Panna in Bundelkhand. 159 



idea of their reproduction, and I was anxious to obtain the 

 opinion of experienced natives on this subject : they admit it 

 only in one instance, viz. at Majgoha, and even there, it is al- 

 ways ascribed to the spiritual agency of the founder of the 

 Mehdivi sect, to whom those mines belong, but their more ra- 

 tional opinion is as follows, which I will give as nearly as pos- 

 sible in the words of my communicant : — " The object of 

 washing is to free the rocky fragments from clay, and particu- 

 larly to cleanse the diamond, so that it may readily be distin- 

 guished in the operation of searching, but with all our care we 

 cannot always succeed ; small diamonds frequently retain their 

 covering, and thus elude our search in the first scrutiny, nor 

 can they be discovered afterwards, until the coating which 

 concealed them is worn away ; hence it happens that diamonds 

 are found amongst fragments which have been searched and 

 thrown aside, but it is observable that small diamonds alone 

 are so found, and that they rarely exceed the weight of half a 

 troy grain. 11 



With regard to Majgoha I am inclined to think that the 

 above opinion applies with great force. The matrix of these 

 mines contains calcareous matter, and it is no easy attainment 

 to wash away a calcareous incrustation by using water alone ; 

 whenever, therefore, such an occurrence takes place, the dia- 

 mond might not only elude a first search, but a series of 

 searches, and even for a series of years, until the coating 

 which enveloped it was worn away. 



Description of the Diamonds. — The diamonds of the Panna 

 mines may be classed according to the following arrangement, 

 using native denominations : 1st, Lihvaja, transparent, colour- 

 less, having no tinge except the azure which is reflected in a 

 chop of distilled water ; it is so scarce that only one specimen 

 was to be found in the town of Panna. 



2d, Banspati, Motichar, Ghiyu, or Maska: these kinds 

 are common, the first has a greenish tinge, the second is also 

 greenish, but varies to a pearly cast ; the third is yellowish 

 and of a greasy or resinous lustre, as its name implies ; — the 

 crystalline form of this class is very distinct, exhibiting fre- 

 quently tin' regular octahedron as perfect as if it bad been 

 shaped by an artist, the dodecahedron is also common, and 



