inan, who
purchased the farm on which the Premier mine is located.

Captain Wells, the manager of the Premier, one evening, after a burning
hot day, when work had been suspended, strolled over to the mine, and,
while partly walking and partly sliding down into the pit, noticed a
gleam from a stone half-embedded in the earth. In a moment he had the
stone in his hand and his practised eye told him this was the greatest
diamond the world ever saw.

At first the possession of it seemed more like a dream than a reality,
and he began to doubt his own sanity. When held up to the blazing
Southern Cross, it sparkled like the purest crystal, and he knew that
its value must be reckoned in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He immediately took the priceless treasure to the company's office where
it was critically examined. It was then sent for safe-keeping to the
Standard Bank at Johannesburg, and afterward was forwarded to London.
For some time it was deposited in a London bank, the name of which was
kept secret for fear that its great value might tempt criminals. Two
years after its discovery it was purchased by the Transvaal Government,
at the suggestion of General Botha, and presented to King Edward VII as
a crown jewel.

The De Beers Company employs upward of eleven thousand African
natives--Kafirs, they are called--working above and below ground. They
come not only from the surrounding districts but from regions hundreds
of miles away. All native laborers are kept in large walled enclosures,
or compounds, which are covered with wire netting to prevent the
laborers from throwing diamonds over the walls to confederates outside.
Twelve such enclosures are owned by the De Beers Company, the largest of
which occupies four acres and contains ample space for housing three
thousand natives.

On entering the service of the company each applicant must sign a
contract to live in the compound and work faithfully at least three
months. At the expiration of his contract he may leave or make another
contract, as he wills.

Constant vigilance is maintained in order to prevent stealing diamonds,
and yet, notwithstanding this watchfulness, it is estimated that
hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of diamonds are stolen each
year.

Everything necessary for the sustenance and comfort of the men is
brought into the compounds, and no one is permitted to leave until the
expiration of his contract except by permission of the overseer, wh