THE GARNET GROUP (ALMANDINE): OCCURRENCE 355 



Tellery, the manager of the garnet works at Jaipur, which are mentioned below, stones 

 from Sarwar are smaller than those from the garnet quarries of Kakoria, but in colour and 

 lustre are surpassed by no others. Taste in Europe and America at the present day, 

 however, inclines to stones of a more decided violet tint. 



The garnet quarries of Kakoria have just been mentioned. Kakoria is situated in the 

 State of Jaipur, and is probably identical with the place marked Kakor in the official 

 Indian atlas, in lat. 26° 1' N. and long. 75° 59' E. of Greenwich. The quarries of 

 Rajmahal (lat. 25° 2U' N., long. 75° 21|' E.) are also situated in this State, but their 

 yield is less abundant. Garnets are obtained at Meja (lat. 25° 25' N., long. 74° 37' E.), in 

 Udaipur, and also at several places in Meywar, but the yield is not as abundant as at Sarwar 

 or at Kakoria, and the stones are of quite ordinary quality. Garnet of gem-quality is found 

 at many other localities, none of sufficient importance, however, to warrant special mention. 

 From the quality and size of the stones Tellery concludes that the Indian garnets described 

 in ancient writings came from Rajputana. 



Of American localities those in Brazil must be first mentioned. Almandine occurs 

 here in rounded grains, which, though small, are finely coloured and transparent. They 

 accompany the topaz found in the Minas Novas district of Minas Geraes. Stones of gem- 

 quality are also said to occur in Uruguay. Numerous localities are known in the United 

 States of North America, at some of which transparent stones suitable for cutting are 

 found, though never in abundance. Among such may be mentioned the purple-red pebbles 

 found in the Columbia river in the'States of Washington and Oregon, some of which are of 

 good quality and considerable size, with a weight between half a carat and half an ounce- 

 The occurrence of almandine in Greenland is more important ; the stones, which are of a 

 fine colour and very transparent, although much fissured, occur, as a rule, embedded in 

 chlorite- or mica-schist. 



In Australia almandine, together probably with other varieties of garnet, is widely 

 distributed. It is very abundant in the rivers of the Northern Territory of South Australia, 

 the larger stones being of a bright cherry-red or yellowish-red colour, and the smaller light 

 red inclined to violet. These stones, which were at first supposed to be rubies, were found 

 in large numbers in the gravels of the Maude, Florence, and Hale rivers. They fetched a 

 high price, and no less than twenty-four ruby companies, working some hundreds of claims, 

 were floated. When it became known that the supposed rubies were in reality garnet, the 

 companies instantly collapsed and work was suspended. At the present time very few 

 garnets are collected in Australia for cutting as gems. The mistake made in the 

 identification of these stones has led to their being sometimes known as " Adelaide rubies."" 



Garnet of gem -quality has recently been met with in German East Africa, where it is 

 found in the Namaputa stream, a tributary of the Rovuma. It has here been weathered 

 out of hornblende-gneiss, in which it is irregularly distributed as rounded enclosures up to 

 the size of a man's fist. Most of the stones are clear and transparent and of a columbine-red 

 colour with a tinge of brownish-red. Many fine gems, said to surpass the Indian in quality, 

 have been obtained, but whether the deposit could be worked on a large scale is as yet 

 doubtful. A chemical analysis of this garnet proves it to be almandine, with much of the 

 ferrous oxide replaced by magnesia ; the specific gravity is 3'875. 



Almandine suitable for cutting is also found in Europe, but not in large amount nor 

 of specially good quality. A certain number of these stones are collected every year in the 

 Alps, which is the most important European locality. Specially remarkable are the 

 rhombic dodecahedral crystals, measuring as much as an inch across, which occur in the 

 dark mica-schist and the chlorite-schist of the upper Zillerthal in the Tyrol, the exact 



