Gems and Precious Stones [pp. 393-401]

THE L4AD/ES' REPOSITOR Y.
England fio.om South Afirican minies, has
been set as the central stone in a coronet
for the Countess of Dudley. Its present
weight is forty-six and a half car-ats; and
it is of the purest water and brilliancy.
A miagnificent diamond, weighing one
hundred and fifty-four carats, is said to
have been found in the wall of one of the
native huts in South Afiica, where a poor
Irish adventurer had received hospitality
for the night, and that being surprised at
the light shining amid the darkness, he
had, upon examination, found it to proceed
from a clump of the earth of which the
wxall was buLilt. Of course the clump was
soon detached by the friendly visitor,
and the rare gemi, with other smaller
ones, found within.
On the I5th of April, I873, a heavy
rain having been falling for upwards of a
week, a Mr. Fellowvs started out to fish
in a small stream flowving in the Limpapo
River-, South Africa, and at alboutt daylighlt, while digging for bait, hle turned
over a large piece of clay, and there,
sticking fast to it, was a wonderful and
mighlty diamiond. He immediately hid
the precious stone, and worked on until
his strength was exhausted, but found no
more. He had no means to weigh the
diaimond, but experts among the miners
to whom he dared exhibit it, said it would
weighl from one hundred to one hundred
and twventy-five car-ats. It measured
nearly one and a half inches from point
to point. He was offered $5o,ooo for it
by a speculator, butit preferred to send it
to this country. It is now insured for
$75,000ooo.
Among famous historical diamonds, the
Koh-i-noor ranks first, as it is, without
doublt, the finest diamond in the world,
and one of the most ancient. Its history
is one long romance; but it is well authlenticated at every step, as history seems
never to have lost sight of this stone of
fate from the days when Ala-ud-deen
took it from the rajahs of Nalwvahl, more
than five centuries and a half ago, to the
day when it became a croWln-jewel of
England. Baber says it came into the
Delhi treasury from the conquest of Nal
wah by Ala-ld-deen, in I304. It was
seen by Tavernier among the jewvels of
Au-rungzebe, but had been reduced by the
unskillfulness of Hortensio Borgis from
seven hundred and niinety-thr-ee carats
to one hundred and eighty-six car-ats,the weight it possessed at the exhibition
of I85 I. Nadir Shah obtained possession
of this celebrated diamond by an artftil
trick. He gave lback the prostrate empire of India to his Tartar " kinsman,"
and exchanged tLurbans with him according to Oriental custom, in token of amiity;
l)ut unfortunately for his vassal, the
mouintain of light was in his cap, and so
was gained bly his suzerain. At last it
came into the hands of Runjeet Singhl;
and, in i849, after the capture of Lahore,
in the conquest and annexation of the
Punjatubl, becamie part of the spoil of the
Anglo-Indian army, and being then estimiated at $I,250,00ooo, there was great joy
over such a prize. Without consulting the
army, Lord Gough and Charles Napier,
chliefs in command, autdaciously presented
the great diamond to Queen Victoria in
the name of the combatants. It was
not the generals' right to robl) the army
by bestowving the greatest of its spoils
of war utipon the Queen, nor oughlt she
to have accepted it without seeing that
the soldiers had been paid for it. If we
mistake not, the Indilan army have not
received a shlilling for their capture of
the Kohl-i-noor. It is now exhibited with
the Regalia, set as a bracelet, lbut the
Queen retained the gem for a long while
as her own personal property, instead of
placing it among the crown jewels. In
I862, at a cost of ~8,ooo it was recut as
a brilliant, and reduced from one lhuLndred and eighlty-six to one hundred and
six and one-sixteenth carats. It was recut in abouLt thirty-eighlt days, as a small
steam-engine had been erected for the
purpose; but the Pitt diamond, by the
old hand process, occupied twvo years.
The Biralmin sages have an hereditary
superstition touching the malign powers
of this stone, and the Russian war and
the Sepoy mutiny will not dispossess them
of it. The " Braganza" diamond in the
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[Nov.,