On the following day, I was shown. round the De Beers Properties. First the compounds where the five thousand natives employed by the Company are housed. These compounds are excellently equipped with swimming baths and recreation rooms, etc. From there we made our way to the huge pulsator where the blue Kim-perlite soil is crushed and then passes over vibrating tables, covered with grease, to which the diamonds adhere.
After this the stones are taken to the sorting and grading offices. Here I saw many thousands of pounds worth of diamonds, spread out in bewildering magnificence. I was particularly struck by the perfect crystal formation of many of the stones, as previously I had imagined the uncut stones to be merely lumps.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.