Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-08-15

9ailg Tirgiuiau.
Russian Crown Diamonds Romantic.

Among the crown diamonds In the Treasury Of
the Cxnrs at Moscow, are two OF remarkable val
ne. One is the size Of pigeons egg, aud " call
cd the "Orlpf." The other Ia Ia tho form uf an
irregular prism. This Is named the "Shah, and
it is Of the BREADTH and almost sthe length Of the
little finger. 1t formerly belonged to the Sophs.
and was one Of two enormous diampnds which or
namentcd the throne of Nadir Shah. and which
were called the "Sun Of the Sea-" aud tho Moon
of the Mountain" Here is tho story
Whom Nalir was assassinatei his treasures were
pilaged. nnd his precious stones divided among n
few soldiers, who carefully concealed them. An
Armenian named ShaIras resided ut that period
at Bussora with his two br"tbers. Ono day an
Afghan cnmc to him, and offered for sale the
large diamond Tho Moon of tho Mountain" IN
well as an emerald, n ruby Of fabulous size. u sap
phire Of the finest water, called by the Pcrsinna
the r. yo of Allah" and number OF other stones,
f,r the whole Of which he asked such moderate
sum Tint Shafrns suspected thcy had not been
honestly come hy, aud told him to call ngnn. ns
he had not the money in tho house. The Afghan,
fearing ShafIas wn' going to net with trearhcry
towards him, left tue plncc, and could not again
lie found, although tho threc brothers made every
search for him.
Some yca,s afterwards tho elder brother mot
the man at Bnglai, who told him that he had
Just sold oil his precious stones for G5, 900 pi'
asres aud pair Of valuable horses. Shairas hnd
the rcSidencc If tho purchaser, who wns Jew,
pointed out to hin,antl he went to him and offered
him double tie price he had given for them, but
was refused The three brothers then agreed To
murder the J"w and rob him Of his purchase,
which they did and ON tho following dny poison
cd the Afghan, and threw b'th the bodies into
the river. A dispute arose between tho bro
Tiers a. to the division of the spoi, which termin.
atrA in Shalias getting rid of his two brthcrs 10y
poison nftcr which he fed to Constnntlnopc. and
thence 10 lInhnd, where he mndc known the
riches he possessed, and offered them ftr snle to
the different Courts of Europe, Catherine | pro.
posed t. luy the Moon of the Mountains only
Shniins was requested to come to RUSSIA, aud he
was introluce To the Court jcwellcr. The terms
demanded by Shafras werc--letters OF nobility, II
life annuity of 10000 rouhles. aud 100000 rou-
hlc~, payable by equal instaments in ten years
Count Bnnin, who was then Minister, delayed the
settlement Of the bargain MS long as possible, and
in tie meantime had the Armenian led INTO snoh
extravagnncrs that lie foil into debt. and when the
Minister fouid that lie had no means Of paying
what he owed he abruptly broke "f tho nesotn-
ton. ShalIas, according to the laws of country.
could not leave until his debtor should he paid,
and the Court ieweler prepared to tnkc advantage
Of his embarrnssmrnts, and intended that the dla-
mond should fall into his hands for II fourth OF it's
value. Shniraa. however, discovered the trip
that had been laid 60, him. and disposins of some
of the less valuable stones among his oountrymen
paid his debts and disappeared. Agents were
sent after him. who had orders to associate and
rob him, but he escaped them.
Tea yenrs after. while he WAS Mt Astrachnn. re-
ncvcd offers were made to him. but he refused TO
ontcr into any negotiations unless the bargain
should be settled at Smyrna. Catherine accepted
aud became the preseason of tho diamond for let
ter, If nobility COO GOO roullea. aud 10000 pm
Per ranblcs, making together about two and half
millions Of Iarcs. Shatrus, not being able to re-
turn to his country, where he would have had to
give nm account nftwo humicides and and two fra
treilcs, liked himself Mt Astracbna, where he mar
rjcd IA countrywomnn of his. aud hai seven dnugh-
trrs One of his s,n-iu-lnw- poisoned him for
t',n sake ot possessing his share Of his property.
The immense fr!uuc which the murderer had
aured (from ten to twelve millions) divided.
and soon spent by his successor, and several of
the grand children of Shairas now living Mt
isfrnrLon in nIirrt misniy