OCCURRENCE OF PRECIOUS STONES IN N.S.W. 221 
in error in saying that the difficulty in cutting Bingara diamonds 
has been overcomé. It is true, so far, that an attempt has been 
made, and a machine invented for that purpose, which has, how- 
ever, yet to be proved efficient. There is every hope that time 
and science together will be effectual; but it would not be right 
on my part to allow a statement to go uncontradicted which avers 
that I and other leading firms have overcome the difficulty ; and 
I trust you will put this explanation before your readers.” 
To this explanation, the Standard adds “ that every diamond 
merchant in England and abroad has refused to cut Bingara 
diamonds; and Mr. Streeter, we believe, stands alone in having 
expended money on the experiment.” 
Mr. Streeter’s letter very probably refers to the cutting of 
diamonds to compete with trade in much softer stones, as Bingara 
diamonds are being continually cut both in London and Amster- 
dam. A word may not be out of place here in regard to the 
commercial side of the industry. As already stated, it is a ques- 
tion of finding larger stones, and geologists have every reason to 
believe that larger stones will be found. The hardness of the 
Australian gem may be a quality to enhance its value. Mr. Lewis 
Atkinson wrote in 1886,! that “the market price of Australian 
Diamonds in the rough state is liable, like that of all other 
diamonds to great fluctuations, and on the whole they are 
generally lower than the African diamond, for this important 
reason, that they are a great deal harder to cut and polish ; as, if 
it were possible to pick out an Australian and an African diamond 
exactly the same size, weight, shape, and appearance, and to give 
them to one man to polish, the African stone would be finished 
in six days, while the Australian stone would take eight days, 
with this vastly important difference that the Australian diamond 
would be of greater brilliancy and refracting power than the 
African stone.” 
In connection with the admitted particular hardness of the 
Bingara diamonds, it is of some interest to note that every parcel 
* Annual Report of the Department of Mines, N. S. Wales, 1886, p. 46. 
