Chapter L: J. M. Daguerre, born 1787, died 1851 (5)

“All the animals in this aquarium,” says Mr. Lloyd, “have to be fed constantly; and as for the sea-anemones—of which there are in the aquarium over 5,000 individuals—every one of them has a morsel of food proportioned to its size, and according to the condition of the water, given it at frequent intervals with a pair of wooden forceps by an attendant who makes this his sole occupation—as these flower-like creatures, being so non-locomotive as to be almost absolutely fixed, cannot pursue their food, or in an aquarium obtain it in any other manner. They are here deprived of the action of the waves, which in the actual ocean brings them nutriment, which is arrested by their outspread and waving tentacles. The food consumed by a few of the animals now present in the aquarium is vegetable, consisting of green weeds (_Ulva_, _Porphyra_, _Enteromorpha_, _&c._), but by far the greater number have animal food given them. This consists of shrimps, alive or dead, crabs, mussels, oysters, and fish, but they are never fed on butcher’s meat.”

The creatures known as “sea-anemones” are well represented in the Crystal Palace Aquarium. The observer cannot fail to be struck by their resemblance to flowers, from the radiated arrangement of their tentacles, and the beautiful colours they often exhibit. The opelet (_Anthea cereus_), Fig. 321, is perhaps the most beautiful among British species, and is a conspicuous denizen of the Aquarium, where its long green tentacles, tipped with lilac, are commonly seen expanded or twisting about like so many snakes. These tentacles are stretched out in search of food, and when by chance an unlucky shrimp or other suitable prey merely touches a tentacle, it is seized and held with remarkable pertinacity, the rest of the tentacles closing round it. The mouth of the creature, placed in the centre of the disc, then expands to an extraordinary size, and the prey is quickly lodged in the capacious digestive sac of the _actinia_, where the soft parts are soon dissolved, and the hard indigestible residue is ejected by the mouth. The tentacles of _Anthea_, and of other species belonging to the same subdivision of the animal kingdom, are furnished with an immense multitude of curious organs, which consist of cells or minute bags, containing coiled up within them a slender highly elastic filament. When these cells are compressed, the filament shoots out of its capsule to a surprising length; and it has been supposed that the adhesive power of the tentacles depends upon these filiferous capsules; while it is not improbable that some virulent fluid is also emitted from the cells, for the victims appear as if paralysed almost as soon as they are seized. Our knowledge of these animals has been largely extended by the opportunities of observing their habits which are afforded by marine aquaria.

FIG. 322.—_The Viviparous Blenny_ (_Zoarces viviparus_).
]

To obtain the variety of animals requisite for stocking a public aquarium is by no means an easy matter; for the animals must be good specimens, in a healthy condition, uninjured by their capture or transport from the sea. The Crystal Palace Aquarium Company have at Plymouth a large pond, which communicates with the sea at every tide; and this, under the superintendence of the company’s resident agent, serves as a store for animals. Similar arrangements exist at Southend, Weymouth, Tenby, and other places. The specimens are brought to Sydenham by fast trains—special facilities being afforded by the railway companies for this purpose. The mode of carrying the animals depends upon their nature, and is sometimes a matter of no little difficulty. All fishes, except perhaps eels and blennies, must be carried in a sufficient bulk of water; and then the due oxygenation of the water and the removal of the carbonic acid can be but very imperfectly accomplished. A considerable mass of water is absolutely necessary in such cases, and the difficulties and cost of the transit are much increased by its weight. In warm weather the quantity of oxygen retained in the water is materially diminished, and under such circumstances the creatures would soon perish. On the other hand, in very cold weather the temperature may be so far reduced below that suited to their habits that death may also result from this cause. Crabs, lobsters, sea-anemones, sea-urchins, and similar animals can in general be carried without being immersed in a mass of water. These animals are placed in layers of wet sea-weed contained in baskets, so that the air has access to the moisture which covers the bodies of the animals, which is prevented from drying up by the humidity. As in this case the small quantity of water exposes a very large surface to the air, oxygen is plentifully supplied. Mr. Lloyd points out that it is owing to the readiness with which mere films of water are aërated, that it has been found possible to convey to Australia the eggs of salmon and trout, and hatch them there. They could not have been carried in water, but they were successfully conveyed when surrounded by a cool and very moist atmosphere. This mode of transmission is much more economical and convenient than the plan of carrying the creatures in water, and it is therefore resorted to whenever the organization of the animal permits.

FIG. 323.—_The Lancelet_ (_Amphioxus lanceolatus_).
]

Specimens of a very remarkable creature are, or lately were, exhibited at this aquarium in the lancelet (_Amphioxus lanceolatus_), Fig. 323, which animal itself is a comparatively recent discovery. It is about 2½ in. long, and although it is fish-like in form, it presents so many points of structure common to lower animals, that it is looked upon by naturalists as a link between the molluscs and the fishes—being the lowest of the latter in organization. The creature can hardly be said to possess a skeleton, the tissues representing that structure are so soft. It has no definite brain, but it possesses olfactory and optic organs of a rudimentary kind.

_THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM._

The Brighton Aquarium, already so well known as a place of popular resort, is a structure of considerable architectural pretensions, and is the largest establishment of the kind in existence. The idea of this undertaking appears to have originated with Mr. E. Birch, the engineer of the actual structure, who, having, in 1866, visited the aquarium at Boulogne, perceived that the construction at Brighton of a marine aquarium on a very extended scale offered every promise of commercial success. The promoters, in 1868, obtained from Parliament an act authorizing them to acquire a certain site for the aquarium, but imposing such limits as to the height of the structure that it was necessary to place the greater part of the building below the level of the ground, a matter involving considerable engineering difficulties. The aquarium is situated close to the Chain Pier and immediately below the cliff, the building being protected from the waves by a strong sea-wall of concrete and Portland stone. The building was definitely opened in August, 1873, while the meeting of the British Association was being held in the town. Its length is no less than 715 ft., and its average width 100 ft. The predominant element in the architectural style of the building is Italian. The following particulars as to the arrangement and dimensions of the various parts of the building are derived from the official guide-book:

Entering the gates at the western end, the visitor finds himself at the top of a flight of granite steps leading to the entrance court, 60 ft. by 40 ft. The front elevation of the building is 18 ft. high, and consists of five arches, with terra-cotta columns and enrichments. On the frieze running round the sides are the appropriate words, “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life.” On the northern side of the entrance court is the restaurant; and on the southern side a series of niches ornamented with vases. From this outer court, the entrance hall, which is 80 ft. by 45 ft., is approached through three doors. This is furnished with reading-tables and supplied regularly with periodicals, journals, and telegrams; while between the pillars supporting the roof are handsome pedestals, surmounted with large glass vases containing the smaller interesting marine and fresh-water animals, which would be lost to view in the larger tanks. In one of the recesses facing the entrance are four microscopes, in which specimens illustrative of subjects in natural history connected with the aquarium are constantly exhibited. To the north of the hall lie the general manager’s offices, the retiring-rooms, kitchen, &c.; and eastwards, in a direct line with the restaurant, is the entrance to the western corridor of the aquarium proper. This corridor, which contains a great many tanks, is the longest of any: it extends 220 ft., and is broken by a central vestibule, 55 ft. by 45 ft. The roof, which is groined, is constructed of variegated bricks, and rests upon columns of Bath stone, polished serpentine marble, and Aberdeen granite, the carved capitals of the columns having appropriate marine subjects. On each side are placed the first two series of tanks, twenty-one in number. These increase in dimensions from 11 ft. by 10 ft. upwards, the largest measuring over 100 ft. in length by 40 ft. in width, and holding 110,000 gallons of sea-water. This colossal tank is the largest in the building, and is devoted to the exhibition of porpoises, turtles, and other animals of large size. The next largest tank, 50 ft. by 30 ft., is immediately opposite.

FIG. 324.—_Sea-Horses_ (_Hippocampus brevirostris_).
]

The eastern end of the western corridor opens upon the conservatory, which serves as an approach to the rockwork, fernery, and picturesque cascade, and also to the eastern corridor. Some artificial rockwork, skirting the north side of the conservatory, is traversed by a stream of water, broken up at intervals so as to form numerous little bays and ponds, and utilized for the reception of seals and the larger reptilia. In the side-space between the conservatory and the second or eastern corridor are six octagonal table-tanks, of elegant design, for the exhibition of some of the smaller and more rare marine animals, and, at the eastern extremity, apparatus which serves to illustrate the hatching and development of trout and salmon. The entire length of this second corridor is about 160 ft., one side of the eastern portion, which is 90 ft. by 23 ft., being devoted to the exhibition of fresh-water animals. At the end of the corridor are situated the curator’s offices and the naturalists’ room, fitted with open tanks and all necessary appliances; and the engines, pumps, &c., for supplying the water, and keeping it constantly aërated.

The system adopted for aërating the water at the Brighton Aquarium is quite different from that used at the Crystal Palace. In the former the water is pumped directly from the sea into reservoirs formed under the floors, and capable of holding 500,000 gallons, which can be filled in ten hours. From these the water is pumped up into the tanks as required; but there is no general circulation through the system of tanks and reservoirs. Each tank is treated independently, and its water is aërated and kept moving by the injection of air at the lower part, effected by steam power.

The popularity of the Brighton Aquarium may be judged of from the fact that the average daily number of visitors is about 9,000, and that on some occasions nearly twice that number pass the turnstiles. Among the specialities of the establishment are herring and mackerel, which it has hitherto been considered impossible to preserve in confinement for any length of time. They are now thriving well in the Aquarium, although these fishes are both extremely impatient of confinement. The herring feed readily upon small shrimps, in catching which they display a wonderful activity. Fig. 324 shows the curious fish called the “sea-horse” (_Hippocampus_), from the singular resemblance of the front part of the body to a horse’s head, or, at least, to that form which conventionally represents the “knight” among a set of chessmen. The tail of the creature is prehensile, and enables it to cling to sea-weeds and other bodies. The sea-horses have thriven well in the Brighton Aquarium, and also in that at the Crystal Palace. The latest novelties are the _Proteus_ from the dark caves of Adelsburg, axolotls from Mexico, the mud-fish (_Lepidosiren annectans_) from the Gambia, and the telescope-fish from Shanghai. Some of these creatures are of great interest from the circumstance of their forming the connecting-links between fishes and reptiles.

