DIAMONDS AND CARBONS IN BRAZIL 275 



several carats in drying. It is of finest quality and almost rectangular 

 shape. The equivalent of $26,400 was offered for it six months ago, 

 but the owner has set a price which to-day is the equivalent of 

 $45,625, an impossible figure, as in breaking there is always consider- 

 able loss. When carbon advances beyond a certain figure the sale of 

 necessity decreases, as then there are other products which are used 

 even though lacking in durability and other desirable qualities. 



The genesis of the diamond and carbon has not been worked out 

 for this section. Whatever it proves to be, it is certain that at one 

 time they were all confined in a conglomerate which shows evidence 

 of being of more recent geological date. The conglomerate differs in 

 character in the different sections. In the neighborhood of Lavras 

 Diamantinas it consists of many colored water-washed pebbles and 

 boulders, chiefly sandstone of the same nature as the strata found im- 

 mediately below it; in the Salobro region it consists chiefly of granite 

 pebbles. In both instances the matrix is sand of different degrees of 

 hardness, fineness and color. 



With the ages a great part of the conglomerate has disintegrated 

 and the rains and rivers have washed the diamonds and carbons to 

 the places where they are now being found. There are large masses 

 of conglomerate in many places which have resisted this action, and 

 unless mechanical means are brought to bear will continue to yield 

 diamonds and carbons for the ages during their disintegration. 



The region about Salobro is comparatively flat, in fact the greatest 

 deposit occurs in an area practically level, doubtless the old river bed. 

 In the other sections of Bahia the country is rocky and mountainous. 

 There is so much of rock and so little of soil that only small plants 

 grow, and then only during the rain time. In some cases the rivers 

 pass through gorges cut into the solid rock and most precipitous and 

 awe-inspiring. On all sides there is much of interest. The rock 

 formation is a very hard reddish sandstone which completely underlies 

 the conglomerate and like it shows the disintegrating effects of water 

 and climate. In places it has deep cracks which have become natural 

 canals, accumulating with the ages a concentrated diamond- and 

 carbon-bearing gravel. In other places immense pieces of sandstone 

 and conglomerate are piled up heterogeneously as if they had been 

 dumped there. The canal Simplicio Braga is a combination of these 

 two varieties and was one of the richest finds of the region. 



The diamond section of Bahia is much more accessible than that 

 of Minas Geraes. One can arrive at Andarahy, the heart of the region, 

 in four days from Bahia City, five hours of one clay being spent in 

 journey by boat, twelve hours of the next by train and two days by 

 mule. The trip is without hardships to one accustomed to travel. It 

 is along attractive scenery, across rivers and mountains, passing 

 through a section with beautiful calcareous caves, but with an entire 



