The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1869-11-12
/ THE tMa3| OF DIAMONDS.

Il = ~ - -
It seems as though, after lapse Of
three centuries, Sir Walter Raleigh'ss
dreams of an Ell Dorado were about
to be realized. '''''' '''> -:
The other day we published an ac.
soan! Of marvellous maj ', discoveries Of
diamonds I! IN, in in South Afriea. They
had been found for miles, - along tho
banks "a /; of Oft the Orange and the Vaal
rivers. They were not only; abun-,
dan', but they were, many of them,
OF great size. Some were found Of
the dandaloque shape and of the
first lI water, weighing upwards of.
eighty carrots; others of the octahe:
drron' or four pointed, that weighed
upwards of thirty carats "a, and Of the
smaller varieties immense numbers
had been picked up on the surface
OF .t tho ground. Naturally South;
Africa was in ferment. Elephant
tusks were forgotten, and every one
WI was hunting for precious stones
The injection had even extended tc;
THIS country, and DR.. Hall was orga-'
n'z'ng colony % go diamond hun:
ting But now come reports from
Australia Of discoveries there which
far eclipse those in South Africa
kilograms have come fl lying from the
Australian mines TO England big
enough to make the diamond merC
chants hold their breath with aston.
i3sAment. The glittering stones have
been picked up in: such quantities
that, says the London Times, in q lead.
lag article on the subject, 'the colo.
mist are all dreaming of precious
stones. At every table and in every
railway carriage the talk is of dia-
monds and rubies, odals and emeraiiidas iiia
pearls and topazes, and people of all
ranks are rushing to the mines. Gen.
uine diamonds are on sale by women
and children at every cottage, and
there can hardly be q mistake, we
should think about the nature of the
stones. ' :
Thls is marvellous enough in all
conscience, but this is not half the
story; the rest of it smacks of the
Arabian Nights Entertainments, and
S'nbad the Sailors adventures in the
great diamond valley to which he
Hew on the back Of a mighty bird.
~ '1.- 1"'s"- and wonderful half
we must preface with the statement
familiar doubtless to many of our.
readers, that the increase in value of
the diamond is vastly greater in prc,
portion than its increase in weight
a stone weighing one carat, for in.
stance might be worth fifty dollars;
Out one weighing five carats would
ee worth two thousand. Imagine
then' the value of one as big as a
lemon and weighing threc.quarters of
apound Such a one is said to be
ionnd i'll Australia. It's discovery
has been te'egraphed to England. It
Was placed in the hands of a trust.
worthy man. He was surrounded
oy astrong Gordon Of military and
vas marched in this way from tho
mines to Sydney, where the magnf-
cent gem was deposited in the mint
Inc stone has not yet been thorough
~ tested. Geologists are At work
upon 1t now; but if it really proves
to be supposed, its value will he al.
most fabulous. Its weight is 900
carats' a:'s The greasest English dia-
mond, that pride Of the British EN-
plre' the Kohl, oor, weighs but 1885,
carats, and its computed by the tables
IN use, would be hundred millions
in gold. But Of course, this value,
would in any event be imaginary.
since no purchaser could be found
with a hundred milli"ns to spare for
diamond, even if it was :.s big as 2
lemon. !