im to be managed by a partner
while he took a trip to the "old country." His account of diamond
digging inclined me to think that coal-heaving is a much easier
occupation, and more remunerative on the whole, except in the case of
lucky diggers. This Scot showed me what he called a "big diamond," and
allowed me to make a careful drawing of it. He could not guess at its
value. If it had been a pure diamond like the "star of South Africa,"
it would have been worth many thousands of pounds, but it was not pure.
According to digger parlance it was "off-colour," and, therefore, not
excessively valuable. Still it was a precious gem, and would doubtless
fetch several hundreds of pounds. Of course it was unpolished, but even
in that state was very beautiful. It weighed seventy-eight carats. The
"star of South Africa," above referred to, was a pure and magnificent
gem. It was found by a Hottentot, named Swartzboy, sold by him for 400
pounds, and disposed of the same day for 12,000 pounds--so, at least,
runs one account of the matter.

Late in the evening we reached Bedford.

As we started next morning at break of day my personal knowledge of that
flourishing town is too limited to warrant many remarks thereon. It may
be that the vision of ghostly houses passing our cart in the morning
mists suggested to my sleepy imagination the idea of a town, but I
cannot remember that it did. Possibly the fact that the population
numbered above 1000 may have occurred to my mind, but I think not. It
is more probable that the mind, if it operated at all, pictured the
population as recumbent and snoring. Indeed, the only thing that memory
will recall, when severely taxed, in regard to Bedford, is--bed, its
first syllable.

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Note 1. The author was an artist as well as a writer of merit, and
exhibited water-colour drawings at the Royal Scottish Academy.

LETTER NINE.

CROSSING THE GREAT FISH RIVER--TRAVELLING AT THE CAPE AS IT IS TO BE--
GRAHAMSTOWN, HER EARLY STRUGGLES AND PRESENT PROSPERITY.

Travelling in South Africa is occasionally interrupted by sudden storms
of rain which convert dry beds of streams into roaring torrents, and
perennial rivers into devastating floods.

At the Great Fish River I came on a specimen of the mighty power of
water in the ruins of a splendid bridge. The great floods of the
previous year had carried one-half of it awa