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Revision 12
Website: www.idc-online.com
E-mail: idc@idc-online.com (mailto:idc@idc-online.com)
IDC Technologies Pty Ltd

PO Box 1093, West Perth, Western Australia 6872
Offices in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia, Poland, United States of America, Canada, South Africa and
India
Copyright © IDC Technologies 2012. All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-921007-85-9
All rights to this publication, associated software and workshop are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior
written permission of the publisher. All enquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.
Disclaimer
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Trademarks
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Acknowledgements
IDC Technologies expresses its sincere thanks to all those engineers and technicians on our training workshops who freely made available
their expertise in preparing this manual.
Contents
1 Introduction to HVAC 1
1.1 General 1
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1.2 Principles of thermodynamics 1 Fundamentals of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) for Engineers and Technicians
1.3 Temperature and its measurement 5
1.4 Pressure and temperature relationship 6
1.5 Laws of thermodynamics 6
1.6 Fundamentals of heat transfer 7
1.7 Fundamentals of fluid flow 9
2 Psychrometry 15
2.1 Introduction to psychrometry 15
2.2 The properties of air 15
2.3 Understanding the psychrometric charts 25
2.4 Psychrometric processes 32
2.5 Air conditioning systems-Summer and winter 43
3 Requirements of Comfort air conditioning 53
3.1 General 53
3.2 Air purification methods 56
3.3 Thermodynamics of the human body 57
3.4 Role of clothing 58
3.5 Comfort and comfort chart 60
3.6 Design considerations 64
3.7 Requirements of temperature and humidity-high heat load industries 64
3.8 Recommended inside design conditions 65
3.9 Outside summer design conditions for some foreign cities 66
3.10 Types of Ventilation Systems 68
3.11 Effect of vertical temperature gradient & corrective measures 73
3.12 Factors considered in air distribution systems indoor 75
3.13 Indoor Air Quality 77
3.14 Design of ventilation systems 85
4 Heating & Cooling Load Calculation Procedure 101
4.1 General 101
4.2 Definitions 102
4.3 Design considerations 102
4.4 Internal Sensible and Latent Heat Load components 103
4.5 Comfort air conditioning 104
4.6 Heat gain classification 105
4.7 Miscellaneous heat sources 114
4.8 Fresh air load 115
4.9 Design of air-conditioning system 116
4.10 By-pass factor (bf) consideration 121
5 HVAC Systems 125

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5.1 Heating systems 125 Practical Fundamentals of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) for Engineers and Technicians
5.2 Warm air heating systems 126
5.3 Sizing heating systems 131
5.4 Hot water heating system 131
5.5 Steam heating systems 134
5.6 Electric heating systems 135
5.7 District heating system 135
5.8 Warm air curtains 136
5.9 Air-conditioning systems: General 137
5.10 Heat pumps 158
5.11 Air handling units 162
5.12 Functional variations in the design 166
5.13 Fan coil unit 181
5.14 Capacity calculation of an air handling unit 183
6 Variable air volume (VAV) systems 187
6.1 General 187
6.2 System concept 187
6.3 Different VAV systems 189
7 Duct design, air flow and its distribution 195
7.1 Air flow and pressure losses 195
7.2 Dynamic losses in ducts 199
7.3 Duct design 202
7.4 Duct arrangement systems 204
7.5 Air distribution system inside space 207
7.6 Ventilation systems 210
7.7 Effect of vertical temperature gradient and corrective measures 212
8 Insulation of Air-conditioning systems 217
8.1 Introduction 217
8.2 Desired properties of an ideal insulating material 217
8.3 Factors affecting thermal conductivity 218
8.4 Types of insulation materials 219
8.5 Heat transfer through insulation 222
8.6 Economical thickness of insulation 223
8.7 Insulated systems 224
8.8 Importance of relative humidity for the selection of insulation 227
9 Air-conditioning equipment 229
9.1 Air filters 229
9.2 Humidifiers 238
9.3 Dehumidifiers 243

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9.4 Fans and blowers 248 Practical Fundamentals of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) for Engineers and Technicians
9.5 Grills and registers 254
10 Refrigeration 257
10.1 General 257
10.2 Methods of refrigeration 257
10.3 Air refrigeration system 263
10.4 Vapor compression refrigeration system 265
10.5 Absorption refrigeration system 266
10.6 Refrigerants 271
10.7 Refrigerant nomenclature 276
10.8 Important refrigerants 276
10.9 Refrigeration equipment 279
11 Controls and Instrumentation 299
11.1 Objectives 299
11.3 Definitions 300
11.4 Elements of control 304
11.5 Types of control system 312
11.6 Methods of control 315
11.7 Selection of a control system 320
11.8 Typical control systems 321
11.9 Control specifications 325
11.10 Conclusion 327
12 Installation, Commissioning, Operation, Testing & Maintenance 329
12.1 Objectives 329
12.2 Installation 329
12.3 Charging the refrigeration unit 330
12.4 Adding oil to the compressor 335
12.5 Commissioning 336
12.6 Other service operations 341
12.7 Operational activities 343
12.8 Do’s and don’ts 345
12.9 Maintenance 346
12.10 Economics 352
13 Fault finding and troubleshooting 355
13.1 Objectives 355
13.3 Faults 355
13.4 Troubleshooting 357

14 Green House effect and future Fundamentals
refrigerants 367 of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) for Engineers and Technicians
14.1 Objectives 367
14.2 General 367
14.3 The greenhouse effect 368
14.4 History of CFCs 371
14.5 Ozone depletion by CFCs and the greenhouse effect 372
14.6 Global warming potential (GWP) and Ozone depleting potential(ODP) 373
14.7 Montreal protocol (1987) 374
14.8 Kyoto protocol 375
14.9 Future refrigerants to replace CFCs 376
Appendices 381
Appendix A: Psychrometry 381
Appendix B: Properties of refrigerants 395
Appendix C: Conversions and tables 403
Appendix D: Psychrometric charts plotting 419
Appendix E: Testing, Adjusting and Balancing in HVAC systems 425
Appendix F: Practical Exercises 443
Appendix G: Practical Exercises - Answers 459
Introduction
Objectives
After reading this chapter the student should be able to:
Refresh his knowledge on the engineering basics

Understand the laws of thermodynamics
1.1 General
Air conditioning for human comfort was considered a luxury a few decades ago, but now it has become a necessity in life. The air conditioning
industry is rapidly developing throughout the world. More than 10 million window installations are being installed each year and residential
central cooling installations are enjoying similar popularity.
Apart from reasons for comfort alone, air conditioning is commonly used nowadays in various industries such as food, automobiles, hotels,
textiles and many more. On Earth, not only pollution from smoke is on the rise but pollution from dust is also playing havoc with our lives. Air
conditioning plays a vital role in keeping out smoke and dust which could harm our health. Similarly, air conditioning has an important role to
play in the preservation of food.
At present, there is hardly any sector of the economy that is not dependent on this industry. In fact in most areas of industry, HVAC systems
are considered to be a basic necessity.
It is thus important to become part of this industry and this course is targeted at providing you with the basic knowledge and technology to
play a role in designing, installing and commissioning HVAC systems.
The following gives an overview of the basic principles of thermodynamics, which play a key role in understanding HVAC systems.
1.2 Principles of Thermodynamics
1.2.1 Force, Newtons
In simple language, force is defined as Fundamentals of Heating,
a push or a pull. Ventilation
It is anything andaAir
that has Conditioning
tendency to set(HVAC)
a body for Engineers
into and
motion, to Technicians
bring a body to rest or
change the direction of any motion.
1.2.2 Pressure, Pascals
Pressure is the force exerted per unit area. It may be described as the measure of intensity of a force exerted on any given point on the
contact surface. Whenever a force is evenly distributed over a given area the pressure at any point on the surface is the same. It can be
calculated by dividing the total force exerted by the area (on which the force is exerted).
Atmospheric pressure
The Earth is surrounded by an envelope of air called the atmosphere, which extends upward from the surface of the earth. Air has mass and
due to gravity exerts a force called weight. The force per unit area is called pressure. This pressure exerted on the Earth’s surface is known as
atmospheric pressure.
Gauge pressure
Most pressure measuring instruments measure the difference between the pressure of a fluid and the atmospheric pressure. This is referred
to as gauge pressure.
Absolute pressure
Absolute pressure is the sum of gauge pressure and atmospheric pressure.
Vacuum
If the pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure, its gauge pressure is negative and the term vacuum is applied to the magnitude of the
gauge pressure when the absolute pressure is zero (i.e. there is no air present whatsoever).
The relationships among absolute pressure, gauge pressure, atmospheric pressure and vacuum are shown graphically in the Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1
Relationship between absolute, gauge and vacuum pressures
In the above figure
Pa is the atmospheric pressure
Pgauge is the gauge pressure
Pab is the absolute pressure
Pvacuum is the vacuum pressure
1.2.3 Density
It is defined as the mass of a substance divided by its volume or the mass per unit volume.
ρ = mass/volume
Specific Volume is defined as the reciprocal of density or volume per unit mass.
v = V/m
Specific Weight (Ws) is defined as the weight of a substance divided by its volume or the weight per unit volume.
25/09/2019
Ws = m/V Practical Fundamentals of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) for Engineers and Technicians
1.2.4 Work
If a system undergoes a displacement under the action of a force, work is said to be done; the amount of work being equal to the product of
force and the component of displacement parallel to the force. If a system as a whole exerts a force on its surrounding and a displacement
takes place, the work that is done either by or on the system is said to be external work.
1.2.5 Energy
A body is said to possess energy when it is capable of doing work. In more general terms, energy is the capacity of a body for producing an
effect. Energy is classified as
1. Stored Energy; examples are (a) Chemical energy in fuel and (b) Energy stored in dams
2. Energy in Transition: examples are (a) Heat and (b) Work
The following are the various forms of energy.
Potential energy (P.E)
It is the energy stored in the system due to its position in the gravitational force field. If a heavy object such as a building stone is lifted from
the ground to the roof, the energy required to lift the stone is stored in it as potential energy. This stored potential energy remains unchanged
as long as the stone remains in its position.
P×E = mgH
Where
H = height of the object above the datum
Kinetic Energy (K.E), Joules= Newton meter
If a body weighing one kg is moving with a velocity of v m/sec with respect to the observer, then the kinetic energy stored in the body is given
by:
This energy will remain stored in the body as long as it continues in motion at a constant velocity. When the velocity is zero, the kinetic energy
is also zero.
Internal Energy
Molecules possess mass. They possess motion of transactional and rotational nature in liquid and gaseous states. Owing to the mass and
motion these molecules have a large amount of kinetic energy stored in them. Any change in the temperature results in the change in the
molecular kinetic energy since molecular velocity is a function of temperature.
Also the molecules are attracted towards each other by forces, which are very large in their solid state and tend to vanish once they are in a
perfect gas state. In the melting of a solid or vaporization of a liquid it is necessary to overcome these forces. The energy required to bring
about this change is stored in molecules as potential energy.
The internal energy is defined as the total energy of the body - chemical, nuclear, heat, gravitational, or any other type of energy. This energy is
stored within the body which is denoted by the symbol ‘µ’. It is obvious from the above definition that it is impossible to measure the absolute
value of the internal energy. However, we can measure the changes occurring in the internal energy. Since thermodynamics deals with the
change in the internal energy of the system, it is important to know what causes the internal energy to change. The change in the internal
energy can be caused by either due to absorption or release of heat in the system or the work done by or on the system., or if any matter
enters or leaves the system.
1.2.6 Heat
Heat is one of the many forms of energy. This is evident from the fact that heat can be converted into other forms of energy and that other
forms of energy can be converted into heat. Heat as molecular energy is universally accepted and heat as internal energy of the matter is
thermodynamics.
Since all other forms of energy may be converted into heat, it is considered to be energy in its lowest form. The availability of heat energy to
do work depends on temperature differential.
25/09/2019 Practical Fundamentals of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) for Engineers and Technicians
1.2.7 Heat capacity
It may be defined as the energy that must be added or removed from one kilogram of a substance to change its temperature by one degree
Centigrade. In refrigeration technology heat capacity is used to determine how much heat should be removed to refrigerate various products.
1.2.7.1 Sensible heat (QS)

