Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/85

 DIAMOND DISTRICT DIANA OF POITIERS 77 i monda and Precious Stones " (8vo, London, 1826); and " Diamonds and Precious Stones" by Harry Emanuel (12rao, London, 1867; New York, 1873). DIAMOND DISTRICT (Port. Districto Diaman- tino), a district in Brazil, so called from the I diamond grounds for which it has long been celebrated, situated in the iSerra do Frio, in I the province of Minas Geraes. It extends from E. to W. between lat. 17 and 19 S., and is watered by the Jequitinhonha and several tributary streams of the Rio Sao Francisco. In 1725 Sebastiao Leme do Prado discovered the Manso, a small affluent of the Jequiti- nhonha, and found some white -stones which were sent as specimens to the court of Portu- gal, where, however, they at first attracted ] little attention. After an interval of three or four years, Bernardo da Fonseca Lobo pene- trated into the hitherto unexplored serras, and discovered similar stones, one among which was of extraordinary size; but as no one knew the value of the gems, they were frequently used as counters at play. A cer- tain ouvidor of the province, who had been in India, perceiving that they were diamonds, purchased a large number at a merely nominal I price, and returned to Portugal, about the ! same time when Almeida, first governor of j Minas Geraes, informed the court of the real I nature of the stones. Adventurers hastened to profit by the discovery ; but discord soon sprang up among them, and quarrels ensued which often ended in bloodshed. By letters patent, issued in February, 1730, the diamonds were declared crown property ; but the^liberty to continue the search for gems was pur- chasable at the rate of 20 milreis ($10) for each negro engaged for the purpose. This impost was soon after increased to 40, and finally to 50 milreis. The crown profited little by these contracts ; and in 1771 the govern- ment placed the management of the mining under the surveillance of officers specially ap- pointed for the charge, employing at the same time 5,000 negroes at the works. A decree was issued prohibiting the search for gold within the limits of the diamond region, all the approaches to which were guarded by sol- diers; while stringent laws were passed to provide for the registering of the inhabitants, the admission of settlers, the erection of inns and shops, and the punishment of infringe- ments of the government monopoly. In pur- suance of a law passed in 1873, the diamond mines now belong exclusively to private in- dividuals. A singular uniformity has been ob- served respecting the diamond grounds of this district. The same cubic mass will yield in washing pretty nearly the same number of carats, whether of large or small diamonds. Though very large gems do not abound in Brazil, some of considerable dimensions have at times been found. For the product of these diamond mines, see BRAZIL, vol. iii., p. 221 ; and for the mode of working them, see DIAMOND. DIANA, an ancient Italian divinity, corre- sponding in most of her attributes with the Greek Artemis. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto or Latona, and the twin sis- ter of Apollo, and the island of Delos is gen- erally assigned as her birthplace. She repre- sented as a female divinity the same idea that Apollo did as a male divinity, and like her brother sent plague and death among men and animals; but as Apollo was also the alle- viator as well as the author of suffering, so she too was a preserving goddess, watching over the sick and aiding the unfortunate. As sister of the sun god, she was goddess of the moon ; hence her identification in later times with Selene or Luna, and her Latin names Lucina and Phoebe. Unlike Apollo, she had nothing to do with music or poetry. She was the guardian of young girls and of women in childbirth, but was herself a virgin, and the ministers of her worship were vowed to chas- tity. As the goddess of the moon she wore a long robe and veil, with the crescent moon above her forehead. In Arcadia she was the patron of hunting and of sylvan sports, and as such she was represented with a bow, quiver, and arrows. She loved to dwell in groves and in the vicinity of wells, and to dance with her nymphs in the forest ; and nearly all her sur- names and epithets are derived from moun- tains, rivers, or lakes, indicating that she was the representative of some power of nature. In Tauris she was worshipped with human sacrifices, and in Sparta boys were scourged at her altar till it was sprinkled with their blood, a ceremony said to have been intro- duced by Lycurgus as a substitute for immola- tion. The Ephesian Artemis was the per- sonification of the fructifying powers of na- ture, and was represented in her magnificent temple at Ephesus as a goddess with many breasts. The worship of the Roman Diana is said to have been introduced by the Sabines and Latins. A temple was erected to her on the Aventine by Servius Tullius, and the day of its dedication was celebrated every year by slaves of both sexes, and was called the day of the slaves. From this it is inferred that Diana was an inferior deity in Rome in the early days, and that her worship was not rec- ognized by the ruling patricians ; but whatever was her original character, she afterward be- came identified with the Greek divinity. DIANA OF POITIERS, duchess of Valentinois, mistress of Henry II. of France, born Sept. 3, 1499, died at Anet, in Orl6anais, April 22, 1566. At the age of 13 she became the wife of Louis de Breze, count de Maulevrier, and grand seneschal of Normandy, by whom she had two daughters. She was attached to the court of Queen Claude, and when her father, the seigneur de St. Vallier, had been con- demned to death for favoring the escape of the constable de Bourbon, she so touched the heart of Francis I. by her tears and beauty, that the punishment was commuted. In 1531