60 NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES, &c.
papev
was written in 1841, and the deposit in question, as far as we can
learn, is only again mentioned by M. Semonosoff in the ' Annales des
Mines,' 1842. But we know that in 1855 Mr. T. Bedingten, a native of
Cornwall, was employed by the Vice-President of the province of Minas
Geraes to trace the course and tributaries of the principal river of
the Diamond district, so as to find the rock from whence the Diamond
came. Amongst other localities he visited San Joao, about twenty miles
north of Diamantina, and there he found a vein yielding Diamonds which
had for about eight years previously been wrought by the natives. This
he began to work, and though the number, size, and qualities of the
stones found have' never been made public, he was still engaged upon it
only some few months since, and probably is so at this moment. Ko doubt
these examples will stimulate others to attempt similar discoveries."
COLOURED DIAMONDS.
The
Diamond, true king of gems, not content with its own inimitable purity,
takes a pleasure, as it were, to assume in turns the proper colours of
its subject-classes, and again to surpass each one in its own peculiar
excelÂlence. The Blue Diamond combines the azure of the Sapphire with its own adamantine lustre, and becomes most lovely by the addition ; the Rose-coloured far eclipses the Ruby, as does the Green the
Emerald ; so greatly does its native brilliancy enhance those agreeable
colours. When any of these three tints is decided, but especially the
green, it enormously augments the commercial value of the stone. Not
so, however, with the Milky tinge that imitates the Opal ; and the Yellow, the commonest of all, the pale Topaz. This latter, regarded as a great defect,
