BRAZIL

23

Bicalho  station  produced  from  1888  to  1912,
over  $26,000,000  worth  of  gold  and  as  late  as
1911,  paid  a  dividend  of  10  per  cent.  An
English  authority  has  estimated  the  total  output ­
  of  gold  to  date  from  all  mines  at  $1,000,-000,000.

Brazil  is  reputed  to  be  the  second  largest
diamond-producing  country  in  the  world,  the
Brazilian  stone  being  considered  fifty  per  cent,
better  than  others  owing  to  the  constant  attrition ­
  it  has  undergone  in  prehistoric  days.  At
one  time  more  than  40,000  men  were  employed
in  this  industry  in  Minas  Geraes  alone.  The
best  diamond  fields  extend  from  10  degrees  to
23  degrees  south  latitude  and  many  enormous
and  high-grade  stones  have  been  discovered,
the  total  amount  exported  in  173  years  or  up
to  1903,  being  estimated  at  four  tons.  Edwin
Streeter  in  his  book  on  precious  stones,  says
that  “The  State  of  Minas  Geraes  produced  in
the  first  twenty  years  144,000  carats.  Up  to
i 83°,—3,844,000  carats  worth  $43,000,000
were  sold  and  some  $10,000,000  stolen  from
the  mines  by  employes.”  As  an  evidence  of