroo bushes which have forced themselves up between tbe sharp gtones evejywbere, so plentiful are they. Hundreds oi flat-topped kopjep, resembling mountains with round tables planked on top, were seen. The only scenes of interest were a number of ottrich farm?, with dozens of those gigantic birds strutting about as if they were the lords or creation. In the carriage' with me waß a corporal of the Westminster Regiment .travelling in uniform to Kimberley to play against the ETaglish football team. j This man caused no little consternation among: the various Bjers loitering at the different station?, and many were the exclamations of "Veldom de Boor batj-s" (So-and-so soldier), " Verdom de ReveDeke " (it's Eogluh) passed. Another passenger who had lost a leg in the Jamie son raid had naturally a great dUlik* for these Boer sentriee. This was added to by his being compelled a few weeks previously, when crossing tbe Transvaal border, to pay 8* duty on the wooden leg. I? they had known he had lost it in trying to capture the State the leg would probably have been confiscated by the Boer officials and kept as a memento of what,badbeen.

Some five hours before reaching Kimberley the train crossed the famous Vaal River, so well known to the readers of Rider Haggard's descriptive books. Mining for the precious stones is still carried on on the banks of this river — in some cases with splendid success..

At last tbe train steams into the Diamond Camp, and the first thing that strikes the new arrival is the exceeding narrowness of the street?. They are something after tbe style of the back lanes of New Zealand. Dutvitspan road, the principal Btreet of the town, is not more than 12yds wide,' with footpaths hardly wide enough for two persons to walk abreast. Cape carts, driven by drivers of all colours, fly recklessly along these thoroughfares, and the tfhwary pedestrian often finds himself in great danger of being run over. Kimberley is the worst laid-out town I have seen. Tbe streets run in all directions and at all angles. Capture a large spider, dip his legs in ink, and let him crawl at his sweet will over a sheet of white paper, and you will get as near a production of the lay of Kimberlev streets as it is dob-

siblo to get. Old Blenheimites say that when the Ficfcon line was laid out, when a flax bush was encountered, rather than clear it out of the way the line was invariably taken round if, hence the beautiful curves. This practice must certainly have been followed in a much greater degree by the gentlemen responsible for the laying out of the township of Kimberley. The houses are unpretentious in structure, especially in the back streets, where hundreds of the old-time little home-made shanties, manufactured out of the lining of packing cases, still predominate. Tho streets are coated with a fine greyish red dust, which rises in luminous clouds at the least provocation, and makes the life of the outdoor worker anything but enviable. The heat even now (September) is almost unbearable. I am told, however, that it is nothing compared with the heat of December and January. Well, there is always a certain amount of pleasure in anticipation, but when one has to anticipate days hot enough to singe the moustache eff his upper lip, with blinding dust storms thrown in by way of seasoning, and mosquitoes which, in the words of Songali, make "ye most bee-u-tiful music" to lull you to sleep, he is very much' inclined to exclaim with the Kaffir, "Econea," and flit fcr more congenial climes. Situated at the top end 'of M*in street, and close to the Diamond. Mirkcr,.is a great yawning cbaem, hundreds of feet deep, and a mile and a-half in circumference. Tnis is the famous Kimberley diamond mine, one of the first started in Griquslnnd West, and millions of pounds' worth of stoces have been taken out of it.- The late Barney Birnato received five and a-half millions from the De B-jera Company for his share alone in tbis now almost worked-out hole. Tha depth and width are so great that men working en the opposite side to where you are standing appear to be mere spectn on the horizon.

All the best mines in' Kimberley are owned by the De Beers Company, which cmpl iya thousands of men, black and white. Tue niggers are engaged for terras of three and four months, and during that period are not allowed to leave the mine. Every nighfc, or as soon as they come off shifts, they are taken to the comoound and searched for diamonds. This, I am.told, is absolutely necessary, as they are adepts at the art ot concealing stones, although moßt carefully, watched by the overseer?. Numerous are the ways adopted by these Eeemingly gu'leless "boya" to conceal the precious gems, and lucky is he who possesses a hollow tooth, for out of such cavities maDy valuable diamonds are ofttimes nnearthed duii^g the searching process. The more common plan adopted i 3 swallowing the stones, and despite the strict vigilance of the officers of the company many thousand pounds' worth of gems are annually lost to the shareholders and find their way at a tithe of their real value into the hands of I. D B.'b (illicit diamond bujer3). S^ven yeais' imprisonment is the maximum term for this offence/but notwithstanding the severity of the punishment this business is carried on to an alarrairJg extent. "Trap boys" are employed by the police to tffdr diamonds for sale to persons suspected of being I. D. B '<», and even the shrewdest of these gentry at times are captured by this means. Ddbris washing is a profitable business in Kimberley. The streets are dug up indiscriminately, and the soil saved and washed for diamond?, the council claiming a certain percentage on the value of all stones found iv this way. If a back yard or garden is suspected of containing diamondiferous soil, it is forthwith rooted up and the debris washed, Under these circumstances one can hardly wonder at Kimberley being such a dirly place.

