From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Vol. XIX. No. 542, Saturday, April 14, 1832
Diamonds In Brazil
The operation of working for these precious jems is a
very simple one. The alluvial soil (the cascalhao) is dug up
from the bed of the river, and removed to a convenient spot
on the banks for working. The process is as follows:-a
rancho is erected about a hundred feet long, and half that
distance in width; down the middle of the area is conveyed a
canal, covered with earth; on the other side of the area is
a flooring of planks, about sixteen feet in length,
extending the whole length of the shed, and to which an
inclined direction is given; this flooring is divided into
troughs, into which is thrown a portion of the cascalhao;
the water is then let in, and the earth raked until the
water becomes clear; the earthy particles having been washed
away, the gravel is raked up to the end of the trough; the
largest stones are thrown out, and afterwards the smaller
ones, the whole is then examined with great care for
diamonds. When a negro finds one, he claps his hands, stands
in an erect posture, holding the diamond between his
fore-finger and thumb; it is received by one of the
overseers posted on lofty seats, at equal distances, along
the line of the work. On the conclusion of the work, the
diamonds found during the day are weighed, and registered by
the overseer en chef. If a negro has the good fortune
to find a stone weighing upwards of seventeen carats, he is
immediately manumitted, and for smaller stones proportionate
premiums are given. There are, besides, several other works
on this river, and on other streams, but the supply of diamonds falls now considerably short of former
periods, and their produce scarcely defrays the expenses.
The Diamond District of the Serro do Frio is about twenty
leagues in length, and nine in breadth; the soil is barren,
but intersected by numerous streams. It was first discovered
by some miners, shortly after the establishment of the Villa
do Principe. In working for gold in the rivulets of Milho
Verde and St. Goncalzes, they discovered some pebbles of
geometric form, and of a peculiar hue and lustre. For some
years these pebbles were given as pretty baubles to
children, or used as counters for marking the points of
their favourite game of voltarete. At last an officer, who
had been some years at Goa, in the East Indies, arrived in
the Commarca: he was struck with the peculiar form of these
pebbles, and from several experiments he made, it struck him
that they were diamonds. He immediately collected a few, and
sent them to Holland, where, to the astonishment of the
lapidaries, they were found to be brilliants of the finest
water. It will easily be imagined, that on the arrival of
this intelligence in Brazil, the hitherto despised counters
suddenly became the objects of universal research, and
almost immediately disappeared.
The government of Portugal now issued a decree, declaring
all diamonds a monopoly of the crown. For a length of time
it was considered that diamonds were confined solely to the
district of Serro Frio. But this is an error; they are found
in almost every part of the empire, particularly in the
remote provinces of Goyazes and Matto Grosso, where there
exist several districtos diamantescos. These gems have been
even found on the tops of the highest mountains; indeed, it
is the opinion of the Brazilian mineralogists that the
original diamond formations are in the mountains, and that
they will one day or other be discovered in such quantities,
as to render them objects of comparatively small value.
The largest diamond in the world was found in the river
Abaite; about ninety-two leagues to N.W. of Serro do Frio.
The history of its discovery is romantic:-three Brazilians,
Ant. de Souza, Jose Felix Gomes, and Thomas de Souza, were
sentenced, for some supposed misdemeanour, to perpetual
banishment in the wildest part of the interior. Their
sentence was a cruel one; but the region of their exile was
the richest in the world; every river rolled over a bed of
gold, every valley contained inexhaustible mines of
diamonds. A suspicion of this kind enabled these unfortunate
men to support the horrors of their fate; they were
constantly sustained by the golden hope of discovering some
rich mine, that would produce a reversion of their hard
sentence. Thus they wandered about for nearly six years, in
quest of mines; but fortune was at last propitious. An
excessive draught had laid dry the bed of the river Abaite,
and here, while working for gold, they discovered a diamond
of nearly an ounce in weight. Overwhelmed with joy at this
providential discovery, they resolved to proceed, at all
hazards, to Villa Rica, and trust to the mercy of the crown.
The governor, on beholding the magnitude and lustre of the
gem, could scarcely credit the evidence of his senses. He
immediately appointed a commission of the officers of the
Diamond District to report on its nature; and on their
pronouncing it a real diamond, it was immediately dispatched
to Lisbon. It is needless to add that the sentence of the
three 'condemnados' was immediately reversed.
This celebrated diamond has been estimated by Rom� de
l'Isle at the enormous sum of three hundred millions
sterling. It is uncut, but the late King of Portugal, who
had a passion for precious stones, had a hole bored through
it, in order to wear it suspended about his neck on gala
days. No sovereign possessed so fine a collection of
diamonds as this prince.-Monthly Mag.
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