ly like the mines
of German South-West Africa. So far no "pipes" have been discovered in
the Kasai basin. Many indications have been found, and it is inevitable
that they will be located in time. The diamond-bearing earth sometimes
travels very far from its base, and the American engineers in the Congo
with whom I talked are convinced that these volcanic formations which
usually produce large stones, lie far up in the Kasai hills. The
diamond-bearing area of the Belgian Congo and Angola covers nearly eight
thousand square miles and only five per cent has been prospected. There
is not the slightest doubt that one of the greatest diamond fields ever
known is in the making here.

Now for a real human interest detail. At Kimberley the Zulus and Kaffirs
know the value of the diamond and there was formerly considerable
filching. All the workers are segregated in barbed wire compounds and
kept under constant surveillance. At the end of their period of
service they remain in custody for two weeks in order to make certain
that they have not swallowed any stones.

[Illustration: GRAVEL CARRIERS AT A CONGO MINE]

[Illustration: CONGO NATIVES PICKING OUT DIAMONDS]

The Congo natives do not know what a diamond really is. The majority
believe that it is simply a piece of glass employed in the making of
bottles, and there are a good many bottles of various kinds in the
Colony. Hence no watch is kept on the hundreds of Balubas who are mainly
employed in the task of picking out the glittering jewels. During the
past five years, when the product in the Congo fields has grown
steadily, not a single karat has been stolen. The same situation obtains
in the Angola fields.

In company with Doyle I visited the eight principal mines in the Congo
field and saw the process of mining in all its stages of advancement. At
the Kisele development, which is almost within sight of Tshikapa, the
small "jigs" in which the gravel is shaken, are operated by hand. This
is the most primitive method. At Mabonda the concentrate pans are
mounted on high platforms. Here the turning is also by hand but on a
larger scale. The Ramona mine has steam-driven pans, while at Tshisundu,
which is in charge of William McMillan, I witnessed the last word in
alluvial diamond mining. At this place Forminiere has erected an
imposing power plant whose tall smokestack dominates the surrounding
forest. You get a suggestion of Kimberley for the excavation is immense,
and ther