Heat which results in an increase or decrease in the temperature without it changing its phase is called sensible heat. A change in sensible
heat is given by the equation when there is a change in temperature
QS = m× CS (T2 – T1)
Note: CS is the heat capacity at constant pressure
m = mass of the substance in kg
(T2 – T1) = Temperature difference in °C
1.2.7.2 Latent heat (QL)

Latent heat is the heat at which a substance changes its phase without any increase or decrease in the temperature. It is the amount of heat
required to change the state of a substance.
QL = m×Cw(w2 – w1)
Note: Cw is the heat capacity of moisture
m = mass of the substance in kg
(w2 – w1) = change in moisture content in g/kg
1.2.7.3 Total heat (QT)

Total heat is the sum of sensible heat and latent heat. Heat measurements are taken above a specified datum. These measurements with
water are at zero degrees C, since below this temperature water is solid. Refrigerant heat measurements are at –400C. For example: The
sensible heat, latent heat and total heat for steam are shown in Figure 1.2 below.
QT = QS + QL
Figure 1.2
Total Heat Chart Of –400C Ice To Steam at 100 0C
a-b is sensible heat, b-c is latent heat of fusion, c-d is Sensible heat, d-e is latent heat of vaporization, e-f is super heat.
1.3 Temperature and its measurement

Temperature is a property of matter. It is the measure of intensity of heat contained in matter and its relative value. A substance is said to be
hot or cold when its temperature is compared with some other reference temperature. A high temperature indicates a high level of heat
intensity or thermal pressure and a body is said to be hot.
Like other forms of energy heat can be measured because it has quantity and intensity. Heat is not visible but manifests itself in its effects on
various substances either by changing its state or by creating relative degrees of sensation when in contact with the human body.
Since temperature is a measure of heatFundamentals of Heating, Ventilation
content, the temperature and Air Conditioning
can be measured by measuring(HVAC) for Engineers
the effects of heatand Technicians
on different properties of
matter as follows;
Addition of heat increases the volume of the substance or pressure at constant volume. This property is used for measuring the
temperature with the help of a mercury thermometer.
With the increase in temperature, the resistivity of metals increases which is utilized in resistance thermometers
If two junctions made of two dissimilar metals are maintained at different temperatures, a current flows in the circuit. This property is used
in measuring with a thermocouple.
When the temperature of a substance increases, the color also changes. This property is used for measuring the temperature in radiation
pyrometers.
1.4 Pressure and temperature relationship

Water boils at 1000C when the pressure on it is atmospheric at sea level. If the pressure is increased above the atmospheric pressure, i.e. in a
deep mine shaft the boiling point increases and when the pressure is reduced below atmospheric, i.e. on top of a mountain, it reduces.
Boiling water does not necessarily have to be hot because if there is vacuum, water boils at a very low temperature. The same is true when it
comes to other liquids, such as various refrigerants. These refrigerants have the same properties as water except their boiling point ranges
are lower.
This pressure temperature relationship is used in most air conditioning and refrigeration systems.
1.5 Laws of Thermodynamics
1.5.1 First law of Thermodynamics and Energy Conservation
It is a fundamental principle that matter can neither be created nor destroyed though it may be made to take different forms. Similarly, energy
cannot be created or destroyed. It can be converted from one form to another. The first law of thermodynamics states that the total energy in
a system always remains constant.
This law is mainly based on observation and can be best studied with the help of observations.
In the following examples, we can see that heat, work, electricity and chemical energy are various forms of energy and they are mutually
convertible.
An electric Iron converts electricity into heat.

An electric fan converts electricity into work.
Water flowing through a turbine converts its potential energy into work.
Churning of water converts work into heat.
The first law of thermodynamics can be represented by the equation:
E1 + Qa – Qt = E2
Where:
E1 is the energy possessed by the system initially
E2 is the energy possessed by the system after the work is done
Qa is the energy added to the system
Qt is the energy taken away from the system.
1.5.2 Second law of Thermodynamics
The second law of thermodynamics can be stated in a number of ways as:
Heat flows from a body at higher temperature to a body at lower temperature irrespective of the mass and material of the body
participating in the heat transfer. This heat flow is possible without the addition of external work.
Work has the tendency to convert into heat but the heat cannot be converted into work.
Every engine or a refrigerator ejects heat to the surroundings.
With a brief discussion on the various thermodynamic principles, let us now study the fundamentals of Heating, Ventilation and Air
conditioning in the next chapters.
1.6 Fundamentals of Heat Transfer
1.6.1 Modes of Transferring Heat
Heat is always transferred when a temperature difference exists between two bodies. There are three basic modes of heat transfer:
Conduction involves the transfer
25/09/2019 of Fundamentals
Practical heat by the interactions
of Heating,ofVentilation
atoms or and
molecules of a material
Air Conditioning through
(HVAC) which the
for Engineers heat
and is being
Technicians
transferred.
Convection involves the transfer of heat by the mixing and motion of macroscopic portions of a fluid.
Radiation, or radiant heat transfer, involves the transfer of heat by electromagnetic radiation that arises due to the temperature of a body.
1.6.2 Heat Flux
The rate at which heat is transferred is represented by the symbol. Common units for heat Q transfer rate is Watts. Sometimes it is important
to determine the heat transfer rate per unit area, or heat flux, which has the symbol. Units for heat flux are W/m2. The heat flux can be Qhf
determined by dividing the heat transfer rate by the area through which the heat is being transferred.
1.6.3 Thermal Conductivity
The heat transfer characteristics of a solid material are measured by a property called the thermal conductivity (k) measured in W/m.K. It is a
measure of a substance’s ability to transfer heat through a solid by conduction. The thermal conductivity of most liquids and solids varies with
temperature. For vapors, it depends upon pressure.
1 W/(m.K) = 1 W/(m.oC) = 0.85984 kcal/(hr.m.oC)
Table: 1.1
Thermal conductivity values for various materials at 300 K
Material Thermal conductivity W/m.K

Copper 399
Gold 317
Aluminum 237
Iron 80.2
Carbon steel 43
Stainless Steel (18/8) 15.1
Glass 0.81
Plastics 0.2 – 0.3
Wood (shredded/cemented) 0.087
Cork 0.039
Water 0.6
Ethylene glycol 0.26
Hydrogen 0.18
Benzene 0.159
Air 0.026
1.6.4 Log Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD)
In heat exchanger applications, the inlet and outlet temperatures are commonly specified based on the fluid in the tubes. The temperature
change that takes place across the heat exchanger from the entrance to the exit is not linear. A precise temperature change between two
fluids across the heat exchanger is best represented by the log mean temperature difference (LMTD or ΔTlm).
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1.6.5 Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
The convective heat transfer coefficient (hc), defines, in part, the heat transfer due to convection. The convective heat transfer coefficient is
sometimes referred to as a film coefficient and represents the thermal resistance of a relatively stagnant layer of fluid between a heat transfer
surface and the fluid medium. Common units used to measure the convective heat transfer coefficient are (W/m2K).
Figure 1.2
Typical order-of magnitude values of convective heat transfer coefficients
Convective heat transfer coefficient

Type of fluid and flow
hc, (W/m2 K)
Air, free convection 6 – 30
Water, free convection 20 – 100
Air or superheated steam, forced convection 30 – 300
Oil, forced convection 60 – 1800
Water, forced convection 300 – 18000
Synthetic refrigerants, boiling 500 - 3000
Water, boiling 3000 – 60000
Synthetic refrigerants, condensing 1500 - 5000
Steam, condensing 6000 – 120000
1.6.7 Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
In the case of combined heat transfer, it is common practice to relate the total rate of heat transfer Q the overall cross-sectional area for heat
transfer (Ao), and the overall temperature difference (ΔTo) using the overall heat transfer coefficient (Uo). The overall heat transfer coefficient
combines the heat transfer coefficient of the two heat exchanger fluids and the thermal conductivity of the heat exchanger tubes. Uo is
specific to the heat exchanger and the fluids that are used in the heat exchanger.
Q = Uo Ao ΔTo
Where: Q = The rate of heat transfer (W)
Uo = the overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 oK)
Ao = the overall cross-sectional area for heat transfer (m2)
ΔTo = the overall temperature difference (oK)
1.6.8 Bulk Temperature
The fluid temperature (Tb), referred to as the bulk temperature, varies according to the details of the situation. For flow adjacent to a hot or
cold surface, Tb is the temperature of the fluid that is "far" from the surface, for instance, the center of the flow channel. For boiling or
condensation, Tb is equal to the saturation temperature.
1.7 Fundamentals of Fluid Flow

Fluid flow is an important part of most industrial processes; especially those involving the transfer of heat. Frequently, when it is desired to
remove heat from the point at which it is generated, some type of fluid is involved in the heat transfer process. Examples of this are the
cooling water circulated through cooling coils in HVAC, the air flow past the heating and cooling coils, from fans and blowers, duct work,
terminal units, packaged air conditioning units etc., Unlike solids, the particles of fluids move through piping and components at different
velocities and are often subjected to different accelerations.
The basic principles of fluid flow includeFundamentals of Heating,
three concepts Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) for Engineers and Technicians
or principles:
1. The first is the principle of momentum (Equations of fluid forces)

2. The second is the conservation of energy (First Law of Thermodynamics).
3. The third is the conservation of mass (Continuity equation)
1.7.1 Properties of Fluids
A fluid is any substance which flows because its particles are not rigidly attached to one another. This includes liquids, gases and even some
materials which are normally considered solids, such as glass. Fluids are materials which have no repeating crystalline structure.
There are several properties, including temperature, pressure, mass, specific volume, density, and Buoyancy.
Temperature was defined as the relative measure of how hot or cold a material is. It can be used to predict the direction that heat will be
transferred.
Pressure was defined as the force per unit area. Common units for pressure are Pascal.
Mass was defined as the quantity of matter contained in a body and is to be distinguished from weight, which is measured by the pull of
gravity on a body.
The specific volume of a substance is the volume per unit mass of the are substance. Typical units are m3/kg .
Density, on the other hand, is the mass of a substance per unit volume. Typical units are kg/m3. Density and specific volume are the
inverse of one another. Both density and specific volume is dependant on the temperature and somewhat on the pressure of the fluid. As
the temperature of the fluid increases, the density decreases and the specific volume increases. Since liquids are considered
incompressible, an increase in pressure will result in no change in density or specific volume of the liquid. In actuality, liquids can be
slightly compressed at high pressures, resulting in a slight increase in density and a slight decrease in specific volume of the liquid.
Buoyancy is defined as the tendency of a body to float or rise when submerged in a fluid. When a body is placed in a fluid, it is buoyed up
by a force equal to the weight of the water that it displaces.
Compressibility is the measure of the change in volume a substance undergoes when a pressure is exerted on the substance. Liquids are
generally considered to be incompressible. For instance, a pressure of 1110 kg/ cm 2 will cause a given volume of water to decrease by
only 5% from its volume at atmospheric pressure. Gases on the other hand, are very compressible. The volume of a gas can be readily
changed by exerting an external pressure on the gas.
1.7.2 Pascal’s Law
Pascal's law, or the Principle of transmission of fluid-pressure, states that "pressure exerted anywhere in a confined incompressible fluid is
transmitted equally in all directions throughout the fluid such that the pressure ratio (initial difference) remains the same."
where
ΔP is the hydrostatic pressure (given in pascals in the SI system), or the difference in pressure at two points within a fluid column, due to the
weight of the fluid;
ρ is the fluid density (in kilograms per cubic meter in the SI system);
g is acceleration due to gravity (normally using the sea level acceleration due to Earth’s gravity in metres per second squared);
Δh is the height of fluid above the point of measurement, or the difference in elevation between the two points within the fluid column (in
metres in SI).
1.7.3 Control Volume
In thermodynamics, a control volume was defined as a fixed region in space where one studies the masses and energies crossing the
boundaries of the region. This concept of a control volume is also very useful in analyzing fluid flow problems. The boundary of a control
volume for fluid flow is usually taken as the physical boundary of the part through which the flow is occurring.
The control volume concept is used in fluid dynamics applications, utilizing the continuity, momentum, and energy principles
1.7.4 Volumetric Flow Rate
The volumetric flow rate V of a system is a measure of the volume of fluid passing a point in the system per unit time. The volumetric flow rate
can be calculated as the product of the cross sectional area (A) for flow and the average flow velocity (v).
˙V = A x v
The area is measured in square meter and velocity in meters per second, results in volumetric flow rate measured in cubic meter per second.
Other common units for volumetric flow is liters per minute.
1.7.5 Mass Flow Rate

