340

INDIA

It may be interesting to know that the mines of
Golconda never existed. There is a fort near Haidarabad
called Kala Kanda, and here, in early days, stood a great
central mart or market for diamonds, which were found
afar off. The Kistna and Godavari basins were the real
Golconda in ancient times, and indeed they are so still.
There are three great diamond tracts in India, se. the
Kistna-Godavari tract, the area between the Godavari and
Mahanadi, and Pannah, in Bundelkand. In the first two
tracts diamonds are found in what are geologically
known as the lower Vindhya beds ; in Panna they occur
in a conglomerate, which is analogous to the diamondiferous
 rocks of South Africa. Diamonds are found in
small quantities elsewhere in the Madras provinces, but
the industry is entirely in the hands of natives, who
declare that British ascendency in India is displeasing to
the presiding deity of the mines (their geological goddess
Lakshuri) and account in this way for the decline of the
trade. The mines at Panna seem to be the most systematically
 worked. An interesting account of them occurs
in vol. iii. of the “Geological Manual for India.” Panna
is situated amongst the hills of Bundelkand, not more
than 180 miles to the south-west of Allahabad. The
mines are scattered over a large area of country, and the
diamonds obtained therefrom, though small in size, are of
good quality. The diggings near Panna itself do not
cover more than 20 acres. Irregular pits are excavated
 through the overlying strata, often to a depth of
30 feet, in order to reach the diamond conglomerate.
[n this pit the miners work almost naked and knee-deep
in water. The stuff excavated is hauled up by hand in
small buckets, then placed on stone slabs and examined.
Both the examiners and the miners work under a guard.
Various attempts have been made by Europeans to
compete with the natives in the diamond fields of India,
but never with success unless associated with gold mining.
Native labour as utilised by native chiefs is a cheap commodity,
 and no European could hope to work on the
Gnancial principles which govern native mining. Then