Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-02-19
CIR 2'nntB's 9tirnih !.
Diamonds.
(C0llcladed.)


moved rapidly backwards and for
wards over the stone to be cut.
The distinction between "a rose dia>
mond and a brilliant, is this. The /
one is entire and set vertically, the |
other is divided, andIset horizontal
y. The largest diamonds are re-
Served for roses, which always rise
in the centreto an angle; the small
er are used as brillian.s, and are flat
on the upper surface. The main
Source of supply, for ages, has been
The Fast Indies There we still
find four principal mines, or rather
two mines in which they are digged,
and two rivers, by which the dia-
Imonds are washed down from the
bowels of the mountains. In Col
conda on the Eastern coast of Hin
dostan, it is common for the mer-
chants, who are often blacks, TO
buy a certain portion Of land, in
Which their slaves dig for diamonds.
Sometimes they find nothing; at
other times they obtain great wealth
ib a single season. The diamond
mime ip Raolconda, in this province,
\ has been resorted to for this pur-
pose full two hundred years. The
soil is sandy, and the rocks are full
lol clelts. In these clefts, though
mot above an inch wide, the miners
search with hooked tools, dragging
the sandraIl ont. This they wash
carefully, 10 search forIthe stones
The people work naked, (excepr
ione narrow piece Of cloth,) tha
/ they may not be able to secrete ANY
i for themselves They do, however
now and then succeed in swallow
I ing some, and thus bring then
away without being discovered
!. There is another mine a CAM, als'
in the province Of Golconda. Thi
}, was discovered about a hundred
and fifty.years since, by a peasant
, who, in digging, found a large one
!, Here the Great MogulFs iamou
diamond was found, weighing al
most eight hundred carats; in gen
, eral, they do not weigh above tel
J Or twenty. A carat is weigh
used only for gold, diamonds pearl.
. and similar precious commodities
E about one hundred and fifty carat
: make an ounce, in the troy " eigh
! In this mine there ale often sixt
/ thousand poor wretches obliged +
! dig. The manner is thu 5: near tb
: place where they hope 10 find dia
monds, they dig a pit, which the
\ enclose with low walls; they the
dig in the spot they have chosen
2 till they find water; and they SIT
? up the earth well with this water
E which is afterwards let off. VIVA
: the men have dug and washed,
{ carried by the women and chiIdre
| into the first pit; there they was
! the earth they have obtained, an
! dry it, and silt if; and til en- adroitl
2 Sc arch with their hands for the dii
e m nds, which they lear u to knov
5lby the feel. This mine is on
d plain, at the foot of the mountain!
a a The nearer the mountains they di:
j the larger are the diamonds the
o find. All this work, laborious as
D is, is made kind of holiday, b
> the feast given previously, and th
D superstition rites and sacrifice
supposed to make the genii of til
P place propitious to them. The riN
er Goual runs into the Gauges, j
u the horlhers part of India. Ate
: the great rains, which have floode
: all the country, have sabsided, tn
natives of the seighborhood, to tn
o number of ten thousand, assemble
they gather up the sands of the liz
err, digging it abou; two feet deeI
where, by experience, they see rea
J son TO expect diamonds. This the
e wash, dry, sift, and search, as be
a fore. The stones they thus obtai
J, are small, and are called spark,
d There is another diamond mine j
e a. river, in the island sof Bornet
: This is secluded from strangers, S
that ne know little about ii; exceF
that by stealth, diamonds ar
brought from thence and sold a
: Batavia. Diamonds are also foun
near Villa RIGA and in other part
f of Brazil They are so plentiful
that to prevent the price of dia
: monds from becoming too low, tn
government limits the number O
persons employed in the nj mes
} The sand is washed in a name
somewhat similar TO that described
above. After the current flow
away quite clear, the stones arr