FIG. 325.—_Proteus anguinus._
]

There are, therefore, now on view at the Brighton Aquarium specimens of three species of animals possessing a high interest for naturalists and others—not so much because their existence has been discovered in recent times, as because they are illustrations of the great law of gradation which exists in nature. Their position in the scale of organization is so intermediate between reptiles and fishes, that naturalists have not entirely agreed as to the kingdom to which these ought to be assigned. Fig. 326 represents _Lepidosiren annectans_, which has gills covered by flaps, and not exposed as they are in ordinary amphibious animals; and is provided with four fins, or rudimentary legs, according as the reader may choose to call them. The creature’s nostrils do not communicate with the mouth, but are merely two blind sacs, as in fishes. The _Proteus anguinus_, shown in Fig. 325, is an eel-like creature, only met with in the subterranean waters of the Grotto of the Maddalena at Adelsburg. It has four imperfectly developed legs, and gills reduced to mere fringe, while there are lungs extending nearly the whole length of the abdomen. The optical organs are entirely undeveloped, being represented merely by two specks. The axolotl, Fig. 327, inhabits certain Mexican lakes, and is remarkable for preserving, through the whole period of its life, the gills for aquatic respiration, which other _amphibia_ possess in the tadpole stage only.

FIG. 326.—_The Mud-fish (Lepidosiren annectans)._
]

The mania for domestic aquaria which was at its height some years ago, and the great popularity of public marine aquaria wherever they are properly managed, express the real interest which is felt in the varied forms of animal life, of which the aquarium affords the opportunity of observing new and unknown phases. The progress of the science which treats of the organization of the animal kingdom has made rapid strides during the present century. Among the remarkable truths which have been acquired is the fact of the unity of the plan which pervades the animal kingdom. Each kind of animal has much in common with the kind above it, and with the kind below it: a certain community of organization pervades the whole, which is knit into one by the gradational forms which may be observed connecting, like links of a chain which cannot be broken, the more defined modifications from each other. It is their position in the scale of organization which, in the eyes of the philosophic naturalist, gives so much interest to some of the forms of life which have been figured above.

FIG. 327.—_The Axolotl._
]

FIG. 328.—_Sorting, Washing, and Digging at the South African Alluvial
Diamond-Fields._
]

GOLD AND DIAMONDS.

It need hardly be said that gold and diamonds are named under nineteenth century discoveries in relation to the newly-found fields which have yielded these highly-prized substances in remarkable abundance.

_GOLD._

This precious metal is met with in nearly all parts of the world, and its splendid colour, high lustre, the ease with which it may be wrought, and its property of ever remaining untarnished, have caused it to be greatly esteemed for ornamental purposes from the earliest historical ages. No doubt the store set upon gold is derived from its suitability for decorative uses; and its comparative scarcity enhances the regard in which it is held. Its use, as a standard of value, is justified by the general estimation in which it is held, and by the fact that the amount of labour required to obtain the metal is on the whole tolerably uniform. It is one of the few metals which are found in nature in the uncombined state, but its separation from the materials with which it is associated requires the performance of a certain amount of work, in whatever form the metal may occur. Its general distribution is another advantage attending its selection as the standard of value. It occurs in England and Wales; in Spain, in France, in Hungary, in Piedmont, and in other parts of Europe; in various localities in Asia; in both divisions of the New World; in the remaining quarter of the globe, where it was obtained even in very ancient times, for South-East Africa was probably the locality to which a naval expedition was despatched by King Solomon—“they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold.” Australia also has, in the last half of our century, yielded much gold.

Gold is never met with in regular veins, but in primitive or igneous rocks, or in deposits formed by the disintegration of these. In Australia the metal is associated with quartz, in slate rocks geologically equivalent to the Cambrian formations of England and Wales; and in California it is also chiefly found in material which has been formed by the wearing down of quartz and granite rocks. Before the discoveries in California and Australia most of the gold in circulation was obtained from auriferous iron pyrites. The first finding of gold in California occurred in September, 1847, when a Mr. Marshall, the proprietor of a saw-mill on the Sacramento River, observed some glistening grains among the sand in his mill-race. The news soon spread, and the inhabitants of the town of San Francisco, then numbering about two hundred persons, were greatly excited thereby. When it became known that gold was really to be found, multitudes flocked to California, the population of San Francisco rapidly increased, and at the present day the city contains nearly a thousand times as many inhabitants as it did at the time gold was first discovered. The annual value of the metal found in California averaged about £23,000,000 for ten years after 1851; but this subsequently declined to less than half in 1872.

Sir Roderick Murchison, the distinguished geologist, pointed out the great probability of the existence of gold in Australia many years before the precious metal was actually found. It has, however, been stated that gold was met with in Australia so long ago as 1788. Considering the mode in which the metal occurs, it seems strange that the emigrants who occupied the auriferous districts as agriculturists did not long ago discover the riches which Nature had scattered over the surface of the soil. No doubt, their attention was too much devoted to their sheep and cattle to notice the glittering particles which might be seen in the water-courses, and it would probably never enter their minds that the eagerly desired metal could lie exposed to view on the surface of the land. But the announcement of the discoveries in California induced men to look at the soil more attentively, and in April, 1851, Mr. Hargreaves appears to have found at Bathurst the first gold met with in Australia. Four months afterwards the metal was also picked up at Ballarat, Victoria, and the gold-fields so discovered proved even richer than those of Sydney.

