DIAMONDS AND DIAMOND CUTTING. 



TTNTIL within a period of one hundred and fifty 

 ^ years, the East Indies furnished all the dia- 

 monds found in the markets of the world. In Hin- 

 dostan and Borneo the precious gems were found 

 in detached crystals, accompanied with grains of 

 gold, amongst metallic sand washed down from the 

 mountains. When the poor miner who wandered 

 into the mountainous districts of Brazil in pursuit 

 of gold accidentally stumbled upon the famous dia- 

 mond mines of that country, the whole world was 

 filled with excitement, and the number of miners 

 who crowded thither was very great. The quan- 

 tity of gems of the very first water obtained from 

 these mines was sufficient to keep the gay and lux- 

 urious courts of France and Spain in a blaze of light, 

 as the noble ladies of the time adorned their persons 

 with them. The region of country in Brazil in 

 which diamonds are found is extremely limited. 

 The district of Minas Geraes extends only about 

 eighty miles north and south, and eight from east 

 to west. The character of. the earth is an agglom- 

 erate, formed by the decomposition of granite and 

 mica slate, and is made up of rounded white pebbles 



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