I have determined to give you a short history of the various kinds of mines, and shall commence this month with the most valuable of all known substances, diamonds. Perhaps I ought not to say valuable, for in one sense they are not so. People never eat them, nor are they, in any case, necessary for the health or happiness of mankind. Diamonds are very rarely found, and herein consists their great value. They are very brilliant stones; and as ornaments, wherewith to deck and adorn a person's dress, they are certainly unsurpassed.

It is somewhat remarkable that diamonds are found only in the torrid zone, and all mines are generally about the same distance from the equator. There are very brilliant stones in England and various other countries, but no real diamonds. The diamond mines of Golconda have been long held in the highest esteem. The principal mine is at Raolconda, five days' journey from the city of Golconda; this was discovered in the seventeenth century. The country is woody and rocky, approaching the range of hills 'running across the province. In the crevices of the rocks is sometimes found a sort of vein of sand, not more than one inch wide, and frequently not above half that width; so that the miners are obliged to employ hooked irons, with which they rake out the earth and sand; and it is among this loose stuff that the diamonds are found. it with great care, securing all the stones it contains.

They wash

When the

vein ceases, they split the rocks still further by fire, and thus recover the vein, or find another. These veins frequently extend a quarter of a mile.

The value and beauty of the diamond are greatest when it is so perfectly clear that the stone itself is scarcely discerned, but only the brilliant ray of light which its polished surface reflects. It is then called a diamond of the first water; so called from the fact that it resembles a drop of pure spring water.

The value of these gems being very great, and the secreting of them easy, the miners are obliged to work quite naked. There are persons on the watch, also, to prevent any diamonds being concealed. The famous diamond of the Great Mogul was found in the neighborhood of Gani or Coulour, about seven days' journey from Golconda. This mine was discovered one hundred and fifty years ago, by a peasant, who was digging, and met with a diamond of twenty-five carats' weight. That of the Great Mogul weighed,

before it was cut, nearly eight hundred carats. It is not common to find them above the weight of from ten to forty.

There are fre-
When they

quently sixty thousand persons employed at this mine. find a spot which appears likely to afford diamonds, they begin, in some place near at hand, to form a cistern, or pool with clay; into this is brought the earth which the men have dug out of the appointed spot. Here, with water, they loosen the earth, and permit the lighter mud to run off. The stony substances which remain after the earthy particles are washed away, are sifted, and then examined in a bright noon-day light, which is reflected by the diamonds, and exposes them at once. Those who are accustomed to the business can sometimes detect the diamonds by the nice feeling of their fingers.

The river Succudan, in the island of Borneo, is said to abound in diamonds; but strangers are not permitted to go thither. Now and then, however, by great cunning and caution, some very excellent stones have been obtained by the Dutch, and sold at Batavia. Diamonds were first found in Brazil in 1728. The negroes, who were condemned to search for gold, often found, among the sand and gravel, little bright stones, which, after examination, proved to be diamonds of very great value. The place is called

Cerro-do-frio, and is north of Villa Rica. At the river Yigit-on hou-ha, however, is the most important of the Brazilian mines. The course of the river is impeded by a bank made by the miners, with thousands of bags of sand. The pools thus formed are pumped dry; the mud of the river is washed away, and the earth, in which they expect to find diamonds, is taken out and carried away for washing and searching. They erect a kind of shed of upright posts supporting a thatched roof to shelter the negroes while at work. Through the middle of this shed a current of water is made to flow, for washing the earth which is about to be searched. On the sides of the stream are wooden troughs, each about a yard wide; and in every trough is a negro slave with a rake prepared for the purpose. The earth is then put in, about a bushel at a time, and a small stream of water let on. It is raked over and over, until the light earth is wholly washed away, and a sort of gravel only remains. Overseers, seated in chairs with whips, are appointed to watch the process, and to see that the negroes do not conceal the diamonds. If a negro finds a diamond that weighs seventeen and a half carats, he is immediately set at liberty for life. He also receives a present of new clothes, and may work on his own account if he pleases.

It is remarkable that diamonds are of the same substance as charcoal. To many persons it must appear incredible, that the darkest and brightest substances in nature are so nearly allied. Such, however, is the fact.

to me,

Anecdote of an Egyptian Governor.

A MERCHANT, who had been ruined by taxation, one day observed "Listen to the following story. You will recognize in it the image of the justice of Mohammed Ali, on whom be the curse of God! There lived at Menouf a rich manufacturer of silk. One night a robber broke into his house. Having no light with him, this malefactor ran his eye against a nail, which stuck out from the wall, and blinded himself. Discomfited by this accident, he got out of the house as well as he could, whilst the manufacturer still slept. Next day the robber went to complain to the governor of Cairo,

whose name was Haraos; he told him that the manufacturer of silk had put him to sleep in a room, in the wall of which were nails, and that, being without a candle, he had knocked out his eye. The

governor ordered the manufacturer to be brought before him, and said, 'When a man sticks nails in the walls of his house, he must take care and give a light to those who come and ask hospitality of him. You have not done so, and justice requires that my cawass thrust out your eye, as one of your nails has thrust out the eye of this That's all.'

man.

"But I do not know this man; I have never seen him.'

"Silence!' exclaimed the governor. Guards, seize this manufacturer, and thrust a nail into his eye.'

"A moment! a moment!' cried the inhabitant of Menouf. 'My neighbor is a man who passes his life in shooting birds upon the river Nile; one eye is enough for him; shall I bring him before you?'

"The hunter was accordingly brought to Cairo, where his eye was thrust out. The responsibility by Mohammed Ali is nothing what I can't pay, my neighbor must. In this way we are both ruined at the same time."

else

son.

Old Ponto.

MORE than two hundred years ago, there lived in a delightful part of England a gentleman named Morton, with his wife and their only Mr. Morton was wealthy, and knew how to employ his wealth to the advantage of those around him, as well as for himself; and many a poor family looked to him and his wife as their benefactors and protectors. He lived in a large and handsome house, surrounded by pleasure grounds laid out in the elaborate style of those days, with trees and shrubs, clipped into the forms of dragons, peacocks, elephants, and a variety of similar forms.

Little Henry Morton, who, as I have said, was the only child of this worthy couple, was tended during his infancy and earliest childhood with all the assiduity which commonly awaits the children of the rich. Everything which was thought conducive to his pleasure and comfort was procured, and his fond parents tried to anticipate every wish. Thus the boy was in imminent danger of being spoiled by too much indulgence, as a great many little boys are, who might otherwise have been good and useful members of society. But an event occurred, when Henry was in his fifth year, which was the means of preserving him from the effects of this injudicious treat

ment.

At the period of which I write, there was a great excitement throughout England on account of a band of men, of whom I hope you have all heard, called the Puritans. These glorious sufferers for Christ's sake were people who had become disgusted with the narrow bigotry of the religion almost universal in England, and in which every person was commanded by law to believe. Such a law, as you will easily perceive, was unjust and tyrannical; and the Puritans, being few and weak, resolved to fly from the persecution which