and
though some of the miners of Southern India are said to be Hindus, and
others are simply described as low outcasts, yet they all probably are
descended from the same Dravidian family.
The
Diamond district of Banaganpilly lies five hours* journey west of
Randial, surrounded by lofty plateaus, or flat-topped mountains, whose
sides admit of cultivation. Heyne alleges that the mines are in the
mountains, varying from one to two hundred feet in height, and that the
Diamonds are found at a depth of about twenty feet from the surface.
Voysey, who lived later than Heyne, asserts, in rectification of this
statement, that, for many years past, it is only in the broken-up crust
that the Diamonds are found.
Dr.
King, the late Director of the Geological Survey of India, visited
these mines, and described the Diamond-layer as a clayey conglomerate
containing pebbles and fragments of shale, chert, and quartzite. This
"gangue is pounded up, mashed, sifted, and laid out to dry on prepared
floors, after which the residue of clean sand is carefully examined in
the hand by the women and children of the working parties, for the
precious gems." These gems,, however, are evidently very rare, for Dr.
King could not hear of a single stone being found during his stay of
four or five days at the mines. Many other Diamond-bearing localities
are known in the neighbourhood of Karnui, but in most cases the
workings are now deserted.
In
the valley of the Kistna, or Krishna, there are numerous spots in which
Diamonds have been worked, especially at Kollur, which was probably the
Gani Goulour of Tavernier : and at Parteal, or Gani Parteal. In fact,
the localities in the Kistna and Godaviri valleys constitute the famous
Gokonda district, and are still being worked, though
