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DIAMANTINA (formerly called Tejuco)

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 157 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DIAMANTINA (formerly called Tejuco) , a See also:mining See also:town of the See also:state of See also:Minas Geraes, Brasil, in the N.E. See also:part of the state, 3710 ft. above See also:sea-level. Pop. (189o) 17,980. Diamantina is built partly on a steep hillside overlooking a small tributary of the Rio Jequitinhonha (where See also:diamond-washing was once carried on), and partly on the level See also:plain above. The town is roughly but substantially built, with broad streets and large squares. It is the seat of a bishopric, with an episcopal See also:seminary, and has many churches. Its public buildings are inconspicuous; they include a See also:theatre, military See also:barracks, hospitals, a lunatic See also:asylum and a secondary school. There are several small manufactures, including See also:cotton-See also:weaving, and diamond-cutting is carried on. The surrounding region, lying on the eastern slopes of one of the lateral ranges of the Serra do Espinhaco, is rough and barren, but See also:rich in minerals, principally See also:gold and diamonds. Diamantina is the commercial centre of an extensive region, and has See also:long been noted for its See also:wealth. The date of the See also:discovery of diamonds, upon which its wealth and importance chiefly depend, isuncertain, but the See also:official announcement was made in 1729, and in the following See also:year the mines were declared See also:crown See also:property, with a crown See also:reservation, known as the " forbidden See also:district," 42 leagues in circumference and 8 to 16 leagues in See also:diameter. Gold-mining was forbidden within its limits and diamond-washing was placed under severe restrictions.

There are no trustworthy returns of the value of the output, but in 1849 the See also:

total was estimated up to that date at 300,000,000 francs (see DIAMOND). The See also:present name of the town was assumed (instead of Tejuco) in 1838, when it was made a cidade.

End of Article: DIAMANTINA (formerly called Tejuco)

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