Subsequently the island was again colonized, but concerning the disappearance of the former inhabitants history is silent. The mute testimony of a few ruined buildings and relics is all that has been found to give the least shadow of information as to the final struggle of the wretched colonists. We only know that they mysteriously disappeared. But the great glacial cap is slowly receding and ages hence more ground will be laid bare.

The present inhabitants number about ten thousand, most of whom are Eskimos. They are lacking in thrift and live chiefly by hunting and fishing. Among the wild animals living here are the arctic fox, the arctic hare, the musk ox, the seal, the polar bear, the ermine, and the walrus.

The principal resources of the island are sealskins, eider-down, oil, and cryolite.

Cryolite is a mineral from which common soda is easily extracted, and also from which the light silver-like aluminum was formerly prepared. The mines near the village of Ivigtut furnish practically the world's supply of this mineral. Formerly it was carried to Philadelphia, but in recent years not much is used. The fisheries are a monopoly of Denmark, and each station is visited from one to three or four times a year.



CHAPTER XV

WHERE THE TWO GREAT OCEANS MEET

Perhaps there is no section of the globe about which most well-informed persons know so little as the southern part of South America. Judged by the reports of early discoverers and explorers, this region until recently has been considered a desolate stretch of snow mountains, barren plains, and extensive morasses, sparsely inhabited by a few thousand human beings of the lowest type and worthless to civilized man.

Such a picture is but partly true. Many of the highest mountains are snow-capped throughout the year and are scored by immense glaciers which are constantly moving down their grooved sides; but there are also heavily forested slopes flanked by valleys and plains covered with rich grasses, making most excellent pasturage. The best land, comprising a large area, is now occupied as grazing grounds principally by sheep farmers.

In the early part of the sixteenth century it was rumored that a water passage traversed the southern part of South America. This rumor was proved true in 1520, when Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator in the service of Charles V of Spain, sailed through the strait which now bears his name. He called the passage Todos los Santos—literally, "All Saints"—but later the name was changed to commemorate the bold captain who discovered the route.

Magellan was the first not only to sail through the strait, but to cross the broad Pacific Ocean, which was so named by him on account of the quietness of its waters. Because he saw the fires built by the natives blazing on the islands along the south side of the channel, he called them Tierra del Fuego, meaning "Land of Fire."

The Strait of Magellan varies from three to seventy miles in width. The scenery along its shores, low and treeless in the eastern part, elsewhere is mountainous and heavily wooded—mainly with beech. In various places lofty precipices rise abruptly from the water's edge; throughout most of its extent the shore line is rock-bound and studded with islets.

A more picturesque route, and one abounding in the grandest and most stupendous scenery in the world, is that from the Pacific by way of Smyth Channel, the entrance to which is four hundred miles north of the entrance to Magellan Strait. By this route one follows a series of channels and reaches the strait proper near Desolation Island. On account of the dangers besetting this course, underwriters refuse to insure vessels taking it.



It remained for a Hollander named Schouten to discover Cape Horn, in 1616, and thus find a safer way for sailing vessels going from the one great ocean to the other. Schouten named the cape "Hoorn," from his native city in Holland. Afterward the name was shortened to Horn, which is applied both to the cape and to the island from which it projects. Since the western entrance to the strait is subject to rough, tempestuous weather and strong currents, very few modern sailing vessels take the shorter course, preferring to double the cape. Though doubling the cape is the safer route, yet this passage itself is beset by dangerous storms and tempestuous seas. Fortunate is the sailing master who rounds the Horn with pleasant weather.

Some of the smaller islands of the archipelago are densely wooded and practically unexplored. Gold has been found on the beaches of several of the islands in paying quantities, and these placers have been worked successfully for several years. On the islands are found wild strawberries of great size and fine flavor, wild raspberries, gooseberries, grapes, and celery; in the spring the pastures are covered with a variety of wild flowers. A profusion of ferns is seen almost everywhere. Wild geese and swans are found on the lagoons and lakes in large numbers.

Once upon a time Patagonia, as the southern part of the continent is popularly called, was regarded as a waste; now it is recognized as a wonderfully fertile region, and is being rapidly settled. European colonies have been established there, and they are highly prosperous. The native Indians are disappearing, hurried to extinction chiefly by King Alcohol, which, once tasted, seems to conquer them. Traders know the weakness of these savages, and exploit it for all they are worth. The articles which the Indians chiefly barter are skins, pelts, and ostrich feathers.

The Indians are well supplied with horses, the descendants of those brought to South America by Spanish explorers. They are wonderful riders and excel in the use of a peculiar lasso called the bolas. It consists usually of three balls of stone or metal covered with rawhide and attached to one another by twisted thongs of the same material. In fighting as well as in capturing wild animals, this instrument is indispensable. The operator, holding one of the balls, swings the others over his head and when sufficient momentum has been obtained lets them go. If well aimed, the connected balls circle around the legs of the animal to be caught, entangling and throwing it down.

The Indians of the mainland are strong and tall. Unlike most South American Indians, they go about well clothed. Occasionally they kill their horses for food, but their chief reliance for both food and clothing is the guanaco.

Although the Indians have inhabited this part of South America for centuries, they follow well-beaten trails. They live in a superstitious dread of evil spirits, who they believe dwell in the densely wooded mountain slopes of the Cordillera.



The Indians of Tierra del Fuego archipelago are much inferior to those of the mainland. They go almost or entirely naked and subsist on fish. The canoe Indians, as those in the western part are called, build boats of bark sewn together with sinews. The boats are about fifteen feet long, and in the centre a quantity of earth is carried, upon which a fire is built. The canoe Indians have neither chief nor tribal relations; each family is a law unto itself. They spend most of their time during the day in rowing among the different channels where fish may be obtained. At night they generally go on shore to sleep. A hole scooped out of the ground or a sheltered rock with a few boughs bent down suffices for a house where all can huddle close together for warmth. Seldom do they sleep more than one night in a place, fearing that if they do not move on an evil spirit will catch them.

In the eastern part of Tierra del Fuego and on some of the other larger islands two tribes of Indians are found whose subsistence consists of sea food, guanacos, and such sheep as they can steal. These tribes are continually at enmity with the white settlers and will kill them whenever possible.

In spite of cloudy weather and cold winds, which are common a part of the year, the climate of Patagonia is milder than that of places much farther north, and the sheep require no feeding during the winter season. In the matter of sheep farms this section rivals Australia, since there is no fear of drought. The grass continues green the year around, and the sheep easily fatten upon it.

The drawbacks to successful sheep-growing are many and the business requires constant vigilance. Vultures, foxes, wild dogs, pumas, and Indians make serious inroads on the flocks. The wild dogs live in the surrounding forests and from time to time rush out in packs of from ten to thirty and attack the sheep. Notwithstanding all these troubles, however, the profits of sheep-growing are large.

Russians, Germans, French, Australians, English, and Scotch, many of whom have amassed large fortunes in a few years, are engaged in this lucrative business. As in all other sheep-raising countries, the collie is an invaluable aid to the shepherds. Not only are the principal islands chiefly devoted to sheep-raising, but a considerable part of the southern mainland is also devoted to this industry. On the island of Tierra del Fuego alone there are upward of a million sheep.

Most of the land is leased from the government for a long term of years. Many of the proprietors have enclosed their holdings with wire fences, thereby lessening the expense of caring for their flocks. Some of the holdings range from twenty-five thousand to more than two million acres.

Southern Patagonia has immense numbers of guanacos, or wild llamas. These animals frequent the Andean slopes and the adjacent pampas. During the winter season they come down to the lowlands to drink in the unfrozen lakes and feed upon the herbage. During severe winters sometimes hundreds are found dead from starvation in the valleys near the frozen lakes.

Thousands of wild cattle are found on the eastern slopes of the Andes, but they are difficult to capture; they are exceedingly wary and can scent a man far off. In agility in climbing the steep, rough places they equal the goat. If one of their number is killed the whole herd deserts the locality at night. When wounded they are fierce fighters, if forced into close quarters.

