Note 107 — Chapter XVI · GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF BRAZIL.

518I deeply regret that I could not visit the mining districts of Brazil. Especially would I have liked to examine for myself the Cascalho, in which the diamonds are found. From collections which I owe to the kindness of Dr. Vieira de Mattos in Rio de Janeiro, and Senhor Antonio de Lacerda in Bahia, I am prepared to find that the whole diamond-bearing formation is glacial drift. I do not mean the rocks in which the diamonds occur in their primary position, but the secondary agglomerations of loose materials from which they are washed.