often alludes to the courtesy, and even the loving-kindness, of the natives.
I
had intended to add to this Paper an account of all the famous diamonds
which have been found in India;* but, at the very outset of my
investigations, I have met with so many contradictory and conflicting
statements, that I find it will require more time than is available to
me at present to hunt up authorities and attempt a reconciliation.
As
an example, I may state that, according to some authorities, the Pitt
or Regent diamond is said to have come from Borneo; by others, from the
mines at Purtial. Similarly the true history of the Koh-i-nur is
enveloped in much obscurity.
Distribution of Diamonds in India.
There
are in India three extensive tracts, widely separated from one another,
in which the diamond has been sought for from the earliest periods of
recorded history. Besides these principal tracts there are others
where, although the fact of the occurrence of diamonds has been
recorded, our knowledge as to the circumstances connected therewith is
less perfect. But, with regard to the three principal tracts, it may
now be fairly claimed that our knowledge of the geology of India
enables us to fix the limits with approximate accuracy within which the
diamond-bearing strata occur, and outside of which it would be useless
to look for them. Moreover, we may venture perhaps to extend within those limits very considerably
*
The works on "Diamonds and Precious Stones," by MM. King, Streeter,
Dieulafait, and Harry Emanuel, may be referred to for information on
these points. B 2