The effect of this discovery on the colony of Victoria proved marvellous. The population, which in 1851 was 77,000, had in 1867 become 660,000; in the same period the land under cultivation expanded from 57,000 acres to 631,000, and the value of property rose enormously when the grazier’s estimate of its worth was replaced by that of the miner. The authorities of the colony from the first regulated the mining operations by enactments defining the rights of the miners to the “claims,” as the allotments of land for working upon are termed; and thus disorder and lawlessness were almost unknown. Fig. 329 will give the reader a notion of the appearance of a miners’ settlement in the Australian gold-fields in the earlier period.

FIG. 329.—_Gold Miners’ Camp._
]

The fundamental rocks in the colony of Victoria belong to the oldest series of strata. They answer to the Silurian formation which exists in Cumberland, Wales, and Scotland. Although the strata of the rocks are much bent, and they have been worn down by the action of water, they are as a whole but little altered, consisting chiefly of sandstones and shales. These strata are interpenetrated by innumerable veins of quartz, which vary in thickness from 1/16 in. to 150 ft. It is in these quartz veins that the gold is seen in its original matrix. The metal is sometimes in the form of grains or flakes, or in moss-like threads, embedded in the quartz; sometimes in the form of well-defined crystals, sometimes in rough lumps or _nuggets_. Fig. 330 shows three of the various modes in which the gold is found disseminated through quartz. Overlying the more ancient rocks with their auriferous quartz veins are various rocks of different ages; and as these have been in part formed by the wearing down of the older rocks, they also are in general auriferous, and contain the gold in detached pieces, varying in size from particles of fine dust to the huge nugget, containing 2,280 oz., or nearly £10,000 worth of pure gold, which was found at Dunolly.

The soil, which has been formed by the disintegration of masses of auriferous quartz, is full of gold, so that a patch of such soil 12 ft. square has been known to yield 30 oz. of gold by a very rough kind of washing to the depth of 1 ft. Soil of this kind has been carried down by rivers and streams ages ago; and the lighter particles having been carried off by the water, while the gold, from its greater specific gravity, remained at the bottom of the stream, the sands and gravel of these river-beds are very rich in gold. In many instances the ancient water-courses have been entirely covered by igneous rocks, such as basalt, which have flowed over the land in a molten state. The gold-miner often finds his reward in burrowing beneath these basalts and lavas, following the bed of the ancient river, and recovering its long-buried treasures.

FIG. 330.—_Gold in Rocks._
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FIG. 331.—_“Cradle” for Gold-washing._
]

The methods of carrying on the gold-seeking operations vary according to the nature of the deposit which is worked and the resources of the miner. The simplest, which was that most practised in the early days of the gold-fields, consists in throwing into a tub several shovelsful of the surface soil, and in pouring in water while the contents of the tub are stirred about with a spade. The lighter matters are washed away, but the gold by its great specific gravity remains behind. An improvement in this, but still a very rude process, is practised by aid of the _cradle_, Fig. 331, which is merely the trunk of a tree, hollowed out, and provided with transverse partitions and ribs. The auriferous earth is thrown into the upper compartment, which is then filled with water. The cradle is rocked, so that the water may wash away all but the gold and the heavy stones. Any particles of the former which may be carried out of the head of the cradle will be stopped by the ribs which cross the lower part. Machines for puddling by horse-power are now in use, and other contrivances have superseded the tub and the cradle in _surface-washing_. The auriferous earth obtained by excavating the soil from pits is washed in a similar manner, as is also the material reached by penetrating the deeper tertiary deposits, and by driving adits or tunnels along the ancient river-beds beneath the layers of basalt.

A mode of washing accumulations of auriferous earths by streams of water is employed where circumstances are favourable. A long inclined channel is constructed, and lined with boards; or, when the natural inclination of the soil requires it, a long trough is constructed and supported on trestles. The trough is made of sawn boards, 1½ in. thick, in sections 12 ft. long, and it has a width of about 1 ft., the sides being from 8 in. to 2 ft. high. The inclination of the troughs is from 8 in. to 24 in. in 12 ft., and depends upon the abundance of the water: the more water, the steeper is the slope. The bottoms of the troughs are crossed by a number of transverse bars, which arrest the auriferous particles in their descent. The _sluice_, or series of troughs, may be from 50 ft. to several hundreds or even thousands of feet in length, and the cost from £100 to £8,000. The earth is thrown in at the upper part of the trough, and it is gradually washed down, the water being allowed to flow in some cases by night as well as by day, but commonly in the day-time only, as the troughs must be watched, to see that they do not become choked up, and the soil washed out by the overflowing water. The _run_ goes on for six or ten days, and then the current is stopped for a _cleaning-up_, which occupies from half a day to a day. For this operation the stream of water is stopped, and quicksilver is used to dissolve the grains of gold from the sand, &c., collected by the _riffle-bars_. The quicksilver is afterwards expelled from the amalgam by heat, and the gold remains as a porous mass.

