34 
DIAMOND MINES OF PUNNAH. 
finishing operation consisting merely of a minute examina- 
tion of the dry gravel, by a person acquainted with the 
external chamcter of the jewel in its rough state. Judging 
from the condition of the people employed, one would hard- 
ly expect that they could be able to detect a diamond; 
but they assured me they did so with the greatest ease; and 
it appears to be the lustre and transparency, even in this 
state, which directs them. The principal man picked out 
several pieces of transparent quartz from the gravel, which 
he said resembled the diamond. He had " found them of 
all colours and sizes ; but the discovering them," he add- 
ed, did " not depend on" his " skill or exertions, it was 
altogether the work of God," — salaaming at the same 
time, and pointing to the heavens. 
From the inquiries which I made, diamond mining ap- 
pears by no means a profitable concern at Punnah. Any 
one may dig, subject to paying the common duty of the 
fourth part of the produce to the Rajah, who is here, as in 
every other part of India, paramount lord of the soil. All 
stones, however, beyond a certain carat are claimed exclu- 
sively by him : but it may be supposed, where the means 
of concealment are so much in the power of the workmen, 
that the prince's treasury very seldom benefits much by this 
source of revenue. In the farm or spot which I examined, 
only two diamonds had been found during the preceding 
year, and these fetched each 200 rupees. The number of 
workmen commonly engaged in the various operations of 
digging, carrying, washing, and searching, is from four to 
five, though I saw only three. Of those, the sirdar, or 
chief, has a salary of five rupees per month, and the others 
four ; and when a diamond is found, some present is made 
them by their master, proportioned to its value. So that, 
after paying the duty and expence of working, it is obvious, 
his gains, in this instance, must have been very small, and 
