<P> The Eureka Diamond was found near Hopetown on the Orange River by a 15 year old boy named Erasmus Stephanus Jacobs in 1867 . Soon afterward , Schalk Van Niekerk entrusted the stone to John O'Reilly , who took it to Colesberg to inquire as to its nature and value . The stone came under the view of the acting Civil Commissioner Lourenzo Boyes , who on seeing that the stone cut glass declared : `` I believe it to be a diamond . '' The stone was then sent by mail in an ordinary paper envelope to Dr. William Guybon Atherstone , the colony 's foremost mineralogist , in Grahamstown . Atherstone confirmed that it was a 21.25 carat ( 4.25 g ) diamond ( although some sources put the weight at 24 carats ( 4.8 g ) ) . </P>
<P> The Eureka Diamond was found near Hopetown on the Orange River by a 15 year old boy named Erasmus Stephanus Jacobs in 1867 . Soon afterward , Schalk Van Niekerk entrusted the stone to John O'Reilly , who took it to Colesberg to inquire as to its nature and value . The stone came under the view of the acting Civil Commissioner Lourenzo Boyes , who on seeing that the stone cut glass declared : `` I believe it to be a diamond . '' The stone was then sent by mail in an ordinary paper envelope to Dr. William Guybon Atherstone , the colony 's foremost mineralogist , in Grahamstown . Atherstone confirmed that it was a 21.25 carat ( 4.25 g ) diamond ( although some sources put the weight at 24 carats ( 4.8 g ) ) . </P>
who found the first diamond in south africa
who found the first diamond in south africa
a 15 year old boy named Erasmus Stephanus Jacobs
a 15 year old boy named Erasmus Stephanus Jacobs