preceded the capture? Such were the questions asked and answered, with all the exaggeration and rancor of party and national excitement; and a war between Great Britain and the United States of America appeared for a time inevitable. Happily for both nations, this was averted. There existed among both people sufficient men of good sense and good feeling to overpower the folly and wickedness of those who would force, into all the horrors of war and bloodshed, two nations of kindred blood, speaking the same language and professing the same faith; and, after anxious months of excitement, the popular feeling gradually subsided, and peace was maintained.

McLeod, a British subject, who had been active in the seizure and destruction of the Caroline, imprudently ventured into the United States territory before the excitement had abated. He was recognised, arrested, and imprisoned, on a charge of murder and robbery, The trial excited great interest, but ended in his acquittal, greatly to the credit of his judges, who would not suffer their national feelings to overpower their sense of law and right.

6

THE DIAMOND.

It is somewhat difficult to give a perfectly satisfactory reason why mankind should attach so high a value to the diamond. We may mention its brilliancy when polished, its hardness, and its rarity; but the possession of these properties to any conceivable extent, seems hardly sufficient to account for the enormous sums which have been given for a stone, of which the largest known specimen in existence weighs only eleven ounces. For instance, the Pitt diamond was purchased by the Regent Duke of Orleans for £135,000; the Pigott diamond was valued at £40,000; that of the Queen of Portugal, weighing eleven ounces, has been valued at £425,000; and the gem in the sceptre of the Russian empire, about the size of a pigeon's egg, was bought for nearly £150,000.

It is true, that the value of gold and silver (and indeed of every thing else) is equally dependent on their comparative rarity; but those metals, being in constant use as universal and most convenient media of exchange, and standards of comparative value for all other articles, the

estimation in which they are held seems less capricious and artificial.

And after all, what is a diamond? Nothing but a piece of crystallized carbon. And if-as seems not at all impossible-some fortunate chemist should succeed in thus imitating the process of nature, by subjecting charcoal or carbon to some process which shall cause crystallization, we may have diamonds worth but little more than bits of very fine glass. Till then, however, this gem will probably retain its place in the estimation of the royal, the noble, and the wealthy-will still flash around the diademed brows of sovereigns, and descend, from generation to generation, with the other ancestral honors of the peeragethe deer-stocked park, the princely mansion, with its surrounding woods, and the rent-roll of a province.

Diamonds have been principally found in India and the Brazils. The mine of Golconda in India, so proverbially celebrated, is now nearly exhausted, and it is by the Brazils that the principal supply of this precious stone is at present furnished. The most celebrated diamondmines in this last-named country are those of Serrado Frio, which district is also known as the Arrayal Diamantino, or Diamond District. It is surrounded by rocks almost inaccessible, and was formerly so strictly guarded,

that even the governor of the province was not allowed to enter without the special permission of the director of the mines.

The diamonds are found imbedded along with flints, in a ferruginous earth, called cascalhao, which is dug, and taken to be searched for the precious stones, by filtering through a running stream. The earth is dug during the dry season, when the beds of rivers and torrents are dry, and the diamond-sand can more easily be obtained. When the rainy season commences, the negroes are employed in washing the cascalhao. This is generally performed (as shown in the cut) under sheds, for the protection of the workmen from the weather. Along the sheds are placed raised seats for the overseers, each of whom watches eight negroes, as they search for diamonds among the sand and flint of the cascalhao, as it is washed by the stream that runs through the shed. Each negro works in a separate box, and is entirely naked, except during extreme cold, when he is allowed a waistcoat, without either lining or pocket, lest he should secrete a diamond when found. He is furnished with a kind of handspike, to separate the sand and flint, and when he discovers a diamond, he stands upright, and claps his hands as a signal to the overseer, and then looks anxiously on while it is weighed and ex

amined. For if the poor fellow has been fortunate enough to find a diamond weighing seventeen carats, he is freed from slavery, amid much ceremony and rejoicing. He is crowned with a wreath of flowers, and carried in procession to the administrator, who pays his owner for him, and sets him at liberty. The discovery of a stone of less weight is also rewarded by gifts and premiums, according to the value of the gem, down even to a pinch of tobacco.

The diamond, when thus discovered, is deposited by the overseer in a large wooden bowl of water, hung in the middle of the shed; and at the end of the day the whole are collected, weighed, and registered, before delivering them to the proprietor.

Notwithstanding every imaginable precaution to prevent thefts, the negroes find means to purloin and secrete diamonds, and afterwards sell them at a low price to the smugglers; and these, in their turn, are often deceived by the negroes, who, by some simple process, can give crystals, of but little value, the appearance of rough diamonds, so as completely to imitate them.

It is supposed that about 20,000 negroes are now employed in the diamond-mines of Brazil. But, after all, the diamond is a product of far less value to this country