﻿180 PICTORIAL MISCELLANY. 



Cerro-do-frio, and is north of Villa Rica. At the river Yigit-on 

 hou-ha, however, is the most important of the Brazilian mines. The 

 course of the river is impeded by a bank made by the miners, with 

 thousands of bags of sand. The pools thus formed are pumped dry; 

 the mud of the river is washed away, and the earth, in which they 

 expect to find diamonds, is taken out and carried away for washing 

 and searching. They erect a kind of shed of upright posts sup- 

 porting a thatched roof to shelter the negroes while at work. 

 Through the middle of this shed a current of water is made to flow, 

 for washing the earth which is about to be searched. On the sides 

 of the stream are wooden troughs, each about a yard wide ; and in 

 every trough is a negro slave with a rake prepared for the purpose. 

 The earth is then put in, about a bushel at a time, and a small 

 stream of water let on. It is raked over and over, until the light 

 earth is wholly washed away, and a sort of gravel only remains. 

 Overseers, seated in chairs with whips, are appointed to watch the 

 process, and to see that the negroes do not conceal the diamonds. 

 If a negro finds a diamond that weighs seventeen and a half carats, 

 he is immediately set at liberty for life. He also receives a present 

 of new clothes, and may work on his own account if he pleases. 



It is remarkable that diamonds are of the same substance as char- 

 coal. To many persons it must appear incredible, that the darkest 

 and brightest substances in nature are so nearly allied. Such, 

 however, is the fact. 



Anecdote of an Egyptian Governor. 



A MERCHANT, who had been ruined by taxation, one day observed 

 to me, "Listen to the following story. You will recognize in it the 

 image of the justice of Mohammed Ali, on whom be the curse of 

 God ! There lived at Menouf a rich manufacturer of silk. One 

 night a robber broke into his house. Having no light with him, 

 this malefactor ran his eye against a nail, which stuck out from the 

 wall, and blinded himself. Discomfited by this accident, he got out 

 of the house as well as he could, whilst the manufacturer still slept. 

 Next day the robber went to complain to the governor of Cairo, 



