DIAMOND: OCCURRENCE IN INDIA 14-7 



support of Chaper's view may be mentioned the fact that diamonds in the lower Penner 

 district are sometimes associated with the minerals which Chaper observed at Wajra Karur 

 — namely, ruby, sapphire, and epidote. Foote meets this argument with the statement 

 that ruby and sapphire have never been found at Wajra Karur except with the two 

 specimens found by Chaper, and these, moreover, he considers show signs of workmanship. 

 Were it further confirmed, the reported occurrence of diamond in pegmatitic rocks, both 

 in Lapland and in Brazil (Serra da Chapada, in the State of Bahia), would afford support to 

 Chaper's views. 



2. The Naudial Group between the Penner and Kistna Rivers. 



This group lies near the town of Banaganapalli, and only about seventeen miles north 

 of the last group. It is situated on the northern margin of the plain, which extends from 

 the western slopes of the Nallamalais as far as the town of Nandial (lat. 15° 30' N., 

 long. 78° 30' E.). The mines of this group, which are sometimes referred to — for example, 

 by V. Ball — as the Karnul diamond mines, lie to the east, south-east, and west of Nandial, 

 and are partly in the diamantiferous bed itself and partly in the sands. This group, of 

 which a few only of the more important workings can here be mentioned, includes some of 

 the most famous mines ever worked in India, the majority of which, however, are now 

 abandoned. 



The mines at Banaganapalli, the village which gives its name to the group of strata 

 containing the diamantiferous sandstone, lie to the north-west of Condapetta and to the 

 south-west of Nandial. According to the observations of Dr. W. King, the sandstones 

 together with the diamond-bearing bed rest unconformably upon the older sedimentary 

 rocks beneath — that is, the lines of bedding of the two series differ in inclination. These 

 older sedimentary beds comprise shales and limestones with interbedded trap-rocks. The 

 diamond-bearing bed and its associated sandstones are from twenty to thirty feet thick. 

 They are penetrated on the hill slopes by pits never exceeding fifteen feet in depth, at 

 the bottom of which the diamond-bearing bed has been removed as far in all directions 

 as the stability of the overlying rock will permit. This bed, which is only from six to 

 eight inches in thickness, is constituted of a coarse sandy or clayey conglomerate or breccia, 

 consisting largely of variously coloured fragments of shales and hornstone. Large diamonds 

 have apparently never been found here. The crystalline forms of most common occurrence 

 are those of the octahedron and the rhombic dodecahedron. Workers of the present day 

 confine themselves for the most part to turning over the refuse-heaps of abandoned mines in 

 search of small stones, but a few mines in the sandstone are being actively worked at the 

 present time. 



The mines of Ramulkota are situated to the north-Avest of Banaganapalli and about 

 nineteen miles south-south-west of Karnul, They are in the Banaganapalli sandstone and 

 are worked more deeply and extensively than are those of Chennur, near Cuddapah in the 

 Penner valley. The stones found here are small and not very regular in form ; they may 

 be white {i.e., colourless), grey, yellow or green in colour. The exact output at the present 

 time is not known. The mines in the sandstone are not now worked, but the washing of 

 the neighbouring diamond-bearing sands is carried on to a small extent. Captain Newbold, 

 who visited this district in 1840, saw only twenty men at work here, but in the dry season 

 the number was said to be increased to 500. The rich and famous mines mentioned by 

 Tavernier under the name Raolconda are probably identical with the mines of Ramulkota ; at 

 the time of his visit (1665) these mines had been worked for 200 years and were a source of 