Sometimes, instead of shovelling the earth into the troughs, it can be washed out of its position into suitable channels by means of a powerful jet of water. This mode of working, which is termed _hydraulic jet sluicing_, offers great advantages where the natural conditions admit of its adoption. In this plan, instead of bringing the auriferous earth to the water, the water is brought to the earth by a flexible pipe, like the hose of a fire-engine, from a reservoir about 200 ft. higher, and the stream is directed upon the material by a nozzle. This powerful jet of water is used to separate and carry away the earth to the head of a system of channels and troughs, like those already described. The hose has a diameter of 8 in., but the orifice of the nozzle from which the water issues is contracted, in order to increase the force of the jet. The hydraulic jet sluicing requires from three to six men to work it, and the material of a hill can be carried into the sluices in less time than a hundred persons could do it by spades. Immense quantities of earth are removed in this way, and fatal accidents are not infrequent from the falling masses burying the men who carry the pipe. The force of the jet of water itself is another source of danger, for broken limbs and even fatal injuries have often been caused by it. The number of accidental deaths occurring in hydraulic jet sluicing operations in the colony of Victoria is reported to average about 60 in a year. Material which has been worked before often yields a considerable amount of gold when the operations are repeated; and in localities favourable to the hydraulic jet system, the work can be carried on with little labour. In this way three men have been known to extract in one week from dirt washed for the third time, gold of the value of £330.

The gold which is embedded in quartz and other minerals, as shown in Fig. 330, is obtained by crushing the material in stamping machines, which are usually constructed with logs of wood shod with iron. In another form of crushing-mill two large cast-iron rollers are used instead of stampers. From the crushed material the particles of gold are extracted by amalgamation with mercury, which is afterwards removed by distillation.

The richness of the Victoria gold-fields may be inferred from the fact that, up to the year 1868, 36,835,692 oz. had been obtained, the value of which is no less than £147,342,767. The total value of the gold then annually obtained throughout the whole world is estimated at about 20 millions of pounds sterling. When gold was found so plentifully in California and Australia, it was supposed by some that its value as a monetary standard would be affected. This has not happened, although the prices obtained for the metal by its producers were considerably lower in the last decade of the century than about 1867. The total annual output of gold throughout the world is of course variable, and no doubt there are also variations in the demand; but, so far, the fluctuations have been relatively small, and there has been no such depreciation by excess of production as in the case of silver. Yet the increased production of gold after the discoveries made about the middle of the century was beyond precedent. It has been estimated that between 1850 and 1875 the total value amounted to £600,000,000, showing an annual average twelve times greater than that for the period between 1700 and 1850. Between 1875 and 1890 there was a falling off in the supply, the annual average becoming only £20,000,000 in value. But since the last-named date there has been a rise year by year, and at the close of the century the value of the gold produced throughout the world in one year may not be less than £40,000,000.

As already remarked, the distribution of gold is world-wide; and it has happened in recent times, that just as one source of supply has shown signs of failure, other fields have been discovered and have attracted thousands of eager seekers to new regions. So, when the Californian supply was falling off, there came the rush to Australia, where easily worked alluvial deposits or rich veins continued for years to reward the toil of the gold-finder, though in an ever-lessening degree, until in 1886 or 1887 the centre of attraction was shifted. But at a later period fresh discoveries in Australia again raised the productiveness of that quarter; and still more recently, the announcement of the existence of much auriferous deposit in the valley of the Yukon River (Klondyke), and in various localities of British Columbia, drew thousands to desolate and undeveloped districts, in spite of the extremities of hardship and destitution that might be endured.

The discovery of 1886 takes us to South Africa, a region with which also our next section is mainly concerned, and the scene of an activity unprecedented in the annals of gold-mining. From circumstances immediately connected with our present subject, the close of our century finds public attention intensely occupied with affairs at the austral extremity of the “dark continent.” The history of South Africa, from the time when, in 1486, the tempest-driven Portuguese mariner, Bartholomew Diaz, first struck its shores at the promontory he named the “Cape of Storms” (_Cabo Tormentoso_), and when, eleven years afterwards, the celebrated Vasco de Gama sailed round it on his memorable voyage to India, is one which, in many respects, presents features of peculiar interest. It is not our province to enter into details of these, but it may be stated that the “Cape of Good Hope”—the more auspicious designation which the King of Portugal substituted for that of Diaz—was, towards the end of the seventeenth century, colonized by Dutch and some French settlers, and afterwards Table Bay became a regular port of call for Dutch, English, and other ships trading to India. The Cape was taken possession of by the British in 1795, but restored to the Dutch in 1803, only to be three years after (1806) resumed by England, under whose rule “Cape Colony” has since remained. The abolition of slavery in all British dominions, enacted in 1833, was the occasion of great dissatisfaction to the descendants of the Dutch settlers, who inhabited isolated farmsteads, their possessions consisting chiefly of great herds of cattle, tended by slaves. These people, or at least the majority of them, resolved to quit the confines of British territory, and seek fresh fields and pastures new in unoccupied regions north of the Orange River, so that from 1835 to 1838 there was a continued “exodus of the emigrant farmers.” The story of the following years, with its exciting events and the vacillating policy of successive British Governments, must be perused elsewhere: suffice it to say here, that the settlements of the “emigrant farmers” had by 1854 established themselves into two separate States, nominally recognising Great Britain as the “paramount power,” but practically independent of it; for, at the last-named date, the autonomy of “The Orange River Free State” was acknowledged, and two years before that another section of the Boers, _i.e._ of the “emigrant farmers,” who had settled beyond the Vaal River, was absolved from British allegiance, and, restricted only by a claim of certain suzerain powers, was constituted into “The South African Republic,” of which the precise boundaries were at length determined by the “Convention of London” in 1884. This territory is usually called for shortness the _Transvaal_, and here in 1854 the existence of gold was first announced; but the Boer authorities at once prohibited further prospecting, fearing, and perhaps with reason, that the winning of the precious metal within their bounds might disturb their pastoral quietude. The Boer character has been the unique product of a race withdrawn for two centuries from contact with European and civilized culture, living in widely separated dwellings with scarcely other associations than cattle and enslaved blacks. The Boer is described as of a type which draws away from the enterprising man of modern times towards the primitive patriarch centred in his flocks and herds: he hates innovations, and greatly distrusts strangers; he would rather keep, in a box under his bed, any money he may possess than employ it, or his own energies, in developing the immense mineral resources of his territory, in which are included not only gold, but copper, silver, lead, iron, and abundance of coal.

