Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . theprofit is divided among the boys, the one who actsas their chief receiving one-fourth per cent, morethan the others. Young as they are, adds Taver-nier, they know the price of every stone so wellthat if any of them have made a purchase, and iswilling to lose a half per cent., another will givehim his money. He describes the devices resorted to by jewel-dealers to conceal any defects there might be intheir merchandise ; and the skilful manner of plan-ning the cutting so as to dispose of flaws. From the very moment of its recognitio
Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . theprofit is divided among the boys, the one who actsas their chief receiving one-fourth per cent, morethan the others. Young as they are, adds Taver-nier, they know the price of every stone so wellthat if any of them have made a purchase, and iswilling to lose a half per cent., another will givehim his money. He describes the devices resorted to by jewel-dealers to conceal any defects there might be intheir merchandise ; and the skilful manner of plan-ning the cutting so as to dispose of flaws. From the very moment of its recognition, itwould seem that the diamond quickened the wits ofits possessor, and aroused an ambition of brilliantgain. Even the poor slave in the mines managedoccasionally to elude the sleepless vigilance of theoverseers, and conceal a valuable gem. Taverniersaw in one of the Indian mines a poor wretch who, toappropriate to himself a fine diamond of the dimen-sions shown in Fig. 27, had forced it into the cornerof his eye in such a way as to conceal it Fig. 26.âView in a Diamond District of Brazil. DIAMOND MINES OF BRAZIL. 61 According to Heynes account of the mines ofHindostan, the diamond is found in alluvial soil, orthe most recent rocks. Shallow pits are exca-vated to the diamond beds, which lie about eight Fig. 27.âSize of a Diamond hiddei by a slave in the corner of his eye, feet below the surface of the soil, in a conglo-merate of rounded stones under two distinct layers;the uppermost, a mixture of sand, gravel, and loam;and the other, thick black clay or mud. DIAMOND MINES OF BRAZIL. Brazilian diamonds are found in the district ofMinas Geraes, at San Paulo, in the beds of variousrivers, and at Serro Frio, or Cold Mountain, alofty plateau measuring eight leagues by most productive districts of late are MattoGrosso and Bahia. The diamonds occur usually in alluvial soil, en-veloped in a conglomerate formed of rounded whitequartz pebbles and light-coloure
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