pelled to stop at this limit for want of a method to pump them dry. The chila and
superficial mines are to be traced all over the diamond-tract, manual
labour being cheap, as the poorest subjects of the State work them.
From the commencement of the rains to the beginning of the cold season
the mining goes on, since a plentiful supply of water can be had in all
parts of the State—an article highly necessary to facilitate the
search, as the matrix, after being dug out, is placed by small
quantities in a trench, and then washed to clear it of the clay which
adheres to it. A spot on the surface of the mine is leeped smooth
with the hand, and on it the gravel is spread, and a diligent search
made for the diamonds. Almost three-fourths of the people of Panna and
the adjacent villages derive their living by working either for
themselves or as hired labourers for others. When employed on their
own account, it is not unusual to hear them complain of " no luck for
months and months." Indeed, I never knew a native, during the short
time I was in the State, who said he had found a diamond, but I was
told that the following is the way natives carry on when at the mines.
The avarice of the predecessor of the present Maharaja of Panna knew no
bounds. The mines being the chief source whence his revenues were
obtained, the native tuadars were never spared when they found
diamonds, but had the most unreasonable taxes imposed upon them. This
mischievous system, and the impolitic rule that all diamonds above six rat/is became the bond fide property
of the Maharaja, seem to have engendered in speculators a vindictive
spirit, not only to evade the heavy duties but to cheat the State of
the produce of the mines altogether. Every poor tuadar has a petty
banker, who supports his constituents and his family with the
necessaries of life, on the understanding that every diamond found by
them should be sold to him, out of the amount of which he is to pay
himself. In fact, a tuadar of the lower order is but an instrument to
enable the Mahajans to rob the Maharaja, and it is a well-known fact
that E 2