After some years the prohibition against the exploitation of gold in the Transvaal was withdrawn, and several localities in the Republic subsequently became small capitals of gold-mining industry. The most notable were Leydenburg and Barberton, at which latter place as many as 10,000 gold-seekers were congregated when the discovery of 1886 drew most of them away. These communities were formed almost entirely by the influx of people from beyond the Boer boundaries, mainly, of course, English-speaking people from the Cape Colony, Australia, America, etc. Their operations were hampered by the Transvaal legislation, and impeded by the absence of adequate means of communication, which was a characteristic feature of the Boers’ unprogressiveness; nevertheless, gold-mining has been pursued in some of these localities ever since, though with varying fortune. What drew nearly all the gold-seekers of the Transvaal and of adjoining regions at once to the north side of the Vaal River was the discovery there of _real gold mines_. This was at a district within the Transvaal territory, named Witwatersrandt (= White-waters-ridge), the designation which has been reduced by abbreviation or affection to “The Randt”—or, _anglice_, the Rand.

It is singular that although the Randt district had been explored by expert prospectors between 1877 and 1891, the outcrops of the auriferous reefs entirely escaped their notice. But when the first hint of the existence of these deposits was bruited abroad, it was the Kimberley men who were foremost in surveying the spot. By the Kimberley men we mean those who so soon had by lucky chance lighted in 1870 upon the rich and apparently inexhaustible diamond mines, as related in our next section. By the time of the announcement of gold-finds on the north side of the Vaal River many of these men had become rich—very rich indeed. If they had been so disposed they might then have returned to their native countries with enviable fortunes, but it was just as the affairs of their diamond companies had been settled by consolidation on a satisfactory basis, and the spirit of discovery and adventure was still strong upon them, that they resolved personally to explore the new El Dorado. To a wild desolate region they proceeded, enduring there and on the track thither the like discomforts they had experienced in their earlier quest. But they took with them experts provided with all appliances for ascertaining the prospective value of the alleged discovery, and, when convinced of its reality, they purchased from the Boer possessors their land at the price demanded, and it was not long before they had chemists and engineers at work, having, at the cost of making their own roads, had brought to the spot the necessary machinery and appliances. The usual influx of workers, builders, speculators, etc., followed, and in a wonderfully short space of time a town sprang up where in 1886 there had been only a single poor farm. The town grew rapidly to the dimensions of a city inhabited by 150,000 people. Its name is Johannesburg.

In his book on South Africa, the late Lord Randolph Churchill, describing Johannesburg in 1891, says that it has much of the appearance of an English manufacturing town, but without noise, smoke, or dirt. “The streets are crowded with a busy, bustling, active, keen, intelligent-looking throng. There are gathered together human beings from every quarter of the globe, the English possessing an immense predominance. The buildings and general architecture of the town attain an excellent standard, style having been consulted and sought after, stone and bricks the materials, corrugated iron being confined to the roofs, solidity, permanence, and progress being the general characteristics.”

The Randt mines having drawn into the South African Republic great numbers of enterprising workers, who have acquired wealth and built cities, it would have been expected that they would have been permitted to acquire the ordinary rights of citizenship. The Boers’ character, however, has been manifested by their refusal of such rights, and by their exacting grievous imposts from these _Uitlanders_ (Out-landers, or strangers), who, being for the most part of English race, are finding the injustice too hard to be borne, and greatly strained relations between the Transvaal and Great Britain have again supervened. Indeed, the situation has become so serious that it is feared actual war may result, and that is why, in almost the last year of our century, people are looking anxiously at the position of affairs in South Africa.

