1) In the first four months of 1902 what city, by the South African
coast had a diamond mine.  The city must be close enough for a
carriage ride to be possible to the shoreline in less than two hours.
Please give visual details of the city and its people, a bazaar or
other such place with its specific name and what South African foods
or snacks would be sold in the bazaar.
2)In the same period--first months of 1902--was it possible to travel
from Paris/Marseille to South Africa and the above city with boat via
the Suez Canal?  How long would the trip take and what was the name
and description of the ship that sailed there?
3) At the same period, what would the shortest route back to Paris be
and how long would it take.  What would the stopping points be?

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Request for Question Clarification by thx1138-ga on 10 May 2003 06:25 PDT

Hello again dorlev,

Thank you for your previous message.  I will start researchng Cullinan
near Pretoria for images, and details of life in early 1902 and post
my research here, probably on Monday.  Apart from what you have
outlined above (bazaars, food etc..) are there any other aspects of
life in early 1902 that you need to know?

Best regards

THX1138

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Clarification of Question by dorlev-ga on 10 May 2003 10:42 PDT

Thank you for your comment.
Now, as previously stated in my questions regarding Wouth Africa I
would like to know how long it would take to get to Cullinan near
Pretoria from Paris via the Suez Canal.  I need the geopgraphy and
what river/sea/ocean is close by to get to by carriage, the weather,
and even you happen to stumble upon interesting customs.  I also need
to know the shortest way back to Paris from there.
Many Thanks

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Request for Question Clarification by thx1138-ga on 10 May 2003 15:44 PDT

Dear dorlev

Thank you for your reply, I will get back to you hopefully on Monday
(pm) Although initial research looks like it might be a "tall order"
Let`s see...

Very best regards

THX1138

Hello dorlev and thank you for your question.

Having researched your question extensivley, I'm afraid it's looking
like there were no coastal diamond mines until about 1925 and that was
at Kleinzee, south of Port Nolloth in Namaqualand. (You can see
Kleinzee on the map below)
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?addtohistory=&country=ZA&city=Kleinzee&historyid=&submit.x=72&submit.y=14

For further information:
http://www.bullion.org.za/Level3/Education/Ed-diamonds.htm

Also:
"Diamonds were first found along South Africa’s west coast in 1926
near Port Nolloth, and two years later enriched beach diamond deposits
were discovered at Alexander Bay on the southern side of the Orange
River mouth."
http://www.minesite.com/archives/news_archive/2003/feb-2003/namakwa210203.htm

Diamonds were discovered along the coast of what is now Namibia in
1908, but Namibia was a German protectorate from 1884 until 1914 and
was called "Deutsch Südwestafrika".

Sorry the news isn't better!  If you need any further help, just ask.

Very best regards.

THX1138

Thanks for your speedy reply I appreciate it.  From your research I
copied the part below which says that diamonds were discovered in
South Africa in Cullinan near Petretoria.  Since I am an author of
fiction and am free to take some license, can you tell me about this
place and the details of its visual environment and people.  If I have
to choose this place as my milieu I might use the rive, but still to
know what the closest town is and what it looks like.  Many thanks,

Between 1870 and 1891 no less than six kimberlite pipes were
discovered in Kimberley, while the Koffiefontein pipe, 130 kilometres
south of Kimberley, was discovered in 1880. The Premier, the biggest
pipe in South Africa and, geologically, by far the oldest, was
discovered at Cullinan near Pretoria in 1902. The world's largest gem
diamond, the 3 106 carat Cullinan, was found here in 1905. Several
other small but payable deposits were discovered elsewhere in the
country in the early years of the century, though most of these have
been worked out and abandoned

Hello dorlev and thank you for your question.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on your question as the
information you require is proving very difficult to locate.  However
here are some interesting sites which might help you in your writing.


Some images of South Africa in 1902:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all&q=1902+site%3A.za

One of the problems I encountered was that in 1902 Cullinan hardly
existed.

"The unique village of Cullinan, named after Sir Thomas Cullinan,
bears the distinction of being the site of discovery of the world's
largest diamond.


The area of the village and Premier Mine was originally part of the
"The Cornelis Minnaar Farm", Elandsfontein no. 85. It was registered
on 7th November 1859.

Cornelis sold a portion of the farm to his brother Roelof Minnaar in
1861, who in turn sold the northern part of this farm to Willem
Prinsloo for £570 on the 7th December 1896.

Thomas Major Cullinan, an influential building contractor, tried to
obtain an option on the Prinsloo farm but failed. When Willem Prinloo
died in 1898, Maria Prinsloo became the new owner shortly before the
Anglo Boer War (1898-1902) broke out."
http://www.easyfind.co.za/Cullinan_History/index.html


A town which looks like it might be more promising:

“JAGERSFONTEIN, a town in the Orange Free State, 50 m. NW. by rail of
Springfontein on the trunk line from Cape Town to Pretoria. Pop.
(1904), 5657—I 293 whites and 4364 coloured persons. Jagersfontein,
which occupies a pleasant situation on the open veld about 4500 ft.
above the sea, owes its existence to the valuable diamond mine
discovered here in 1870. The first diamond, a stone of 50 carats, was
found in August of that year, and digging immediately began. The
discovery a few weeks later of the much richer mines at Bultfontein
and Du Toits Pan, followed by the great finds at De Beers and
Colesberg Kop (Kimberley) caused Jagersfontein to be neglected for
several years. Up to 1887 the claims in the mine were held by a large
number of individuals, but coincident with the efforts to amalgamate
the interest in the Kimberley mines a similar movement took place at
Jagersfontein, and by 1893 all the claims became the property of one
company, which has a working arrangement with the Dc Beers
corporation. The mine, which is worked on the open system and has a
depth of 450 ft., yields stones of very fine quality, but the annual
output does not exceed in value £500,000. In 1909 a shaft 950 ft. deep
was sunk with a view to working the mine on the underground system.
Among the famous stones found in the mine are the “ Excelsior”
(weighing 971 carats, and larger than any previously discovered) and
the”
http://71.1911encyclopedia.org/J/JA/JAGERSFONTEIN.htm


“DIAMOND in SOUTH AFRICA.
HISTORICAL REVIEW of DIAMOND GEOLOGY and MINING”
http://www.kanada.net/alluvial/diamondGeology14.html

I'm very sorry I can't be of more help, but I hope the information
above might be of some help to you.

Very best regards

THX1138