

THE " RAJ-NAG," OR KING-COBRA. 



u SAR ! Sar ! the village-mans bring the cock-coop " 

 thus shouted my boy, or Madrasee servant, as I 

 was taking an afternoon nap in my tent of green 

 leaves in one of the valleys of the Nullamullays, 

 not far from the famous diamond mines of Banagan- 

 pully. I had been directed by a London syndicate 

 to discover the mines of Buwapatam, said to be 

 the only ones in India where diamonds are found in 

 their true matrix. These mines were visited by Dr. 

 Heyne as far back as 1808, but have since passed 

 out of notice, no later writer on the diamond 

 mines of India making any mention of them. 

 The following is a description from " Heyne's 

 Tracts Historical and Statistical " : "I was for- 

 merly of opinion that limestone, or a compound in 

 which lime forms the predominating constituent, 

 would be found the matrix of the diamond. Nor 

 was this opinion unreasonable, as in general the 

 bed in which diamonds are found is covered or 

 mixed with calcareous marl. But since my 

 acquaintance with the Banaganpully mines, and 

 with those of Buwapatam, I have been obliged to 

 change my opinion. In the former place we find 

 them in a conglomerate in which no calcareous 



