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DIAMONDS
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The Indian diamonds also fluctuated greatly in price according to the supply and the demand.
The
diamond mines of India were principally in the vicinity of Golconda.
They were of such importance that in 1669 the traveler Tavernier
reported that sixty thousand men were employed in the work. Now,
however, this field is practically abandoned, and diamond mining in
India is at present carried on only on a small scale by families who do
the work in a very crude fashion. Nevertheless, from the ancient Indian
mines came many of the famous diamonds of the world: the Kohinoor, the
Great Mogul, the Blue Hope, and others.
The
Brazilian mines, which were practically only river diggings, were
originally government property and were worked mainly by slaves. The
slaves, while constantly watched and severely punished if detected,
still managed to secrete and steal a large percentage of all the
diamonds found. The Brazilian diamonds were practically all small
stones, very few being above fifteen or twenty carats in the rough. Some
were very fine, while others were quite poor. The supply from Brazil at
first frightened the Indian miners and reports were spread that the
Brazilian stones were simply the refuse of the Indian mines shipped to
Brazil. The
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