Your KimherlfryUe is a born gambler. Everythii g in dispute is decided by the shake of the dice. G > into a draper's shop and price an article. Ask for a reduction of 13, and the polite assistant will forthwith suggest to toss or throw you whither Is be put on to the price or a like amount taken off. A Kimberley man is alwajs willing to have a wager on almost anything. If a hen is seen going across a street he will bet a sovereign either way that the said fowl will lay an tgg or cackle before she reaches the other side. In Kimberley the *' tar-brushed " portion of the community predominate — that is, there are more coloured people than white, and in consequence they are not looked upon with such disfavour as in other parts of Africa. In the SjuUi African Republic, Zululand, and Natal it is- a serious offence to eupplj a native with liquor, but in Kimberley it is a most common sight to see dozens reeling about the streets in a helpless state of intoxication. The sooner that the good example S9t by the Republic is .followed the better, for a more disgust-, ing sight than a drunken native would be impossible to imagine. Here also the niggers are allowed to walk on the footpath?, whereas in the other colony such a thing is strictly forbidden.

On Saturday last quite a crowd of people assembled on the railway station platform to«catch a glimpse of the now world-famed arch rebel Galishore, who on that day was brought from Vryburg in charge of a strong body of police. This rebel chief from D.cember to October last defied all efforts to capture him, and for months held siege in therocky caves of the Langeberg mountains. He and his followers were in possession of Martini-Henry riflss and abundant communication, and proved themselves by their many acts of bravery and daring to be the most fearless warriors known in the annals of South African warfare. Eventually, however, the few remaining ones suffered a big defeat, but G*lishore managed to escape, until, worn out by privation and hunger, he was overtaken and c iptured without resistance. He looked harmlesss enough on his arrival here a?, HmpiDg painfully (the eff.cb of a wound received during the last engagement at Largeberg),* he was marched off to the gaol. His capture practically puts an end to the native troubles in South Africa. Oh November 5 the first train will steam into Bulywayo, and a week's festivities are announced to celebrate the occasion. Some 300 invitations have been issued to the leading men of Africa, also to members of the English House of Commons to be present at the great function. A big boom is expected to set in immediately the line is completed, and the place is bound to be greatly advertised, especially by ahiDDing companies So far. however, there

is nothing to warrant a rush to tbis so-called Et Dorado. Certainly gold has been discovered there, but whether it exists in payable quantities has yet to be proved. Living is exorbitantly* dear, the licensed victualler* having just recently raised the price of board to £30 per month 1 I should Btrongly advis* New inlanders not to be led away by exaggerated rumours, which are bonnd 69 fiod their way into print-, concerning thif new country of Rhodesia. If they think of trying' their luck on this side of the water, let ma impres3 upon them the necessity of coming well supplied with cash, as it is a commodity that is essential to success in this country. Without it they had better by far remain where they are. '

Johannesburg is in a moßt deplorable state of depression, and thousands of people sre literally starving. An ex - Blenheimito builder, now one of the largest contractors on the R tnd, informed me a few weeks ago in Durban that he could get unlimited skilled labour, if he desired it, at 53 and 6* a day. What a contrast to what it was .22 months ago 1

I had the extreme pleasure shortly after my arrival in Kimberley of meetiog Mr Gerald Alien, late of Blenheim. He is in tbe Eervice of tbo Bank of Africa, and has been stationed here for some months. However, he has received - bis anarchiug order?, bat as yet does not know to.'what part of 'tjbier conutxy ha is to be transferred. At present Qerald is hors de combat, being confined to his bed with a severe attack of influenza. Ttjere are not many Blenheim boya. in South Afrioa-j-a fact which makes the meeting of those - who are here a pleasure to be long remembered. He holds the same opinion of the country as I do — not a flittering one- — and of oen yearns for a glimp3B of the green fields and refreshing scenery so common in New Zealand, but so rare in Africa. Rim. has not fallen here for over five monthF, cornf quently everything is as dry and lifeless as the proverbial picked bone. Kimberley, September 17, 1897.