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  STORIES ABOUT
  FAMOUS PRECIOUS STONES

  BY
  MRS. GODDARD ORPEN

  _ILLUSTRATED_

  BOSTON
  D LOTHROP COMPANY
  WASHINGTON STREET OPPOSITE BROMFIELD



  COPYRIGHT, 1890,
  BY
  D. LOTHROP COMPANY.




CONTENTS.


  I.
  THE REGENT                                                   9

  II.
  THE ORLOFF                                                  37

  III.
  LA PELEGRINA                                                59

  IV.
  THE KOH-I-NUR                                               79

  V.
  THE FRENCH BLUE                                            111

  VI.
  THE BRAGANZA                                               131

  VII.
  THE BLACK PRINCE'S RUBY                                    149

  VIII.
  THE SANCI                                                  177

  IX.
  THE GREAT MOGUL                                            198

  X.
  THE AUSTRIAN YELLOW                                        218

  XI.
  A FAMOUS NECKLACE                                          238

  XII.
  THE TARA BROOCH AND THE SHRINE OF ST. PATRICK'S BELL       262




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                   Page.
  The Regent                         14
  The Orloff                         40
  The Koh-i-Nur                      83
  Koh-i-Nur, as recut                95
  Tavernier's Blue Diamond          118
  The "Hope Blue" Diamond           119
  "Brunswick" Blue Diamond          123
  "Hope Blue" Diamond, as mounted   126
  The Crown of England              171
  The Sanci                         183
  The Great Mogul                   209
  The Austrian Yellow               220
  Diamond in the rough              229
  Diamond after cutting             232
  "The Necklace of History"         243
  The Tara Brooch                   265
  St. Patrick's Bell                279





STORIES ABOUT

FAMOUS PRECIOUS STONES




I.

THE REGENT.


Of all the gems which have served to adorn a crown or deck a beauty the
Regent has perhaps had the most remarkable career. Bought, sold, stolen
and lost, it has passed through many hands, always however leaving some
mark of its passage, so that the historian can follow its devious course
with some certainty. From its extraordinary size it has been impossible
to confound it with any other diamond in the world; hence the absence of
those conflicting statements with regard to it which puzzle one at every
turn in the cases of certain other historical jewels.

The first authentic appearance of this diamond in history was in
December, 1701. In that month it was offered for sale by a diamond
merchant named Jamchund to the Governor of Fort St. George near Madras,
Mr. Thomas Pitt, the grandfather of the great Earl of Chatham.

Although, as we shall see later on, the diamond came fairly into the
hands of Mr. Pitt, it had already a taint of blood upon it. I allude to
the nebulous and gloomy story that has drifted down to us along with
this sparkling gem. How far the story is true it is now impossible to
ascertain. The Regent itself alone could throw any light upon the
subject, and that, notwithstanding its myriad rays, it refuses to do.

Tradition says the stone was found by a slave at Partreal, a hundred and
fifty miles south of Golconda. The native princes who worked these
diamond mines were very particular to see that all the large gems should
be reserved to deck their own swarthy persons; hence there were most
stringent regulations for the detection of theft. No person who was not
above suspicion--and who indeed was ever above the suspicion of an
absolute Asiatic prince?--might leave the mines without being thoroughly
examined, inside and out, by means of purgatives, emetics and the like.
Notwithstanding all these precautions however, the Regent was concealed
in a wound made in the calf of the leg of a slave. The inspectors, I
suppose, did not probe the wound deeply enough, for the slave got away
safely with his prize and reached Madras. Alas! poor wretch, it was an
evil day for him when he found the great rough diamond. On seeking out a
purchaser he met with an English skipper who offered him a considerable
sum for it; but on going to the ship, perhaps to get his money, he was
slain and thrown overboard. The skipper then sold the stone to Jamchund
for one thousand pounds ($5000), took to drink and speedily succumbing
to the combined effects of an evil conscience and delirium tremens
hanged himself. Thus twice baptized in blood the great diamond was
fairly launched upon its life of adventure.

And now we come to the authentic part of its history.

Mr. Pitt has left a solemn document under his own hand and seal
recounting his mercantile encounter with the Eastern Jamchund. It would
appear from this notable writing that Mr. Pitt himself had been accused
of stealing the diamond, for he begins with lamentations over the "most
unparalleled villainy of William Fraser Thomas Frederick and Smapa, a
black merchant," who it would seem had sent a paper to Governor Addison
(Mr. Pitt's successor in Madras) intimating that Mr. Pitt had come
unfairly by his treasure. The writer then calls down God to witness to
his truthfulness and invokes His curse upon himself and his children
should he here tell a lie.

After this solemn preamble, Mr. Pitt goes on minutely to describe his
transaction with the diamond merchant; how in the end of 1701 Jamchund,
in company with one Vincaty Chittee, called upon him in order to effect
the sale of a very large diamond. Mr. Pitt, who seems to have been
himself a very considerable trader in precious stones, was appalled at
the sum, two hundred thousand pagodas ($400,000), asked for this
diamond. He accordingly offered thirty thousand pagodas; but Jamchund
went away unable to sacrifice his pebble for such a sum. They haggled
over the matter for two months, meeting several times in the interval.
The Indian merchant made use of the classical expressions of his trade,
as, for example, that it was only to Mr. Pitt that he would sell it for
so insignificant a sum as a hundred thousand pagodas. But all this was
of no avail and they consequently parted again without having effected a
bargain.

[Illustration: THE REGENT: TOP AND SIDE VIEWS.]

Finally Jamchund having resolved to go back into his own country once
more presented himself, always attended by the faithful Vincaty
Chittee, before the Governor, and offered his stone now for fifty
thousand pagodas. Pitt then offered forty-five thousand, thinking that
"if good it must prove a pennyworth." Then Jamchund fell a thousand and
Pitt rose a thousand. Now the bargain seemed pretty near conclusion; but
it often happens that hucksters who have risen or fallen by pounds come
to grief at the last moment over the pence that still separate them, so
these two seemed unable to move further towards a settlement. Mr. Pitt
went into his closet to