180 Statistical Report on the Northern and [No. 38 



accept a small douceur for his trouble, in showing me over the 

 ground which he did with a civility not always met with in such 

 functionaries. As in other parts of India, the Natives are strong 

 in the belief that diamonds grow, and it is perhaps this faith which 

 prevents the search from being entirely abandoned. 



Garnets. — Coarse Garnets are very common in the Kummem- 

 mett Sircar, particularly about the Kusbah of Kummum. They 

 are pounded and manufactured by means of lac, into wheels, for 

 sharpening knives, and swords, a purpose for which their hardness 

 well fits them. Precious Grarnets are picked up, particularly after 

 the rains, in the nullahs which have their source in the Q-areeb- 

 pett hills in the Khanaghiri Pergunnah of the Kummemmett Sir- 

 car, and, close to the Palooncha territory, the remains of a shaft 

 sunk twenty-five years ago by Mr. Ralph by the advice of Dr. 

 Vaysey are still to be seen. I understand that it was sunk to 

 little advantage. The Grarnets found are neither very large nor 

 very valuable, but such as they are, they are cut into beads and 

 ring-stones, and usually sent for sale into the Company's country. 

 The common people of the country where they are produced seem- 

 ing to care little for them as ornaments, previous to being cut 

 they are tested by being gently struck with an iron mallet, if they 

 remain whole they are considered good, and fit for the use of the 

 Lapidary, a string of a hundred beads varying in size from a large 

 to a small pea cut into octohedrous, may be had for two or three 

 rupees. A tax of one pice for every seer of Grarnets collected, 

 evinces the little value attached to them in their rough state. 



A tradition exists that during the reign of Aurungzebe, there 

 were extensive mining operations for procuring the gem, and that 

 one of the GTareebpett hills was undermined, that the roof fell and 

 destroyed many hundred miners, and that since that time Grarnets 

 have only been sought for in the nullahs, I could observe no ap- 

 pearance to support this tradition, the Grarnet hill being indeed 

 less shattered than many other granitic hills. 



Sapphires or Ki/anite, are found along with the Grarnets, but they 

 are never cut. 



Amethyst. — This stone is found in the Quartz veins of the gra- 

 nite and is by no means rare, in every part of the Hydrabad Sou- 

 bah, like Grarnets it is cut into beads and ring-stones, it bears 

 about the same value as the Garnet. 



