Ch. 4: Brazilian Diamonds

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	THE BOOK OF DIAMONDS

	excellence of crystallization and for their purity of color. Later, when diamonds were found in Brazil they were carefully packed in cases and shipped to Paris or Amsterdam. At the time they were discovered here, Brazil was a rough, undeveloped Portuguese province. The Portuguese crown took immediate steps to assume control of the fields. The discovery was made in the neighborhood of Tejuco, a town about three miles north of Rio de Janeiro and about two hundred and fifty miles west of the Atlantic Ocean. The contract system was abandoned in 1772, and for more than fifty years the government itself operated the mines very ineffectively and at high cost. The diamonds were sent in to Diamantina once a month, thence to Rio de Janeiro once a year. The latter shipments were always sent under military escort in a box with three locks, the keys for which were sent by three separate messengers. The work was mostly done by negro slaves who occupied long sheds with troughs on each side. Upon elevated seats sat overseers who watched the men and received the diamonds when found. When a slave found a diamond he raised his right hand and shouted; the overseer approached him, received the diamond and rewarded him. If the diamond was over 17 carats in weight the lucky finder received his freedom, was crowned with flowers and was allowed to look for diamonds thereafter for his own benefit. For gems of lesser weight lesser rewards were given. Innumerable precautions were taken to prevent thefts by the workmen. The men were stripped before they left the shed and left their working-clothes in the hands of the 3°

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