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210
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THE DIAMOND
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are
then burned and the ashes sieved for the diamonds. The larger ones are
picked up from the ground when seen during the tramp. Many of them are
broken or splintered crystals, and as they are used chiefly for drill
points, most of the unbroken crystals are broken up later for that
purpose. A few are sold for gem purposes. Some of them are white, but a
large majority are yellow or brownish-yellow.
The
finders obtain a good price for the stones, as buyers visit the place
regularly at certain seasons of the year and usually carry away the
entire output. The quantity obtained is unknown, but the output of
stones suitable for cutting to jewels is inconsiderable.
Australia
produces a few diamonds, usually quite small and of inferior quality as
gems, though they have the reputation of being the hardest of any.
Cutters say they can be cut only with their own powder. In hardness,
average of size, and tendency, when colored, to great depth of color,
they resemble the diamonds of Borneo. The crystals seldom weigh over
one-quarter of a carat, though a few run up to three-quarters of a
carat; occasionally one is found weighing upwards of one carat, and
several have been reported since the first discovery, which weighed
between five and six carats each. At Bingara they ran about five to the
carat, and fifty per cent, were straw colored. They are found usually
in the gold and tin washings. Almost the entire product comes from New
South Wales, however, which is not nearly as rich in gold as Victoria,
where few diamonds are found.
The discovery of diamonds was first reported from Reedy creek, a tributary of the Macquarie river, near
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