Punta Arenas, or "Sandy Point," is on the north side of the Strait of Magellan and is Chilean territory. It is a new town cut out of the woods, and even yet many of the streets are diversified by the stumps of big beech trees. The place is an important coaling and provision station and, next to Honolulu, the most important ocean post-office in the world. It has a population of twelve thousand, and is the capital and centre of the great wool industry of the Territory of Magellan, which comprises a majority of the islands south of the mainland, together with the southern part of Patagonia.

A few years ago, in order to encourage the building up of Punta Arenas, the government offered a lot free to any one who would erect a building on it. Many accepted the offer, and to-day some of the lots in the business part of the town are very valuable. Although most of the buildings are constructed with regard to economy rather than beauty, yet some of the business blocks will compare favorably with those of the new cities in the United States.

Like several Australian cities, Punta Arenas was a convict colony. It was founded as such in 1843, and so remained until the European steamships began to thread the strait instead of doubling the Horn. Then it became a coaling station, a supply store, a half-way town, and an ocean post-office. All this business was previously carried on at the Falkland Islands, but the route through the strait settled the business for both places. The Falkland station was abandoned; Punta Arenas became a thriving town. A ticket-of-leave was given to each convict who consented to join the Chilean army.

The town forthwith blossomed into a typical frontier settlement—banks and gambling dens, churches and saloons, schools and bullfights. Every race of people and almost every industry is represented there. The Spanish see to it that the Sunday bullfights are correct; the French insure the proper social functions; the Germans manage the banks; and the Americans take the profits of the railways, telegraph lines, and flour-mills. As to latitude, Punta Arenas is cold and inhospitable; but for business and social affairs, it is very, very warm, especially in the matter of social affairs.



CHAPTER XVI

RECLAIMABLE SWAMP REGIONS

If only Dame Nature had distributed the rainfall of the United States a bit more evenly, land enough to feed about fifty millions of people would not have required an expenditure of half a century of time and several hundred millions of good, hard dollars. One must bear in mind, however, that if Dame Nature had done otherwise, it is just as likely that the same time and the same amount of money would have been required elsewhere for those same fifty millions of people.

The reclaimable swamp lands of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains aggregate about one hundred and twenty thousand square miles in extent—an area nearly equal to that of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois combined. Of this, Louisiana has about fifteen thousand square miles, a tract about as large as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut combined, and Florida has about half her entire area in swamp land. West of the Rocky Mountains, California takes the lead, with enough swamp land to make a state of respectable size.

In the case of California, if the "forty-niners" could have waited about a thousand years they would have found the precious swamp lands all properly filled in for them and ready for use; for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers long since have been working at the task of filling up the big hollow between the mountain ranges. But the rivers are a trifle slow, and Californians are always in a steaming hurry. So Uncle Sam's engineers are driving their reclamation schemes with railroad speed. A few years ago these lands were worth nothing; drain them and they are worth one hundred dollars per acre; improve them according to modern farming science and they are worth ten times as much.



In many instances even the quick methods of the reclamation authorities are too slow for the California farmer, and so he takes matters into his own hands. First he acquires his land; then he mortgages all his worldly possessions to surround the land with a ditch deep enough and wide enough to make a dike high enough to keep out flood waters. His land after draining is full of the stuff for which he otherwise would pay thousands and thousands of dollars. Phosphates and lime form the coverings of minute swamp life and nitrogen compounds are a part of their bodies. The polders of Holland are not richer than this swamp land; indeed, they are not so rich. One or two crops will pretty nearly extinguish the mortgage and three or four more will put the owner on "Easy Street."

In the bottom-lands of the Sacramento River is an island that for fifty years went a-begging. Then a company with a shrewd head bought it, diked it, and drained it. Now the island has immense celery beds and the largest asparagus farm in the world. The celery and canned asparagus are shipped to the produce markets of New York City.

Another great swamp area covers a large part of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. This swamp was made when the head of the Gulf of Mexico reached half-way up to St. Louis, for the delta of the Mississippi River has been travelling leisurely southward for several thousand years—so leisurely, in fact, that Iberville and Bienville opened the region to settlement fifteen hundred years or more too soon. But Uncle Sam is taking a hand here likewise, and in another fifty years a population half as large as that of New York may not only live comfortably but get rich on the reclaimed lands of this and adjacent coast swamps.

The Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia all have large areas of coast marshes—"pocosons" they call them—only a small part of which has been reclaimed. Formerly these were the property of the general government; then they were given to the States with the understanding that they were to be reclaimed. Large tracts were sold to speculators for a few cents an acre, and there you are! Few States are rich enough to handle extensive reclamation enterprises, and so the general government stepped in again and assumed the responsibility. That means that the work of reclamation will be skilfully and honestly done. Uncle Sam may play some questionable politics, but he never mixes politics and government business.

Of all the swamp lands of the United States, the region in Florida known as the Everglades is the most interesting and the most romantic.

Ponce de Leon, an aged Spanish governor of Porto Rico, who was seeking the Fountain of Perpetual Youth, discovered—not the long-sought fountain, but a peninsula decked with such a profusion of flowers that he named the country Florida.

From that time until years after it was ceded to the United States Florida was repeatedly baptized in blood. From the first there were encounters between the Spanish and Indians in which no quarter was given on either side. Later, an exterminating warfare broke out between the French and Spanish when a Huguenot colony was massacred and not a man, woman, or child spared. In 1586 St. Augustine was burned by Sir Francis Drake, and a century later it was plundered by English buccaneers. Still later, frequent contests were waged between the English colonies and the Spanish in Florida.

Previous to the acquisition of Florida by the United States hostile Indians, together with fugitive whites and renegade negroes who had joined them, made many raids upon the settlements in Georgia, robbing and burning plantations, murdering the whites, and carrying off the slaves. Retaliation to a certain extent was meted out to the blood-thirsty savages until Spain was glad to cede the peninsula to the United States in 1819 for five million dollars. Thereby she ridded herself of her troublesome proteges. The Indian raids still continued after the acquisition, and the United States Government therefore sent troops into Florida to punish the treacherous savages, who gradually retreated southward until they reached the Everglades. There they made their final stand.

In these almost inaccessible sinuous water passages and the dense island vegetation for a long time the Indians baffled our ablest military officers. A seven years' contest followed which cost the United States fifteen hundred men and nearly twenty million dollars.



After much negotiation and no end of trouble the Indians—they were the Seminoles—ceded their lands to the United States on the promise of an annuity of twenty-five thousand dollars and suitable lands in the Indian Territory. About four thousand of the Seminoles were then removed to their new homes; a small remnant refusing to emigrate were left behind.

The name Everglades is applied to a vast swamp containing a multitude of shallow lakes studded with numerous islands. The region embraces most of the southern part of Florida. The water of the lakes, of which Lake Okechobee is the largest, varies in depth from a few inches to ten feet. The region itself has an area six times that of the State of Rhode Island, and on account of the difficulty in traversing it is but imperfectly known. Countless winding intricate water channels extend in every direction. Many of these are filled with tall sawgrass which, growing from the bottom, greatly impedes the passage even of small boats. The average elevation of the Everglades above sea level is scarcely twenty feet. The water is both clear and wholesome, but the surface is so nearly a dead level that the current is imperceptible; it can be distinguished only by noting the position of the grass.

The islands are covered with a dense growth of oak, pine, cypress, and palmetto trees, together with a jungle of luxuriant tropical vines and shrubs. They range in size from one to one hundred acres and are but slightly elevated above the surrounding waters.

About three hundred Seminole Indians inhabit the interior and live by hunting and fishing. Deer, bears, otters, panthers, wild cats, and snakes frequent the land; alligators, crocodiles, fish of various kinds, and waterfowl dwell in the water. In the western part of the Everglades is Big Cypress Swamp and in the extreme southern part Mangrove Swamp, where myriads of mosquitoes are hatched out. Extending along the eastern side of the Everglades is a long, narrow belt of dry, fertile land which is utilized for farming purposes.