The mass flow rate (m ) of a system
is aFundamentals of Heating,
measure of the mass of Ventilation andaAir
fluid passing Conditioning
point (HVAC)
in the system per for Engineers
unit time. Theand Technicians
mass flow rate is related
to the volumetric flow rate.
Mass flowrate = Density x Volumetric flowrate
m=ρxV
The volumetric flow rate is in m 3 /s and the density is kg/m 3 results in mass flow rate measured in kilograms per second
1.7.8 Conservation of Mass
In thermodynamics, we know that the energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed from one form to another form. The same is
true for mass. Conservation of mass is a principle of engineering that states that all mass flow rates into a control volume are equal to all
mass flow rates out of the control volume plus the rate of change of mass within the control volume.
1.7.9 Steady-State Flow
Steady-state flow refers to the condition where the fluid properties at any single point in the system do not change over time. These fluid
properties include temperature, pressure, and velocity. One of the most significant properties that is constant in a steady-state flow system is
the system mass flow rate. This means that there is no accumulation of mass within any component in the system.
1.7.10 Continuity Equation
The continuity equation is simply a mathematical expression of the principle of conservation of mass. For a control volume that has a single
inlet and a single outlet, the principle of conservation of mass states that, for steady-state flow, the mass flow rate into the volume must equal
the mass flow rate out. The continuity equation for this situation is expressed by the following equation:
mIN = mOUT
ρ x A x v (inlet) = ρ x A x v (Outlet)
1.7.11 Head Loss
Head loss is a measure of the reduction in the total head (sum of elevation head, velocity head and pressure head) of the fluid as it moves
through a fluid system. Head loss is unavoidable in real fluids. It is present because of: the friction between the fluid and the walls of the pipe;
the friction between adjacent fluid particles as they move relative to one another; and the turbulence caused whenever the flow is redirected
or affected in any way by such components as piping entrances and exits, pumps, valves, flow reducers, and fittings.
1.7.12 Frictional Loss
Frictional loss is that part of the total head loss that occurs as the fluid flows through straight pipes. The head loss for fluid flow is directly
proportional to the length of pipe, the square of the fluid velocity, and a term accounting for fluid friction called the friction factor. The head
loss is inversely proportional to the diameter of the pipe.
1.7.13 Frictional Factor
The friction factor has been determined to depend on the Reynolds number for the flow and the degree of roughness of the pipe’s inner
surface. The quantity used to measure the roughness of the pipe is called the relative roughness, which equals the average height of surface
irregularities “∈”divided by the pipe diameter “D”
The value of the friction factor is usually obtained from the Moody Chart.
1.7.14 Darcy’s Equation
25/09/2019
The frictional head loss can bePractical Fundamentals
calculated of Heating, Ventilation
using a mathematical relationshipand AirisConditioning
that (HVAC)equation
known as Darcy’s for Engineers and loss.
for head Technicians
The equation
takes two distinct forms. The first form of Darcy’s equation determines the losses in the system associated with the length of the pipe.
1.7.15 Minor Losses
The losses that occur in pipelines due to bends, elbows, joints, valves, etc. are sometimes called minor losses. This is a misnomer because in
many cases these losses are more important than the losses due to pipe friction, considered in the preceding section. For all minor losses in
turbulent flow, the head loss varies as the square of the velocity. Thus a convenient method of expressing the minor losses in flow is by means
of a loss coefficient (k). Values of the loss coefficient (k) for typical situations and fittings is found in standard handbooks. The form of Darcy’s
equation used to calculate minor losses of individual fluid system components is expressed by Equation:
1.7.16 Equivalent Piping Length
Minor losses may be expressed in terms of the equivalent length (Leq) of pipe that would have the same head loss for the same discharge flow
rate. This relationship can be found by setting the two forms of Darcy’s equation equal to each other.
Psychrometry
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter, students should be able to:
Understand psychrometry and read a psychrometric chart.

Construct a psychrometric chart
Describe various psychrometric processes
Understand various air-conditioning systems
2.1 Introduction to psychrometry

Psychrometry is a science that involves the property of moist air (a mixture of dry air and water vapor) and the process in which the
temperature and/or the water vapor content of the mixture are changed.
As per ASHRAE definition, the psychrometry as that branch of physics concerned with the measurement or determination of atmospheric
conditions, particularly the moisture in the air.
25/09/2019 Practical Fundamentals
The Psychrometric chart is a convenient of Heating,
tool for determining theVentilation and Air Conditioning
moist air psychrometric (HVAC)
properties andforvisualizing
Engineersthe
andchanges
Technicians
of moist air
properties in various sequences of psychrometric processes. These charts are also drawn on the basis of specified barometric pressure or
elevation with respect to the sea level.
The Psychrometric tables exhibit more accurate changes occurring in air and moisture mixtures in the air conditioning processes, but the
psychrometric charts are more convenient to use in all practical purposes.
2.2 The properties of air

The atmospheric air is a mixture of dry air and water vapor (moisture). The air in natural state; always contain certain amount (3.5%) of water
vapor. The dry air and water vapor, do not react chemically with one another. Although they are present as mixture, each acts independent of
the other.
2.2.1 Dalton’s law
Dalton’s law states that two gases can occupy the same space (Volume) at the same time, but each acts independently of the other and each
exerts its own pressure.
Total pressure = Partial pressure of dry air + partial pressure of water vapor.
In common usage, total pressure is referred to as “Barometric Pressure” or “Atmospheric Pressure”.
2.2.2 Air density and specific volume
Air has its own weight.
The density of standard air is 1.2 kg/m3 and specific volume 0.83 m3/kg
For example, a fan in an air conditioning system is 300 m3/min,
Then the weight of the air handled will be 300 x 1.2 = 360 kg/min.
2.2.3 Dry air
The dry air in the atmosphere is mixture of oxygen (21%) and nitrogen (78%). The balance (1%) consists of other gases, such as argon, carbon
dioxide, hydrogen etc. Both oxygen and nitrogen are in highly superheated state and therefore, the dry air is also in super heated state. Due to
this state, the air conditioning processes make only slight changes in the density/ volume of dry air.
When dry air is heated or cooled, only the sensible heat is added or deleted, without any effect on the latent heat.
The specific heat of dry air = 0.133 kcal/kg
2.2.4 Moist air
It is a mixture of dry air and water vapor. The content of water vapor depends upon the temperature of air and its quantity may change from
zero to maximum, i.e the saturation capacity of air.
The mass of water vapor associated with the dry air is not constant. But how the water vapor is added to the dry air? The following points will
illustrate how this is being carried out:
a. The water vapor constantly evaporating from the lake, sea and oceans into the earth’s atmosphere and returns as precipitation to the
earth.
b. Water vapor is added to the air from our homes, buildings by infiltration, perspiration, respiration, cooking, cloth washing, plants and
trees from residential areas and forest.
c. Water vapor is added to the air from the building materials and furnishings
d. Water vapor is added to the air by humidification or evaporative cooling processes.
The table below shows the composition of the water vapor for calculating the molecular mass.
Table 2.1
Composition of water vapor
Substance Atoms Atomic mass Molecular mass

Hydrogen (H2) 2 1.00794 2.01588
Oxygen (O) 1 15.9994 15.99940
Total 18.01528
The pressure exerted by the water vapor in a mixture of air, will depend upon the amount of vapor present or the percentage of saturation. It is
a known fact that the saturation pressure will be achieved only if the water and vapor formed are inside a container. Therefore, it is obvious
that the pressure of water vapor present in atmosphere need not be the saturation pressure at the corresponding temperature.
25/09/2019 Practical Fundamentals 3
The density of water vapor is very low and it is 0.0253ofkg/m
Heating,
. SoVentilation
the smallerand Air Conditioning
units of grams (g) (HVAC) for(gr)
or grains Engineers and
are used to Technicians
express its density.
(1 Lb = 7000 grains) (1 grain=0.06g).
The following table shows the saturated water vapor and density at different temperatures.
Table 2.2
Saturated vapor pressure
2.2.5 Dry Bulb Temperature, t db
Dry-bulb temperature is the temperature of the air measured by an ordinary thermometer or a temperature sensor like thermocouple,
thermister, RTD, bi-metal and mercury bulb
It is the true temperature of moist air at rest, and not subjected to evaporation, condensation or radiation.
Since air is a mixture of dry air and water vapor, the dry-bulb temperature is the temperature of not only the dry air component but also the
temperature of the water –vapor component.
The usage of dry-bulb temperature measurement;
25/09/2019
(a) In calculating the sensible Practical Fundamentals
energy knowing of Heating,
the beginning andVentilation and Air
ending points, theConditioning
mass flow (HVAC) for the
of air, and Engineers
specificand Technicians
heat capacity of the
moist air.
q = m Cp (t2 – t1)
Where: q = Sensible heat
m = Mass of dry-air)
Cp = Specific heat of water vapor
t2 = Entry temperature
t1 = Exit temperature
(b) In psychrometric charts as bottom X-axis coordinate, to calculate other properties of moist air
(c) To calculate Enthalpy of mixed air (dry air + Water vapor) at a particular temperature measured.
2.2.6 Wet Bulb Temperature, twb
The temperature measured by the thermometer with its bulb covered with a wet cloth and exposed to a current of moving air at 3 to 4 m/s is
known as wet bulb temperature (WBT).
As the air passes over the wet wick of the thermometer the water of the wick tends to evaporate. The cooling effect of evaporation lowers the
temperature measured by the wet bulb thermometer corresponding to the rate of evaporation. When the temperature measured by the WBT
reaches a steady state, then the heat absorbed by the bulb for evaporation of water vapor is equal to the heat given by air (by convection) to
the thermometer. This means that the total heat of air leaving the thermometer remains constant.
The heat necessary to cause evaporation in the manner stated above is present in air in the form of sensible heat. During the process of
evaporation, sensible heat is converted into latent heat of vaporization maintaining the total heat of air constant. This conversion to latent heat
is accomplished without change in total heat.
The evaporation rate from the wet wick depends on the condition of the air passing over it. If the surrounding air is dry then the evaporation
rate will be more rapid and the drop in temperature (difference between temp. measured by WBT and DBT) will be appreciable. When the
surrounding air is moist, then the evaporation rate will be slower; so will be the drop in temperature. This shows that the wet bulb temperature
is a measure of degree of saturation or the relative humidity. Air with high relative humidity will have lesser drop in temperature compared to
air with low relative humidity. Air with 100% relative humidity will have no drop in temperature.
The equipment used for measuring dry bulb temperature and wet bulb temperature simultaneously is called a psychrometer. There are
different types of psychrometers, as listed below.
(a) Laboratory Psychrometer
This is a simple instrument, which houses both the dry bulb thermometer and the wet bulb thermometer. This is generally used in college
laboratories.(Figure 2.1)
(b) Sling Psychrometer
This psychrometer consists of two mercury thermometers mounted on a frame, which has a handle. The handle of the frame helps in the
rotating of the psychrometer to produce the necessary air motion. One bulb of the two thermometers is covered with a wet wick to measure
the WBT. The rotating motion of the sling provides necessary air velocity over the thermometers. This air movement passing the wick helps to
bring the air at temperature (WBT) in immediate contact with the wet wick.(Figure 2.2)
(c) Aspirating Psychrometer
This is similar to the other psychrometers with the exception of the blower, which provides a rapid motion of air over the thermometers. These
types are used to measure the temperatures after a particular period of time mostly to measure the atmospheric conditions of cities
throughout the day and year. The motor is connected to the time switch as per the interval required for the measurement of temperature.
(Figure 2.3)
Figure 2.1
Laboratory Psychrometer
Figure 2.2
Sling Psychrometer
Figure 2.3
Aspirating Psychrometer
2.2.7 Relative Humidity
Relative Humidity can be defined in two ways:
“The ratio of the actual amount of moisture content in one unit volume of dry air at a certain temperature to the amount of moisture needed to
saturate it at that temperature”
“The ratio of the actual pressure of water vapor of a certain unsaturated moist air at a given temperature to the vapor pressure when
saturated at the same temperature”.
Relative humidity signifies the absorption capacity of air. More moisture will be absorbed by air if the initial relative humidity is less. It is
derived by the equation:
Where Pv is vapor pressure;
Pvs is saturated vapor pressure.
Referring to the table on saturated vapor pressure shown;
At 21.1°C (70°F), the air is holding 0.072 g/cc of moisture and that is saturated
At 26.7 °C (80°F), the air is holding 0.098 g/cc of moisture and that is saturated
For the above two conditions, the relative humidity is 100%
Here, if we need to increase the temperature only from 21.1°C to 26.7°F without increasing the moisture content, then the relative humidity
will be:
Table 2.3
Relationship between temperature, density and RH
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GRIQUALAND WEST.
CHAPTER VII.
GRIQUALAND WEST—WHY WE TOOK IT.
Griqualand West is the proper, or official, name for that part of

