dealers for conveying the stolen diamonds out of Kimberley. They are considerably assisted by the fact that the boundaries of the Transvaal and of the Free State approach within a few miles of Kimberley, and once across the border they are comparatively safe. Recently, so I was informed, a notorious diamond thief was seen leaving Kimberley on horseback for the Transvaal. Convinced of his iniquitous designs, he was seized by the police on the border and thoroughly searched. Nothing was found on him, and he was perforce allowed to proceed. No sooner was he well across the border, than he, under the eyes of the detective, deliberately shot and cut open his horse, extracting from its intestines a large parcel of diamonds, which, previous to the journey, had been administered to the unfortunate animal in the form of a ball.
The De Beers directors manage their immense concern with great liberality. A model village, called Kenilworth, within the precincts of the mines, affords most comfortable and healthy accommodation for several of the European employés. Gardens are attached to cottages, and the planting of eucalyptus, cypress, pine, and oak, as well as a variety of fruit trees, has been carried to a considerable extent. A very excellent club-house has also been built, which includes, besides the mess-room and kitchen, a reading-room, where many of the monthly papers and magazines are kept, together with six hundred volumes from the Kimberley Public Library. There is also a billiard-room, with two good tables given by two of the directors. A large recreation-ground is in the course of construction. Within the compound where the native laborers are confined is a store where they can procure cheaply all the necessaries of life. Wood and water are supplied free of charge, and a large swimming-bath is also provided, but I did not learn if the natives made much use of it. All sick natives are taken care of in a hospital connected with the compound, where medical attendance, nurses, and food are supplied gratuitously by the company. I should not omit to mention that the entire mine, above and under ground, is lighted by electricity. There are ten circuits of electric lamps for De Beers and Kimberley mines. They consist of fifty-two arc lamps of 1,000 candlepower each, and 691 glow lamps of sixteen and sixty -four candlepower each, or a total illuminating power of 63,696 candles. There are, moreover, thirty telephones connecting the different centers of work together, and over eighty electric bells are used for signaling in shafts and on haulages. Such is this marvelous mine, the like of which I doubt whether the world can show. When one considers the enormous capital invested, the elaborate and costly plant, the number of human beings employed, and the object of this unparalleled concentration of effort, curious reflec-