A far-reaching project to reclaim the Everglades has been proposed. Unlike the Western projects, the problem is to get rid of water and not to supply it. The plans for reclamation include the construction of drainage canals and the clearing of the jungle growths. It is purposed to use the land thus reclaimed for sugar growing. At the present time the United States is importing annually over two hundred million dollars' worth of sugar; it is estimated that by draining only a part of this vast area and planting it to sugar cane the local demands could not only be supplied but a large surplus for export would result.

The possibilities of this region, when properly drained and cleared of its superfluous vegetation, are almost beyond computation. It has a rich soil, abundant moisture, and almost tropical climate. Reclaimed land of this character is suitable for raising not only sugar cane and subtropical fruits, but a great variety of other crops. It is estimated that the cost of reclaiming the Everglades, so that the land may be made productive, need not exceed one dollar per acre.

A great impetus has been given to southern Florida by that wonderful achievement of engineering, Mr. Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway. This railway stretches in a direct line along the coast from Jacksonville to the southern part of the State, and has been extended along the Florida Keys to Key West. When all arrangements are completed, the trains will be ferried across Florida Strait between Havana and Key West, and freight will be sent from points in Cuba to New York and Chicago without reloading.

The building of the Florida East Coast Railway is one of the great engineering feats of the world. In its construction from key to key thousands of tons of rock and cement were dumped into the water on which massive viaducts in fifty-foot spans have been built to carry the road-bed. These solid archways, rising from twenty to thirty feet above the water, defy tides and storm waves. This railway has become one of the chief factors in developing the resources of southern Florida and hastening the reclamation of the Everglades.



CHAPTER XVII

STRANGE ROCK FORMATIONS—NATURAL BRIDGES

Almost any unusual form in nature is apt to attract the eye and interest the beholder; and when such natural objects resemble artificial ones or bear a fanciful resemblance to animals the similarity intensifies the interest and almost always leads one to apply fanciful names to them. In wandering along a rocky shore one instinctively searches for the curious formations carved out by the unceasing action of the waves; and in journeying through rugged sections of mountain country each unusual rock formation rivets the attention at once.

Caves especially have a peculiar attraction of awe and curiosity combined. Such natural objects as Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Luray Cave in Virginia, Calaveras Cave in California, the Garden of the Gods in Colorado, the Giant's Causeway on the north coast of Ireland, and Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa are visited annually by many thousands of people. And no wonder that all mankind, from the savage to the most civilized, is charmed with natural arches spanning great chasms. No cyclopaedia of natural wonders fails to give at least a brief description of the Natural Bridge of Virginia which spans a small stream that flows into the James River. So great a wonder was the structure regarded to be even in colonial times that it then claimed marked attention. Thomas Jefferson became so much interested in this natural wonder that he applied to George III for a reservation of land that should include the bridge, and in 1774 his request was granted. To accommodate distinguished strangers who might visit the bridge, Jefferson built near by a log cabin of two rooms. Concerning it he said: "The bridge will draw the attention of the world."



Chief-Justice Marshall described it as "God's greatest miracle in stone." And Henry Clay said it was "the bridge not made with hands, that spans a river, carries a highway, and makes two mountains one." On the rocky abutments are found carved the names of many persons. Among them is that of Washington. In his youth, laboriously cutting places for his hands and feet, he climbed up the face of one of the steep abutments and cut his name above all others, where for seventy years it stood unsurpassed in height. In 1818 a daring college student climbed from the foot to the top of the rock, thus outranking all others.

The Natural Bridge is composed of blue limestone; it is two hundred and fifteen feet high, ninety feet wide, and spans a chasm eighty-five feet across. A public highway lined with trees passes over the top. The bridge itself is all that remains of the roof of what once was a limestone cavern.

The southeastern part of Utah is overlaid with strata of red and yellow sandstone hundreds of feet deep. Ages ago this whole region was elevated and thereby was distorted by the internal forces which pushed it upward. Subsequently wonderful transformations were wrought. The flowing streams gradually bored through portions of the soft, uplifted sandstone, forming arches and digging deep canyons, while the air and rain rounded off the rugged parts into graceful shapes.

Wonderful as is the famous Natural Bridge of Virginia, the natural bridges of Utah are still more wonderful. In White Canyon of southeastern Utah are Edwin, Carolyn, and Augusta Bridges—magnificent structures of pink sandstone carved in lines of classic symmetry and possessing gigantic proportions. At least half a dozen natural bridges in Utah surpass that of Virginia, not only in beauty and grandeur, but also in dimensions. They were discovered by cattlemen in 1895, but they did not become known to the outside world until 1909, when the region was explored by the Utah Archaeological Expedition.



Of these bridges the Edwin easily ranks first in graceful symmetry; its span is one hundred and ninety-four feet, its elevation one hundred and eight feet, its width thirty-five feet. Combining grace and massiveness, the Augusta stands pre-eminent. It rises in majestic proportions to the height of two hundred and twenty-two feet and has a span between abutments of two hundred and sixteen feet. The width of the road-bed is twenty-eight feet and the thickness of the arch at the keystone is forty-five feet. The height of the Carolyn Bridge is two hundred and five feet and the span one hundred and eighty-six feet.

All these bridges span canyons whose depths correspond to the height of the arched structures. In White Canyon, a few miles below Edwin Bridge, under its overhanging rock walls, are the ruins of numerous cliff-dwellings.

The largest natural bridge in the world yet discovered is the Nonnezoshi. It is in Nonnezoshiboko Canyon, Utah, not far from the place where the San Juan River enters the Colorado. This mammoth arch is more of a flying buttress spanning the canyon than a real bridge. Its height is three hundred and eight feet and its span two hundred and eighty-five feet.

To visit these bridges from the nearest railway station requires stage and horseback riding for upward of one hundred and twenty-five miles. The latter part of the journey is made over a faint trail through a rugged country; but the scenery amply repays one for the hardships endured.

The climatic changes during the ages have been such that this region is now almost inaccessible on account of the lack of water, except in the early spring when melting snows yield a temporary supply. Even the cattlemen pasturing their herds in that section keep them there but a few weeks during the year, so scarce is both water and vegetation.

In the main, natural bridges are the result of one or another of several causes. A limestone cavern may be partly destroyed by streams of water, leaving a portion of the cavern with its roof still in place; the part of the roof thus remaining becomes the arch of the bridge. A branch of the Southern Railway threads a natural tunnel near Anniston, Ala., and the tunnel is the remnant of an old limestone cavern.

In other cases a natural bridge is formed when bowlders, or a mass of rock, tumbling into a deep crevice is wedged and held in place. In still other instances a layer of hard or slowly weathering rock may rest upon a layer of rock which weathers rapidly. In such cases, if the rock layers form the face of a cliff, natural bridges, caverns, and overhangs are apt to result.



CHAPTER XVIII

STRANGE ROCK FORMATIONS—TABLE MOUNTAIN OF CALIFORNIA

There are many table mountains in different parts of the world, but the one which I am about to describe is interesting both from geological and financial stand-points. The so-called Table Mountain of California is a massive natural railway embankment or colossal Chinese wall, extending through several counties, but best studied in Tuolumne County.

The mountain is forty miles long, from five hundred to eight hundred feet high, and a quarter of a mile wide at the top. For the most part the top is bare of vegetation and quite level, though slanting slightly toward the south. In places at the base of its precipitous sides, and sometimes extending part way up, pine and other trees are found growing.

This gigantic wall, broken through in several places by flowing rivers, is nothing more nor less than a mighty stream of congealed basaltic lava called latite, which in prehistoric times, rushing down the western flank of the high Sierras, usurped the bed of an ancient river channel, drinking up the waters and piling up its molten mass bank high.

The bed of the stream being filled with lava, its waters not flowing through the gravel, were forced to find other channels. The action of the elements during subsequent ages has worn away in great part the banks of the pliocene river and eroded in places the solid slate rocks to the depth of two thousand feet, leaving this sinuous wall as a mute witness of the mighty forces of nature.

On account of the excessive hardness and durability of this kind of basalt, this monumental fortress will endure long after the corroding tooth of time shall have crumbled to dust the royal pyramids and their very memory shall have been lost in oblivion.

