The wonders of the world

by John Loraine Abbott

The high value attached to diamonds does not depend so much on their beauty and hardness, as on their great scarcity, and the labor and expense necessary in procuring them. Hitherto they have been observed only in the torrid zone; and Brazil is the only part of America in which they have been found. The historical account of their discovery in that country is as follows. Near the capital of the territory of Serro do Frio flows the river Milho Verde, where it was the custom to dig for gold, or rather to extract it from the alluvial soil. The miners, during their search for gold, found several diamonds, which they were induced to lay aside in consequence of their particular shape and great beauty, although they were ignorant of their intrinsic value.

The diamond works on the river Jigitonhonha are described by Mr. Mawe as the most important in the Brazilian territory. The river, in depth from three to nine feet, is intersected by a canal, beneath the head of which it is stopped by an embankment of several thousand bags of sand, its deeper parts being laid dry by chain-pumps. The mud is now washed away, and the cascalhao, or earth which contains the diamonds, dug up, and removed to a convenient place for washing. The process, which is as follows, is seen in the cut on the next page. A shed, consisting of upright posts which support a thatched roof, is erected in the form of a parallelogram, in length about ninety feet, and in width forty-five. Down the middle of its area a current of water is conveyed through a canal covered with strong planks, on which the earth is laid to the thickness of two or three feet. On the other side of the area is a flooring of planks, from twelve to fifteen feet in length, imbedded in clay, extending the whole length of the shed, and having a gentle slope from the canal. This flooring is divided into about twenty compartments, or troughs, each about three feet wide, by means of planks placed on their edges; and the upper ends of these troughs communicate with the canal, being so formed that water is admitted into them between two planks about an inch separate from each other. Through this opening the current falls about six inches into the trough, and may be directed to any part of it, or stopped at pleasure, by means of a small quantity of clay. Along the lower ends of the troughs a small channel is dug, to carry off the water.

DIAMOND WASHING IN BRAZIL.

On the heap of earth, at equal distances, three high chairs are placed for the overseers, who are no sooner seated than the negroes enter the troughs, each provided with a rake of a peculiar form, and having a short handle, with which he rakes into the trough from fifty to eighty pounds’ weight of the earth. The water being then allowed to pass in by degrees, the earth is spread abroad, and continually raked up to the head of the trough, so as to be kept in constant motion. This operation is continued for a quarter of an hour, when the water begins to run clearer; and, the earthy particles having been washed away, the gravel-like matter is raked up to the end of the trough. At length the current flowing quite clear, the largest stones are thrown out, and afterward those of an inferior size; the whole is then examined with great care for diamonds. When a negro finds one, he instantly stands upright, and claps his hands; he then extends them, holding the gem between the fore-finger and the thumb. An overseer receives it from him, and deposits it in a bowl, suspended from the center of the structure, and half filled with water. In this vessel all the diamonds found in the course of the day are deposited, and at the close of the work are taken out and delivered to the principal overseer, who, after they have been weighed, registers the particulars in a book kept for that purpose.

When a negro is so fortunate as to find a diamond of the weight of seventeen carats and a half, the following ceremony takes place: he is crowned with a wreath of flowers, and carried in procession to the administrator, who gives him his freedom by paying his owner for it. He also receives a present of new clothes, and is permitted to work on his own account. For small stones proportionate premiums are given; while many precautions are taken to prevent the negroes from stealing the diamonds, with which view they are frequently changed by the overseers, lest these precious gems should be concealed in the corners of the troughs. When a negro is suspected of swallowing a diamond, he is confined in a solitary apartment, and means taken to bring the gem to light.

