Till. NATIVE ELEMENTS -js;{ 



where the lir>t diamond was taken from the sands of the river by 

 smile Boer children ; alt racted hy its bright lie . t hey carried it home 



to add to their playthings. It. weighed in the rough 21.25 carats 

 and sold tor :>(M pounds. In 1869 the "Star of South Africa" 

 \va- found by a black shepherd on the Orange River; this was a 

 magnificent white stone of 83.5 carats and cut to 46.5. After 

 pa ing through several hands it was sold to the Earl of Dudley 

 for 125,000 dollars. In 1870 diamonds were found at Kimberlev, 

 for the first time unmistakably in their primary position, contained 

 in a peculiar peridotite in the form of pipes and plugs, filling the 

 craters of ancient volcanoes. By decomposition this rock forms 

 the famous " blue earth " from which the South African diamonds 

 are obtained, and in which they are associated with garnets, magnet- 

 ite, enstatite, augite, chromite, olivine, corundum, etc. Other 

 similar pipes were subsequently discovered, all of which have been 

 consolidated in the De Beers Company limited, which has produced 

 nearly all the world's supply of diamonds for the last twenty-five 

 years. The largest diamond ever found was the Cullinan, weigh- 

 ing 3253f carats, taken on June 6th, 1905, from the walls of the 

 Premier mine near Pretoria, South Africa. Before this discovery, 

 the " I'Acelsior Jubilee," weighing 971| carats, discovered in the 

 Jagersfontein mine in the Orange River colony, was the largest. 

 Both of these diamonds, though they were of beautiful color, owing 

 to internal flaws were cleft and cut into various stones. The Culli- 

 nan was originally purchased by the Transvaal Assembly for 

 1,000,000 dollars and presented to Edward VII. It is now a part 

 of the Royal Regalia deposited in the Tower of London. 



In the United States diamonds have been found in North 

 Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Colorado, California, and Wisconsin, 

 all of which were loose in gravel or sand. In 1906 diamonds were 

 discovered in Pike County, Arkansas, in a peridotite resembling, 

 in many respects, the deposits of South Africa. Several companies 

 have been formed and some 1200 diamonds have resulted, yield- 

 ing, when cut, gems of good color. They are small, very few 

 weighing over one carat. The largest yet found was a stone of 6.5 

 carats. 



The origin of diamonds has not as yet been satisfactorily ex- 

 plained. They have been crystallized, probably from carbon dis- 

 solved in a fused magma and under high pressure. The source of 

 this dissolved carbon is in doubt; it may have been brought up 

 from depths with the igneous rock or acquired from shales contain- 