Some geologists think there were two volcanic streams of lava, one succeeding the other by an interval of thousands of years, the first covering the auriferous gravel and the second quenching the waters of a subsequent river which had forced a passageway through the first flow of lava.

Scores of tunnels have been run into the mountain to get at the gravel of this Pactolian river. Millions of dollars of gold have been extracted from its bed, and millions more await the tunnel, upraise, and drift of the adventurous miner.

Beginning at the top of the mountain and working downward, we find the order of materials as follows: A cap of basalt from sixty to three hundred feet thick, a bed of breccia of varying thickness, two hundred feet of conglomerate andesitic sand (volcanic ash of the miners), a bed of pipe-clay, and then auriferous gravel resting on a bedrock of slate. In tapping the ancient river-bed considerable water is encountered flowing through the gravel. To get rid of this water has been a problem of expense and annoyance to the miner.

To measure the time that has passed since this buried river rolled over golden sands staggers the intellect. It is estimated that from one hundred and fifty thousand to four hundred thousand years must have elapsed.

This curiously formed mountain has been likened to a monolithian serpent. Where the Stanislaus River breaks abruptly through the mountain the eye gazes in wonder from the crest down two thousand feet to a seemingly tiny crowded stream below, rushing madly on its way to the sea.

Many interesting remains of animals have been found in the gravels under this mountain. In running a tunnel under Table Mountain some years ago, the miners came across a large mass of tallow weighing about one hundred and fifty pounds, and in proximity were the bones and tusks of a huge animal. Many bones and tusks of the mammoth and mastodon, not to mention the remains of other animals, have been found in the ancient river-bed. Probably some of these elephantine animals were sporting in the water and dashing it over themselves when the stream of lava, sweeping down, overwhelmed them, trying out the tallow and preserving their skeletons for the wonderment of civilized man.

At one place in the mountain the deep roar of a waterfall is heard. At another, where there is a deep break, is a series of passageways and caves where the outlaw Murietta had his hiding-place. In several places on the top of the mountain, by striking the foot down hard, a hollow, reverberating sound is heard. We give in his own words the account of an explorer's visit to the so-called Boston tunnel which runs beneath Table Mountain:

"Hearing of a celebrated petrified tree in the Boston tunnel, which runs under Table Mountain, I determined if possible to see it and procure some specimens. After considerable inquiry I found a miner who said he knew where the tree was; that the tunnel in which it was located had been abandoned many years ago; that no persons had entered it for years; that rocks were constantly falling, making it exceedingly dangerous to enter, and that very likely it was so clogged up with rocks that no one could get to the tree. When I had expressed my great desire to see this tree, and coaxed him, at length he promised to take me to the tunnel to see its condition, but said he would not promise to guide me into it.

"Having dressed ourselves in overalls and jumpers, with candles and geological hammers in hand we set out for our destination. On approaching the tunnel my guide at once began to throw stones into the bushes on either side of the entrance. When asked why he threw the stones, he replied that about the mouth of old tunnels rattlesnakes are wont to resort to get out of the burning sun.

"Not finding any rattlers, we proceeded down the incline to the mouth of the tunnel. Finding the mouth not obstructed, and lighting our candles, we entered. Sometimes crawling on our hands and knees over fallen rock with scarcely a foot of extra room above our heads, then stooping low, then walking upright, again crawling between huge masses of rock and earth, and crowding between slanting monoliths, we made our way through the mud and water dripping on us from the roof above.

"When part way in, the guide hesitated and declared that we were taking our lives in our hands if we went farther; that the five-ton rock lying in front of our path had very recently fallen from the roof, probably a week before, possibly a day or only an hour before. Pointing to the roof with his candle he said: 'Do you see that piece of rock partly detached and ready to fall at any moment?'

"Acknowledging the threatening conditions, I urged: 'If not too dangerous, I do wish that we might go on until we find the tree.'

"Said he: 'If you promise not to strike any of these rocks with your hammer, we will venture a little farther.'

"You may be assured that I not only promised, but obeyed.

"At this juncture, I must confess, a peculiar sensation came over me when I thought of the possibility of being buried alive or crushed to death in this subterranean cavern, yet pride kept me from showing the white feather.

"The guide, going ahead and examining the walls and roof, called back to me in a low voice, saying, 'We are now safer.'

"Having traversed the main tunnel for a distance of upward of eight hundred feet, and carefully avoiding its branches, we finally came to the object of our search. This tree, four feet in diameter, of opalized wood, stands upright on the left side of the tunnel. The lava had burned off the bark and partly carbonized the outside part, and then the whole had subsequently taken the form of opal silica. There is a space of about four inches between the tree and the surrounding lava.

"By raising the candles above our heads we could look up the body of the tree some thirty feet. When we had broken off some choice specimens from the body of the tree with the hammer we left this subterranean world. On emerging from the tunnel the guide said: 'Thank God, we again see the sunlight.'

"To which I replied: 'Amen.'"



CHAPTER XIX

STRANGE ROCK FORMATIONS—GIBRALTAR

A huge projecting limestone rock, in form like a reclining lion, guards the entrance to the narrow water passage which separates Europe from Africa. This wonderful feature, the Rock of Gibraltar, extends directly southward from the mainland of Spain with which it is connected by a low, sandy isthmus. It is about three miles in length and in breadth varies from one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile. Two depressions divide it into three summits, the highest of which is about fourteen hundred feet.

Let us visit the small city lying at its western base and then carefully examine this leviathan sentinel that seems to stand guard over the narrow strait. The special permission of the military commander to examine it or even to remain in the city must first be obtained; we are especially warned that cameras are forbidden and all negatives will be confiscated.

The north face we find to have an almost perpendicular height of twelve hundred feet; its east and west sides also display tremendous precipices. The south face is much lower and slopes toward the sea. Fortifications of massive walls and the best of modern guns protect the lower parts and also the seaward side of the city.

But what are those holes high up on the faces of the rock? They are portholes cut through the rock from interior chambers out of which cannon can be thrust and discharged at an invading enemy. We are curious to learn more about this interesting place, and on questioning our guide are told many remarkable stories.

The Rock of Gibraltar is honeycombed with caves, passageways, and chambers, some of which are natural and others artificial. We enter the largest of these natural caves, St. Michael's, and as we stand in the main hall, a spacious chamber two hundred feet in length and seventy feet in height, we are amazed at its beauty and grandeur. Colossal columns of stalactites seem to support its ornamental roof and all around are fantastic figures—foliage of many forms, beautiful statuettes, pillars, pendants, and shapes of picturesque beauty rivalling those of Mammoth Cave. St. Michael's Cave is eleven hundred feet above sea level and is connected by winding passages with four other caves of a similar character.



To six of the caves distinct names have been given. One of the caves is three hundred feet below sea level. About three miles of passageways, exclusive of many storage chambers, have been hewn so as to connect the different caves and natural passages, and so large have they been made that a wagon can be drawn through them. Within this rock are stored supplies of ammunition and sufficient provisions to last several years. In clambering about the rock we find cannon carefully concealed in scores of different places ready for use when needed.

In places the rock is overlaid with thin soil which produces a variety of vegetation. There are grassy glens, with trees, and luxuriant gardens surrounding pretty English cottages. During the rainy season wild flowers in great profusion spring up in all directions, but in the summer the rock presents a dry, barren aspect.

This strong and impregnable place is the Rock of Gibraltar and the city nestling at its base, Gibraltar. The city has a population of twenty-five thousand, of whom several thousand are soldiers forming the garrison. The garrison with their artillery, two pieces of which weigh one hundred tons each, reinforced with the strongest of fortifications, are thought to be capable of withstanding the combined hosts of Christendom.

Early in the eighth century the Moors, perceiving the strategic importance of the promontory, took possession of it and erected fortifications. During the succeeding nine hundred years the fortress was besieged no less than twelve times, and on several occasions was captured by invaders.

