The River of Diamonds

'What are those curious-looking cranes and hoses on the deck?' asked the Judge.

Those are the heart of the Mazy Zed, so to speak. The thick rubber hoses will be lowered on to the ocean floor by means of derricks and gantries.'

'I think it would be easier if my client explained the underlying principle,' said Shardelow.

The Judge nodded and Rhennin resumed. 'The rubber hose will go down about 200 feet. Attached to the end are heavy steel nozzles. The apparatus is known as a jet lift.'

'You could say that the principle is similar in operation to a vacuum cleaner?'

'Yes. In fact, we have coined the phrase, Hoovering the sea-bed.'

'In practice, how do the hoses operate?'

'When the pipes fill with water, highly compressed air is forced through the nozzles into the mud and gravel on the ocean floor. As it is disturbed, it whirls about and moves up the pipe. The outside pressure of the ocean forces gravel and diamonds to the top where processing and sorting take place. The residue is dumped. The air forced into the hose creates a siphon effect and at the same time stirs up the sea-bed.'

'It amounts then to diamond mining by suction? This is not simply theory, Mr Rhennin? — you've tested the idea?'

Rhennin smiled. It illuminated the rather drawn, authoritative face. 'When one is staking a million dollars, one does test beforehand, my lord.'

'Thank you, Mr Rhennin. You may return to the witness-box.' He peered at the model. 'An extraordinary craft, Mr Shardelow.'

'If I might revert to my expression earlier, my lord, a bitch.'

A glow overlaid for a moment the medieval chill., 'I might almost agree in my private capacity, though not of course as an officer of the law.'

Shardelow turned to Rhennin. 'The Mazy Zed application covers prospecting and mining rights over about 2500 square miles of open sea, does it not?'

That is correct.'

'What size do you estimate the undersea field?'

'About sixty million cubic yards of diamond-bearing gravel. If my calculations are correct, the Mazy Zed may recover up to fifty tons of gem-quality diamonds.'

'A net yield of about twelve pounds ten shillings per carat. How many carats per day must you bring up to pay your way?'

'Roughly 150.'

'How long will it be until the field is exhausted?'

That is impossible to say until operations get under way. At Oranjemund it has taken thirty years to scrape away 150 million tons of overburden.'

'A final question, Mr Rhennin: do you consider your new method superior to grabs and dredges?'

'The Mazy Zed will employ a revolutionary principle. Grabs and dredges have been used for two centuries and any improvement has been purely superficial.'

I felt sorry for Shelborne and the girl. As Rhennin spoke, they involuntarily turned towards each other, in a curious spontaneous gesture which I was to remember later.

Shardelow sat down.

The Judge said, 'Mr Rhennin, there are still one or two points which have arisen in the mind of the court. The first is security. The prevention of illicit diamond buying and smuggling of stones from what proposes to be a very large venture is the concern of this court; it is indeed the concern of any such court to prevent crime and the infringement of the diamond laws.'

'Security aboard the Mazy Zed will be much easier than ashore,' replied Rhennin. 'The barge is a self-contained unit completely cut off from the shore. Leave will be granted only once in three months. There are no harbours where we will operate. If a man were rash enough to steal our diamonds and by some means got ashore, the desert…'

Rhennin paused and glanced at Shelborne.

'Yes, Mr Rhennin?'

'The desert would take care of him, as it did of Caldwell.'

It was an unnecessary thrust. The girl turned white. I didn't care for the look on Shelborne's face.

The Judge did not miss it either. 'Yes — I see. The second question is, how far from the shore do you intend to operate?'

'Up to the thirty-fathom line. The sea-bed mud persists…'

'You miss my point. How far, in terms of miles, from the shore?'

'Within territorial limits.'

Three miles in other words?'

Rhennin looked uneasy. 'Well, the South African Government has recently extended the limit of territorial waters from three to twelve miles for trawlers. It is not generally recognized by some other countries, however.'

'What have other countries to do with it, Mr Rhennin?'

'To be frank, my lord, we are not happy about the presence of so-called Russian trawling fleets off the Sperrgebiet. Fishermen say their fishing gear lies rusting on deck while they pursue… ah… other activities. The Poles have spent large sums on improving the port of Conakry, in Guinea near Freetown, which they use as a trawler base for these waters…'

Shardelow got to his feet. 'I have here a statement from the Chief of the South African Naval Staff. It says that the Russian ships belong to the Second Atlantic Group of the Kalingrad People's Sea Administration.'

'Whatever that might mean.' The Judge continued his questions: 'You expect trouble, then, outside the three-mile limit, Mr Rhennin?'

'We are taking precautions.'

Shardelow softened the blunt words: 'Perhaps it would be better to say that the Mazy Zed will be protected by local measures…'

'What precautions, Mr Rhennin?'

'Patrol boats — radar — radio listening devices.'

Mr Justice de Villiers leaned back. 'Maybe you'll have a private war on your hands.'

Shardelow played it down. 'Scarcely, my lord. Inside territorial waters we are assured of the protection of the South African naval forces. The two patrol boats are just in case…'

'Of a surprise raid, Mr Shardelow?'

The reporter was writing furiously. Shardelow tried to steer the Judge away from the subject. 'No. Just so that no one will think the Mazy Zed is a sitting duck, so to speak. There will be a fortune in diamonds aboard if we are successful. As an additional safety measure, we have had special brass containers manufactured to hold the diamonds. These have buoys attached in case they have to be thrown overboard if there is trouble…'

'The court wishes to hear more about your patrol boats and radar.'

Rhennin said, 'I have an option on two hydrofoil highspeed boats at Messrs Samuel White's, of Cowes. They were originally ordered for the Royal Navy, but are now redundant because of budgetary considerations.'

I grinned to myself. Rhennin wasn't telling the Judge that both boats were armed with heavy-calibre machine-guns forrad.

'Speed?'

'Fifty, maybe fifty-five knots.'

The Judge's eyebrows went up. 'They must be absorbing a slice of capital, Mr Rhennin.'

'It was fortunate that they were redundant and the price… Like the radar, it is first-class equipment, but cheap.'

'You seem to have thought of everything, Mr Rhennin.'

'I hope so. There is a lot at stake, and we know that the sea and the Sperrgebiet in themselves will present major problems.'

'Thank you, Mr Rhennin.' He stepped down. The Judge addressed the court generally. 'The Consolidated Diamond Mining Company has kindly arranged for those concerned in these proceedings to make a visit to the site of the diamond workings this afternoon. I and my learned assessors feel that an inspection in loco may give us all an insight into the problems and rewards of diamond mining on this unfriendly coast. We will proceed in parties by Land-Rover to the field plants. Colonel Duvenhage has arranged to make the security search purely nominal.'