South Africa which is generally known in England as the Diamond Fields,
and which is at the period of my writing,—the latter part of 1877,—a
separate Colony belonging to the British Crown, under the jurisdiction of the
Governor of the Cape Colony, but in truth governed by a resident
administrator. Major Lanyon is now the occupier of the Government House,
and is “His Excellency of Griqualand” to all the Queen’s loyal British
subjects living in and about the mines. This is the present position of things;
—but the British Government has offered to annex the Province to the Cape
Colony, and the Cape Colony has at length agreed to accept the charge,—
subject to certain conditions as to representation and other details. Those
conditions are, I believe, now under consideration, and if they be found
acceptable,—as will probably be the case,—the Colonial Office at home
being apparently anxious to avoid the expense and trouble of an additional
little Colony,—Griqualand West and the Diamond Fields will become a part
of the Cape Colony in the course of 1878. The proposed conditions offer but
one member for the Legislative Council, and four for the Assembly, to join
twenty-one members in the former house, and sixty-eight in the latter. It is
alleged very loudly and perhaps correctly at the Fields that this number is
smaller than that to which the District is entitled if it is to be put on the same
footing with other portions of the great Colony. It is alleged also that a class
of the community which has shewn itself to be singularly energetic should
be treated at any rate not worse than its neighbours who have been very
much more slow in their movements, and less useful by their industry to the
world at large. Whether such remonstrances will avail anything I doubt
much. If they do not, I presume that the annexation will almost be
immediate.
The history of Griqualand West does not go back to a distant antiquity,
but it is one which has given rise to a singularly large amount of controversy
and hot feeling, and has been debated at home with more than usual
animation and more than usual acerbity. In the course of last year (1877) the
“Quarterly” and the “Edinburgh Reviews” warmed themselves in a contest
respecting the Hottentot Waterboer and his West Griquas, and the other
Hottentot Adam Kok and his East Griquas, till South African sparks were
flying which reminded one of the glorious days of Sidney Smith and Wilson
Croker. Such writings are anonymous, and though one knows in a certain
sense who were the authors, in another sense one is ignorant of anything
except that an old-fashioned battle was carried on about Kok and Waterboer
in our two highly esteemed and reverend Quarterlies. But as the conduct, not
only of our Colonial Office, but of Great Britain as an administrator of
Colonies, was at stake,—as on one side it was stated that an egregious wrong
had been done from questionable motives, and on the other that perfect state-
craft and perfect wisdom had been combined in the happy manner in which
Griqualand West with its diamonds had become British territory, I thought it
might be of interest to endeavour to get at the truth when I was on the spot.
But I have to own that I have failed in the attempt to find any exact truth or
to ascertain what abstract justice would have demanded. In order to get at a
semblance of truth and justice in the matter it has to be presumed that a
Hottentot Chief has understood the exact nature of a treaty and the power of
a treaty with the accuracy of an accomplished European diplomate; and it
has to be presumed also that the Hottentot’s right to execute a treaty binding
his tribe or nation is as well defined and as firmly founded as that of a
Minister of a great nation who has the throne of his Sovereign and the
constitutional omnipotence of his country’s parliament at his back. In our
many dealings with native tribes we have repeatedly had to make treaties.
These treaties we have endeavoured to define, have endeavoured to explain;
but it has always been with the conviction that they can be trusted only to a
certain very limited extent.
The question in dispute is whether we did an injustice to the Orange Free
State by taking possession of Griqualand West in 1871 when diamonds had
already been discovered there and the value of the district had been
acknowledged. At that time it was claimed by the Orange Free State whose
subjects had inhabited the land before a diamond had been found, and which
had levied taxes on the Boers who had taken up land there as though the
country had belonged to the Republic. Since the annexation has been
effected by us we have, in a measure, acknowledged the claim of the Free
State by agreeing to pay to it a sum of £90,000—as compensation for what
injustice we may have done; and we have so far admitted that the Free State
has had something to say for itself.
The district in question at a period not very remote was as little valuable
perhaps as any land on the earth’s surface lying adjacent to British territory.
The first mention I find of the Griquas is of their existence as a bastard
Hottentot tribe in 1811 when one Adam Kok was their captain. The word
Griqua signifies bastard, and Adam Kok was probably half Dutchman and
half Hottentot. In 1821 Adam Kok was dismissed or resigned, and Andreas
Waterboer was elected in his place. Kok then went eastwards with perhaps
half the tribe, and settled himself at a place which the reader will find on the
map, under the name of Philipolis, north of the Orange river in the now
existing Orange Free State. Then some line of demarcation was made
between Waterboer’s lands and Kok’s lands, which line leaves the Diamond
Fields on one side or—on the other. Adam Kok then trekked further
eastward with the Griquas of Griqualand East, as they had come to be called,
to a territory south of Natal, which had probably been depopulated by the
Zulus. This territory was then called No Man’s Land, but is now marked on
the maps as Adam Kok’s Land. But he gave some power of attorney
enabling an agent to sell the lands he left behind him, and under this power
his lands were sold to the Orange Free State which had established itself in
1854. The Free State claims to have bought the Diamond Fields,—diamonds
having been then unknown,—under this deed. But it is alleged that the deed
only empowered the agent to sell the lands in and round Philipolis on which
Adam Kok’s Griquas had been living. It is certain, however, that Adam Kok
had continued to exercise a certain right of sovereignty over the territory in
question after his deposition or resignation, and that he made over land to the
Boers of the Free State by some deed which the Boers had accepted as
giving a good title. It is equally certain that old Waterboer’s son had
remonstrated against these proceedings and had objected to the coming in of
the Boers under Kok’s authority.
We will now go back to old Andreas Waterboer, who for a Hottentot
seems to have been a remarkably good sort of person, and who as I have said
had been chosen chief of the Griquas when Adam Kok went out. In 1834 Sir
Benjamin D’Urban, that best and most ill-used of Cape Colony Governors,
made a treaty with old Andreas undertaking to recognise him in all his rights,
and obtaining a promise from the Hottentot to assist in defending the British
border from the hordes of savagery to the north. There was also a clause
under which the Hottentot was to receive a stipend of £150 per annum. This
treaty seems to have been kept with faith on both sides till Waterboer died in
December, 1852. The stipend was punctually paid, and the Hottentot did a
considerable quantity of hard fighting on behalf of the British. On his death
his son Nicholas Waterboer came to reign in his stead. Nicholas is a
Christian as was his father, and is comparatively civilized;—but he is by no
means so good a Christian as was the old man, and his father’s old friends
were not at first inclined to keep up the acquaintance on the same terms.
Nicholas, no doubt mindful of the annual stipend, asked to have the treaty
renewed in his favour. But other complications had arisen. In 1852 Messrs.
Hogge and Owen had acted as Commissioners for giving over the Transvaal
as a separate Republic and in the deed of transference it was agreed that
there should not be any special treaties between the Cape Colony and the
Natives north of the Orange river, as it was thought that such treaties would
interfere with the independence of the Republic. Poor Nicholas for a time
suffered under this arrangement, but in 1858 a letter was written to him
saying that all that had been done for his father should be done for him,—
and the payment of the £150 per annum was continued though no treaty was
made.[5]
In the mean time, in 1854, the severance had been made of the Orange
Free State from the Colony, the bounds of which were not then settled with
much precision. Had they been declared to be the Orange and the Vaal rivers
in reference to the North, East, and South, the Diamond Fields would have
been included,—or the greater part of the Diamond Fields. But that would
not have settled the question, as England could not have ceded what she did
not possess. Thus there was a corner of land as there have been many
corners in South Africa, respecting which there was doubts as to ownership.
Waterboer alleged that the line which his father and old Adam Kok had made
so long ago as 1821,—with what geometrical resources they might then
have,—gave him a certain apparently valueless tract of land, and those again
who assumed a right to Adam Kok’s land, asserted that the line gave it to
them. The Kokites, however, had this point in their favour, that they had in
some sort occupied the land,—having sold it or granted leases on it to Dutch
Boers who paid taxes to the Orange Free State in spite of Waterboer’s
remonstrances.
But the matter at the time was in truth unimportant. Encroachments were
made also into this very district of Griqualand from the other Republic also.
In speaking of the Transvaal I have already described the position there to
which such encroachments had led. A treaty became necessary to check the
Transvaal Boers from establishing themselves on Griqualand, and the
Transvaal authorities with the native Chiefs, and our Governor at the Cape,
agreed that the matter should be referred to an umpire. Mr. Keate, the Lieut.
Governor of Natal, was chosen and the Keate award was made. But the land
in question was not valuable; diamonds had not yet been found, and the
question was not weighty enough to create determined action. The Transvaal
rejected the treaty, and the Transvaal Boers, as well as those from the Free
State, continued to occupy land in Griqualand West. Now the land of the
Transvaal Republic has come back into our hands, and there is one little
difficulty the more to solve.
Then, in 1869, the first diamond was found on a farm possessed by an
Orange Free State Boer, and in 1871 Nicholas Waterboer, claiming
possession of the land, and making his claim good to British colonial
intellects, executed a treaty ceding to the British the whole district of
Griqualand West,—a tract of land about half as big as Scotland, containing
17,800 square miles. There had by this time grown up a vast diamond
seeking population which was manifestly in want of government. Waterboer
himself could certainly do nothing to govern the free, loudspeaking, resolute
body of men which had suddenly settled itself upon the territory which he
claimed. Though he considered himself to be Captain of the Country, he
would have been treated with no more respect than any other Hottentot had
he shown himself at the diggings. Yet he no doubt felt that such a piece of
luck having turned up on what he considered to be his own soil, he ought to
get something out of it. So he made a treaty, ceding the country to Great
Britain in 1871. In 1872 his stipend was raised to £250,—in 1873 to £500;
and an agreement has now been made, dated I think in October 1877,
increasing this to £1,000 a year, with an allowance of £500 to his widow and
children after his death. It was upon this deed that we took possession of
Griqualand West with all its diamonds; but the Orange Free State at once
asserted its claim,—based on present possession and on the purchase of
Adam Kok’s rights.
I think I shall not be contradicted when I say that amidst such a condition
of things it is very hard to determine where is precisely the truth and what
perfect abstract justice would have demanded. I cannot myself feel
altogether content with the title to a country which we have bought from a
Hottentot for an allowance of £1,000 a year with a pension of £500 to his
wife and children. Much less can I assent to the title put forward by the Free
State in consequence of their negotiation with Adam Kok’s Agent. The
excuse for annexation does not in my mind rest on such buyings and
sellings. I have always felt that my sense of justice could not be satisfied as
to any purchase of territory by civilized from uncivilized people,—first
because the idea of the value of the land is essentially different in the minds
of the two contracting parties; and secondly because whatever may be the
tribal customs of a people as to land I cannot acknowledge the right of a
Chieftain to alienate the property of his tribe,—and the less so when the
price given takes the form of an annuity for life to one or two individuals.
The real excuse is to be found in that order of things which has often in
the affairs of our Colonies made a duty clear to us, though we have been
unable to reconcile that duty with abstract justice. When we accepted the
cession of the Province in 1871 the Free State was no doubt making an
attempt to regulate affairs at the Diamond Fields; but it was but a feeble
attempt. The Republic had not at its back the power needed for saying this
shall be law, and that shall be law, and for enforcing the laws so enacted.
And if the claim of Great Britain to the land was imperfect, so was that of
the Free State. The persons most interested in the matter prayed for our
interference, and felt that they could live only under our Government. There
had no doubt been occupation after a kind. A few Boers here and there had
possessed themselves of the lands, buying them by some shifty means either
from the Natives or from those who alleged that they had purchased them
from the Natives. And, as I have said, taxes were levied. But I cannot learn
that any direct and absolute claim had ever been made to national dominion,
—as is made by ourselves and other nations when on a new-found shore we
fly our national flags. The Dutch had encroached over the border of the
Griquas and then justified their encroachment by their dealings with Adam
Kok. We have done much the same and have justified our encroachment by
our dealings with Nicholas Waterboer. But history will justify us because it
was essentially necessary that an English speaking population of a peculiarly
bold and aggressive nature should be made subject to law and order.
The accusation against our Colonial Office of having stolen the Diamond
Fields because Diamonds are peculiarly rich and desirable can not hold
water for an instant. If that were so in what bosom did the passion rise and
how was it to be gratified? A man may have a lust for power as Alexander
had, and Napoleon,—a lust to which many a British Minister has in former
days been a prey; but, even though we might possibly have a Colonial
Secretary at this time so opposed in his ideas to the existing theories and
feelings of our statesmen as to be willing to increase his responsibilities by
adding new Colonies to our long list of dependencies, I cannot conceive that
his ambition should take the shape of annexing an additional digging
population. Has any individual either claimed or received glory by annexing
Griqualand West? From the operations of such a Province as the Diamond
Fields it is not the mother country that reaps the reward, but the population
whether they be English, Dutch, or Americans,—the difficult task of ruling
whom the mother country is driven to assume.
It is known to all Englishmen who have watched the course of our
colonial history for the last forty years that nothing can be so little pleasant
to a Secretary of State for the Colonies as the idea of a new Colony. Though
they have accrued to us, one after the other, with terrible rapidity there has
always been an attempt made to reject them. The Colonial Secretary has
been like an old hen to whose large brood another and another chick is ever
being added,—as though her powers of stretching her wings were unlimited.
She does stretch them, like a good old mother with her maternal instincts,
but with most unwilling efforts, till the bystander thinks that not a feather of
protection could be given to another youngling. But another comes and the
old hen stretches herself still wider,—most painfully.
New Zealand is now perhaps the pet of our colonial family; and yet what
efforts were made when Lord Normanby and afterwards when Lord John
Russell were at the Colonies to stave off the necessity of taking possession
of the land! But Englishmen had settled themselves in such numbers on her
shores that England was forced to send forth the means of governing her
own children. The same thing happened, as I have attempted to tell, both in
British Kafraria and Natal. The same thing happened the other day in the Fiji
Islands. The same feeling, acting in an inverse way,—repudiating the chicks
instead of taking them in,—induced us to give over the Transvaal and the
Orange Free State to Republicanism. Our repudiation of the former has
lasted but for a quarter of a century, and there are many now of British race
to be found in South Africa who are confident that we shall have to take the
Orange Free State in among the brood in about the same period from her
birth. British rule in distant parts, much as it is abused, is so precious a
blessing that men will have it, and the old hen is forced to stretch her poor
old wings again and still again.
This I hold to be the real and unanswerable excuse for what we have done
in Griqualand West and not our treaty with Waterboer. As far as right
devolving from any treaty goes I think that we have the best of it,—but not
so much the best, that even could I recognize those treaties as conveying all
they are held to convey, I should declare our title to be complete. But, that
such treaties are for the most part powerless when pressure comes, is proved
by our own doings and by those of other nations all round the world. We
have just annexed the Transvaal,—with the approbation of both sides in the
House of Commons. Our excuse is that though the Transvaal was an
independent State she was so little able to take care of herself that we were
obliged to enter in upon her, as the law does on the estate of a lunatic. But
how would it have been if the Transvaal instead of the Orange Free State had
been our competitor for the government of the Diamond Fields? If we can
justify ourselves in annexing a whole Republic surely we should not have
scrupled to take the assumed dependency of a Republic. In such doings we