At length it became a possession of Spain, and so strongly was it fortified by the Spanish that it was thought to be impregnable. During the War of the Spanish Succession, however, the combined forces of England and Holland laid siege to it, and after a stubborn resistance the garrison was forced to surrender. Forthwith the English took possession in the name of Queen Anne and, strengthening the fortifications, have held the fortress ever since.

Spain was greatly mortified by the loss of this stronghold which she deemed rightly belonged to her. Several times during the ensuing seventy-five years, single-handed, she laid siege to the citadel in the endeavor to win it back, but each time she signally failed.

A seemingly auspicious time arrived in 1779 when she secured the co-operation of France. For the succeeding four years a relentless siege was laid to the fortress by the combined land and naval forces of Spain and France. Both nations summoned to their aid their ablest generals and admirals, using every conceivable device and strategy to capture the fortress, but all in vain.

During the first years of this siege the supreme command of both land and naval forces rested with the Spanish, but, having met with failure after failure, they were ready at length to give way to the French, who promised to capture the stronghold by constructing a powerful fleet of battering-ships, enabling them to fight at close range, so that gun to gun and man to man should decide the contest.

The French engineer who prepared the armament cut down the huge bulwarks of the sides of ten of the Spanish battle-ships and proceeded to reconstruct them within and without. The reconstructed ships were much like the Merrimac, that did such destructive work in our Civil War, except that they were not armored with iron. Triple beams of heavy oak with layers of sand and cork between them were used for encasing these huge hulks. For protecting the crews heavy timbers covered with rope and hides were used.

On September 12, 1782, fifty line-of-battle ships flying flags, together with a fleet of smaller vessels, lined up before the town. This formidable fleet was supported on land by an army of forty thousand men reinforced with batteries of the heaviest ordnance stretched along the shore. To oppose these the English commander, General Eliott, had ninety-six pieces of artillery and seven thousand men. So confident was the enemy of success that the triple-armored battering-ships moved boldly up to within half-gunshot range.

At a signal the English opened fire, which was instantly answered by the floating batteries and the whole shore line; four hundred guns were then playing on the beleaguered town. Soon death and destruction were made evident on both sides. There seemed to be but one thing for the English to do to save themselves, and that was to set fire to the enemy's ships. Accordingly, furnaces were placed beside the batteries in which heavy cannon balls were made white-hot. The guns, shotted with these glowing balls, were then turned on the ships. The enemy attempted to guard against the hot shot by continually pumping water into the layer of sand between the wooden sheathing of the ships, and for a time succeeded in extinguishing the fires.

It was not long though before the admiral's ship caught fire, and as night drew on, the flames, indicating the position of the Spanish line, furnished a mark for the English guns. At midnight ten of the besieging ships were on fire. Rockets were thrown up and distress signals hoisted to summon aid from their consorts.

The flames mounted higher and higher, illuminating sky, sea, and rock. The shrieks of the wounded and dying filled the midnight air. When it was found that the ships could not be saved, all discipline was lost and a panic ensued. Hundreds perished miserably, while hundreds of others threw themselves into the sea. Seeing the terrible destruction wrought by firing hot balls, General Eliott ordered his men to man the boats in order to save their foes from drowning and burning.

With the greatest heroism they scoured the sea, and, mounting the burning vessels, dragged from the decks men deserted by their own people. While performing these humanitarian acts several of the English perished by explosions. Three hundred and fifty-seven of the enemy were saved from a horrible death. The following morning disclosed a sea covered with wrecks. A few days more of feeble bombardment ensued; then a treaty of peace was signed.

From a strategic stand-point, the Rock of Gibraltar is easily Great Britain's most important stronghold, because it guards the trade route to her most important possession—British India. Practically all her commerce with her Indian colonies passes through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. With either one in the possession of an enemy, British commerce would not only suffer heavy losses, but it might be destroyed altogether. So necessary is the command of the Strait of Gibraltar to Great Britain, that to lose the Rock might also mean the loss of British India.

At the present time Great Britain is continually adding to the defences by building new fortifications and replacing the older guns with the latest patterns.

In ancient times the name Calpe was applied to the rock of Gibraltar and Abyla to the eminence in Africa on the opposite side of the strait, and both of these eminences formed the renowned Pillars of Hercules. For centuries no ships navigating the Mediterranean dared sail beyond these pillars.



CHAPTER XX

THE BAKU OIL FIELDS

Crossing the Black Sea, we leave the steamer at Batum and take the train for Baku, the commercial centre of the greatest oil field in the world—a region where the supply of petroleum and natural gas seems almost inexhaustible. Immense subterranean oil reservoirs underlie this entire region and extend eastward under the Caspian Sea and beyond to the Balkan hills.

Not only do oil and gas exude from the ground, but, as in the California fields, they come up through the sea-bottom; the oil floats on the surface of the water and the gas, pure as that used in our cities, passes off into the air. In several places gas which bubbles up through the sea-water may be ignited; then for a long distance the sea seems to be aflame. In many places on the land a fire for lighting or heating purposes is made by thrusting a pipe down into the ground and igniting the gas which rises in the tube.

The waters of the Caspian Sea along the Baku shore are usually fine for bathing, but if the wind blows inland for a while the oil floating on its surface accumulates, forming a black scum on the top, putting an end to the bathers' sport until an offshore wind sets in.

Ten miles from Baku, once upon a time, there was a temple over a cleft in the rocks from which gas arises. The gas was kept burning, tended by Parsee priests, for more than two thousand years and until the advent of the modern oil well. This flame was a special object of adoration by the fire-worshippers who were the followers of Zoroaster, and many went there to pay homage to it.

In this region one may travel for miles and miles without seeing a tree, shrub, or blade of grass. The landscape consists of a rolling surface of rocks and sand. It is barren, dry, and destitute of all objects of interest. Sometimes for six months or more not a drop of rain falls to lay the dust. If we go into the section where oil-wells are sunk, a slight relief to the view is afforded by the mounds of sand marking the sites of oil wells, derricks, the inky petroleum lakes, and the huge iron reservoirs. But all around is dry and dusty save where the oil has mingled with the earth; there the surroundings are not only unpleasant to sight and smell but ruinous to peace of mind as well.

For twenty-five centuries this region has been famous for its petroleum, and for upward of a thousand years the surrounding peoples have had recourse to these springs to obtain supplies of oil for medicinal and domestic purposes. Herodotus has given an interesting description of them. Even in the early part of the twelfth century petroleum was an important article of export from Baku. Crude petroleum was used to anoint camels for mange. In the first part of the eighteenth century Peter the Great annexed Baku to Russia. After his death it was ceded back to Persia; but in 1801 it was again annexed to Russia.

To-day Baku is one of the important commercial cities of the Russian Empire. Its shipping is immense and to further its commerce there are magnificent docks. The city is built on the shores of a large bay, sheltered from adverse winds by an island that acts as a breakwater. The water-front has an anchorage for thousands of vessels. One may walk along the strand for eight miles and find ships lined up in front of the city the entire distance.

The Caspian is filled with various kinds of fish, and while bathing one might reasonably have the impression that he was swimming in an aquarium. In fact, this place is an ideal one for an Izaak Walton. On the islands beyond the peninsula, projecting out from the Baku section, petroleum gas has flamed for centuries, lighting the heavens at night with a lurid glare that is visible far out at sea.

In Baku Bay, between two peninsulas, there was a spot, now commercialized into a producing oil well, where the gas came to the surface with sufficient force to upset small boats. Many of the oil wells are spouters for a long time after they are first bored, and when they cease to spout they can frequently be made to renew their activity by deeper boring.

Wells have been pumped for years without the level of the oil being lowered in the slightest. Some of the wells which have caught fire accidentally have burned for years, sending up their pillars of fire to a great height. In a few instances the richest wells have made the owners practically bankrupt by overwhelming the buildings on adjoining property with sand and petroleum, spreading ruin far and wide before the flow could be checked.

A majority of the great oil wells are about ten miles from Baku, and a dozen pipe-lines convey the petroleum from them to Black Town, a suburb of Baku, where it is stored and refined. From one well alone the escaping oil would have brought more than five million dollars had it been saved.

