Part 4 (1/2)
On my way home, a couple of hours later, I could not see either the tent or the hut The country was level and quite bare, so the tent had always been a conspicuous landmark froht I must have lost my way But no; there was the kraal I came to the conclusion that the tent had been blon When I reached the spot all I found o circles of ashes The tent and the hut had been burnt down bedding, clothing, provisions everything except the gun, which I had taken with me, and the saddle which was in the pony's shelter down in the kloof had been consu ht fell; I could not endure the loneliness, so fled from the desolated spot I was at the time not quite fourteen years old
Shortly after this catastrophe I trekked with my flock to a small farm near what is now called Kei Road, but which was then known as Hangman's Bush Here there was a homestead But the place was surrounded by small fields cultivated by German peasants; consequently the sheep were continually trespassing and being sent to the pound Before many months the flock had to be disposed of at a ruinous loss Thus ingloriously ended my first and last adventure as a stock-far fortune was in the line of Kaffir trading I hired myself to a trader, whose shop was in the Gaika Reserve, close to the kraal of the celebrated Chief Sandile, not far from Tembani Sandile, who possessed enormous influence with his powerful and war-like tribe, was a nity He was club-footed, and consequently went very lae to his kraal He ca for this He paid no heed to ed hi in the lad to be able to say that I kept the coin But Sandile was a brave man; he died the death of a soldier in the Gaika Rebellion of 1878 He was killed in a skir William's Town
My career as a trader was shorter and even lorious than that as a fared as utterly incoh I resented this at the time, I am now convinced that the dismissal ell-merited
It is difficult in these days when Cook & Son issue excursion tickets to the Za over the greater part of South Africa forty years ago I can remember how as a child I used to pore over the maps of the period so poor in detail, occasionally with ”elephants for want of towns” and wonder as to whether, after I had grown up, I e River Farther than that my wildest anticipatory drea sheen of the diamonds unearthed on the banks of the distant Vaal, thrilled every one with a desire for adventure
Before we could realize the process, the caravan crowded road was open to all; thus one of the ramparts of mystery, had fallen
We have all become more or less accustoo a diamond stood rather for crystallized romance than for a for of history, for empire, and for unbounded wealth We knew that wars had been waged for the possession of such gems, that blackest cri luster We felt that every celebrated stone, whether shi+ning on the breast of a lovely wo, was a syedy, a focus of human passion
It is, therefore, no wonder that the disturbance of our uneventful South African life a life as simple and as serene as any lived on the face of the earth caused by the realization that diamonds had actually been discovered near the borders of the Cape Colony, raised a flood of wildest excitement This flood soon swept in a wave of lamorous North
Many of my friends had ventured to the new Golconda, and I was fired with desire to follow the gleath I met a man who, after much persuasion, consented to let me accompany him on a contemplated trip to the Vaal River This was William Broill be remembered by most old Kaffrarians Broas a far on Governe of the Isidengi Forest, not far from Kabousie Nek I had now and then stayed with hih the lovely woodland that surrounded his dwelling
Living in another hut in the vicinity was a very strange character called ”Jarge”; his surnae was a very old inally from Somersetshi+re, he had never lost the dialect of his early years Many an hour have I spent at his saw-pit, listening to recitals of his fifty-year-old adventures, so e leopard; the ani questioned as to his feelings on the occasion, Jarge replied: ”O, zur, I beed awful frowt”
Brown's preparations for departure were slow;was ready The caravan consisted of two Scotch carts, each drawn by six oxen With these we started on our long journey, crossing Kabousie Nek by a road of a gradient steeper than that of any other I have traversed in a vehicle We were accoe character a man named Dixon, who had lived for many years at the foot of the Kabousie Mountain Dixon had been a military tailor at Gibraltar He had a red face and fiercely protuberant eyebrows, a curled up moustache, and an imperial When he becarew es it has been e to meet Twenty years afterwards I saw, him at the front in one of the Kaffir wars He e, yet, literally, he did not look a day older than e first met
We struck a bad snowstor; had we not been able to drive the oxen into a sheltered kloof they would assuredly have perished We shi+vered sleepless all night under one of the carts in a freezing gale Next es far and near were heavily, covered with glistening snow A few days later we picked up twotowards the diaer; I believe he was the son of a former lessee of Covent Garden Opera House His companion was a man named Hull, an ex-publican from Lambeth With these two chance companions we entered into a sort of partnershi+p; for soether
On our way through the Orange Free Stateibuck and an occasional herd of blesbuck and wildebeeste As ere badly aruns In those days it was lawful for travelers to shoot ga the roadside for their own consuer shooting a buck on his veld than a gardener would object to one destroying a caterpillar
When we reached the fields we found the ”dry diggings” at Du Toit's Pan and Bultfontein in full swing ”Old De Beers” had only been ”rushed” a few days previously So we decided to try our luck at Bultfontein instead of going on to the Vaal River, as we had originally intended
We outspanned in the middle of the Du Toit's Pan ”pan”; this, of course, was a purely tee of the carts while the others went on to look for a permanent location
Here it was that I nearly killed one of athered on the road with three brothers naed to the well-known fa to the fields in a sht previously, and ever since the two caravans had traveled together We had becoer brother, Saht me to s ”Boer” tobacco too strong for uiled the weary hours oftobacco in boiling water in a large pannikin After the soaking had gone on for some considerable time, I took the tobacco out of the water, squeezed it, and set it out in the sun on a board to dry
The liquor re in the pannikin was just the color of milkless coffee made with vlei water William Dell, the eldest brother (he afterwards lived at shi+lbottel, in the Peddie district), had gone to the camp with the others He returned alone The afternoon was hot, and Dell was extreon he called out for water Unfortunately there was no one at the wagon Seeing an opportunity of paying off a score, I called out: ”Here is so the tobacco juice
Poor Dell thanked ulp of its contents At once he flung the vessel into the air, fell to the ground, and began to contort violently I looked on, horror-stricken at the effect ofset in; this, no doubt, saved the sufferer's life I had quite unwittingly, of course administered a ht Williaestive of murder in it So I oing Late at night I returned to the vicinity of the camp and, after some difficulty, opened communication with Saood enough to forgiveI so richly deserved
Our plans were changed almost immediately; we decided to try our luck at Old De Beers Next day we trekked thither, and pitched our camp on the plain to the south-ard of the e ”caht universal havoc, the landscape surrounding the dry diggings ooded and highly picturesque At the spot we selected for our encae trees stood; between these we pitched our tents
I felt quite at home Camped in the vicinity were s, and others We started work immediately on the eastern side of theout and the payment of a license; probably not more than two thirds of the surface of the mine had been ”located”
We found a very few diamonds; all were small, and none were of any particular value
Fuel was plentiful; at night camp-fires twinkled far and near Around these happened sos I have ever attended
The nights were usually clear and cal the day and the stars shone as they only shi+ne when the dew-moist air of upland South Africa underlies the music, whether by means of violin, concertina, or voice, was much in demand Coffee and rusks circulated freely Quite a nuht their fairl in print dress and ”cappie” joined the firelit circle Most of us were young and free from care Life was full of romance, for Fortune scattered her favors with an occasionally lavish hand Every few days one would hear of so a ”stone” worth perhaps several hundred pounds And in those days money waspoas probably three tireat as it is now
Our most serious difficulty was in the , and no drinking water was obtainable nearer than Wessel's Farm, seven miles away It was part of my duty to repair thither once a ith a Scotch cart and fetch two hogsheads full So far as I can res at the well