have to reconcile ourselves to expedience, however abhorrent such a
doctrine may be to us in our own private affairs. Here it was expedient that a
large body, chiefly of Englishmen, should, for their own comfort and well
being, be brought under rule. If in following out the doctrine any abstract
injustice was done, it was not against the Orange Free State, but against the
tribes whom no Waterboer and no Adam Kok could in truth be authorized to
hand over either to British or to Dutch Republican rule.
For a while I was minded to go closely into the question of Kok v.
Waterboer and to put forward what might probably have been a crude
expression of the right either of the one Hottentot or of the other to make
over at any rate his power and his privileges of government. But I convinced
myself, when on the spot, that neither could have much right, and that
whatever right either might have, was so far buried in the obscurity of
savagery in general, that I could not possibly get at the bottom of it so as to
form any valid opinion. Books have been written on the subject, on the one
side and on the other, which have not I think been much studied. Were I to
write no more than a chapter on it my readers would pass it by. The
intelligence of England will not engage itself on unravelling the
geographical facts of a line of demarcation made between two Hottentot
Chieftains when the land was comparatively valueless, and when such line
could only be signified by the names of places of which the exact position
can hardly even now be ascertained. When subsequently I read the report
which the Secretary of State for the Colonies made to the Governor of the
Cape Colony on 5 August 1876, informing the Governor of the terms under
which he and the President of the Orange Free State had agreed to
compromise the matter, I was glad to find that he, in his final discussions
with the President, had come to the same conclusion. I here quote the words
in which Lord Carnarvon expressed himself to Sir Henry Barkly;—and I
would say that I fully agree with him were it not that such testimony might
seem to be impertinent. “At the earlier interviews Mr. Brand repeatedly
expressed his desire to submit proof of the claim preferred by his
Government to a great part of Griqualand West. I had however determined
from the first that there would be no advantage in entering upon such on
enquiry. It was obvious that there could be no prospect of our coming to an
agreement on a question which teemed with local details and personal
contentions.”
The Secretary of State goes on to explain the circumstances under which
the £90,000 are to be given. I will confess for myself that I should almost
have preferred to have stuck to the territory without paying the money. If it
be our “destiny” to rule people I do not think that we ought to pay for
assuming an office which we cannot avoid. The Secretary of State in this
report strongly reasserts the British right to Griqualand West,—though he
acknowledges that he cannot hope by mere eloquence to convince President
Brand of that right. “As you think you are wronged,” the Secretary goes on
to argue, “we will consent to compensate the wrong which we feel sure you
have not suffered, but which you think you have endured, so that there need
be no quarrel between us.” Probably it was the easiest way out of the
difficulty; but there is something in it to regret. It must of course be
understood that the £90,000 will not be paid by the British taxpayer, but will
be gathered from the riches of Griqualand West herself.
On the 27 October 1871 the Diamond Fields were declared to be British
territory. But such a declaration, even had it not been opposed by the Free
State and the friends of the Free State, would by no means have made the
course of British rule plain and simple. There have, from that day to this,
arisen a series of questions to settle and difficulties to solve which, as they
crop up to the enquirer’s mind, would seem to have been sufficient to have
overcome the patience of any Colonial Secretary even though he had not
another Colony on his shoulders. If there was any Colonial sinner,—
Secretary, Governor, or subordinate,—who carried away by the lust of
empire had sought to gratify his ambition by annexing Griqualand West, he
must certainly have repented himself in sackcloth and ashes before this time
(the end of 1877) when the vexed question of annexation or non-annexation
to the Cape Colony is hardly yet settled. When the territory was first
accepted by Great Britain it was done on an understanding that the Cape
Colony should take it and rule it, and pay for it,—or make it pay for itself.
The Colonial Secretary of the day declared in an official dispatch that he
would not consent to the annexation unless, “the Cape Parliament would
personally bind itself to accept the responsibility of governing the territory
which was to be united to it, together with the entire maintenance of any
force which might be necessary for the preservation of order.” It must be
presumed therefore that the lust for empire did not exist in Downing Street.
The Cape Parliament did so far accede to the stipulation made by the
Secretary of State, as to pass a resolution of assent. They would agree,—
seeing that British rule could not in any other way be obtained. But an
intermediate moment was necessary,—a moment which should admit of the
arrangement of terms,—between the absolute act of assumption by Great
Britain and the annexation by the Colony. That moment has been much
prolonged, and has not yet, as I write, been brought to an end. So that the
lust for rule over the richest diamond fields in the world seems hardly to be
very strong even in the Colony. Though the Parliament of the Colony had
assented to the requisition from Downing Street, it afterwards,—not
unnaturally,—declined to take the matter in hand till the Government at
home had settled its difficulties with the Orange Free State. The Free State
had withdrawn whatever officers it had had on the Fields, and had
remonstrated. That difficulty is now solved;—and the Cape Colony has
passed a bill shewing on what terms it will annex the territory. The terms are
very unpopular in the district,—as indeed is the idea of annexation to the
Cape Colony at all. Griqualand would very much prefer to continue a
separate dependency, with a little Council of its own. The intention however
of the mother country and of the Colony has been too clearly expressed for
doubt on that subject. They are both determined that the annexation shall
take place, and the Colony will probably be able to dictate the terms.
But there have been other difficulties sufficient almost to break the heart
of all concerned. Who did the land belong to on which the diamonds were
being found, and what were the rights of the owners either to the stones
beneath the surface, or to the use of the surface for the purpose of searching?
The most valuable spot in the district, called at first the Colesberg Kopje,—
Kopje being little hill,—and now known as the Kimberley mine, had been on
a farm called Vooruitzuit belonging to a Dutchman named De Beer. This
farm he sold to a firm of Englishmen for the very moderate sum of £6,600,
[6]—a sum however which to him must have appeared enormous,—and the
firm soon afterwards sold it to the Government for £100,000. To this
purchase the Government was driven by the difficulties of the position.
Diggers were digging and paying 10s. a month for their claims to the owners
of the soil, justifying themselves in that payment by the original edict of the
Free State, while the owners were claiming £10 a month, and asserting their
right to do as they pleased with their own property. The diggers declared
their purpose of resisting by force any who interfered with them;—and the
owners of the soil were probably in league with the diggers, so as to enhance
the difficulties, and force the Government to purchase. The Government was
obliged to buy and paid the enormous sum of £100,000 for the farm. Many
stories could be told of the almost inextricable complexities which attended
the settlement of claims to property while the diggers were arming and
drilling and declaring that they would take the law into their own hands if
they were interfered with in their industry.
In 1872 the population had become so great,—and, as was natural in such
circumstances, so unruly,—that the Governor of the Cape Colony, who is
also High Commissioner for all our South African territories, was obliged to
recommend that a separate Lieutenant Governor should be appointed, and
Mr. Southey who had long held official employment in the Cape Colony was
sent to fill the place. Here he remained till 1875, encumbered by hardships
of which the difficulty of raising a sufficient revenue to pay the expenses of
the place was not the least. Diamonds were being extracted worth many
millions, but the diamonds did not come into the pocket of the Government.
In such localities the great source of revenue,—that which is generally most
available,—is found in the Custom duties levied on the goods consumed by
the diggers. But here, though the diggers consumed manfully, the Custom
duties levied went elsewhere. Griqualand West possessed no port and could
maintain no cordon of officers to prevent goods coming over her borders
without taxation. The Cape Colony which has been so slow to annex the land
got the chief advantages from the consumption of the Diamond Fields,
sharing it, however, with Natal. Mr. Southey is said to have had but thirty
policemen with him to assist in keeping the peace, and was forced to ask for
the assistance of troops from the Cape. Troops were at last sent from
Capetown,—at an expense of about £20,000 to Griqualand West. During all
this time it may easily be conceived that no British aggressor had as yet
obtained the fruition of that rich empire for which he is supposed to have
lusted when annexing the country.
The Lieutenant Governor with his thirty policemen,—and the sudden
influx of about 300 soldiers from the Cape—was found to be too expensive
for the capabilities of the place. “In 1875,” says the Colonial Office List for
1877, “the condition of the finances rendered it necessary to reduce the civil
establishment, and the office of Lieutenant Governor, as well as that of
Secretary to Government, was discontinued, and an administrator
appointed.” That administrator has been Major Lanyon who has simply been
a Lieutenant Governor with a salary somewhat less than that of his
predecessor. That the difficulty of administering the affairs of the Colony
have been lessened during his period of office, may in part be due to
circumstances and the more settled condition of men’s minds. But with such
a task as he has had not to have failed is sufficient claim for praise. There
have been no serious outrages since he reached the Fields.
Annexation to the Cape Colony will probably take place. But what will
come next? The Province does not want annexation;—but specially wants an
adequate, we may say a large share in the constituencies of the joint
Colonies should annexation be carried out. I sympathise with Griqualand
West in the first feeling. I do not think that the diggers of the Diamond
Fields will be satisfied with legislation carried on at Capetown. I do not
think that a parliamentary majority at Capetown will know how to manage
the diggers. Kimberley is so peculiar a place, and so likely to shew its
feeling of offence against the Government if it be offended, that I fear it will
be a very thorn in the side of any possible Cape Colony Prime Minister. That
Downing Street should wish to make over to the Colony the rich treasure,
which we are told has been acquired with so much violence and avarice, I
am not surprised,—though such annexation must be prejudicial to that desire
for South African Confederation which is now strong in Colonial Office
bosoms;—but that the Colony should accept the burden while she already
possesses that which generally makes such burdens acceptable,—viz., the
Custom duties on the goods consumed by the people,—is to me a marvel. It
may be that the Cape Parliament was induced to give its first assent by the
strongly expressed wishes of the Secretary of State at home, and that it can
hardly now recede from the promise it then made.
But in regard to the share which Griqualand claims in the two legislative
Houses of the future combined Colonies I cannot at all wish her to prevail. It
may be natural that a community should desire to be largely represented
without looking forward to all the circumstances by which such
representation may be affected. The population of the Diamond Fields is
supposed to consist of about 15,000 whites and 30,000 natives. Of the latter
number about 12,000 are men employed in the mines. The other 18,000
natives who are living on their own lands may he eliminated from our
present enquiry. Of the 15,000 white persons we will say that a half are men
who would be entitled to vote under the present franchise of the Cape
Colony. The number would shew a very large proportion of adult males, but
a digging population will always have an excessive population of men. But
the 12,000 natives would, with a very small deduction on account of women,
all be enabled to claim a right to be registered.
The Cape Colony franchise is given to all men with certain qualifications.
One qualification, and that the broadest,—is that a man shall be earning
wages at the rate of £25 a year and his diet. And he must either have been
born a British subject, or born in a Dutch South African territory taken over
by the British Government. The latter clause was inserted no doubt with the
intention of saving from exclusion any men then still living who might have
been born when the Cape of Good Hope was a Dutch Colony; but in justice
must be held to include also those born in the Transvaal when the Transvaal
was a Dutch Republic. The meaning is that all shall vote, who are otherwise
qualified, who have been born English subjects or have become English
subjects by annexation from Dutch rule. The majority of the Kafirs now
working at the Diamond Fields have been born in the Transvaal; some
indeed at Natal, some few in Zululand which is not English, and some few
beyond the Limpopo, on native territory which has never been either Dutch
or English. But the great majority are from the distant parts of the Transvaal;
—and, with a Kafir as with a white man who should assert himself to be
born an English subject or a Transvaalian, the onus probandi would be with
those who objected to, or denied, the claim. Every Kafir about the mines
earns at the lowest 10s. a week, or £26 10s. per annum and his diet, and it
would be found I think impossible to reject their claim to be registered as
voters if their names were brought up on the lists.
There will be those at home who will say,—why should they not vote if
they are industrious labourers earning wages at so high a rate? But no white
man who has been in South Africa and knows anything of South Africa will
say that. A very eminent member of the House of Commons,—a friend of
my own whom I respect as a politician as highly as any man of the present
day,—gently murmured a complaint in discussing the South African
permissive bill as to the statement which had been made by the Secretary of
State “that until the civilization of the Natives throughout South Africa had
made considerable progress it would be desirable that they should not have
direct representation in the Legislative Assembly of the Union;”—that is in
the Confederated Union sanctioned by the permissive bill. My friend’s
philanthropic feelings were hurt by the idea that the coloured man should be
excluded from the franchise. But the suggestion contained in this speech that
the Kafir should have a vote is received by Europeans in South Africa
simply with a smile. Were it granted and could it be generally used at the
will and in accordance with the judgment of the Kafir himself all Europeans
would at once leave the country, and South Africa would again become the
prey of the strongest handed among the Natives then existing. That
Englishmen should live under a policy devised or depending upon Negroes I
believe to be altogether impossible. Nor will such an attempt be made. Let
the law say what it will as to suffrage that state of things will be avoided,—if
not otherwise, then by force.
It is not that I think that the Kafirs about the Diamond Fields will at once
swarm to the poll as soon as the franchise of the Cape Colony shall make it
possible for them to do so. That is not the way the evil will shew itself. They
will care nothing for the franchise and will not be at the trouble to
understand its nature. But certain Europeans will understand it,—politicians
not of the first class,—and they will endeavour to use for their own purposes
a privilege which will have been thoughtlessly conferred. Such politicians
will not improbably secure election by Kafir votes, and will cause to be done
exactly that which the most respectable employers of labour in the place will
think most prejudicial to the interests of the place. And after a while the
Negroes of Griqualand West will learn the powers which they possess as
have the Negroes of the Southern American States, and thus there will spring
up a contest as to the party in which is to be vested the political power of the
district. I do not doubt how the contest would end. The white men would
certainly prevail however small might be their numbers, and however great
the majority of the Kafirs. But I am sure that no part of South Africa would
willingly subject itself to the possibility of such a condition. I think that the
franchise of the Cape Colony has been,—I will not say fixed too low, but
arranged injudiciously in regard to the population of the Colony itself;—but
I am even more strongly of opinion that that franchise is not at all adapted to
the population of the Diamond Fields. Considering the nature of the task it
may be doubted whether the country of the diamonds would not be best
ruled as a Crown Colony.
At the present moment, pending annexation, the Government is carried
on by an administrator with a Council of seven besides himself,—eight in
all. Four are appointed and enjoy salaries, while four are elected and are not
paid. If necessary for a majority the administrator has two votes. But a
quorum of five is necessary of which quorum two must be elected members.
The consequence is that unless two of the elected members are staunch to
the Government, every thing is liable to be brought to a stand still. One or
two elected members take up their hats and walk out,—and all business is at
an end for the day. This, to say the least of it, is awkward. The evil would be
much remedied, if it were required that in forming the quorum of five one
elected member would be sufficient. Out of eight a quorum of four might be
held to suffice of which one might be an elected member.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE STORY OF THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
The first known finding of a diamond in South Africa was as recent as