Seemingly the crust of the earth for hundreds of miles around acts like a huge gasometer pressing down on the pent-up gases with its weight. Since the Caspian Sea is eighty feet below sea level, it is probable that the land bordering the sea has sunk since the gases and oil were formed. And this would, in part at least, account for the enormous pressure.

The spouting oil wells are called fountains. Some of them have yielded two million gallons each day for months, sending up jets three or four hundred feet high with a roar that could be heard several miles away. Great difficulty was found at first in stopping the flow when necessary by capping or gagging the wells, but after a time a sliding valve-cap was invented, capable of checking the flow of the most violent well. In order to prevent the enormous pressure from bursting the pipe and tearing up the ground, as soon as the pipe has been sunk part way the earth is excavated around it and the excavation is filled with cement.



It is said that one of these gushers threw up in a day more oil than is produced by all the wells in the United States. One well spouted oil for months before it could be gagged, and in the meantime flooded the surrounding country. Millions of gallons were burned to get rid of it and millions more were diverted into the Caspian Sea. Two wells are reported to have thrown up in less than a month thirty million gallons each.

At first sand is thrown out with the oil, and frequently it is ejected with such force that a plate of iron three inches thick struck by the stream is worn through in less than a day by this liquid sand blast. When the wells cease spouting and it is not deemed advisable to bore deeper, pumping is employed. Generally the oil coming from the wells is conducted into large, carefully tamped excavations in the ground forming ponds or lakes. In these huge reservoirs the sand and heavier parts soon sink, making the bottom impervious. After the settling the petroleum is either pumped into large iron tanks or sent directly to the refinery by pipe-lines.

Since petroleum is vastly cheaper than coal, the steamers plying on the Caspian Sea and the locomotives of many of the Russian railroads use oil for fuel. At one time so great was the accumulation of petroleum that it sold at the wells for a few cents a ton. A fleet of tank-steamers conveys the oil products to the interior of Russia by the Caspian Sea and Volga River route.

The crude petroleum of Baku yields a lower percentage of kerosene than the American wells, but it contains more lubricating oil. Millions of gallons of lubricating oil are shipped from Baku each year to all parts of Europe. On the opposite side of the Caspian there are great cliffs of mineral wax such as is obtained from petroleum and used extensively in the manufacture of paraffin candles.

More than two hundred different products are made from petroleum, among the chief of which are kerosene, lubricating oil, benzine, gasoline, vaseline, and paraffin.



CHAPTER XXI

THE SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND FIELDS

Many of the great treasure fields of the world have been discovered by chance rather than careful search.

The diamonds of the Deccan, India, were trodden under foot for ages before they were recognized as diamonds. In Brazil the gold placer miners threw away the glassy pebbles as worthless and the black slaves used them as counters in their card games. A visitor who was acquainted with the diamond fields of India happened one day to notice the shining stones which two men were using in a card game at a public-house. The brilliancy of the pebbles piqued his curiosity. Having secured some, he tested them and found them to be diamonds of the first water. Yet so great was the prejudice against the Brazilian diamonds at first that for years many were secretly shipped to India and thence sent to the diamond market as Indian diamonds.

A trivial circumstance often leads to a marvellous change in the conditions of men, communities, and nations. The playful act of a Boer lad picking up a shining pebble on the banks of the Orange River served as a beacon to lure persons to search for the most precious and hardest of gems, the diamond, and thereby transformed South Africa.

It was the beginning of an industry that has already added more than four hundred million dollars' worth of wealth to the world and which now yields annually twenty million dollars' worth of diamonds. The history of the South African diamond mines is a fascinating story from start to finish.

A Boer farmer named Jacobs had made his home on the banks of the Orange River not far from Hopetown. Here, living in a squalid hovel, he eked out a precarious existence by hunting and grazing. His chief income was from the flocks of sheep and goats that grazed on the scanty herbage of the veld. Black servants were the shepherds, and the children, having no work to employ their time, were free to roam over karoo, and veld, and along the river.

What children are not attracted by pebbly streams? Wading in the water and skating flat stones on its surface was a joyous pastime for them. The banks of the river were strewn with stones of various colors and sizes such as would naturally attract the eyes of children.

There were rich red garnets, variegated jaspers, chalcedonies and agates of many hues mingled with rock-crystals. The children would fill their pockets with these colored pebbles and carry them home to use in play.

One day the farmer's wife noticed an unusually brilliant pebble among the other stones that were being tossed about by the children. Soon after she told one of her neighbors that the children had found a curious glassy stone that sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. On his expressing a desire to see the stone, it was brought to him covered with dirt. He was attracted by its brilliance and, probably surmising that it was more valuable than common quartz crystal, offered to purchase it. The good-wife scorned the idea of taking money for a smooth stone, and told him laughingly that he was welcome to it.

The stone was sent by post to Grahamtown to ascertain whether or not it was of value. To the astonishment of all concerned it was pronounced a genuine diamond and was sold for twenty-five hundred dollars. A search was forthwith made in the locality for other stones, but none was found. Ten months later a second diamond was found thirty miles away on the bank of the same river. Then quite a number of fine diamonds were found by prospectors along the Vaal River.

In 1869 a black shepherd boy found a magnificent white diamond which was purchased for five hundred sheep, ten oxen, and a horse. The purchaser sold the gem for fifty-five thousand dollars, and it was subsequently resold for one hundred thousand dollars. This superb gem became famous as the star of South Africa.

Although a few skeptics said these stones might have been brought from the far interior in the crops of ostriches, yet this last great find served to attract public notice, and soon thousands of prospectors came to seek the coveted gems. Even the stolid Boer caught the excitement, and trekked long distances with wife and children to reach the captivating fields.

It was a motley throng, like a mighty stream, which poured into the valley of the Vaal. Men came hurrying in all sorts of ways, afoot, on horseback, and in heavy, creaking ox-wagons. For miles and miles men were quickly at work sinking holes into the ground; camp-fires were flaming; teamsters were inspanning and outspanning their oxen, and wagons were creaking. These, with raucous voices shouting in a babel of languages, made a pandemonium exciting enough for the most adventurous.

As far as the eye could reach along the banks of the Vaal were seen hives of busy, hopeful men who believed that untold riches were almost within their grasp. The hardest of work was but a pastime, for if they did not find diamonds to-day, would they not to-morrow? Did not their neighbors find them? The next shovelful of earth might contain a precious gem. They could hardly afford time to eat or sleep. Flashing eyes and elastic steps marked the success of some, while others repressed their feelings and kept their own counsel regarding the extent of their finds.

So great did the crowd become that it was necessary to limit claims, and at an informal meeting of the prospectors, a digging committee was formed to make regulations controlling the working of the digging. Thirty feet square was thought to be a reasonable claim for one person. Some sought the river's banks to prospect, others the kopjes or hills. Some pinned their faith to light-colored ground, others to dark. Fancy rather than reason dictated the choice.

The manner of working a claim was simple. The earth was thrown into a cradle having a bottom of perforated zinc or of wire mesh. The cradle was then rapidly rocked to and fro as water was poured in upon the earth. The finer part was washed through the mesh and the worthless stones were thrown out by hand. The residue was then removed to a suitable place and carefully examined.

Each person most vigilantly scrutinized his hoard, fearing that in an unguarded moment a fortune might slip through his hands and be lost. Even the stranger passing along was hardly given a glance, so eager was each individual in searching for the precious pebble.

There is an entrancing interest in diamond mining far exceeding that of gold, for at any moment one is likely to come across a princely fortune. The miner is ever hopeful. Communing with himself, he says: "To-morrow I may be made independent by a lucky find." And for a time it was merely luck, for so irregularly distributed were the diamonds that no knowledge was gained as to where they were most likely to be found.

While miners were strenuously working along the rivers, far more wonderful diamond regions were soon to be unfolded; regions rich beyond the loftiest nights of the imagination and equal to the fabled valley of Sindbad the Sailor.

