Diamond digging in South Africa

Mr. President, — I feel that some apology is necessary for introducing a subject quite foreign to Tasmania, and which I am unable to treat scientifically, but, as few people, except those who have visited the diamond fields of South Africa, can accurately appreciate the most important part the digging industry has played in promoting the welfare of the country, a brief but very imperfect sketch of the mines, and of the method of working them, may prove of interest. Diamonds may yet attract much attention in Australasia as they have been found in four of the five continental colonics and also in New Zealand, and they are now being systematically sought for with profit to the diggers in the northern part of New South Wales. I may add that my paper has been prepared, not from notes as a casual visitor to the fields, but from the experiences of more than two years as a digger and prospector, and as an official intimately connected with diamond mining as there carried out.