CHAPTEK XXVT. 



THE DIAMANTIFER0U8 AREAS. 



The first diamond of the discovery of which there are authentic records, 

 was found in 1887 or 1888 in the Puruni River District, but the late 

 iMr. Abraham showed me in 1890 a diamond of about two carats weight, 

 which had been given to him many years before by a prospector. 



In 1890 Mr. Kaufmann brought to the Government Laboratory a. 

 small parcel of stones, the majority of which were diamonds, the rest 

 ])eing white corundums, spinels and t[uartz. These stones had been 

 found by a prospector in Kaufmann 's employ' named Gilkes. 



Messrs. Kaufmann and Gilkes persevered with their search for 

 diamonds in the years 1890 and 1891, and obtained several hundreds 

 of the stones. But the great distance from the coast of San-San-Kopai, 

 the landing-place for the workings on the Putareng Creek of the 

 Mazaruni, and the attendant expense, stood in the way of the prosecu- 

 tion of the enterprise, with the result that the exploitation of the 

 diamantiferous district was neglected for some years. 



Attention having thus been drawn to the occurrence of diamonds 

 in the colony gold-diggers in many parts of the goldfields examined 

 theii- pay-dirt for them, and from time to time with success. Diamonds 

 were found in small numbers at the Barnard Placers in Upper 

 Mazaruni, in placers in the Puruni District, in the Jimbo Creek 

 District on the Barima Ki^-er, in the lanna District of the Barama 

 River, in the Cuyuni District, at Omai on the Essequibo, at Quintette 

 and other placers in the Potaro-Konawaruk District, near the Kuribroug 

 River, and near the Akaiwanna Trail from the Essetjuibo to the 

 Demerara River. The stones are therefore spread widely and in 

 various districts in the colony. 



Mr. Gilkes succeeded in re-arousing interest in the Putareng 

 deposits in 1899-1900, and since then much attention has been given 

 to the exploitation of the diamantiferous areas on the Mazaruni River, 

 whilst st)me efforts have been devoted to the diamantiferous deposits 

 on the Kuribrong River and in the Potaro Goldfields. The geology 

 of the Putareng District was described in the report by Perkins and 

 m^'self on the "Geology of the Mazaruni and Puruni Rivers." issued 

 in 1900. Mr. E. G. Braddon, in his paper on '• British Guiana and its 

 Mining Development," gave an excellent account of the district and of 

 its workings at the period of the publication of his account, from which 

 many details of the following account are taken. 



The belt of diamond-bearing deposits in the Putareng District runs 

 for about twenty miles, approximately parallel to its left bank, at a 



