The word _diamond_, is supposed to be a corruption of the word
_adamant_, in allusion to the great hardness of this gem, which is the
most valuable of all the precious stones. Diamonds were originally
discovered in Bengal, and in the island of Borneo; and about the year
1720, were found in Brazil. They are found of all colors; and those
which are colorless, or of some decided tint, are most esteemed, though
the latter kind are very rare. Those which are slightly discolored are
the least valuable.
The specific gravity of the diamond, is, to that of water, in the
proportion of about three and a half to one. It is the hardest of all
known substances, and can only be cut and polished by its own dust or
powder. The art of splitting or cutting and polishing this gem, though
probably of remote antiquity in Asia, was first introduced into Europe
in 1486, by Louis Berghan, of Bruges, who accidentally discovered that
by rubbing two diamonds together, their surfaces might be rendered
smooth. And the fine powder which is rubbed off by such friction, serves
to grind and polish them. The diamond is of the nature of _charcoal_, or
pure carbon, and is combustible: under the blow-pipe it burns away in a
blue, lambent flame.
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.
[Illustration: 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.
The utility of the diamond, great as it is in some respects, enters for
little or nothing into the calculation of its price; at least all that
portion of its value which constitutes the difference between the cost
of an entire diamond and an equal weight of diamond powder, must be
attributed to other causes.
The beauty of this gem, depending on its unrivaled luster, is, no doubt,
the circumstance which originally brought it into notice, and still
continues to uphold it in the public estimation; and certainly,
notwithstanding the smallness of its bulk, there is not any substance,
natural or artificial, which can sustain any comparison with it in this
respect. The vivid and various refractions of the opal, the refreshing
tints of the emerald, the singular and beautiful light which streams
from the six-rayed star of the girasol, the various colors, combined
with high luster, which distinguish the ruby, the sapphire, and the
topaz, beautiful as they are on a near inspection, are almost entirely
lost to a distant beholder; whereas the diamond, without any essential
color of its own, imbibes the pure solar ray, and then reflects it,
either with undiminished intensity, too white and too vivid to be
sustained for more than an instant by the most insensible eye, or
decomposed by refraction into those prismatic colors, which paint the
rainbow, and the morning and evening clouds, combined with a brilliancy
which hardly yields to that of the meridian sun. Other gems, inserted
into rings and bracelets, are best seen by the wearer; and if they
attract the notice of the bystanders, divide their attention, and
withdraw those regards which ought to be concentered on the person, to
the merely accessory ornaments. The diamond, on the contrary, whether
blazing on the crown of state, or diffusing its starry radiance from the
breast of titled merit, or “in courts of feasts and high solemnities,”
wreathing itself with the hair, illustrating the shape and color of the
neck, and entering ambitiously into contest with the lively luster of
those eyes that “rain influence” on all beholders, blends harmoniously
with the general effect, and proclaims to the most distant ring of the
surrounding crowd, the person of the monarch, of the knight, or of the
beauty.
Another circumstance tending to enhance the value of the diamond is,
that although small stones are sufficiently abundant to be within the
reach of moderate expenditure, and therefore afford, to all those who
are in easy circumstances an opportunity to acquire a taste for
diamonds, yet those of a larger size are, and ever have been, rather
rare; and of those which are celebrated for their size and beauty, the
whole number, at least in Europe, scarcely amounts to half a dozen, all
of them being in possession of sovereign princes. Hence, the acquisition
even of a moderately large diamond, is what mere money can not always
command; and many are the favors, both political and of other kinds, for
which a diamond of a large size, or of uncommon beauty, may be offered
as a compensation, where its commercial price, in money, neither can be
tendered, nor would be received. In many circumstances also, it is a
matter of no small importance for a person to have a considerable part
of his property in the most portable form possible; and in this respect
what is there that can be compared to diamonds, which possess the
portability, without the risk of bills of exchange? It may further be
remarked, in favor of this species of property, that it is but little
liable to fluctuation, and has gone on pretty regularly increasing in
value, insomuch that the price of stones of good quality is considerably
higher than it was some years ago.
The art of cutting and polishing diamonds, has a twofold object; first,
to divide the natural surface of the stone in a symmetrical manner by
means of highly polished polygonal planes, and thus to bring out, to the
best advantage, the wonderful refulgence of this beautiful gem; and,
secondly, by cutting out such flaws as may happen to be near the
surface, to remove those blemishes which materially detract from its
beauty, and consequently from its value. The removal of such flaws is a
matter of great importance; for, owing to the form in which the diamond
is cut, and its high degree of refrangibility, the smallest fault is
magnified, and becomes obtrusively visible to all. For this reason,
also, it is by no means an easy matter, at all times, to ascertain
whether a flaw is or is not superficial; and a person with a correct and
well-practiced eye, may often purchase to great advantage, stones which
appear to be flawed quite through, but which are in fact only
superficially blemished.
