uncertain
richness, which may be here or may be there over square miles of very
rough country, the odds seem to be largely against adequate returns for
an expensive equipment. In the Minas Geraes district, two modern gold
dredges adapted to save diamonds have been lately installed on the
Jequetinhonha by American companies. The mining laws are another
difficulty. Though liberal on the face, there are uncertainties which
have proved costly. A former leaseholder may establish a claim, through
some irregularity in a previous transfer, after the leasehold has been
developed at great expense by a stranger ignorant of prior conditions.
It should be remembered that the various States in which diamonds occur
make their own laws governing the mining for them, and as they are
somewhat complicated, an attempt to state the provisions definitely
might prove misleading. As written, they tend to encourage enterprises
of that character. Concessions are to be had on apparently easy terms.
Persons of any nationality can take out a claim, but the authorities
pass on the ability of the applicants to prosecute the work. In a
general way, mining lands belong to the State. If diamonds are
discovered on private property, the discoverer can be empowered by the
State to prospect and mine, by securing the owner against surface
damage to the property and paying a tax to the government. If the
discovery it made on government lands, he can obtain a concession or a
license to dig within certain prescribed limits, and if in the bed of a
river, within a certain length of it, by making application to the
authorities, and paying a small tax. In the case of a concession he
must also prove his financial ability to be adequate to the
undertaking. A
