John Mawe

“ The color of the opal is white or pearl grey, and when held between the eye and the light is pale red, or wine yellow, with a milky translucency. By reflected light it exhibits, as its position is varied, elegant, and most beautiful iridescent colors, particularly emerald green, golden yellow, flame and fire red, violet purple, and celestial blue, so beautifully blended, and so fascinating, as to captivate the admirer. ”

“ Here is every inducement for a spirited and experienced agriculturist to settle: a rich and fertile district, in which there remains much to be discovered in every department, where all the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life are produced almost spontaneously; and where the exertions of industry would be rewarded in a tenfold degree by the bounteous hand of nature, and stimulated by the certain hope of arousing a slender population to follow the example. ”

“ In speaking of the Topaz, a gem of a beautiful yellow color is always understood; it is wine yellow of different degrees of intensity; and the fuller and deeper the tinge, the more the stone is esteemed. In hardness it yields to the spinelle.
There are few gems more universal favorites than the yellow Topaz when perfect: the rich warm tone of its color, the vivacity of its lustre, (which it retains even by the side of the diamond) , and its large size compared with many others, are characters which deservedly entitle it to distinction; it bears accordingly a high price when of good quality. ”

“ Their dwelling scarcely merits the name of a house; it is the most wretched hovel that imagination can describe, consisting of a few apartments built up to each other without regularity; the walls wicker-work, filled up with mud; a hole left for a frame serves as a window, or a miserable door answers that purpose. The cracks in the mud are rarely filled up; and in very few instances only have I seen a house repaired. The floors are of clay, moist in itself, and rendered more disagreeable by the filth of its inhabitants, with whom the pigs not unfrequently dispute the right of possession. ”

“ It being Sunday, numbers of people had come from various parts in the neighbourhood to attend divine service, and, after it was over, flocked in crowds to the place where we alighted. It appeared as if the whole population of the village, men, women, and children, were possessed with the same spirit of curiosity, so great was their eagerness to get a sight of us. We dined in a mixed company of ladies and gentlemen, at the house of the worthy vicar, who kept a very hospitable table, and paid us the most flattering attention. ”

“ The emerald is so highly esteemed in Europe, that it merits the best workmanship. It ought to be cut in planes or steps, larger or smaller, according to the intensity of its color, with a low bizel, and large table, and set on black. With this work it appears to the greatest advantage, especially if also surrounded by brilliants, the lustre of which contrasts agreeably with the softened hue of the gem. ”

“ The best parts of the meat may, indeed, be called tolerable, but they are by no means tender. The pork is not eatable. Such is the profusion of flesh-meat, that the vicinity for two miles round, and even the purlieus of the town itself, present filthy spectacles of bones and raw flesh at every step, which feed immense flocks of sea-gulls, and in summer breed myriads of flies, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, who are obliged at table to have a servant or two continually employed in fanning the dishes with feathers, to drive away those troublesome intruders. ”

“ To judge of Diamonds accurately, they should be laid loose in a good light, upon a sheet of white paper, on which their purity and brilliancy are bestseen, their proportions ascertained, and the tinges of color, specks, flaws, foul, &c. most visibly exposed. This is the proper and fair mode of exhibiting them for sale.
Peculiar shaped brilliants, calculated for ear-drops, sell at capricious prices and are always in demand. It may be remarked that a dealer going among the merchants to purchase stones of peculiar forms, and ofacertain weight, will have to pay in many cases ten per cent. ”

“ Far be it from me to countenance any infringement on the laws which have been established for the protection of property, either public or private; to respect the institutions of whatever nation I may live in, I hope I shall always be among the first, and to encourage others to disregard them, the very last; for illicit trade of every description is a deceitful and dangerous pursuit, the sweets of which are ever attended with a counteracting portion of evils. ”

“ The principal object of the artist, when a rough diamond is put into his hands, is to examine carefully in what direction the stone ought to be cut, and where to form the girdle or spread of the brilliant. So much stress is laid by modern fashion on the superficial extent of a brilliant, that the old rules for proportioning its dimensions are now nearly obsolete: the diamond-cutters have almost discarded the use of measures, and, in forming the facets, trust wholly to the eye. ”

