DIAMOND DIGGING IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 246, 17 October 1872, Page 9

DIAMOND DIGGING IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

! New South Wales is beginning once more to establish itself as a diamond - producing country. We have a very lively recollection of what is known as the big diamond swindle, in which Mr. Butters, now of Fiji notoriety, figured so largely, and the cautious hands have no desire to be similarly led astray a second time. But on that occasion the big diamond was only allowed to be felt in a bag or seen in the dark. Things are different now. During the last few days a diamond has been privately exhibited in Sydney, which was found by Mr. Creed, a schoolmaster, on the Eish River, a village about 16 miles from Bathurst. The schoolmaster was prospecting for gold, and in the second pan he washed ont he found this diamond. The property on which it was discovered is a small free selection of 40 acres, and it shows how innocent many of our settlers are ,of mineralogy, that the owner, one Peter Lendster, has been residing on it for 11 years without any suspicion of its value. Of course the district has been rushed, and claims are marked out in all directions. The auriferous and diamond drift appears to be derived from a stratum undei lying some tertiary basalt, and overlying the granite of the district. The wa t.mv»nn rses, which have cut through both rocks, have carried the drift from this stratum down the creek beds, and into the Fish River. The Rev. W. B. Clarke, who has examined the stone, and pronounced it a veritable diamond, says that be has always considered the Fish River to be a diamond district, and that he quite anticipates that a careful examination will be very productive of profitable results. Several scientific men have insp?cted the " little stranger," and pronounced it the finest yet seen in the colony. It is valued at about £800, and tlie owners have refused £650 for it.