1867;—so that the entire business which has well nigh deluged the world of
luxury with precious stones and has added so many difficulties to the task of
British rule in South Africa is only now,—in 1877,—ten years old. Mr.
Morton, an American gentleman who lectured on the subject before the
American Geographical Society in the early part of 1877 tells us that
“Across a mission map of this very tract printed in 1750 is written, ‘Here be
Diamonds;’ ”—that the Natives had long used the diamonds for boring other
stones, and that it was their practice to make periodical visits to what are
now the Diamond Fields to procure their supply. I have not been fortunate
enough to see such a map, nor have I heard the story adequately confirmed,
so as to make me believe that any customary search was ever made here for
diamonds even by the Natives. I am indeed inclined to doubt the existence of
any record of South African diamonds previous to 1867, thinking that Mr.
Morton must have been led astray by some unguarded assertion. Such a map
would be most interesting if it could be produced. For all British and South
African purposes,—whether in regard to politics, wealth, or geological
enquiry the finding of the diamond in 1867 was the beginning of the affair.
And this diamond was found by accident and could not for a time obtain
any credence. It is first known to have been seen at the house of a Dutch
farmer named Jacobs in the northern limits of the Cape Colony, and South of
the Orange river. It had probably been brought from the bed of the stream or
from the other side of the river. The “other side” would be, in Griqualand
West, the land of diamonds. As far as I can learn there is no idea that
diamonds have been deposited by nature in the soil of the Cape Colony
proper. At Jacobs’ house it was seen in the hands of one of the children by
another Boer named Van Niekerk, who observing that it was brighter and
also heavier than other stones, and thinking it to be too valuable for a
plaything offered to buy it. But the child’s mother would not sell such a trifle
and gave it to Van Niekerk. From Van Niekerk it was passed on to one
O’Reilly who seems to have been the first to imagine it to be a diamond. He
took it to Capetown where he could get no faith for his stone, and thence
back to Colesberg on the northern extremity of the Colony where it was
again encountered with ridicule. But it became matter of discussion and was
at last sent to Dr. Atherstone of Grahamstown who was known to be a
geologist and a man of science. He surprised the world of South Africa by
declaring the stone to be an undoubted diamond. It weighed over 21 carats
and was sold to Sir P. Wodehouse, the then Governor of the Colony, for
£500.[7]
In 1868 and 1869 various diamonds were found, and the search for them
was no doubt instigated by Van Niekerk’s and O’Reilly’s success;—but
nothing great was done nor did the belief prevail that South Africa was a
country richer in precious stones than any other region yet discovered. Those
which were brought to the light during these two years may I believe yet be
numbered, and no general belief had been created. But some searching by
individuals was continued. The same Van Niekerk who had received the first
diamond from the child not unnaturally had his imagination fired by his
success. Either in 1868 or 1869 he heard of a large stone which was then in
the hands of a Kafir witch-doctor from whom he succeeded in buying it,
giving for it as the story goes all his sheep and all his horses. But the
purchase was a good one,—for a Dutchman’s flocks are not often very
numerous or very valuable,—and he sold the diamond to merchants in the
neighbourhood for £11,200. It weighed 83 carats, and is said to be perfect in
all its appointments as to water, shape, and whiteness. It became known
among diamonds and was christened the Star of South Africa. After a law
suit, during which an interdict was pronounced forbidding its exportation or
sale, it made its way to the establishment of Messrs. Hunt and Rosskill from
whom it was purchased for the delight of a lovely British Countess.
Even then the question whether this part of South Africa was
diamondiferous[8] had not been settled to the satisfaction of persons who
concern themselves in the produce and distribution of diamonds. There
seems to have been almost an Anti-South African party in the diamond
market, as though it was too much to expect that from a spot so insignificant
as this corner of the Orange and Vaal rivers should be found a rival to the
time-honoured glories of Brazil and India. It was too good to believe,—or to
some perhaps too bad,—that there should suddenly come a plethora of
diamonds from among the Hottentots.
It was in 1870 that the question seems to have got itself so settled that
some portion of the speculative energy of the world was enabled to fix itself
on the new Diamond Fields. In that year various white men set themselves
seriously to work in searching the banks of the Vaal up and down between
Hebron and Klipdrift,—or Barkly as it is now called, and many small parcels
of stones were bought from Natives who had been instigated to search by
what they had already heard. The operations of those times are now called
the “river diggings” in distinction to the “dry diggings,” which are works of
much greater magnitude carried on in a much more scientific manner away
from the river,—and which certainly are in all respects “dry” enough. But at
first the searchers confined themselves chiefly to the river bed and to the
small confluents of the river, scraping up into their mining cradles the
shingles and dirt they had collected, and shaking and washing away the grit
and mud, till they could see by turning the remaining stones over with a bit
of slate on a board whether Fortune had sent on that morning a peculiar
sparkle among the lot.
I was taken up to Barkly “on a picnic” as people say; and a very nice
picnic it was,—one of the pleasantest days I had in South Africa. The object
was to shew me the Vaal river, and the little town which had been the capital
of the diamond country before the grand discovery at Colesberg Kopje had
made the town of Kimberley. There is nothing peculiar about Barkly as a
South African town, except that it is already half deserted. There may be
perhaps a score of houses there most of which are much better built than
those at Kimberley. They are made of rough stone, or of mud and
whitewash; and, if I do not mistake, one of them had two storeys. There was
an hotel,—quite full although the place is deserted,—and clustering round it
were six or seven idle gentlemen all of whom were or had been connected
with diamonds. I am often struck by the amount of idleness which persons
can allow themselves whose occupations have diverged from the common
work of the world.
When at Barkly we got ourselves and our provisions into a boat so that
we might have our picnic properly, under the trees at the other side of the
river,—for opposite to Barkly is to be found the luxury of trees. As we were
rowed down the river we saw a white man with two Kafirs poking about his
stones and gravel on a miner’s ricketty table under a little tent on the beach.
He was a digger who had still clung to the “river” business; a Frenchman
who had come to try his luck there a few days since. On the Monday
previous,—we were told,—he had found a 13 carat white stone without a
flaw. This would be enough perhaps to keep him going and almost to satisfy
him for a month. Had he missed that one stone he would probably have left
the place after a week. Now he would go on through days and days without
finding another sparkle. I can conceive no occupation on earth more dreary,
—hardly any more demoralizing than this of perpetually turning over dirt in
quest of a peculiar little stone which may turn up once a week or may not. I
could not but think, as I watched the man, of the comparative nobility of the
work of a shoemaker who by every pull at his thread is helping to keep some
person’s foot dry.
After our dinner we walked along the bank and found another “river”
digger, though this man’s claim might perhaps be removed a couple of
hundred yards from the water. He was an Englishman and we stood awhile
and talked to him. He had one Kafir with him to whom he paid 7s. a week
and his food, and he too had found one or two stones which he shewed us,—
just enough to make the place tenable. He had got upon an old digging
which he was clearing out lower. He had, however, in one place reached the
hard stone at the bottom, in, or below, which there could be no diamonds.
There was however a certain quantity of diamondiferous matter left, and as
he had already found stones he thought that it might pay him to work
through the remainder. He was a most good-humoured well-mannered man,
with a pleasant fund of humour. When I asked him of his fortune generally at
the diggings, he told us among other things that he had broken his shoulder
bone at the diggings, which he displayed to us in order that we might see
how badly the surgeon had used him. He had no pain to complain of,—or
weakness; but his shoulder had not been made beautiful. “And who did it?”
said the gentleman who was our Amphytrion at the picnic and is himself one
of the leading practitioners of the Fields. “I think it was one Dr. ——,” said
the digger, naming our friend whom no doubt he knew. I need not say that
the doctor loudly disclaimed ever having had previous acquaintance with the
shoulder.
The Kafir was washing the dirt in a rough cradle, separating the stones
from the dust, and the owner, as each sieve-full was brought to him, threw
out the stones on his table and sorted them through with the eternal bit of
slate or iron formed into the shape of a trowel. For the chance of a sieve-full
one of our party offered him half a crown,—which he took. I was glad to see
it all inspected without a diamond, as had there been anything good the poor
fellow’s disappointment must have been great. That halfcrown was probably
all that he would earn during the week,—all that he would earn perhaps for a
month. Then there might come three or four stones in one day. I should think
that the tedious despair of the vacant days could hardly be compensated by
the triumph of the lucky minute. These “river” diggers have this in their
favour,—that the stones found near the river are more likely to be white and
pure than those which are extracted from the mines. The Vaal itself in the
neighbourhood of Barkly is pretty,—with rocks in its bed and islands and
trees on its banks. But the country around, and from thence to Kimberley,
which is twenty-four miles distant, is as ugly as flatness, barrenness and sand
together can make the face of the earth.
The commencement of diamond-digging as a settled industry was in
1872. It was then that dry-digging was commenced, which consists of the
regulated removal of ground found to be diamondiferous and of the washing
and examination of every fraction of the soil. The district which we as yet
know to be so specially gifted extends up and down the Vaal river from the
confluence of the Modder to Hebron, about 75 miles, and includes a small
district on the east side of the river. Here, within 12 miles of the river, and
within a circle of which the diameter is about 2½ miles, are contained all the
mines,—or dry diggings,—from which have come the real wealth of the
country. I should have said that the most precious diamond yet produced,
one of 288 carats, was found close to the river about 12 miles from Barkly.
This prize was made in 1872.
It is of the dry diggings that the future student of the Diamond Fields of
South Africa will have to take chief account. The river diggings were only
the prospecting work which led up to the real mining operations,—as the
washing of the gullies in Australia led to the crushing of quartz and to the
sinking of deep mines in search of alluvial gold. Of these dry diggings there
are now four, Du Toit’s Pan, Bultfontein, Old De Beers,—and Colesberg
Kopje or the great Kimberley mine, which though last in the Field has
thrown all the other diamond mines of the world into the shade. The first
working at the three first of these was so nearly simultaneous, that they may
almost be said to have been commenced at once. I believe however that they
were in fact opened in the order I have given.
Bultfontein and Du Toit’s Pan were on two separate Boer farms, of which
the former was bought the first,—as early as 1869,—by a firm who had even
then had dealings in diamonds and who no doubt purchased the land with
reference to diamonds. Here some few stones were picked from the surface,
but the affair was not thought to be hopeful. The diamond searchers still
believed that the river was the place. But the Dutch farmer at Du Toit’s Pan,
one Van Wyk, finding that precious stones were found on his neighbour’s
land, let out mining licences on his own land, binding the miners to give him
one fourth of the value of what they found. This however did not answer and
the miners resolved to pay some small monthly sum for a licence, or to
“jump” the two farms altogether. Now “jumping” in South African language
means open stealing. A man “jumps” a thing when he takes what does not
belong to him with a tacit declaration that might makes right. Appeal was
then made to the authorities of the Orange Free State for protection;—and
something was done. But the diggers were too strong, and the proprietors of
the farms were obliged to throw open their lands to the miners on the terms
which the men dictated.
The English came,—at the end of 1871,—just as the system of dry
digging had formed itself at these two mines, and from that time to this Du
Toit’s Pan and Bultfontein have been worked as regular diamond mines. I
did not find them especially interesting to a visitor. Each of them is about
two miles distant from Kimberley town, and the centre of the one can hardly
be more than a mile distant from the centre of the other. They are under the
inspection of the same Government officer, and might be supposed to be part
of one and the same enterprise were it not that there is a Mining Board at Du
Toit’s Pan, whereas the shareholders at Bultfontein have abstained from
troubling themselves with such an apparatus. They trust the adjustment of
any disputes which may arise to the discretion of the Government Inspector.
At each place there is a little village, very melancholy to look at,
consisting of hotels or drinking bars, and the small shops of the diamond
dealers. Everything is made of corrugated iron and the whole is very mean to
the eye. There had been no rain for some months when I was there, and as I
rode into Du Toit’s Pan the thermometer shewed over 90 in the shade, and
over 150 in the sun. While I was at Kimberley it rose to 96 and 161. There is
not a blade of grass in the place, and I seemed to breathe dust rather than air.
At both these places there seemed to be a “mighty maze,”—in which they
differ altogether from the Kimberley mine which I will attempt to describe
presently. Out of the dry dusty ground, which looked so parched and ugly
that one was driven to think that it had never yet rained in those parts, were
dug in all directions pits and walls and roadways, from which and by means
of which the dry dusty soil is taken out to some place where it is washed and
the debris examined. Carts are going hither and thither, each with a couple of
horses, and Kafirs above and below,—not very much above or very much
below,—are working for 10s. a week and their diet without any feature of
interest. What is done at Du Toit’s Pan is again done at Bultfontein.
At Du Toit’s Pan there are 1441 mining claims which are possessed by
214 claimholders. The area within the reef,—that is within the wall of rocky
and earthy matter containing the diamondiferous soil,—is 31 acres. This
gives a revenue to the Griqualand Government of something over £2,000 for
every three months. In the current year,—1877,—it will amount to nearly
£9,000. About 1,700 Kafirs are employed in the mine and on the stuff taken
out of it at wages of 10s. a week and their diet,—which, at the exceptionally
high price of provisions prevailing when I was in the country, costs about
10s. a week more. The wages paid to white men can hardly be estimated as
they are only employed in what I may call superintending work. They may
perhaps be given as ranging from £3 to £6 a week. The interesting feature in
the labour question is the Kafir. This black man, whose body is only partially
and most grotesquely clad, and who is what we mean when we speak of a
Savage, earns more than the average rural labourer in England. Over and
beyond his board and lodging he carries away with him every Saturday night
10s. a week in hard money, with which he has nothing to do but to amuse
himself if it so pleases him.
At Bultfontein there are 1,026 claims belonging to 153 claimholders. The
area producing diamonds is 22 acres. The revenue derived is £6,000 a year,
more or less. About 1,300 Kafirs are employed under circumstances as given
above. The two diggings have been and still are successful, though they have
never reached the honour and glory and wealth and grandeur achieved by
that most remarkable spot on the earth’s surface called the Colesberg Kopje,
the New Rush, or the Kimberley mine.
I did not myself make any special visit to the Old De Beer mine. De Beer
was the farmer who possessed the lands called Vooruitzuit of the purchase of
which I have already spoken, and he himself, with his sons, for awhile
occupied himself in the business;—but he soon found it expedient to sell his
land,—the Old De Beer mine being then established. As the sale was
progressing a lady on the top of a little hill called the Colesberg Kopje poked
up a diamond with her parasol. Dr. Atherstone who had visited the locality
had previously said that if new diamond ground were found it would
probably be on this spot. In September 1872 the territory of Griqualand West
became a British Colony, and at that time miners from the whole district
were congregating themselves at the hill, and that which was at once called
the “New Rush” was established. In Australia where gold was found here or
there the miners would hurry off to the spot and the place would be called
this or that “Rush.”
The New Rush, the Colesberg Kopje,—pronounced Coppy,—and the