The geological conditions of the Randt are these: the upper series of beds in the _Karoo formation_, which extends over the greater part of South Africa, consist of quartzose strata, and in the district in question these are much broken, faulted, and variously inclined. They are interstratified with beds of sandstone and with the layers of gold-bearing conglomerate, of which last there are several parallel to one another and not far separated, ranging in their several thicknesses from 6 inches to 6 feet, the thickest being known as the main reef. These reefs form an oval basin,—that is, they dip with varying angle towards a centre, and crop out at their up-turned edges. Johannesburg is situated nearly 6,000 feet above the sea-level, on an elevated ridge, along which for 30 miles east, and nearly the same westwards, the northern outcrop extends, curving towards the south, while the southern edge of the basin appears in the Orange Free State, where it has been traced for a distance of 130 miles. There a shaft, sunk to the great depth of 2,400 feet, found the main reef with undiminished richness. The outcrop of the reefs stretches east and west for 130 miles, and the distance between north and south is 30 miles. From such data it has been inferred that the reefs contain altogether not less than 450 million pounds worth of gold. The conglomerate of these reefs consists of rounded quartz pebbles (which contain no gold), and pieces of sandstone and of argillaceous material, the whole cemented together into a very hard mass by iron pyrites. This last is the matrix in which the gold exists, in the form, for the most part, of minute scarcely visible crystals. To a depth of from 50 to 150 feet, air and moisture have acted on the pyritic matter, and the material of the reef becoming in consequence easily disintegrated, has yielded by mere mechanical treatment most of its gold, whereas by the same operations on the underlying hard, tough conglomerate, only about half its gold could be obtained. Hence, after breaking up the ore, the pyritic matter is sorted out and transported to the stamp battery, reduced to powder, from which about five-eighths of the contained gold is removed by quicksilver. The residue is concentrated by washing in a special machine called the “Frue vanner,” and the _concentrates_, after roasting in order to oxidize base metals, are subjected to the action of chlorine gas, by which the gold is converted into a soluble chloride, from the solution of which it is precipitated by ferrous sulphate. The _tailings_, _slimes_, and other residues are further acted on by a solution of potassium cyanide, which dissolves the minute remaining particles of gold, and from the solution the metal is obtained by electrolysis. By these supplementary chemical processes the total of the gold recovered from the ore is raised to 90 per cent. or more of all that chemical analysis shows to exist.

When it is said that the reefs are arranged in a basin-like form, it must be understood that this applies to their general disposition, for the regularity of geometrical shape does not belong to geological basins. There are considerable variations in the inclinations of the reefs: at some places they are nearly vertical, but generally they dip towards the centre at various angles, a slope between 25° and 45° being quite usual; and the inclination becomes less and less the deeper they go, so that it is presumed that the beds are level towards the centre of the basin. In the Randt the vertical shaft is rather the exception, the entrance to the mine usually following the inclination of the reefs, and the trucks of ore are drawn up sloping rails. From the inclined adits horizontal galleries are excavated right and left at various depths by which the main reef is worked, and there are cross cuts by which the reefs to the north and south may be reached. The most active district of the Randt is that which extends eastward of Johannesburg, where a long succession of tall chimneys and winding headgears together with the other appurtenances are visible. But there is nothing of a picturesque character about a gold mine, more than is presented by the aspect of an ordinary colliery.

The importance of the Randt gold-fields does not consist in the actual richness of the crude material, which indeed in places here and there cannot be profitably worked,—in mining parlance, it is not “pay ore.” It is rather the great ascertained extent of these gold-bearing beds and the general persistence of their character throughout that give to the Randt its unique character amongst metalliferous workings. This contrasts with the comparative uncertainty attending the exploitation of auriferous quartz veins, which occur in detached unconnected patches, that often end suddenly where least expected. There are in the Randt nearly one hundred companies working mines, and of these there are many that pay very handsome dividends on their original capital. A few pay 100 per cent., while a considerable number distribute 25 per cent. and upwards; so that some of these Gold Companies are amongst the richest and most influential financial houses in the world. The Randt is second only to the United States in the quantity it adds annually to the world’s production.

_DIAMONDS._

In ancient times, and down to a comparatively late period, the only region from which were derived all the diamonds that found their way to Europe, was India, where Golconda was long celebrated for the productive mines in its neighbourhood, and for the high estimation in which fine specimens of their yield were held. In the seventeenth century these mines employed 60,000 persons, it is said; and in other districts of India diamond-seeking has also been carried on from time immemorial. A gradual decrease in the finds of Indian diamonds has long been observed, and the supremacy the East had so long enjoyed as the purveyor of gems was in the earlier part of the eighteenth century transferred to another hemisphere. In 1727 the diamond was first discovered in Brazil; or rather, we might say, was then first discerned there. For the gold-seekers in washing the sands of certain Brazilian rivers had found numberless specimens which they either threw aside as worthless, or, seeing them prettier pebbles than the rest, used them as counters in their card games; their true nature was not recognized, because the rough diamond has by no means the attractive appearance of the cut and polished brilliant flashing with refractive radiance. It must have been these last, and not diamonds in their natural state, that presented themselves to the imagination of the poet when he penned the line—

Or deep with diamonds in the _flaming_ mine.

