DIAMOND MINES OF PANNA 



detla stratum is here considered a matter of augury ; if it is too thick 

 it augurs ill, as it is then supposed that the stratum of madda will be cor- 

 respondently thin, or wanting altogether ; — It ought not to exceed two 

 feet, 



Udesna Mines, 



Near the village of Udesna, the same kind of matrix underlies 

 *laterite, there called macha ; the great abundance of ironstone gra- 

 vel and ferruginous matter strewed over this part of the country 

 necessarily produced in former times, and no doubt still continues 

 to produce, a great quantity of oxide of iron, which being washed away, 

 and held in solution by the minor streams, has been gradually deposited 

 in the channel of the Ranj river until it is now about ten feet thick, and 

 immediately below it are the beds oi detla and sandstone, and the matrix 

 as above mentioned. This matrix does not require to be broken, the clay 

 is easily separated by washing, and the expense of working the mines is 

 consequently lessened, but still they are not considered so certain in their 

 return as those of the rocky matrix. 



Superficial Mines. 



The cMla, or superficial mines, are to be found in every part of the 

 diamond tract, excepting only a circuit of about five miles from the 

 cascade of the Bagin river, where it appears that denuding causes have 



swept 



* The laterite is an aggregate of ironstone gravel cemented by an argillo furruginous cement, 

 it therefore somewhat resembles pisiform iron ore ; the great mass must have been formed by dilu- 

 vial agency, but it appears to accumulate by alluvial action also — for the natives assert that the 

 stream is reddened in the rainy season; — as there has not, however, been any sensible increase of it 

 in the memory of man, I conclude that its alluvial accumulation must be very imperceptible. 



