422 The Diamond District of the 'Serro do Frio. [APRIL, 



precious gems 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, hold- 

 ing the diamond between his fore-finger and thumb ; it is received by 

 ' on'e 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 expences. 



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 vol- 

 tarete. 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 be easily ima- 

 gined, 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 con- 

 sidered 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 forma- 

 tions are in the mountains, and that they will one day or other be dis- 

 covered in such quantities, as to render them objects of comparatively 

 small value. 



The largest diamond in the world was found in the river Abaite, 



