The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-08-14

lnge did not "pan OUT any longer as or
yore. It seems that the diamond-bearing
strata. lying in various thin beds of gravel,
run nearly on q level straight into the
sloplng hillside; consequently with every
yard that has been worked the strata lay
deeper and deeper below the surface.
Therefore, If, is 1t appears, the diamonds
exist in thin, horizontal layers OF gravel,
one above another-to what depth nobody
knows-separated by other layers of gravel
Of different composition, 1t is reasonable 10
believe that proper machinery IN lntelll-
gent hands would unearth greater guam
lily Of precious stones than has ever yet
been seen in Brazil.
From a Swiss miner, who lately returned
from BON Jesus from a diamond hunting
exposition along the distant southWes tern
branches of the Rio San Francisco, l have
gained much important information. de
brought over the result Of his eighteen
months labor to show us-a small sack Of
diamonds, perhaps two quarts in al, which
he estimates 10 be worth somewhere in the
neighborhood Of $500, 900, quite sufficient, he
says, 10 set him up for life in eatherlRnd.
This successful gentleman tells US that
though the nrst diamonds were discovered
IN Bahia province, the provinces of Matte
Crosse and Mlnas &c aes have subsequent
ly yielded much greater and richer returns
Ia all the diamond districts the geological
formation is the same, "formacao dimante"
being the name given In Brazil TO the vari-
Gus minerals that are found accompanying
diamonds. whether they exist in the beds
or shores OF rivers, or desert plains, or nigh
up among the hills. There are a few places,
such as the Sierra da Sac Antonio and the
Mato DO Coroa. where diamonds have been
found imbedded in rocks, away up IN the
mountains; and She very richest formation
yet knoWn-a hard CONFERENCE.-The
lies upon beds OF marble. The names
which the natives give TO the different sub
stances do not always indicate similar ma
teriRls. For example, what is known as
ismiril is always found at the bottom of the
gold washers pan, mixed with the grains OF
gold; IL is also seen in auriferous and dia-
monditerous sand banks, in the form of
variously shaped, black, crystalized grains,
ana may be either small pieces Of tourma-
line, or pure iron. or strips of iron stone
tantalate, or iron pyrites, or platiue, pala-
diam or iridium. The various other con-
stituents of the formation are known IS
pebbles sand and fragments of oxide OF
iron, mixed with particles of topaz gar
nets, jasper, feldspar, gold, etc.
In the adjacent province OF Mlnas Geres
the most celebrated workings are along the
rivers Abete and Parafors, and q few
smaller streams, such as the Somuo, Bar
rachudo and In0aia. In San Paulo province
they occur at intervals all the way from
Franco to Parans, especially along the Rio
Tibagy. Other regions are known 10 be
diamondiferous which have never been ex-
tensiYely worked, and there are vast terri
tories wholly unexplored wherein the
geological formation is certainly favorable
to the existance of those gems. On the
Rio Ad3te-wbere, in 1871, that celebrated
diamond which is the pride OF the Portuguese
crown, was found by three exiled criminals
frr n n cor crnr~ m. q nd ro.
ceived therefor pardon for their crimes
and restitution to the right of citizenship
the present workings are continued in
the same old way A few laborers, called
garlmperos, are hired now and then to
dive ia deep water of the river. There is
not such thing as diving suit in all the
country. They carry down small scoops,
with which they hastily pitch gravel from
the river bed into pals and buckets, which
are lowered down TO them by ropes from
canoes
AS might be expected from such a crude
system, the prizes are few and rare; yet it
must pay, or it would not be continued in a
country where cent per cent is considered
hardly satisfactory profit. Stories are
told hereabouts OF flush times when the
diamond mines were new which eclipse
those of the palmiest days of gold digging
in California. 1t is said that Douna Maria
Machado, wife of the original owner of the
Ben Jesus fields, received present from
q friend in Bahia of a certain slave whom
she had long coveted; and in return the
grateful dame sent a naif-pint cup full of
diamonds. AS the market stood, the slave
was worth perhaps $3.50, and as for the
value Of the acknowledgement sabes An old
woman, working on her own account in
some gravel which the miners had
abandoned, found q stone Of purest water,
weighing an ottawa and a half; which she
EXCHANGED for house worth about 1900
An ottawa is equal to little more than
seventeen carets, and the diamond was
afterwards sold for $1,000.
There is a tradition Of priest who came
TO BON Jesus in the arst great rush and
did no digging himself, but never ceased
20 exhort his flock that carnHl treasures
are perilons TO the SOUPS welfare, and who
therefore mRgnanimously offered to relieve
them Of all such danger by assuming the
burden himself. There was no near market
for the diamonds, and SO, for the good
OF their souls, he bought them ell himself
at the rate Of $40 per quartea-oitava, for
stones great and small. BY ordinary rules
Of calculating the value of such gems,
stone OF pure water weighing IN the rough
one-quarter ottawa, would be worth not
less than $3.50, and often good deal more.
In few months the good friar grew so
rich-iust about the time IL began TO dawn
upon Ills pdElSHAQnCIt luEb lucy MtI6 DeluZ
victimized-that b. skipped" one night
from the scene Of his labors. forgetting his
priestly stole.
The largest collection Of diamonds that
have vet seen il the possession Of one man
contains perhaps twenty-five small stones,
averaging one caret each. and ons rather
good-sized gem. l asked him how much
time and labor that number of diamonds
! represented. He replied: II and my child
rem have found them oil in the last eight
months, but I have not worked more than
/ fifteen days during that time, and the
ninas (children) not at ell-they came
across them in their play. The whole lot
might have been worth 500, but Of course
he wan ted thousands; for however guile
less the natives may have been in the days
of the Padre aforesaid, they are certainly
not now
The extraordinary good fortune of a
poor negro family is just new the talk of
/ BON Jesus. A few weeks ago one of their
haif-naked youngsters was playing IN a
gravel bank, where he found pretty
stone, which he utilized the rest of the
day as q marble in Brazilian game not
unlike mumbIe-peg. Having been q winner
the urchin was so lucky as to retain it, to-
gether with most of the marbles of his
companions, and he carried them home and
tossed them down carelegsly in corner Of
the paternal hut. The father spied the
stone and Immediately pounced upon II. 1t
proved TO be the finest diamond which has
been found in these parts for many years
and sold for S450-a sum which TO these
people means wealth forever.
FANNIE b. WARD.
Grand festival of Mendamin, at Garfield
Beach, Thursday. Everyone invited. I
FINE FOOTWEAR.
The Present Made 10 o California Convict
yacfa~rov