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CHAPTER IX.
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UNITED STATES' DIAMONDS.
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LTHOUGH
it has long been known that Diamonds are occasionally found in the
United States, yet the quantity and the character of the stones
hitherto discovered have not been such as to warrant any attempts at
systematic working, The Diamonds occur mostly in the auriferous sands
and gravels, and have been accidentally brought to light in washing the
detritus for its gold.
In
the Eastern States, Diamonds have been found very sparsely distributed
through a belt of metamorphic rocks, along the east of the
Appalachians, stretching through the States of Virginia, the Carolinas,
and Georgia ; whilst in the West they occur in California, and have
also been discovered in Wisconsin, Oregon and Idaho. A comprehensive
review of the general subject has been published by Mr. G. F. Kunz, of
New York, in his work on " The Gems and Precious Stones of the United
States."
Perhaps
the most noteworthy Diamond hitherto yielded by the United States was
one discovered in 1855, at Manchester, opposite Richmond, in the State
of Virginia. It was found by a labourer at work in one of the streets,
and was submitted by him to Mr. J. H. Tyler, sen., of Richmond, who at
once pronounced it to be a valuable stone. It presented the form of an
octahedron, with only a small single black spot in one of the solid
angles, but it was off-coloured. In the rough it weighed
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