animals reascend the trees, they each carry a stone in their hands, and generally another in their mouths; and, in such case, these are thrown at their adversary with a correctness of aim that is truly astonishing.

The inhabitants of several countries derive a means of subsistence from the flesh of these animals. We are assured by Condamine, that in Cayenne the monkeys are the kind of game that is more frequently pursued than any other; and that the Indians of the country bordering on the river of the Amazons are peculiarly fond of their flesh. Their fat is esteemed a sovereign remedy for stiffness in the joints. In the Portuguese settlements in South America, powdered monkey's bones are consi

dered an excellent sudorifick, and likewise as anti-venereal. In the gallbladder of one or two of the Indian species, but particularly of the dorick and wanderu, a kind of gall-stone is sometimes found. These, says Tavernier, the natives have been known to sell for as much as a hundred crowns each. They will not, in ge neral, permit them to be exported out of their country as articles of commerce, but chiefly preserve them as an invaluable present to foreign ambassadours residing amongst them. They are considered to possess all the properties that have been attributed to the most precious of the bezoar stones.

Christ Church.

W. BINGLEY.

THOSE persons who are totally unacquainted with the operation of chymistry, will not readily believe that the most precious stone in the world, is nothing but modified charcoal; and that, far from being indestructible, it may be entirely consumed by fire. Such, however, is the fact; for the knowledge of which we are particularly indebted to the decisive experiment of Mr. Tennant; though other chymists have not been deficient in their operation on the same subject. It was found, from some experiments which preceded those of Mr. Tennant, that the diamond, though it was capable of resist ing the effects of violent heat in a close vessel, might be consumed when exposed to the joint action of heat and air. These experiments, however, if we except those by Lavoisier, only proved the inflammability of the diamond. Mr. Tennant and, we ought to add, Mr. Guyton, went further, and not only proved its combustible nature, but likewise ascertained its component parts. According, therefore, to the present arrangement of

minerals, this substance is placed among the combustible bodies: nevertheless, we have taken the liberty to leave it at the head of the precious stones, as a more natural, though less scientifick, situation than the other.

Diamonds, when brought to Europe in their rough state, are said to be either in the shape of roundish pebbles with shining surfaces, or in octaëdral crystals; but they are not entirely confined to this form, as they vary in several respects, and sometimes occur with twenty-four, and even forty-eight sides.

These precious stones are principally found in the East Indies, in the kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour in the peninsula on this side the Ganges, nearly eighteen degrees from the line. They are likewise in the kingdoms of Pegu and of Siam, in Brasil, and in South America. One circumstance is worthy of remark respecting the situation of diamond mines. It is, that those of America are at the same distance in the southern hemisphere that the Asiatick

The

mines are in the northern. diamonds of India are, in general, larger, and of a finer water, than those of Brasil, but by no means so abundant. As a proof of this, Patrin tells us, that when the mines of Brasil were first discovered, the Portuguese were so successful in their researches, that in 1730, the Rio Janeiro fleet brought away eleven hundred and forty-six ounces. This prodigious quantity, brought immediately into the market, so reduced the price of diamonds, that, to prevent their becoming too common, the court of Portugal afterwards confined the employment of diamond hunting to a certain number of per

sons.

The account which Tavernier has given us of the diamond mines of Asia is very circumstantial, and deserves our particular attention, as being written by a person who travelled so many years for the sole purpose of collecting diamonds. The first mine he visited was at Raolconda, in the kingdom of Visapour; and the account he gives of this place is nearly as follows:

"Round about the place where the diamonds are found, the ground is sandy and full of rocks, which contain veins from half a finger to a finger wide. These veins are full of earth, or sand, which the miners pick out with instruments on purpose, and carefully deposit in a tub, as it is amongst this earth that the diamonds are found. They are sometimes obliged to break the rock in order to trace the veins for the sake of the earth; and as soon as this is accomplished, and all the sand removed, it is carefully washed two or three times and the diamonds, if there be any, picked out. There are several diamond cutters at this mine, but none of them have above one mill, which is of steel. They never cut more than one stone at a time upon each mill, and use oil and diamond powder to facilitate the operation, at the same time loading the stone with a heavy weight."

According to this account of Tavernier's, the Indian lapidaries are very expert in cutting the diamonds, and will frequently undertake to divide a stone, which, from its unfavourable appearance, the Europeans will not venture upon.

Speaking of the government of the mines, Tavernier says, they trade very freely and honestly, the king receiving two per cent. on all that are bought, besides a certain duty from the merchants for leave to dig. When these traders have fixed upon a spot, they begin their search, and employ a number of miners, in proportion to the hurry they may be in.

Sometimes a hundred men are em. ployed at once; and when this is the case, the merchant pays four pagodas to the king for every day they work, and two when the number is not so great.

When Tavernier visited these mines, the poor people never got above three pagodas* for the labour of a year, though they understand their business extremely well. These trifling wages, and the distress they suffer in consequence, make them hide a stone whenever they can find an opportunity. This, it must be confessed, is but seldom, as, besides being strictly guarded, they work almost naked; and therefore, not having any outward protection for their stolen goods, they are sometimes induced to swallow them. When any of these people chance to meet with a large stone, they carry it to the master of the work, who rewards them accordingly.

Every day, after dinner, the master of the miners brings the diamonds to the lodgings of the merchants, in order to show them; and if the stones are large, or sufficiently numerous to amount to more than the sum of two thousand crowns, he will leave them for some days, that the merchants may have time to consider their value, and agree about the This, it seems, they are

price.