The announcement of some diamonds having been found in America had no effect on the prices in the Indian market, but the exports that soon after came from Brazil in great abundance quite changed the conditions of the trade, for in the first fifty years their value was estimated at no less than £12,000,000 sterling. As already stated, the presence of diamonds in Brazil was not recognized until 1727, and then by the accident of one Lobo, an inhabitant of the gold district of Minas Geräes, who had been in India and had seen rough diamonds there, observing the resemblance; he took some of the Brazilian stones to Lisbon, where their identity with the products of the Indian mines was established. But the European dealers, alarmed lest this discovery should depreciate the value of their stocks of Indian gems, spread a report that the so-called diamonds from Brazil were but the refuse of the Indian mines that had been sent to Brazil. This had the effect of stopping for a time the sale of the Brazilian diamonds; but the traders in these were not above taking a hint from their rivals—_fas est et ab hoste doceri_—for they carried their diamonds to Bengal, and there sold them as Indian stones at Indian prices. For nearly one hundred and forty years after this Brazil was by far the most productive diamond region in the whole world, and especially after 1754, when diamond-seekers congregated by thousands in the very rich fields of Bahia, a district of Brazil. Nor have the places above mentioned been by any means the only localities in Brazil where diamond-finders have been at work; but the production has decreased and has lost its relative importance by the South African discoveries that about 1870 caused an entire change in the diamond industry, and the high prices of the Brazilian gems no longer capable of being maintained, the fall in value has rendered the workings less remunerative than formerly. We may now pass over with mere mention, discoveries of diamondiferous districts in North America, Australia, and elsewhere.

While rejecting as entirely inapplicable and inexcusable by any stretch of poetic licence the epithet _flaming_ for the diamond mine, we must question whether the word _mine_, that as the customary word we have continued to use, does not convey an equally false notion of the nature of the workings to which hitherto reference has been made. For these in most cases are nothing more than holes, very much like gravel pits in the side of a hill. The diamonds which have so far been in question are usually found among alluvial sands or gravels, the water-worn fragments of disintegrated rocks. These are in many cases carried down by rivers, and the diamonds under such circumstances are very frequently accompanied by gold; indeed, it is the search for gold that has in many cases led to their discovery. In the dry season of the year, which extends from April to October, the lessened currents of certain of the Brazilian streams are diverted from their course into canals, so as to leave dry the bed of the stream, and here the mud is dug out to the depth of six or eight feet or more, and transported near the washing huts, these operations being continued throughout the dry season. When this is over the digging is necessarily interrupted by great volumes of water that fill the rivers and streams, and the diamond-seekers devote their attention to washing the mud that has been collected. About one cwt. of this is placed in a long trough, and water is made to flow in, while the negro labourer stirs up the mass with his hands, until the water runs off clear, all the particles of mud having been washed away. The residual gravel is then very carefully examined, stone by stone, and any diamonds found are handed to the overseer, who watches all proceedings from an elevated seat. These Brazilian diamonds are mostly of a small size: occasionally, but very rarely, stones of quite exceptional value are found, but perhaps not one in 10,000. Formerly when in the Brazilian fields a negro slave found one of 18 carats, or more (18 carats = 72 grains), he not only obtained his freedom, but was rewarded with gifts, and for the finding of smaller stones commensurate rewards were given. The value of a diamond of the larger sizes depends upon so many adventitious circumstances that it would not be easy for any one to state the money’s worth of an 18–carat stone, but, considering too that the price increases in a more rapid ratio than the weight, we may to some extent draw an inference from the published values in 1867 of smaller Brazilian brilliants, perfectly white, pure, and flawless, when one of 5 carats (20 grains) in weight was priced at £350. As the rough diamond gives a brilliant of only half its weight, we may from the above assume an 18–carat stone to be worth in its finished state at least £1,000.

It may well be asked what are the qualities possessed by the diamond which have caused it to be so highly valued as an adornment all the world over; and here it will be proper to invite the reader’s attention to the chemical as well as to the physical character of the diamond. The most obvious and attractive quality of the cut brilliant is its unsurpassable lustre, which is due to its high refractive power. In a section of our article on light the subject of refraction has been dealt with, and an explanation given of the _index of refraction_. That of the diamond is the highest known, being 2·50 to 2·75; other precious stones have indices ranging from 1·58 to 1·78; those of glass and of quartz are between 1·50 and 1·57. It follows from the known laws of refraction that the _limiting_ or critical angle is less for diamond than for other substances, as, for example, glass, for the posterior surface of a diamond will totally reflect all the light that falls upon it at any angle with the normal greater than 24°; glass will totally reflect only when the incidence is greater than about 42°: hence the diamond reflects from its farther surface about 64 per cent. of rays that glass similarly situated would allow to pass outwards without reflection.

Another property in which the diamond excels all other substances is hardness. It is the hardest substance in nature; for a diamond will _scratch_ every other, but by none can it be _scratched_, except by another diamond. Not but that by the application of a file the edges of a diamond or brilliant may be notched and broken; but this would be through sheer mechanical force tearing the substance, and would be a test of _brittleness_, not of _hardness_. These two properties have not unfrequently been confounded, as when it was foolishly prescribed as a test for the genuineness of a diamond, that it should be placed on an anvil and struck with a hammer. No doubt many good and valuable stones have been sacrificed by this ignorant treatment. The hardness of the diamond does not prevent its being reducible to powder when so required. Again, diamonds are sometimes in such a condition of internal strain that very slight shocks are sufficient to cause them to separate into fragments. We read of diamonds that are suspected to be in this condition being packed for transmission within raw potatoes. The extreme hardness of the diamond secures it from all those accidental abrasions and injuries to which softer materials are liable, so that it does not deteriorate by age or use. It is unaffected also by any chemical substances.