576 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 
be glad to see the annual search re-established on the old terms. 
Indeed it is barely possible to conceive of the condition of the 
Jhiras having been at any time worse than it is at present. No 
doubt the gambling element, which may be said to have been 
ever present in work of the above nature, commended it to the 
native mind. According to Mr. Emanuel, these people show 
traces of Negro blood, and hence it has been concluded that they 
are the “ descendants of slaves imported by one of the conquerors 
of India.” They are, however, I should Say, an aboriginal tribe, 
showing neither in their complexions, character of their features, 
nor hair, the slightest trace of N egro orign. 
When Sambalpur was taken over by the British, in 1850, the 
Government offered to lease out the right to seek for diamonds, 
and in 1856 a notification appeared in the Gazette describing the 
prospect in somewhat glowing terms. For a short time the lease 
was held by a European, at the very low rate of two hundred 
rupees per annum ; but as it was given up voluntarily, it may be 
concluded that the lessee did not make it pay. The facts that 
the Government resumed possession of the rent-free villages, 
while the Raja's operations had been carried on without any 
original outlay, materially altered the case, and rendered the 
employment of a considerable amount of capital then, as it 
would be now, an absolute necessity. 
Within the past few years statements have gone the round of 
the Indian papers to the effect that diamonds are now occa- 
sionally found by the gold-washers of Sambalpur. All my 
inquiries failed to elicit a single authentic case, and the gold- 
washers I spoke to and saw at work assured me that the state- 
ments were incorrect. Moreover, they did not appear to expect 
to find any, as I did not observe that they even examined the 
gravel when washing. 
WEIRAGURH OR WEIRAGUD, EIGHTY MILES SOUTH-EAST OF 
NAGPUR. 
This locality has not as yet been visited by any member of 
the. Geological Survey, and information regarding it is scanty. 
The Rev. Messrs. Hislop and Hunter, in their well known paper* 
* Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. xi., p. 355. 
