94 THE GREAT DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD.
exploration
for them, fearing that mining might eclipse agriculture, which he
esteemed as of the first importance. Noticing that the soil of this
region and that of his native place were similar in appearance, the
slave went home, and found Minas-Geraes yielded diamonds in abundance.
He fled from his master, and offered 7,000 carats of diamonds for sale
in a distant city, whereupon he was arrested on suspicion of having
stolen them. He would not confess whence he had obtained them. It was
soon concluded that he had found them in some spot, the whereabouts of
which was unknown except to himself. His master outwitted him by
restoring him without punishment to his occupation at Bahia. Then he
had the slave watched, and the immense diamanti-ferous value of Bahia
and Minas-Geraes was discovered, and within a year afterwards 25,000
diamond hunters were at work in the former district, and for a long
time they collected as much as 1,450 carats a day. It was a slave who
discovered the diamond known as the Regent of Portugal. The history of
the stone is very obscure, and has been rendered more so by those
writers who have confused it with the Braganza. Like that gem of
doubtful reputation, it seems to have been found in the year 1775, in,
or near the river Aba'fte, a few miles north of the Rio Plata. The
finder was a poor negro, who was rewarded with his freedom, and a
yearly pension of £50. The gem is of round shape, weighs 215 carats,
and its value has been estimated at 396,800 guineas.