Before leaving the subject of diamonds, it may be well to notice some
other valuable stones that are much sought and prized for ornament. One
of these is the _oriental ruby_. This, in its most esteemed color, is
pure carmine, or a blood-red of considerable intensity, forming, when
well polished, a blaze of the most exquisite and unrivaled tint. It is,
however, more or less pale, and mixed with blue in various proportions;
and hence it occurs rose-red, and reddish-white, crimson, peach-blossom
red, and lilac-blue, the latter variety being named the _oriental
amethyst_. It is a native of Pegu, and is said to be found in the sand
of certain streams near the capital of the country; and it also occurs,
with the sapphire, in the sands of the rivers of Ceylon. A ruby which is
perfect both in color and transparency, is much less common than a good
diamond; and when of the weight of three or four carats, is even more
valuable than a diamond of the same size. The king of Pegu, and the
monarchs of Asia and Siam, monopolize the finest rubies, in the same way
as the sovereigns of India make a monopoly of diamonds. The finest ruby
in the world is in possession of the first of these kings. Its purity
has passed into a proverb, and its worth, when compared with gold, is
inestimable. The dubah of Deccan, also, possesses a remarkably fine one,
which is a full inch in diameter. The princes of Europe can not boast of
any rubies of first-rate magnitude.
The _oriental sapphire_ ranks next in value to the ruby. When it is
perfect, its color is a clear and bright Prussian blue, united to a high
degree of transparency. The _astoria_ or _star-stone_, is a remarkable
variety of this beautiful gem: it is semi-transparent, with a reddish
purple tinge. And beside these, there are the _red_ sapphire, often
called the oriental ruby, and the _yellow_ sapphire, which is called the
oriental topaz. And in addition to these precious stones, or gems, there
are also the _emerald_, of a beautiful green color; the _topaz_, which
is of a yellow or light wine-color, and which by being heated, sometimes
becomes rose-red, so as to be passed off as a ruby; the _jasper_ and
_chalcedony_, which are of various colors; the _onyx_, which is a
regularly banded agate, much prized for cameos, especially where the
colors are very distinct and different; the _cornelian_, which is
properly a red or flesh-colored chalcedony, much valued for seal-stones,
&c.; and the _blood-stone_, or _heliotrope_, which is deep green, and
somewhat translucent, and variegated by blood-red spots: all of which
are much used in the various departments of jewelry.
We have reserved for this place, a notice of the hot-well at Clifton,
England, which would have been mentioned in connection with the Geysers
and other hot springs, but from its connection with the beautiful
crystals known as _Bristol stones_ or _diamonds_, some of which are so
hard as to cut glass, and are exceedingly clear, colorless and
brilliant. When set in rings, in their natural state, these stones often
appear of as high a polish and luster, as if they had been wrought by
the most skillful lapidary.
The warm spring, or fountain, in the vicinity of which they are found,
is called the _hot-well_. It is in the parish of Clifton, and is so
copious as to discharge sixty gallons of water in a minute. It rises
forcibly from an opening in the solid rock, at about twenty-six feet
below high-water mark. On its immediate influx from the rock, the water
is much warmer than when it is pumped up for drinking, for it is raised
by pumps some thirty feet. Its qualities in a medicinal point of view
are supposed to be valuable; but it is not on this point that we propose
to dwell, and therefore we pass on to the rocks in the neighborhood,
near which the _Bristol stones_ are found. Just below the hot-well,
there rises a noble range of hills, which are not more remarkable for
their hight, than for their being equally so on both sides the river,
the strata in some places answering on each side for about a mile and a
half in a serpentine course. These constitute one of the greatest
natural curiosities in England. The rock beyond the hot-well, and on the
same side, is named St. Vincent’s, a chapel dedicated to that saint
having been formerly built on its summit. It is in hight three hundred
feet, and has a majestic appearance. It supplies the naturalist with
many curious fossils, the botanist with a variety of scarce plants, the
antiquary with the remains of a Roman camp, and the less curious
inquirer with a view of a most dreadful and surprising precipice.
The rocks in general, when broken up, are of a dusky red, brown or
chocolate colored marble, very hard and close-grained, and which, on
being struck with a hammer, emit a strong sulphureous smell. It will
bear a polish equal to any foreign marble; and, when sawed into slabs
and polished, appears beautifully variegated with veins of white,
bluish-gray, or yellow. It is often employed for chimney-pieces; but it
is principally used for making lime, for which purpose there is no stone
in England so well calculated, nor is there any lime so strong, fine,
and white, which excellent qualities occasion great demand for foreign
consumption.
Here, and in the vicinity, laborers are daily employed in blowing up the
rocks with gunpowder, by which process vast fragments are frequently
thrown down, and repeatedly strike the precipice with a dreadful crash,
which, combined with the loud report of the explosion, reëchoed from
side to side by the lofty cliffs, makes a noise resembling thunder, for
which it is frequently mistaken by strangers. It is the opinion of the
greater part of those who have viewed these rocks, that they were once
united, and were separated by some terrible convulsion of nature. A
bridge of one arch, from rock to rock, over the Avon, has long been in
contemplation; but if the blowing up of these rocks should still be
persisted in, the design will be rendered impracticable. This is the
more to be regretted, because stone of the same quality is to be
procured lower down the river.
Now it is in the fissures and cavities of these rocks, that the
beautiful crystals called _Bristol stones_, or _diamonds_, already
mentioned, are found. They are clear and brilliant, and being without
color, so richly and brilliantly reflect the light, as to be almost next
to the diamond in appearance, and are often palmed off on the
unpracticed for the latter gem. They are extensively used in many of the
plainer kinds of jewelry, and when set over gold-leaf, or thin paper of
delicate tinges, are often made closely to resemble some of the richest
gems known.