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Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond

Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
Brazilian Diamonds.
111
With the Diamonds of Bahia is found an impure black, grey, or brown crystalline carbon, known in commerce as Carbonado, and highly valued for mounting in the steel drill-heads used for Diamond-boring—a purpose for which neither crystalline Diamond nor bort is applicable. This will be referred to at length in a subsequent chapter.
In 1772 the Government of Brazil first worked the Diamond mines on its own account. Rich as the fields were, the cost was enormous, and every carat weight of Diamonds cost the Government from fifteen to eighteen shillings, against six shillings and sevenpence in South Africa.
The profit made in Minas-Geräes was formerly very considerable. In the first twenty years 144,000 carats of Diamonds were found annually. Up to 1850 this Province had yielded about 5,844,000 carats of Diamonds valued at £9,000,000! If, in addition to this, we consider the contraband trade at the beginning of this century, estimated at £2,000,000, the worth of the Diamonds found in Minas Geräes would be about £11,000,000. The Dia­monds from these mines differ from those of the Bahia mines in shape and colour. The form of the stones is more regular, while the colour is more uniform in its greenish tints, and less, if at all, vitiated by any yellow reflection.
The Paraguay and its many tributaries carry down gold and Diamonds. During the dry season, from April to the middle of October, when the depth of the river is much diminished, the water is drawn off into a canal, and the mud of the river bed is dug out to a depth of six to ten feet, and carried to a place where it can be washed by the negroes during the wet season. In digging out the mud, large holes are often found containing many Diamonds and »much gold. When the wet season stops the digging, the scene of action is the " washing huts."
Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 5: The Brazilian Diamond
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