The Occurrence and Distribution of Diamonds in India. 565 
“‘ After the miners have pitched upon the place where they intend to 
work they level another place close by, of the same extent, or else a 
little bigger, which they enclose with a wall about two foot high. In 
the bottom of that little wall, at the distance of every two foot, they 
make small holes to let in the water, which they stop up afterwards till 
they come to drain out the water again. The place being prepared the 
people that are to work meet all together, men, women, and children, 
with the workmaster in the company of his friends and relations. Then 
he brings along with him some little image of the god that they adore.” 
After worship of this and a feast of rice, Tavernier continues :— 
“When the feast is over the men fall to digging, the women and 
children to carry earth to the place prepared in that manner as I have 
already described. They dig ten, twelve, and sometimes fourteen feet 
deep, but when they come to any water they leave off. 
All the earth being carried into the place before mentioned, the men, 
women, and children throw the water which is in the drains upon the 
earth, letting it soak for two or three days according to the hardness of 
it, till it comes to be a kind of batter, then they open the holes in the 
wall to let out the water and throw on more water still, till all the mud 
be washed away and nothing left but the sand. After that they dry it 
in the sun, and then they winrow the sand in little winnows as we 
winnow our corn. 
a, The earth being thus winnowed, they spread it into a kind of 
rake, as thin as they possibly can ; then with a wooden instrument, like a 
paviour’s rammer, about half a foot wide at the bottom, they pound 
the earth from one end to the other two or three times over. After 
that they winnow it again then, and spreading it at one end of the van, 
for fear of losing any of the earth, they look for the diamonds.  For- 
merly they were wont to pound the earth with great flintstones instead 
of wooden rammers, which made great flaws in the diamonds, and is, 
therefore, now left off. 
“The first time I was at the mine there were about 60,000 persons at 
work—-men, women, and children ; the men being employed to dig, the 
women and children to carry the earth.” 
ELLORE DISTRICT. 
. The principal mines in the Ellore district are situated on the 
banks of the Kistna, or Krishna. They are named Golapilly 
Malavilly, and Purtial. 
GOLAPILLY. 
The diamond pits at this locality, according to Mr. King, were 
sunk in conglomerates and pebble beds of tertiary age* (Rajah- 
mundry Sandstone group). Mr. Blanfordt says that the— 
* Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. x., p. 58. 
tIdem, Vol. v., p. 27. 
