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FIRE IN THE EARTH
carats
worth? No one can say. You could ask: Suppose that all of them had been
produced and sold in the lush year of 1929—what then? Again, there is
no answer, for diamonds vary in quality and cut and color and therefore
in price. Also, a large number of those carats were boart—useless as
gems, of use only to industry.
One
thing, however, is certain: The greatest supply of diamonds came from
the South African fields and commanded the highest prices. Five of the
six biggest rough stones ever known to have been discovered by man—the
Cullinan, the Excelsior, the Jonker, the Jubilee, and the Baumgold—were
found in the alluvial fields or the pipes of South Africa. They
deserve, and presently will receive, a special story. But there were
other large stones found in South Africa:
The
Victoria (also known as Imperial or Great White), which in 1884
suddenly made its appearance on the London market, weighing 469 carats.
From its characters it is believed to have come from the Jagersfontein
mine and to have been smuggled to London. It was cut into a stone of
184.5 carat and sold to the Nizam of Hyderabad for about $100,000.
The
Du Toit, really two diamonds and named after the mine, Dutoitspan, at
Kimberley, where "it" was found. One weighed 250 carats, the other 127
carats, but they were of a yellowish tinge and therefore not as
valuable as others mentioned.
The
Porter-Rhodes, weighing 153.5 carats, was named after the man who found
it in his claim at the Kimberley mine. The Stewart, found in 1872,
weighed 296 carats, was sold at one time for $45,000 and then its
whereabouts became unknown to the diamond world. It probably was cut
up into smaller stones. The De Beers, a pale-yellowish oc-
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