“ When our leisure permitted, we took excursions to view the town and its vicinity, sometimes on horseback and sometimes on foot, generally going and returning in a different direction. It is situated on the side of a large mountain, connected with others forming an immense chain, of which it is one of the highest. Most of the streets range, in steps, as it were, from the base to the summit, and are crossed by others which lead up the acclivity. It is most admirably supplied with water, which is conducted into almost every house in a most convenient and pleasant manner. ”

“ The high lustreand exquisite polish which it is capable of receiving, enables it to sustain a competition with the yellow diamond; and so great is its brilliancy by candle-light, that while the transcendant splendor of the diamond destroys the effect of other stones, this is able to support its presence with unimpaired beauty. ”

“ Thus it is, that from the indifference of the owners to their own interest, things are suffered to go on in the same routine, being left to the direction of men who shrink from a temporary increase of labor, even when it promises them a lasting advantage. This aversion to improvement I have often observed among the inhabitants of Brazil: when, for instance, I have questioned a brick-maker, a sugar-maker, a soap-boiler, or even a miner, as to his reasons for conducting his concerns in such an imperfect manner, I have been almost invariably referred to a negro for answers to my interrogatories. ”

“ Is a beautiful translucent substance, of a bluish white color, When cut spheroidal, it reflects a strong light, which appears on the surface of the stone, agreeably contrasting with the pale celestial hue of the gem. ”

“ A superlatively fine blue Diamond weighing 44 carats, and valued at £30,000, formerly the property of Mr. Eliason, an eminent Diamond merchant, is now said to be in the possession of our most gracious sovereign. This unrivalled gem is of a deep sapphire blue, and from its rarity and color, might have been estimated at a higher sum. It has found its most worthy destination in passing into the possession of a monarch, whose refined taste has ever been conspicuous in the highest degree. ”

“ Would it have been possible for Portugal to colonize Brazil if there had been no gold mines to attract adventurers? To deny men the treasures with which nature has enriched the country, is to oppose one great check to its population; for the example of one adventurer becoming rich, is the means of inducing hundreds to follow him. ”

“ No substance in the Mineral Kingdom displays in miniature such beautiful variety of regular solids as the Diamond, which are as captivating to the connoisseur, as the finest brilliant can be to the wearer. ”

“ A Spaniard in his own country rarely allows even a shadow of justice to a Portuguese; he uses a thousand artifices for procrastinating the decision of a cause at issue between them, till the latter, when his patience is completely exhausted, finds that he is likely to derive nothing from the contest but immense piles of law-papers, frequently written on the most trivial points in litigation, and paid for at an exorbitant price. ”

“ The removal of flaws is a matter of great importance, for, owing to the form in which the diamond is cut, and its high degree of refrangibility, the smallest fault is infinitely multiplied, especially if near the collet [2] , and becomes obtrusively visible in every facet.— For this reason also, it is by no means an easy matter, at all times, to ascertain whether a flaw is, or is not superficial; but a person of experience will often purchase to great advantage stones appearing to be full of flaws, which in fact exist only on the surface. ”

“ We were not without music to our repast, for the house is built on the edge of a roaring torrent, which, bursting through a ravine, has washed away every thing except some huge masses of rock. A bit of ground, about ten yards square, is all the garden these poor people have, and even this is much neglected, for the guards here are so often changed, that no one thinks of adding to the comforts and conveniences of an abode, which others are to enjoy. ”

“ In preparing stones of this class for the purposes of jewellery, for instance, the sapphire or ruby, the first object to be considered is the intensity of color, which must alone regulate the proportion of the gem, and the sort of work that must be put upon it; taking it as a general rule that the beauty of all precious stones depends on the skill of the workman, for, as an inferior stone is much improved by the best workmanship, so is a fine and perfect gem deteriorated and rendered of little value, if finished by an inferior lapidary. ”