Kimberley

Kimberley, the capital of Griqualand West (q.v.), Cape Colony, South Africa, 540 miles N.E. of Cape Town by railway, has sprung up since the working of the diamond mines, which began in 1871, and is now a prosperous town, with many handsome buildings, including a town-hall, public library, etc. Nearly all the mines are now owned by the De Beers Consolidated Company, which has thus gained an almost complete monopoly of the diamond trade of the world.