A thrifty Dutch vrau owned a farm, on a volcanic plateau extending for miles into the rocky kopjes. Her overseer, learning that garnets are often found associated with diamonds, and noticing some garnets in one of the small streams that coursed through the valley, concluded to do a little prospecting on his own account. Sinking a hole a few feet in depth and sifting the sand and gravel through a common sieve, he came across a diamond weighing fifty carats—nearly half an ounce.

This find caused a rush to the farm to secure claims, and the widow, with an eye to business, charged a monthly license of ten dollars. Soon this discovery was eclipsed by a more remarkable one at Dutoitspan[4] in 1870. Although a fair supply of diamonds was found near the surface, these diggings seemed to give out as they reached hard limestone.

When nearly all of the prospectors had left the field, having become discouraged, one more sanguine than the others determined to find out what was beneath this limestone covering. Sinking a shaft, he found that the limestone grew so soft and friable that it could be easily dug out with a pick. When he had penetrated the limestone covering he came in contact with a hard layer somewhat of the nature of clay. This he proceeded to break up and sift. During the sifting process he observed many sparkling gems. The problem had been partly solved at least. Diamonds were to be found in greater abundance below than above the limestone covering. On learning of the changed condition of affairs the deserting miners hastened back to the diggings in double-quick time.

Early in 1871 diamonds were found at Bultfontein[5] and on the De Beers farm, two miles from Dutoitspan. Five months later another bed of diamonds was found on the same farm, lying on a sloping kopje, one mile from the first location. This kopje, named Colesberg Kopje, became afterward the famous Kimberley mine. The district was immediately divided into claims and taken by prospectors.

The climate of this section is exceedingly trying. A blazing sun, clouds of suffocating dust, and a scanty supply of muddy water are the conditions of the region; it therefore required remarkable physical endurance and an indomitable will to achieve results. Sometimes terrific thunder-storms with torrents of rain would sweep through the valley. At other times great hail-storms would drive both man and beast to the nearest shelter. Wind-storms frequently drove blinding clouds of dust that penetrated everything.

Very quickly a city of tents sprang up at Kimberley to be superseded later by substantial buildings of wood, of brick and iron, and well-constructed streets. Water was pumped from the Vaal River through a main sixteen miles in length. It was then raised in three lifts by powerful engines to a large reservoir five hundred feet above the river.

The introduction of an abundant supply of good water wrought a wonderful transformation. Outside the business section the desert was made to blossom with flowers in gardens surrounding the hitherto bleak homes. Lawns were laid out and vines and trees planted about the houses, making the dusty, wind-swept expanse a thing of beauty and comfort.

At length prospectors learned that the diamond-bearing earth was confined chiefly to several oval-shaped funnels, ranging in area from ten to twenty acres, and that outside these few diamonds were to be found.

Now these huge funnels, or pipes, are nothing more or less than extinct volcanic craters. The walls, or casings, of these pipes are chiefly of shale and basalt filled with hard earth, yellow near the surface and bluish deeper down. The latter is called "blue-stuff" and is very prolific in diamonds. The diamonds found outside the rim wall must have been washed out of the craters or perhaps were thrown out by the eruption.

At first it was customary to pulverize the blue-stuff at once, but experience showed that a more satisfactory way to work it was to expose it for several months to the action of the weather. By this process it readily crumbled.

Various devices were used by the different miners to raise the earth out of their claims. Some used windlasses; others carried the earth up in buckets and tubs, some even by climbing ladders. Surrounding the funnels were carts, wheelbarrows, etc., for carrying away the material to the depositing grounds, where it was dried, pulverized, and sifted.

Many of the miners found it desirable to employ the native Kafirs to work in the pits, since neither the scorching sun nor clouds of dust seemed to trouble them.

The deeper the pits were sunk the greater the difficulty became in raising the blue-stuff. To add to the difficulties the rim wall of shale and basalt began to fall in, and the rain made the claims muddy and slippery or filled them with water. At a still greater depth water began to seep through the shale wall, and great masses of the rim occasionally fell in endangering life and almost precluding further mining unless concerted action were taken. So, in order to effect more economical methods of working, a consolidation of claims began to take place.

At the Kimberley mine a double platform with staging was built around the pit, and a series of wires running from the different claims served as trackways on which buckets of the blue-stuff were drawn up by means of ropes and windlasses located on these platforms.

When still greater depth had been reached and much of the rim wall had been precipitated into the pit and rain and seepage water had made the pits mud holes, two remarkable persons who were interested in the mines took a leading part in solving the difficulties. These persons were Cecil John Rhodes and Barnett Isaacs, better known as "Barney Barnato." Rhodes owned stock in the De Beers and Barnato in the Kimberley mine. At first they were sharp rivals in gaining control, but later they got together and consolidated interests.

Cecil Rhodes was an English college student. He had lost his health and had come to South Africa at the invitation of his brother, who was interested in the diamond mines. Roughly dressed, his clothes covered with dust, this shy, pale student, week in and week out, might be seen looking after the Kafirs who worked his brother's claim.

Barney Barnato, a young Hebrew of keen foresight, likewise had a brother in South Africa. The latter, who was engaged in diamond buying, urged Barney to come at once to this famous region, setting forth the wonderful opportunities offered for business. Barnato forthwith packed his few belongings and took the next steamer for Cape Town. He was only twenty years old and was bubbling over with good-natured energy; but he was quick to perceive and quick to act.

Although he had but a few dollars with which to start in business, yet by indomitable energy and shrewd management he soon acquired sufficient money to buy a few small claims in the famous Kimberley mine. To these claims he constantly added others until he became one of the leading stockholders in the mine.

When the rival mines began to undersell each other and diamonds were being sold for but little more than the cost of production, Rhodes conceived the plan of consolidating all the mines, thereby forming a monopoly to keep up the prices. By masterly skill he brought this about, purchasing some shares outright, and giving shares in the new company as payment for others. To make the purchases he negotiated a loan of several million dollars through the Rothschilds, the famous bankers of London.



Thus, after many years of struggle through difficulties that were seemingly superhuman, the four great mines, the De Beers, Kimberley, Dutoitspan, and Bultfontein, were merged into one great corporation. Afterward some others were added, but all bear the name De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, a corporation which to-day controls the diamond market of the world. During the eleven years ending 1899 they yielded nearly six tons of diamonds.

Both Rhodes and Barnato acquired immense wealth by their investments, but it is doubtful if either gained much happiness from his acquisitions. Poor Barnato! He had gained riches and stood among the foremost financiers of the world, but at how fearful a cost! His overtaxed brain began to give way, and on his way back to England he suddenly leaped overboard and was drowned.

Cecil Rhodes was instrumental in enlarging British influence and territory in South Africa, and to him England owes a deep debt of gratitude. He died in 1902 leaving a portion of his immense fortune for scholarships in Oxford, England's great university. Rhodes earnestly advocated the building of a railroad from Cape Town to Cairo. Already this line has been constructed northward from Cape Town several hundred miles beyond Victoria Falls, directly below which it crosses the Zambezi River.

Diamonds of various colors are found in the African mines—brown, yellow, pale blue, clear, and black. The black diamonds, called bort, are used mainly for arming diamond drills and for polishing other diamonds. Green, pink, and mauve diamonds are found occasionally.

The De Beers mines have produced some notable stones. From the Premier mine a diamond weighing more than three thousand carats—one and thirty-seven hundredths pounds avoirdupois—was obtained. This stone, more than twice the size of any heretofore found and estimated to be worth five million dollars, was insured for two million five hundred thousand dollars. It was named the Cullinan, from one Tom Cullinan, 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, which is seldom given. The men go out of the compounds to their work through tunnels and return the same way.

Besides the native Kafirs already mentioned, about two thousand white laborers are employed, the greater number being engaged in the offices and workshops and on the depositing floors.

Electric lights are used throughout the mines, and underground work is carried on both day and night by three shifts. Every known scientific device is pressed into service. In all of the deep mines the laborers are taken up and down the shafts in cages.

The method of mining and working the diamond-bearing earth at present employed is far more economical than in former years. After the blue material has been brought up it is carried to the depositing floors where it is allowed to remain several months. In the meanwhile it is harrowed several times to break the lumps. The part that resists this treatment is carried to a mill to be crushed. The disintegrated and pulverized material is then carried to the washing machines.