Kimberley mine are one and the same place. It is now within the town of
Kimberley,—which has in fact got itself built around the hill to supply the
wants of the mining population. Kimberley has in this way become the
capital and seat of Government for the Province. As the mine is one of the
most remarkable spots on the face of the earth I will endeavour to explain it
with some minuteness, and I will annex a plan of it which as I go on I will
endeavour also to explain.
The Colesberg hill is in fact hardly a hill at all,—what little summit may
once have entitled it to the name having been cut off. On reaching the spot
by one of the streets from the square you see no hill but are called upon to
rise over a mound, which is circular and looks to be no more than the debris
of the mine though it is in fact the remainder of the slight natural ascent. It is
but a few feet high and on getting to the top you look down into a huge hole.
This is the Kimberley mine. You immediately feel that it is the largest and
most complete hole ever made by human agency.
At Du Toit’s Pan and Bultfontein the works are scattered. Here everything
is so gathered together and collected that it is not at first easy to understand
that the hole should contain the operations of a large number of separate
speculators. It is so completely one that you are driven at first to think that it
must be the property of one firm,—or at any rate be entrusted to the
management of one director. It is very far from being so. In the pit beneath
your feet, hard as it is at first to your imagination to separate it into various
enterprises, the persons making or marring their fortunes have as little
connection with each other as have the different banking firms in Lombard
Street. There too the neighbourhood is very close, and common precautions
have to be taken as to roadway, fires, and general convenience.
You are told that the pit has a surface area of 9 acres;—but for your
purposes as you will care little for diamondiferous or non-diamondiferous
soil, the aperture really occupies 12 acres. The slope of the reef around the
diamond soil has forced itself back over an increased surface as the mine has
become deeper. The diamond claims cover 9 acres.
You stand upon the marge and there, suddenly, beneath your feet lies the
entirety of the Kimberley mine, so open, so manifest, and so uncovered that
if your eyes were good enough you might examine the separate operations of
each of the three or four thousand human beings who are at work there. It
looks to be so steep down that there can be no way to the bottom other than
the aerial contrivances which I will presently endeavour to explain. It is as
though you were looking into a vast bowl, the sides of which are smooth as
should be the sides of a bowl, while round the bottom are various marvellous
incrustations among which ants are working with all the usual energy of the
ant-tribe. And these incrustations are not simply at the bottom, but come up
the curves and slopes of the bowl irregularly,—half-way up perhaps in one
place, while on another side they are confined quite to the lower deep. The
pit is 230 feet deep, nearly circular, though after awhile the eye becomes
aware of the fact that it is oblong. At the top the diameter is about 300 yards
of which 250 cover what is technically called “blue,”—meaning
diamondiferous soil. Near the surface and for some way down, the sides are
light brown, and as blue is the recognised diamond colour you will at first
suppose that no diamonds were found near the surface;—but the light brown
has been in all respects the same as the blue, the colour of the soil to a
certain depth having been affected by a mixture of iron. Below this
everything is blue, all the constructions in the pit having been made out of
some blue matter which at first sight would seem to have been carried down
for the purpose. But there are other colours on the wall which give a peculiar
picturesqueness to the mines. The top edge as you look at it with your back
to the setting sun is red with the gravel of the upper reef, while below, in
places, the beating of rain and running of water has produced peculiar hues,
all of which are a delight to the eye.
As you stand at the edge you will find large high-raised boxes at your
right hand and at your left, and you will see all round the margin crowds of
such erections, each box being as big as a little house and higher than most
of the houses in Kimberley. These are the first recipients for the stuff that is
brought up out of the mine. And behind these, so that you will often find that
you have walked between them, are the whims by means of which the stuff
is raised, each whim being worked by two horses. Originally the operation
was done by hand-windlasses which were turned by Kafirs,—and the
practice is continued at some of the smaller enterprises;—but the horse
whims are now so general that there is a world of them round the claim. The
stuff is raised on aerial tramways,—and the method of an aerial tramway is
as follows. Wires are stretched taught from the wooden boxes slanting down
to the claims at the bottom,—never less than four wires for each box, two for
the ascending and two for the descending bucket. As one bucket runs down
empty on one set of wires, another comes up full on the other set. The
ascending bucket is of course full of “blue.” The buckets were at first simply
leathern bags. Now they have increased in size and importance of
construction,—to half barrels and so upwards to large iron cylinders which
sit easily upon wheels running in the wires as they ascend and descend and
bring up their loads, half a cart load at each journey.
As this is going on round the entire circle it follows that there are wires
starting everywhere from the rim and converging to a centre at the bottom,
on which the buckets are always scudding through the air. They drop down
and creep up not altogether noiselessly but with a gentle trembling sound
which mixes itself pleasantly with the murmur from the voices below. And
the wires seem to be the strings of some wonderful harp,—aerial or perhaps
infernal,—from which the beholder expects that a louder twang will soon be
heard. The wires are there always of course, but by some lights they are
hardly visible. The mine is seen best in the afternoon and the visitor looking
at it should stand with his back to the setting sun;—but as he so stands and
so looks he will hardly be aware that there is a wire at all if his visit be
made, say on a Saturday afternoon, when the works are stopped and the
mine is mute.
When the world below is busy there are about 3,500 Kafirs at work,—
some small proportion upon the reef which has to be got into order so that it
shall neither tumble in, nor impede the work, nor overlay the diamondiferous
soil as it still does in some places; but by far the greater number are
employed in digging. Their task is to pick up the earth and shovel it into the
buckets and iron receptacles. Much of it is loosened for them by blasting
which is done after the Kafirs have left the mine at 6 o’clock. You look down
and see the swarm of black ants busy at every hole and corner with their
picks moving and shovelling the loose blue soil.
But the most peculiar phase of the mine, as you gaze into its one large pit,
is the subdivision into claims and portions. Could a person see the sight
without having heard any word of explanation it would be impossible, I
think, to conceive the meaning of all those straight cut narrow dikes, of those
mud walls all at right angles to each other, of those square separate pits, and
again of those square upstanding blocks, looking like houses without doors
or windows. You can see that nothing on earth was ever less level than the
bottom of the bowl,—and that the black ants in traversing it, as they are
always doing, go up and down almost at every step, jumping here on to a
narrow wall and skipping there across a deep dividing channel as though
some diabolically ingenious architect had contrived a house with 500 rooms,
not one of which should be on the same floor, and to and from none of which
should there be a pair of stairs or a door or a window. In addition to this it
must be imagined that the architect had omitted the roof in order that the
wires of the harp above described might be brought into every chamber. The
house has then been furnished with picks, shovels, planks, and a few barrels,
populated with its black legions, and there it is for you to look at.
At first the bottom of the bowl seems small. You know the size of it as
you look,—and that it is nine acres, enough to make a moderate field,—but
it looks like no more than a bowl. Gradually it becomes enormously large as
your eye dwells for a while on the energetic business going on in one part,
and then travels away over an infinity of subdivided claims to the work in
some other portion. It seems at last to be growing under you and that soon
there will be no limit to the variety of partitions on which you have to look.
You will of course be anxious to descend and if you be no better than a man
there is nothing to prevent you. Should you be a lady I would advise you to
stay where you are. The work of going up and down is hard, everything is
dirty, and the place below is not nearly so interesting as it is above. One firm
at the mine, Messrs. Baring Gould, Atkins, & Co. have gone to the expense
of sinking a perpendicular shaft with a tunnel below from the shaft to the
mine,—so as to avoid the use of the aerial tramway; and by Mr. Gould’s
kindness I descended through his shaft. Nevertheless there was some trouble
in getting into the mine and when I was there the labour of clambering about
from one chamber to another in that marvellously broken house was
considerable
PLAN and Valuation of Kimberley Mine. 1876.
and was not lessened by the fact that the heat of the sun was about 140. The
division of the claims, however, became apparent to me and I could see how
one was being worked, and another left without any present digging till the
claim-owner’s convenience should be suited. But there is a regulation
compelling a man to work if the standing of his “blue” should become either
prejudicial or dangerous to his neighbours. There is one shaft,—that
belonging to the firm I have mentioned; and one tramway has been cut down
by another firm through the reef and circumjacent soil so as to make an
inclined plane up and down to the mine.
On looking at the accompanying plan the reader will see that the ground
was originally divided into 801 claims with some few double numbers to
claims at the east end of the mine;—but in truth nearly half of those have
never been of value, consisting entirely of reef, the diamondiferous matter,
the extent of which has now been ascertained, not having travelled so far.
There are in truth 408 existing claims. The plan, which shews the locality of
each claim as divided whether of worth or of no worth, shews also the rate at
which they are all valued for purposes of taxation. To ascertain the rated
value the reader must take any one of the sums given in red figures and
multiply it by the number of subdivisions in the compartment to which those
figures are attached. For instance at the west end is the lowest figure,—£100,
and as there are 37 marked claims in this compartment, the rated value of the
compartment is £3,700. This is the poorest side of the mine and probably but
few of the claims thus marked are worked at all. The richest side of the mine
is towards the south, where in one compartment there are 12 claims each
rated at £5,500, so that the whole compartment is supposed to be worth
£66,000. The selling value is however much higher than that at which the
claims are rated for the purpose of taxation.
But though there are but 408 claims there are subdivisions in regard to
property very much more minute. There are shares held by individuals as
small as one-sixteenth of a claim. The total property is in fact divided into
514 portions, the amount of which of course varies extremely. Every master
miner pays 10s. a month to the Government for the privilege of working
whether he own a claim or only a portion of a claim. In working this the
number of men employed differs very much from time to time. When I was
there the mine was very full, and there were probably almost 4,000 men in it
and as many more employed above on the stuff. When the “blue” has come
up and been deposited in the great wooden boxes at the top it is then lowered
by its own weight into carts, and carried off to the “ground” of the
proprietor. Every diamond digger is obliged to have a space of ground
somewhere round the town,—as near his whim as he can get it,—to which
his stuff is carted and then laid out to crumble and decompose. This may
occupy weeks, but the time depends on what may be the fall of rain. If there
be no rain, it must be watered,—at a very considerable expense. It is then
brought to the washing, and is first put into a round puddling trough where it
is broken up and converted into mud by stationary rakes which work upon
the stuff as the trough goes round. The stones of course fall to the bottom,
and as diamonds are the heaviest of stones they fall with the others. The mud
is examined and thrown away,—and then the stones are washed, and
rewashed, and sifted, and examined. The greater number of diamonds are
found during this operation;—but the large gems and those therefore of by
far the greatest value are generally discovered while the stuff is being
knocked about and put into the buckets in the mine.
It need hardly be said that in such an operation as I have described the
greatest care is necessary to prevent stealing and that no care will prevent it.
The Kafirs are the great thieves,—to such an extent of superexcellence that
white superintendence is spoken of as being the only safeguard. The honesty
of the white man may perhaps be indifferent, but such as it is it has to be
used at every point to prevent, as far as it may be prevented, the
systematized stealing in which the Kafirs take an individual and national
pride. The Kafirs are not only most willing but most astute thieves, feeling a
glory in their theft and thinking that every stone stolen from a white man is a
duty done to their Chief and their tribe. I think it may be taken as certain that
no Kafir would feel the slightest pang of conscience at stealing a diamond,
or that any disgrace would be held to attach to him among other Kafirs for
such a performance. They come to the Fields instructed by their Chiefs to
steal diamonds and they obey the orders like loyal subjects. Many of the
Kafir Chiefs are said to have large quantities of diamonds which have been
brought to them by their men returning from the diggings;—but most of
those which are stolen no doubt find their way into the hands of illicit
dealers. I have been told that the thefts perpetrated by the Kafirs amount to
25 per cent. on the total amount found;—but this I do not believe.
The opportunities for stealing are of hourly occurrence and are of such a
nature as to make prevention impossible. These men are sharpsighted as
birds and know and see a diamond much quicker than a white man. They
will pick up stones with their toes and secrete them even under the eyes of
those who are watching them. I was told that a man will so hide a diamond
in his mouth that no examination will force him to disclose it. They are
punished when discovered with lashes and imprisonment,—in accordance
with the law on the matter. No employer is now allowed to flog his man at
his own pleasure. And the white men who buy diamonds from Kafirs are
also punished when convicted, by fine and imprisonment for the simple
offence of buying from a Kafir; but with flogging also if convicted of having
instigated a Kafir to steal. Nevertheless a lucrative business of this nature is
carried on, and the Kafirs know well where to dispose of their plunder
though of course but for a small proportion of its value.
Ten shillings a week and their food were the regular wages here as
elsewhere. This I found to be very fluctuating, but the money paid had rarely
gone lower for any considerable number of men than the above-named rate.
The lowest amount paid has been 7s. 6d. a week. Sometimes it had been as
high as 20s. and even 30s. a week. A good deal of the work is supplied by
contract, certain middlemen undertaking to provide men with all expenses
paid at £1 a week. When mealies have become dear from drought,—there
being no grass for oxen on the route,—no money can be made in this way.
Such was the case when I was in Griqualand West. It is stated by Mr. Oats,
an engineer, in his evidence given to the Committee on the Griqualand West
Annexation Bill, in June 1877—that the annual amount of wages paid at
Kimberley had varied from £600,000 to £1,600,000 a year. Nearly the whole
of this had gone into the hands of the Kafirs.
Perhaps the most interesting sight at the mine is the escaping of the men
from their labour at six o’clock. Then, at the sound of some welcomed gong,
they begin to swarm up the sides close at each other’s heels apparently
altogether indifferent as to whether there be a path or no. They come as flies
come up a wall, only capering as flies never caper,—and shouting as they
come. In endless strings, as ants follow each other, they move, passing along
ways which seem to offer no hold to a human foot. Then it is that one can
best observe their costume in which a jacket is never absent but of which a
pair of trowsers rarely forms a portion. A soldier’s red jacket or a soldier’s
blue jacket has more charms than any other vestment. They seem always to
be good humoured, always well-behaved,—but then they are always thieves.
And yet how grand a thing it is that so large a number of these men should
have been brought in so short a space of time to the habit of receiving wages
and to the capacity of bargaining as to the wages for which they will work. I
shall not, however, think it so grand a thing if any one addresses them as the
free and independent electors of Kimberley before they have got trowsers to
cover their nakedness.
I must add also that a visitor to Kimberley should if possible take an
opportunity of looking down upon the mine by moonlight. It is a weird and
wonderful sight, and may almost be called sublime in its peculiar
strangeness.
CHAPTER IX.
KIMBERLEY.

