one
day pointed out to me one of these miners, who had worked for him for
many years, and who had stolen a stone from him which weighed a
mangelin, i. e. nearly two of our carats.1 He had concealed
it in the corner of his eye, but it was taken from him as soon as the
theft was discovered. In order to prevent these knavish tricks there
are always twelve to fifteen watchmen employed by the merchants to see
that they are not defrauded. If by chance a stone is found which weighs
above 7 to 8 mangelins, it is taken to the master of the mine, who by
way of recompense gives a sarpo,2 which is a piece of cotton cloth to make a turban, of the value of 25 to 30 sols,3 and generally with it half a pagoda in silver, or else a pagoda,4 when rice and a plate of sugar are not given.
The
merchants who visit the mine to buy, remain in their dwellings, and
every morning at from 10 to 11 o'clock the masters of the miners, after
they have dined (for the Banians never leave their houses till they
have washed and eaten),5 take their diamonds to show to
them. If the parcels are large, and contain many stones of the value of
from 2,000 up to 15,000 or 16,000 ecus,6 they entrust them
to the foreign merchant for seven or eight days or more in order that
he may examine them with care. When the stones have been examined, and
are returned by the merchant, if they suit him he should conclude the
transaction at once, otherwise the owner of the stones wraps them in a
corner of his waist-refers to cases as evidence that the diamond is not
poisonous. Once a diamond had been smuggled away from the mines, its
possessor was not only safe, but if it was of large size, and he
offered it to the King, either of Golkonda or of Bijapur, he had every
chance of selling it well, and being presented with a robe of honour.
(See the Account of the Diamonds, &c, presented to the Royal Society by the Earl MarshaL of England, Phil. Trans., vol. xii, 1677, p. 907.)
1 See Appendix, vol. i.
1 Sar-o-pa, a complete dress of honour, from head to foot. (See Yule, Bobson-Jobson, 808.)
5 Is. 10 1/2 d. to 2s. 3d. * About 8s., if new pagodas.
5
This may be illustrated by the practices of the Sravak or Jain Vania
traders of Western India, who are careful not to eat food which may be
contaminated by the presence in it of any animal life (Jagman-derlal
Jaini, Outlines of Jainism, 69 ; Bombay Gazetteer, ix, part i, 93 ff.).
« £450 to £3,600.
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