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182 THE DIAMOND
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rally
excited interest throughout Brazil, and the tales of fortunes picked
out of the sands of the hills and rivers, caused the natives everywhere
to look for them. They were found in and about the streams near the
western borders of Minas Geraes in the province of Goyaz. Up to 1850 it
is said that 252,000 carats were taken from the Paranahiba, the Rio
Claro and tributary streams.
Many
streams in Matto Grosso, up to the Bolivian frontier proved to be
diamondiferous. The source of the Paraguay river and its tributaries
near Diamantina, particularly the right side of Rio Cuyaba, yielded
many diamonds. They were all small stones and very many were colored,
but some were very good. Unlike most of the Brazilian diamonds, the
crystals were distinguished by very brilliant exteriors. Considerably
over one million carats were reported from this district by 1850.
In
the province of S. Paolo, south of Minas Geraes, diamonds were taken
from the Rio Parana and its tributaries, and some were found in the
Rio Tibagy and its tributaries the Yapo and the Pitangru, in the
province of Parana. They were also found in deposits on the neighboring
heights. The stones were found chiefly in a Devonian sandstone through
which the streams run. The crystals were small, and the quantity found
too meager to encourage persistent work, so that regular mining was
given up.
Equally
important with the fields of Minas Geraes are those of Bahia. Though
divided into a number of districts there are two natural divisions
only, viz.: the section about the Paraguassu river and its tributaries
and the tributaries of the Rio Sao Francisco, and another and smaller area along the valley of the Pardo river near
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