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1.3 Temperature and its measurement 5

1.4 Pressure and temperature relationship 6

1.5 Laws of thermodynamics 6

1.6 Fundamentals of heat transfer 7

1.7 Fundamentals of ﬂuid ﬂow 9

2.1 Introduction to psychrometry 15

2.2 The properties of air 15

2.3 Understanding the psychrometric charts 25

2.4 Psychrometric processes 32

2.5 Air conditioning systems-Summer and winter 43

3 Requirements of Comfort air conditioning 53

3.2 Air puriﬁcation methods 56

3.3 Thermodynamics of the human body 57

3.4 Role of clothing 58

3.5 Comfort and comfort chart 60

3.6 Design considerations 64

3.7 Requirements of temperature and humidity-high heat load industries 64

3.8 Recommended inside design conditions 65

3.9 Outside summer design conditions for some foreign cities 66

3.10 Types of Ventilation Systems 68

3.11 Effect of vertical temperature gradient & corrective measures 73

3.12 Factors considered in air distribution systems indoor 75

3.13 Indoor Air Quality 77

3.14 Design of ventilation systems 85

4 Heating & Cooling Load Calculation Procedure 101

4.1 General 101

4.2 Deﬁnitions 102

4.3 Design considerations 102

4.4 Internal Sensible and Latent Heat Load components 103

4.5 Comfort air conditioning 104

4.6 Heat gain classiﬁcation 105

4.7 Miscellaneous heat sources 114

4.8 Fresh air load 115

4.9 Design of air-conditioning system 116

4.10 By-pass factor (bf) consideration 121

5 HVAC Systems 125

5.2 Warm air heating systems 126

5.3 Sizing heating systems 131

5.4 Hot water heating system 131

5.5 Steam heating systems 134

5.6 Electric heating systems 135

5.7 District heating system 135

5.8 Warm air curtains 136

5.9 Air-conditioning systems: General 137