In the East Indies, the kingdom of Golconda, extending two hundred and sixty miles along the bay of Bengal, and having a breadth of two hundred miles from east to west, abounds in diamond mines. They are chiefly in the vicinity of the rocky hills and mountains which intersect the country, and in the whole of which diamonds are supposed to be contained. In several of the mines they are found scattered in the earth, within two or three fathoms of the surface, and in others are met with in a mineral substance in the body of the rocks, forty or fifty fathoms deep. The laborers having dug five or six feet into the rock, soften the stone by fire, and proceed till they find the vein, which often runs two or three furlongs under the rock. The earth being brought out and carefully searched, affords stones of various shapes, and of a good water. This earth is of a yellowish, and sometimes of a reddish color, frequently adhering to the diamond with so strong a crust that the separation becomes difficult.

To find the diamonds, the workmen form a cistern of a kind of clay, with a small vent on one side, a little above the bottom; in this vent they place a plug, and throwing into the cistern the earth they have dug, pour in water to dissolve it. They then break the clods, and stir the wet earth in the cistern, allowing the lighter part to be carried off in the form of mud, when the vent-hole is opened to let out the water. They thus continue washing, until what remains in the cistern is pretty clean; and then, in the middle of the day, when the sun shines bright, carefully look over all the sand, at which practice they are so expert, that the smallest stone can not escape them. The brightness of the sun being reflected by the diamonds, aids them in their research, which would be foiled if a cloud were to intervene.

The largest known diamond was found in Brazil, and belongs to the king of Portugal. It weighs sixteen hundred and eighty carats; and, although uncut, it is valued at the enormous sum of two hundred and twenty-four millions sterling, which gives an estimate of nearly eighty pounds sterling for each carat, the multiplicand of the square of its whole weight being taken. The one next in magnitude and value, is probably that mentioned by Tavernier, in possession of the Great Mogul. It was found in Golconda in 1550; is of the size of half a hen’s egg, and is said to weigh nine hundred carats. This diamond is the same as the famous “Koh-i-noor,” or “Mountain of Light,” now belonging to the queen of England, and which attracted so much attention in the great exhibition at London, in 1851. The one supposed to be next in value, is that belonging to the crown jewels of Russia, which weighs seven hundred and seventy-nine carats, and has been estimated at five millions sterling. But perhaps the most perfect and beautiful diamond hitherto found, is the one known as the Pitt diamond, which was brought from India by a gentleman of that name, who sold it to the Duke of Orleans for one hundred thousand pounds sterling. It was worn by Bonaparte in the hilt of his sword. It weighs about one hundred and thirty-six carats, or five hundred and forty-four grains. It ought, however, to be observed, that these estimates, founded on the magnitude and brilliancy of the gems, are very different from the prices which the most princely fortunes can afford to pay for them. The Russian diamond cost about one hundred and thirty five thousand pounds sterling; and the one called the Pitt or Regent, although it weighed one hundred and thirty-six carats only, was, on account of its greater brilliancy, purchased of a Greek merchant, for one hundred thousand pounds sterling. Several other large diamonds are preserved in the cabinets of the sovereigns and princes of Europe.

Why such immense value should be attached to diamonds, in all civilized countries, and by a kind of common consent, is one of those singular things that seem inexplicable. That a magnificent house, with a large estate, and the means of living not only in comfort but splendor, should be set in competition with, and even deemed inadequate to the purchase of, a transparent crystallized stone, not half the size of a hen’s egg, seems almost a kind of insanity! If for the mere consciousness of possessing a diamond of less than the weight of an ounce, any private gentleman were to pay four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in ready money, and an annuity of twenty thousand dollars besides, he would probably be thought beside himself. And yet not only was the above sum given, but a patent of nobility into the bargain, by the empress Catharine, of Russia, for the famous diamond “Nadir Shah.” In this case, however, though the seller acquired much, the purchaser did not suffer any personal privation; and in reality, notwithstanding the costliness and high estimation of diamonds, they are not put in competition with the substantial comforts and conveniences of life. Among ornaments and luxuries, however, they unquestionably occupy, and have ever occupied, the highest rank. Even Fashion, proverbially capricious as she is, has remained steady in this, one of her earliest attachments, during probably three or four thousand years. There must be, therefore, in the nature of things, some adequate reason for this universal consent; which becomes a curious object of inquiry.