1837.] 



through the Northern Circars. 



man told me they were not more than ten feet deep ; this I could not 

 ascertain, on account of the water, with which they were partly filled. 



The headman, who appeared an intelligent, obliging person, gave me 

 the following information, in reply to my interrogatories ; he always 

 presides over the excavations, whether the pits are farmed, or are 

 worked on account of the Nizam. The diamond is never found imbed- 

 ded, or, in any way, attached to any of the pebbles, with which they 

 are invariably associated in this locality. They are always found loose, 

 mixed with the other little stones. On my particularly pointing out 

 the kankar, he said the gem was never attached to that substance. On 

 enquiring, which were the pebbles most constantly associated with, and 

 forming infallible indications of the existence of, the diamond; he 

 picked up from the heaps of detritus, the following pebbles — iron ore, 

 hornstone and the kankar. 



Notwithstanding the prodigious quantity of carbonate of lime in this 

 locality, the water did not appear to contain any traces of it ; and the 

 inhabitants used even that collected in the pits. 



The detritus, forming the diamond stratum, must have proceeded 

 from the hills north, the only ones near this place ; being probably the 

 continuation of the sandstone range, which extends eastwardly from 

 Banganapilly, Condapilly and Mullavelly, in all of which localities the 

 matrix of the diamond is a conglomerate sandstone. 



Ellore, Jan. 28. — Thfs place is more celebrated for handsome 

 women, and ffne, muscular, well proportioned men, than any other in the 

 peninsula. And indeed, among the numerous persons both young and 

 old, who crowded along the road to see the Governor pass, I did not 

 perceive one who could be called ugly, or who was sickly in appear- 

 ance, filthy, or in ragged attire. 



The Native regiment in the garrison (of course recruited from 

 different parts of India) had suffered severely this year (1835) from 

 pernicious intermittent and remittent fevers, the inhabitants having 

 had likewise their share of the mortiferous scourge. Dr. Davison, a 

 very able, well informed, zealous professional man, told me that the 

 proximate cause of this epidemy, was, both in the last and present 

 year, the profuse rains, which, whenever exorbitant, never failed to im- 

 part to the exhalations from the rice fields a deleterious influence, that 

 proves very baneful to the human system. The same happens in the 

 south of Italy, where, if on account of profuse rains, or ill-managed 

 irrigation, the rice fields be overflown, a burning sun succeeding to 

 them, the air in their vicinity becomes pestiferous, and very dangerous, 

 to the cultivators particularly. We were informed, that out of five 

 hundred men of the regiment, one hundred were in hospital • and 

 although the disease had then abated in severity, yet many of the con- 