The coarser fragments of the concentrates from the washing machines are picked out by hand; the finer are sent to the pulsators. Each shaking-table of the pulsators is made of corrugated iron plates in several sections with a drop of about an inch from one division to another.

A sufficient quantity of thick grease is spread over the plates to cover them to the top of the corrugations. The concentrates are continuously spread over the upper portion of the table automatically while running water washes them down.

Strange as it may seem, the diamonds stick fast to the grease; the other material is washed away. It has been found by trial that grease will cling to the precious stones but to nothing else. After a few hours the grease with the diamonds is scraped off the tables and steamed in perforated vessels to separate them.



One of the De Beers mines has been worked to a depth of about two thousand feet with no diminution in the quantity or quality of the diamonds. The "pipe" or plug of blue-stuff shows no signs of giving out. Nature, in her underground laboratory, works in a mysterious way, baffling the astutest students of science to find the process by which she is able to manufacture such beautiful gems as the diamond. Many theories have been propounded to explain the genesis of the diamond, the most plausible one being that the crystallization of the carbon is due to a very high temperature and tremendous pressure acting on the carbon in a liquid form deep down beneath the earth's surface. The crystals, intermingled with much foreign matter, are afterward projected upward, filling these great volcanic pipes.

In order to produce the most beautiful effect, diamonds are usually cut into one or another of three different forms, namely, rose, table, and brilliant, the shape and size of the stone determining which form is best. The double-cut brilliant is the most common form at the present day. The general form of rough, crystallized diamonds is that of two square pyramids joined at their bases. The crystals are oftenest found octahedral and dodecahedral—that is, eight and twelve sided, and the diamond-cutter takes advantage of these forms in shaping the diamond.

The modern lapidary must have a perfect knowledge of optics and be a skilful stone-cutter. The numerous planes or faces which he cuts on the surface of the diamond are called facets. In the treatment three distinct processes are utilized—cleaving, cutting, and polishing. The lapidary must study the individual character of each stone and determine whether to cleave or grind off the superfluous matter so as to correct flaws and imperfections. All this calls for the judgment which comes only with long experience, for if the cutter errs he may ruin a priceless gem.

The grinding and polishing are done by diamond dust mixed with oil spread on the upper surface of a grooved flat steel wheel revolving horizontally. The diamond, having been set in fusible solder, is firmly pressed against the surface of the wheel by a small projecting arm and clamp. When one facet has been finished, the diamond is removed from the solder and reset for grinding another facet. Thus the workman continues until the grinding and polishing are completed. Infinite patience and steadiness of nerve, as well as steadiness of hand, are required for such delicate and exact work. Sometimes two uncut stones are cemented into the ends of two sticks. Then the operator, using these sticks as handles, presses the stones against each other with a rubbing motion, the surface of the stones being coated over with diamond dust and oil to accelerate the process.

The last cutting of the celebrated Kohinoor diamond cost forty thousand dollars. One may understand, therefore, that the expense of cutting a large diamond adds materially to its cost. The diamond-cutting industry is confined chiefly to Amsterdam, where the work employs several thousand persons, mostly Hebrews, the craft having been handed down from father to son through several generations. Much fine cutting is now done in New York also.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: The term pan is a name applied to a basin or pool in which water collects during the rainy season.]

[Footnote 5: Fontein is a word of Dutch origin meaning fountain or spring. In this hot and semi-arid country a pan or fontein was a necessity to the Boer farmer, whose chief dependence was on his sheep and cattle. Hence he was wont to settle near where water could be easily obtained.]



PART II

OCEANIA

CHAPTER XXII

THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC

Not until four hundred years ago did the body of water now named the Pacific Ocean become known to the people of Europe.

A vague knowledge of a sea that washed the eastern shores of Cathay, or China, was gained from the reports of the famous Venetian traveller, Marco Polo. After spending several years in the Orient, Polo returned home in 1295, giving such marvellous accounts of the countries visited and things seen that his stories were but half believed.

In 1531, Balboa, a Spanish explorer stationed at Darien, now Colon, hearing rumors that a great ocean lay to the opposite side, determined to test the truth of the report. Taking with him about three hundred men, he laboriously worked his way through the jungles of the isthmus; and on reaching the top of the divide beheld for the first time the Pacific Ocean. He then hastened forward, and as he reached the shore he waded into the water and took possession of it in the name of his sovereign. He named it the South Sea.

But the vast extent of this sheet of water did not become well known until fifty years later, when brave Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe. Two and one-half centuries more elapsed before the memorable voyages and discoveries of Captain Cook disclosed the fact that the new ocean world was studded with countless islands, and that most of them were densely inhabited by savages.

Just how or when all these islands became inhabited is not definitely known. Since the Polynesian languages in general are similar, it is conjectured that the inhabitants of the islands have a common origin and that many of the more northerly groups were peopled by emigrants from the south.

In a general way the name Oceania is applied to all of the islands in the Pacific, but in a more limited sense only to those lying between the American continent and Australasia.

The chief divisions of Oceania are Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Australia, the largest body of land, is usually regarded as a continent. Nearly all the smaller islands are of coral or of volcanic origin; in many instances both agencies have contributed to their formation. The coral and volcanic islands seem to be the tops of mountain ranges that, little by little, have sunk, until only their higher summits are now above sea level.

The central part of the Pacific Ocean is pre-eminently the home of the reef-building coral. Countless islands and reefs, wholly or partly built up by these tiny creatures, are found widely scattered over an immense area limited to one thousand eight hundred miles on each side of the equator. All these formations are composed of the compact limestone remains of coral polyps.

These polyps have the power of extracting carbonate of lime from the sea-water and building it into massive formations which, for the most part, are nearly or completely submerged.

The reef-building coral differs very materially in form and appearance from the precious or red coral; the former is confined to comparatively shallow water, while the latter is found most commonly at a depth of six hundred feet or more, and it occurs chiefly in the Mediterranean Sea. The common or reef-building coral has but little use except as a source of lime, and no intrinsic value except as an object of curiosity.

Coral reefs may be arranged under three classes; namely, fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls. The first class embraces the shallow-water reefs found close to land, either surrounding islands or skirting the shores of continents. The reefs of the second class likewise skirt islands or continents, but at such distances as to leave a deep channel between them and the shore. The third class are called atolls; each is irregularly ring-shaped and almost entirely encloses a sheet of water, called a lagoon.

The ring-shaped reef, or atoll, is broken in one or more places, generally on the leeward side, and built up higher on the windward side. The reason for such omissions and buildings is obvious when we remember that the coral animal cannot move from its fixed position to seek food, but must depend upon the waves to bring it within reach. The water dashing up against the reef on the windward side brings an abundance of food, while the slight movement of the waves on the leeward side brings but little food.

After many years the dead coral is broken off and piled up on the reef. In this condition it is cemented by the lime in the sea-water, thereby forming a nucleus for land. Then, perchance, a cocoanut drifts upon the formation and, finding sufficient nutriment, sends down a root and begins its growth. Other cocoanuts are drifted to the newly disintegrated coral soil until the tropical vegetation becomes capable of sustaining animal life. Or, perhaps, a portion of the ocean bed in that particular region is uplifted by the volcanic forces, thus greatly enlarging the land area. Attracted by the new land, people from near-by islands emigrate and take possession of the unoccupied area. Thus the upbuilding of islands and their occupancy goes on through the centuries.

From the fact that these formations exist at a depth of several thousand feet, while coral polyps themselves can live only near the surface, it is thought that either the sea bottom must have been sinking for a long period of time or else that the cinder cones around which the reefs are built must have shrunk away until their tops are below sea level. At all events they seem to be due to volcanic movement.



Differences in environment produce marked differences on people in various parts of the continental world. Likewise, differences in the geological structure of the islands of the Pacific have produced a marked influence on the inhabitants of the islands of the Pacific. Those living on large and mountainous islands, where the productions are varied and abundant, are greatly superior mentally and physically to those inhabiting the small low-lying coral islands.