The operation of working for these precious jems is a very simple one. The
alluvial soil (the cascalhao) is dug up from the bed of the river, and
removed to a convenient spot on the banks for working. The process is as
follows:--a rancho is erected about a hundred feet long, and half that
distance in width; down the middle of the area is conveyed a canal,
covered with earth; on the other side of the area is a flooring of planks,
about sixteen feet in length, extending the whole length of the shed, and
to which an inclined direction is given; this flooring is divided into
troughs, into which is thrown a portion of the cascalhao; the water is
then let in, and the earth raked until the water becomes clear; the earthy
particles having been washed away, the gravel is raked up to the end of
the trough; the largest stones are thrown out, and afterwards the smaller
ones, the whole is then examined with great care for diamonds. When a
negro finds one, he claps his hands, stands in an erect posture, holding
the diamond between his fore-finger and thumb; it is received by one of
the overseers posted on lofty seats, at equal distances, along the line of
the work. On the conclusion of the work, the diamonds found during the day
are weighed, and registered by the overseer _en chef_. If a negro has the
good fortune to find a stone weighing upwards of seventeen carats, he is
immediately manumitted, and for smaller stones proportionate premiums are
given. There are, besides, several other works on this river, and on other
streams, but the supply of diamonds falls now considerably short of former
periods, and their produce scarcely defrays the expenses.
The Diamond District of the Serro do Frio is about twenty leagues in
length, and nine in breadth; the soil is barren, but intersected by
numerous streams. It was first discovered by some miners, shortly after
the establishment of the Villa do Principe. In working for gold in the
rivulets of Milho Verde and St. Goncalzes, they discovered some pebbles of
geometric form, and of a peculiar hue and lustre. For some years these
pebbles were given as pretty baubles to children, or used as counters for
marking the points of their favourite game of voltarete. At last an
officer, who had been some years at Goa, in the East Indies, arrived in
the Commarca: he was struck with the peculiar form of these pebbles, and
from several experiments he made, it struck him that they were diamonds.
He immediately collected a few, and sent them to Holland, where, to the
astonishment of the lapidaries, they were found to be brilliants of the
finest water. It will easily be imagined, that on the arrival of this
intelligence in Brazil, the hitherto despised counters suddenly became the
objects of universal research, and almost immediately disappeared.
The government of Portugal now issued a decree, declaring all diamonds a
monopoly of the crown. For a length of time it was considered that
diamonds were confined solely to the district of Serro Frio. But this is
an error; they are found in almost every part of the empire, particularly
in the remote provinces of Goyazes and Matto Grosso, where there exist
several districtos diamantescos. These gems have been even found on the
tops of the highest mountains; indeed, it is the opinion of the Brazilian
mineralogists that the original diamond formations are in the mountains,
and that they will one day or other be discovered in such quantities, as
to render them objects of comparatively small value.
The largest diamond in the world was found in the river Abaite; about
ninety-two leagues to N.W. of Serro do Frio. The history of its discovery
is romantic:--three Brazilians, Ant. de Souza, Jose Felix Gomes, and
Thomas de Souza, were sentenced, for some supposed misdemeanour, to
perpetual banishment in the wildest part of the interior. Their sentence
was a cruel one; but the region of their exile was the richest in the
world; every river rolled over a bed of gold, every valley contained
inexhaustible mines of diamonds. A suspicion of this kind enabled these
unfortunate men to support the horrors of their fate; they were constantly
sustained by the golden hope of discovering some rich mine, that would
produce a reversion of their hard sentence. Thus they wandered about for
nearly six years, in quest of mines; but fortune was at last propitious.
An excessive draught had laid dry the bed of the river Abaite, and here,
while working for gold, they discovered a diamond of nearly an ounce in
weight. Overwhelmed with joy at this providential discovery, they resolved
to proceed, at all hazards, to Villa Rica, and trust to the mercy of the
crown. The governor, on beholding the magnitude and lustre of the gem,
could scarcely credit the evidence of his senses. He immediately appointed
a commission of the officers of the Diamond District to report on its
nature; and on their pronouncing it a real diamond, it was immediately
dispatched to Lisbon. It is needless to add that the sentence of the three
"condemnados" was immediately reversed.
This celebrated diamond has been estimated by Romé de l'Isle at the
enormous sum of three hundred millions sterling. It is uncut, but the late
King of Portugal, who had a passion for precious stones, had a hole bored
through it, in order to wear it suspended about his neck on gala days. No
sovereign possessed so fine a collection of diamonds as this
prince.--_Monthly Mag_.
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