DIAMOND: OCCURRENCE IN INDIA 151 



river is not exactly known, but it is supposed to be the Sankh, a tributary on the left side 

 of the Brahmani, also a river in which diamonds have been found but at a later date ; even 

 such occasional finds are not now, however, to be made. 



In Tavernier's time some famous mines, which were described by him, existed at 

 Sumelpur, but their exact situation is now not known. According to the account of this 

 traveller, the diamonds were here washed from the sands and gravels of the River Gouel. 

 This river is supposed to be identical with the North Koel river, a tributary of the Son, 

 which in its turn flows into the Ganges, and on the banks of which are the ruins of the ancient 

 town of Semah or Semul, supposed to be identical with Tavernier's Sumelpur (Semelpur). 

 This town must not be confused with Sambalpur, a town on the Mahanadi river which has 

 been mentioned above. The stones found in this district were originally derived from the 

 hills forming the watershed of the rivers North Koel and Sankh. Tavernier states that 8000 

 people were at work in these mines at the time of his visit, in the dry season at the 

 beginning of February. Many other statements respecting the early finds of diamonds in 

 Chutia Nagpur are now regarded as false, having nothing more substantial than fable as their 

 foundation. 



5. The Panna Group in Bundelkhaud. 



This, the most northerly group of Indian diamond mines, is situated between the Khan 

 and Son rivers in latitude 25° N., and lies on the northern margin of the Bundelkhand 

 plateau where this borders the plain of the Ganges and Jumna. Some of the mines lie in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of Panna (Punnah), to the south-west of Allahabad on the 

 Ganges, others are further away to the west, south and east of this town ; all are classed 

 together as the Panna mines. Large stones are not known to occur in this district nor do 

 any appear to have been found in former times, though the number of smaller diamonds of 

 good quality found now as well as formerly is considerable. The form of the crystals is that 

 of the octahedron or of the rhombic dodecahedron. They occur in the special diamantiferous 

 stratum and in the loose surface material derived from the weathering of the same, and have 

 also been transported with river-gravels. The diamond stratum here belongs, as previously 

 remarked, not to the Lower, but to the Upper Vindhyan formation. 



In the neighbourhood of Panna, especially to the north and north-east, there are 

 numerous mines ; the most important lie close to the town and occupy altogether an area of 

 less than twenty acres. The diamond-bearing stratum is sometimes not more than a span in 

 thickness, and it lies deeper here than at other places where such a stratum is worked, being 

 overlain by a bed of clay of considerable thickness containing pebbles and rock-fragments ; 

 these consist usually of sandstone, but at the base of the bed there are numerous fragments 

 of ferruginous laterite. The absence of solid rock above the diamond-bearing; stratum 

 makes it impracticable to work the latter for any considerable distance underground ; in 

 order to reach this it is therefoi'e necessary to excavate wide and deep pits, measuring about 

 20 yards across and 10 to 15 yards in depth, a proceeding which involves much labour 

 and time. The diamantiferous stratum consists of a ferruginous clay which contains besides 

 diamonds, fragments of sandstone, quartz, hornstone, red jasper, &c., and deserving of special 

 mention, a green quartz (prase), the abundant occurrence of which is considered a good 

 sign by the diamond seekers. The interior of a diamond mine in this district is illustrated 

 in Plate V. The miners at work in the wide pit are watched by the soldiers of the native 

 ruler. On the left of the drawing are seen the baskets in which the excavated material is 

 hauled up to the surface for subsequent treatment ; towards the right is represented a series 

 of earthen bowls, aiTanged as a chain-pump, for removing water from the pit. 



