When taken out, the residue, which consists of nothing but heavy ironstone and carbon in a pure state and crystals of various hues, is carefully sifted through sieves of different degrees of fineness, sometimes placed one under the other in a cradle and thoroughly rocked. Then, when every trace of foreign matter has been carefully removed, a dextrous turn of the hand, as the sieve with its contents is held in a tub of water, brings the diamonds, garnets, and the heavier lumps of ironstone into a little heap in the very centre, so that when the sieve is reversed on the common pine sorting-table they lie together. The white, alum-like appearance of the rough diamond contrasts strongly with the rich-hued garnets, with which the surrounding blackness of carbon and ironstone is studded. It is only by practice that one is enabled to tell at sight what _is_ a diamond; the sieve appeared to be full of them, but we were told they were only crystals, which could easily be detected from diamonds by taking one between the teeth; the diamond resists their action, but the crystal crumbles away. Thousands upon thousands of garnets roost exquisite in colour are found in every sieveful, but they are thrown aside contemptuously, being almost valueless. We were allowed the fascinating pleasure of sorting over a sieveful of the pebbly-like residuum of the washing-box, and I can give no idea of the feeling of excitement that came over us as we pored over the table, each armed with a triangular piece of zinc for raking over the stones. We found several diamonds, and felt like breaking the tenth commandment as they were calmly pocketed by the manager of the "floor," but were each somewhat consoled by the present of a small diamond as a souvenir of the day's wash-up. No one would believe from the appearance of a rough diamond, looking like nothing so much as a piece of alum, that it could ever be cut into a beautiful, fiery gem. Of course the expenses of a company owning a block of claims are enormous, and a large number of stones have to be found before the margin for a dividend arrives. From the opening of the mine in 1871 to the end of 1885 the yield of diamonds amounted to 100,000,000 dollars. The Kimberley mine produces almost twice as much as the three other mines combined. The expense and difficulty of reaching the diamond field in the early days kept away the rowdy element to be found in our Western mines.