180	THE DIAMOND
	found a diamond, he gave a signal to the overseer, who took it from him and deposited it in a bowl of water at his side. At the end of the day's labor the stones were counted, weighed, recorded, and deposited in a safe place. Many of the slaves were adept thieves. Some were so expert and had so many tricks of concealment, that the most suspicious watchfulness failed to detect them, and the stones they concealed were undoubtedly of the best. If discovered they were punished unmercifully. As an offset to the barbarous inflictions for dishonesty, a sys­tem of rewards for honesty was established. Small pres­ents of cotton cloth, tobacco and the like, were distrib­uted to the successful, and while slaves were cheap, the finder of a stone weighing one oitava (17-1/2 carats) or over, received his freedom. Nevertheless diamonds were stolen constantly and many slaves escaped to the interior, thereby extending the fields, for many of the dia-mondiferous deposits were discovered by garimpeiros, who could prospect only where the hand of the govern­ment did not reach. In 1785, garimpeiros discovered diamonds about one hundred miles west of Diamantina between the streams which form the head waters of the Sao Francisco run­ning north and the tributaries of the Paranahiba flow­ing south. This district is also in the province of Minas Geraes, though the western part of it is very close to the borders of Goyaz. Bagagem is to these fields what Tejuco or Diamantina was to its district. For some time the garimpeiros worked these fields with-, out concessions, and unhampered by the authorities. The district became prominent because several large stones were found in it. The first discoveries were on