The Occurrence and Distribution of Diamonds in India. 581 
The diamond bed proper, a conglomerate, belongs to a group 
at the base of the Lower Rewahs, * which is distinguished as the 
“ Panna Shales,” outlying patches of these rocks occur as remnants 
of old spurs and outliers from the tableland. Occurring thus 
without the usual covering of sandstone which is found on the 
flanks of the tableland, earlier observers were puzzled to account 
for the difference, and hence arose some of the confusion I have 
already described. 
Mr. Medlicott gives the following account. At the time of his 
visit, the Panna miners had not got down to the diamond-bearing 
seam, which is not laid bare till about March in each year :— 
PANNA. 
“The rock diggings near Panna do not cover a surface of more than 
20 acres, they are on a low, flat, rising ground at the base of the slope 
from the Kymore scarp ; there were five or six pits in progress. The 
section is—three feet of soil, on a smooth surface of boulder clay ; this 
latter contains large and small rounded boulders of sandstone, possibly 
the remains of masses fallen from the retreating cliff of the Rewah 
ridge; its thickness is very variable from two to twelve feet, due to the 
uneven surface of the subjacent rock ; pebbles of the laterite iron ore are 
common along the bottom of the boulder bed. 
“The top three feet of the hard rock looks more like a reconstruction 
of materials than a rock in sit. It is an irregular, streaked mass of clay, 
with occasional strings of broken grit bands, the crushing action which 
is so manifest in these upper layers extends itself to those below, 
contortion and fracture on a small scale are evident thioughout,” &e., &e. 
These appearances are considered to be due to the falling of 
heavy masses of rock from the cliff face, which formerly existed, 
as it was undermined from below. 
In the Panna mines, although the diamond seam is deeper than 
elsewhere, owing to the broken nature of the overlying strata it 
is not reached by a shaft, but the miners go to the immense 
labour of excavating great pits, 25 feet in diameter, and often 
over 30 fect deep for the sake of the small patch of diamond con- 
glomerate thus uncovered. + 
KUMEREA OR KAHMURA. 
This locality which is situated to the east of Panna, was 
visited by Mr. Mallet, who describes it as follows. Here the 
matrix, locally called Kakru, is— 
«“ A conglomeratic sandstone made up of pebbles, one-eighth to one- 
half inch diameter imbedded in a rather fine matrix which also includes 
* Vide supra, p. 556. t Vide infra, p. 586. 
