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lesis deserts searching for mines, and exposing themselves to every danger ? Would 

 it have been possible for Portugal to colonize Brazil if there had been no gold mines 

 to attract adventurers ? To deny men the treasures with which nature has enriched 

 the country, is to oppose one great check to its population ; for the example of one 

 adventurer becoming rich, would be the means of inducing hundreds to follow 

 him. Under the present system, there is so great a struggle between the tempta- 

 tion of becoming suddenly rich, and the fear of being ruined by detection, that 

 when a man finds a diamond by accident, he knows not whether to appropriate it, 

 or to surrender it to the Government ; even in the latter case, he has little prospect 

 of reward,* and runs the risk of being accused as a smuggler. Instances have been 

 known of men who have thrown away the diamonds they have accidentally found *, 

 rather than involve -themselves in ruin, either by keeping them, or delivering them 

 to Government. 



It has before been shewn, that Government are the greatest gainers by the 

 diamonds which are sold clandestinely ; and if individuals were allowed to trade 

 in them, the state Would undoubtedly be benefited by it. For it is certain, that a 

 Brazilian farmer or miner would prefer necessaries, such as iron utensils, cloth- 

 ing, &c. which add to his comforts and conveniences of life, to articles of ideal 

 value, which in reality have come into his hands probably without difficulty or 

 expence. Thus the peasantry would draw valuable produce from other countries 

 in exchange for what cost them comparatively nothing, and, by enriching them- 

 selves, would augment the revenues of the state. 



If the diamonds were made liable to pay a fifth, either in kind or in value, it 

 is probable that there would be less smuggling ; and that practice might be still 

 more restrained, by something like the following regulation : every person finding 

 diamonds should be obliged to register them ; also, to take out a certificate autho- 

 rising him to -dispose of them in whatever manner he thinks proper. It would 

 certainly add to their importance, to make them subject to a small duty f, on be- 

 ing lawfully transferred from the buyer to the seller, by which means they would 

 come into immediate circulation and represent real property : thus, after yielding 

 a profit to each person through whose hands they passed, they would finally be 

 exported ; and, as long as diamonds continued an article of distinction, ornament. 



* Formerly, if any diamonds were found in a gold-washing, the owner was obliged to desist from 

 working it, and the ground was appropriated by government. This law is now no longer in force. 



•j- It is reasonable to suppose, that few persons would hazard the penalty incurred by dealing is 

 diamonds clandestinely, when, by paying a duty, they could bring them fairly into circulation. • ' 



