Искусства и ремесла Средневековья

Jewelry and Precious Stones

73

Youred Ьу the serpents which are so rife tl1ere." А fш­ ther account proceeds thus: " The diamoпds are so scattered and dispersed in the eaгtl1, and lie so tl1in, that in the most plentiful mines it is гаге to find one in digging; ...they are fгequeвtly enclosed in clods, ...some ... have thc earth so fixed about tl1em that till they grind them on а l'Ough stoнe ,vith sancl, they cannot move it sнfficiently to discover they аге tгansparent or ...to k110,v theш f гот othe1· sto11es. At the first opeпing of tЬс mine, the uпskilful lаЬошсгs sometimes, to try ,vlшt they have fouнd, lay theш on а great.stone, and, striking thcm ог,.е with aпothe1·, to tl1eir costly expeгicncc, cliscover that t.hey have broken а diamond... .Thcy fill а cistern witl1 ,, т аtег, soakiнg therein as mнch of tЬе carth they dig out of the mine as it can hold at one time, bгeaking the clods, picking онt the great stones, and stirгiпg it with shovels . .. then they open а vent, lctting out the foul wateг, апd sнpply it with clean, till tl1e eaгthy sнbstaпce Ье all ,vasЬed away, and опlу tЬе gravelly оне l'eшains at the bottom." А process of siftiпg and dгying is theп de­ scribed, and the gгa\·el is all sp1·ead out to Ье exaшined, " they never exaшine the stuff tl1ey have washed but Ьеtwсен the hoшs of ten ancl tliгec, lest апу cloud, Ьу interposing, intercept the brisk beams of tl1e sun, \Yhich thcy hold vcry nccessaгy to assist theш in thei1· scarch, the diaшonds eonst,antly reflecting them wheп tЬеу shine on them, rendering themselves thereby the цюrе conspicuous.''