About 17. 58. 6d.

the miners have fixed upon the place where they intend to dig, they level another, somewhat larger, in the same neighbourhood, and enclose it with a wall about two feet high, only leaving apertures from space to space, to give passage to the water. The place being thus prepared, the people that are to work meet all together, men, women, and children, with the workmaster, his friends and relations But before any thing is done, a superstitious ceremony is performed to render their labours propitious. The only passive personage in this ceremony is a little household god which the master brings with him, and before which the people prostrate themselves three times, while the brahman says a certain prayer.

This being ended, he marks the forehead of every one with a kind of glue, made of saffron and gum, and is careful that the spot is large enough to hold seven or eight grains of rice, which he sticks upon it. Their bodies are then washed with the water which every one brings in his pot; after which they arrange themselves in order to partake of the repast which the workmaster has prepared for them. This is merely a plate of rice to each person, with the addition of a quarter of a pound of butter melted in a small copper pot with some sugar.

After the feast is finished, every person proceeds to his business; the men digging the earth in the place first discovered, and the women and children carrying it off into the other, or walled, enclosure. When they find water they cease to dig; and the water thus found washes the earth two or three times; after which it is let out at an aperture reserved for that purpose. When the earth has been washed again, and well dried, they sift it in a kind of open sieve; which operation is repeated before they begin to look for diamonds.

Another mine which Tavernier speaks of as famous for its diamonds, is the bed of the river Goual, near

Soumelpour, a large town built entirely of earth, and covered with branches of cocoa trees. The river Goual runs within a mile of the town, in its way from the mountains towards the Ganges. All our fine diamond points or sparks, called natural sparks, are brought from this river, where they are collected as soon as the great rains are over, which is about the end of December.

As soon in January as the water is grown clear, eight or ten thousand persons, of all ages and both sexes, come out of Soumelpour and the neighbouring villages. The most experienced among them search and examine the sand of the river, going up from Soumelpour to- the very mountain whence it springs. Those who are used to this business know by the sand whether any diamonds are likely to be found or not; and judge it a favourable sign when they find a number of those stones which we call thunder stones at the bottom of the river. When they have reason to believe that the produce will pay them for their labour, they proceed to take up the sand, first making a dam round the place with stones, earth, and fascines, and then lading out the water. After this is done, they dig about two feet deep; and the sand thus procured is carried into a place walled round on the bank of the river, where it is washed and sifted in the same manner as at Coulour.

Magellan tells us, that the greatest diamond ever known in the world is one belonging to the king of Portugal, which was found in Brasil, and is still uncut. This gentleman was informed, from good authority, that it was once of a larger size, but that a piece was cleaved or broken by the ignorant countryman who chanced to find the gem, and tried its hardness by a stroke of a large hammer upon an anvil. This prodigious diamond weighs 1,680 carats; and although

* A carat weighs four grains.

it is uncut, Romé de l'Isle says, it is valued at 224 millions sterling.

This appears to be an incredible sum, and probably the valuation is erroneous: but even supposing that to be the case, and that we employ the usual methods laid down for computing the worth of these jewels, the sum will be immense; as, in this way, it will amount to at least 5,644,800 pounds sterling!

The diamond which is next in value adorns the sceptre of the emperour of Russia, and is placed under the eagle at the top of it. This stone weighs 779 carats, and is worth, at least, 4,854,720 pounds sterling, although it hardly cost 135,417 guineas. A singular history is attached to this diamond. It was formerly one of the eyes of a Malabarian idol, named Scheringham. A French grenadier, who had deserted from the Indian service, contrived to become one of the priests of that idol, and, watching his opportunity, stole its eye, and ran away to the English at Trinchinapeuly, from whence he carried it to Madras. A ship captain bought it for twenty thousand rupees; afterwards a Jew gave seventeen or eighteen thousand pounds for it; at last, a Greek merchant, named Gregory Suffras, offered it to sale at Amsterdam, in the year 1766, where it was bought by prince Orloff for his sovereign, the empress of Russia. The figure and size of this diamond is preserved in the British Museum. The diamond of the Great Mogul weighs 279 carats, and is said to be worth 380,000 guineas. This diamond has a small flaw underneath near the bottom. Before this stone was cut, Tavernier tells us it weigh ed 900 carats; consequently its loss in cutting must be considerable.

Another diamond, in the possession of the king of Portugal, which weighs 215 carats, is extremely fine, and worth at least 369,800/.

The famous diamond which belonged to the late king of France,

VOL. II.

called the Pitt, or Regent, weighs nearly 137 carats, and has been valued at 208,333 guineas, although it did not cost above half that sum. This beautiful gem was found in the diamond mines at the foot of the Gaut mountains, about twenty miles from Golconda. Another diamond belonging to the same monarch, called the Sancy, was reckoned a very fine stone, though it weighs only 55 carats. It cost 25,000 guineas, but is said to be worth a much larger sum. We must not omit to mention the diamond of the emperour of Germany, which weighs 139 carats, and is valued at 109,520 guineas. It is of a light citron colour.

It is well known that the diamond is the hardest of all precious stones, and only to be cut by the assistance of its own powder. We are informed, that to bring it to the degree of perfection which so much augments its price, they begin by rubbing several against each other while rough, after having previously glued them to the ends of two wooden blocks, thick enough to be held in the hand. The powder which is rubbed off the stones in this operation is caught in a little box provided for that purpose, and afterwards used to grind and polish the stones. From the extreme hardness of these stones it has been alleged, that rubbing them against each other is the only way to reduce them to an impalpable powder; but this is not strictly the case, as the jewellers are in the habit of pounding small pieces in steel mortars fitted with a pestle exactly the size of the interiour, so that none of the diamond can escape. A few blows with the hammer upon the head of the pestle completely powder the stone.

Diamonds are more or less valuable according to what is called their wa