ore 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.

[Illustration: Open workings of the diamond mine, Kimberley]

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 Cull