iron,
at Richmond, where it remained at red heat for two hoars and twenty
minutes. It was then taken out and found to be uninjured and brighter
than ever. It was valued in Richmond at $4,000." This stone was next in
the possession of Capt. Samuel W. Dewey, now of Philadelphia, and by
him was named the Oninoor or "sun of light," though it has more
generally been known as the Dewey or Morrissey diamond. It then passed
through many hands. It was cut at an expense of $1,500 by Mr. H. D.
Morse, and at one time $6,000 was loaned on it. This diamond was a
slightly rounded trigonal trisoctahedron. Its original weight was
23-3/4 carats, and after cutting it weighed ll-11/16 carats. As it is
off-color and imperfect it is today worth not more than from $300 to
$400. Exact copies of it in glass, as it was found, and also as cut,
were deposited in the United States mint at Philadelphia, by Gapt. S.
W. Dewey, and also at the Peabody museum in New Haven. Electrotypes of
it may be seen in a number of cabinets.
The
first diamond found in North Carolina was at the ford of Brin-. dletown
creek, by Dr. F. M. Stephenson. It is an octahedron in form, and is
valued at $100. Another, in the possession of Professor
Feather-stonhough, was found in the same neighborhood by him. A third,
observed in Mr. D. J. Twitty's collection by General Clingman, and
described by Prof. C. U. Shepard, was found at Twitty's mine,
Rutherford county. In form this is a distorted hexoctahedron,
yellowish in color. A fourth was found by Dr. C. L. Hunter, near
Cottage Home, Lincoln county, in the spring of 1852. It is said to be
greenish in color-and in form an elongated hexoctahedron. Another, in
the possession of Dr. Andrews, of Charlotte, was found at Todd's
branch, Mecklenburg county. It was said to be a perfect crystal and of
a good white color. Dr. Andrews reports also the finding of a black
diamond the size of a chincapin by three persons, who crushed it,
believing a diamond could not be broken. He found that the fragments
scratch corundum very readily.
Dr.
Genth reports two diamonds from the Portis mine, Franklin county, one
of them a very beautiful octahedron. A small diamond was found on the
headwaters of Muddy creek, in McDowell county, and diamonds have also
been reported in weight frequently from one-half carat up to over 2
carats, from J. C. Mills's mines, in Burke county. Some of these,
examined by Mr. James B. Mackintosh, proved to be quartz, and another
supposed diamond, found in some gravel from this mine, in the State
collection at Raleigh, I found not to be a diamond, but zircon. The
diamonds in North Carolina are usually found associated with gold,
monazite, xenotime, zircon, octahedrite, and other minerals. Dr.
Genth(a) says this debris is the result of the old gneissoid rocks,
such as mica-schist and gneiss, in which graphite is always found.
In a letter to the New York Sun Mr. C. Leventhorpe mentions the
