The eminent British geologist, James R. Gregory, reported in the Geological Magazine that he made a very lengthy examination of the districts where diamonds are said to be found, but saw no indication that would suggest the finding of diamond bearing deposits in any of these localities. Such was the skepticism about the origins of the first diamonds found in South Africa. The geological character of that part of the country renders it impossible, with the knowledge in our present possession of diamond bearing rocks that any could have been discovered there.¹ In an earlier report, Gregory argued that those diamonds must have been dropped there by migrant ostriches!
The story of the first diamonds found in South Africa is an absorbing one. It was children on the farm De Kalk who picked up the first diamond to play a game known as klip-klip (five stones). They claimed the diamond came from a hollow dug by local San (Bushmen) people. However, pebble collector, Schalk van Niekerk, recognized the unusual appearance, or rather uniqueness, of the stone during a visit to the farm.Van Niekerk¹s observation was shrewd although he was not sure if the stone was indeed a genuine diamond. Nevertheless, he was given the stone by the children¹s mother who thought it to be just another pebble picked up in the veld. Months later, after passing through many expert hands, the stone was indeed recognised to be a veritable diamond weighing 21 carats. It was promptly named Eureka and later sold for five hundred pounds to the then Governor of the Cape, Sir Philip Wodehouse. In the following year, a handful of diamonds of varying quality and value was found, yet skepticism about the finds remained steadfast.
It was March 1869. Schalk van Niekerk of Eureka fame arrived in Hopetown, in his pocket a magnificent 83 carat white diamond. He had bought the diamond from a Griqua shepherd, named Swartbooi, for 500 sheep, ten head of cattle and a horse. This diamond was soon to become known as The Star of South Africa. This find prompted the Colonial Secretary of the Cape, Sir Richard Southey, to declare: This is the rock on which the future success of South Africa will be built. And so began a mad rush of fortune seekers - first to the river diggings at places such as Klipdrift (now Barkly West) and then to the dry diggings that became Kimberley. Situated at the geographical centre of the country, the region is known to this day as the Diamond Fields of Southern Africa.
Diamonds are still found near Hopetown, in Kimberley and on the banks of the Orange, Vaal, Riet and Harts Rivers that cross the Diamond Fields. The local stones are regarded as being of the highest quality in the world. Picks and shovels still work the ground and sinewy digger’s arms everyday rock the sifting cradles just as it was done a century ago. Diamonds are still a pillar of the South African economy. And still today, a misstatement or lie about diamonds is laughingly dismissed as just another Gregory.

The story of the Kimberley Mine site started on or about 16 July 1871 and the big rush a mere two days later. Such was the rush to the Kimberley Mine that the crush of fortune seekers trying to get to the diggings became all but unmanageable. They came from across the seas - America, England, Australia, Germany, Russia and the East, also from the Southern African hinterland. Kimberley Mine was situated on a farm known as Vooruitzicht, owned by two Afrikaner brothers Diederick Arnoldus de Beer and Johannes Nicholas de Beer. The actual site was a small hill or kopje - later called Colesberg Kopje.
The discovery of Kimberley Mine is credited to Damon, a cook in service of Fleetwood Rawstorne and his Red Cap party. Damon found the diamond that sparked the biggest rush for claims the world has ever seen. Rawstorne and the Red Cap party registered the first claims there but it is certain that prospectors had been digging in the area before. A Mrs Ortlepp claimed she had actually found the first diamond on the kopje and she may well have.
However, it is to Damon that the honour goes! What was once a kopje is today an awesome hole - the largest hand-dug excavation in the world - dug by picks, shovels and sheer determination, measuring 215 metres deep with a surface area of some seventeen hectares and a perimeter of 1.6 km. On 14 August 1914 all mining activities ceased at the Kimberley Mine and by that time it had yielded 2 722 kilograms of diamonds extracted from 22.5 million tons of excavated earth.
Today the Big Hole is half surrounded by original old buildings from days gone by, relocated from their earlier sites to form a magnificent open air museum. As such, the museum represents a giant step back in time to allow visitors a glimpse of Kimberley more than a hundred years ago. The museum boasts Kimberley¹s oldest house, a prefabricated construction imported from England in 1877; a delightful old pub that goes by the name of The Digger¹s Rest; Barney Barnato’s boxing academy; the tobacconist shop where Perilly produced his famous hand-made cigarettes; and a reconstruction of the De Beers’ homestead. Tourists are invited to try out the skittle alley or find their own fortune at a mock diamond diggings. To round off a memorable visit, one can enjoy a cup of tea and some scones in leisured style at the Victoria Tea Room.