Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-07-24
GEMS OF THE ORIENT.


Little uit- ~ stone. Each OF Which Is
worth u Fortune.
The history Of gems in the East is
the history Of the governing princes,
for 80 often has the course of history
IN the Orient been affected by intrigucs
about precious stones that they assume
a state Importance. The traditional
diamond 81 the East is the Great
Mogul. The original weight of this
stone was ~ carat>, but, by cutting, it
was reduced 10 219 carats. The stone
disappeared nj the last Tartar invasion,
when treasures tn the value of $3.50
10000 were captured by Nadir Shah.
II u believed la be- at present hidden
away In some obscure fortress i'm Asia
Minor. and it may he recovered ut some
future time. Some idea of the abund-
ancc ~ precious stones in the East may
be- gained from the fact that when
Mahmoud. in the eleventh century,
captured Sumnat. an idol statue was
broken open and found to contain
three bushels Of diamonds, rubics and
emeralds. Ala-ud-dc obtained from
the Rajah ~ Mahrattas fifty pounds of
diamonds and rubies and lc5 pounds of
pearls. Shah Jehan. the greatest of the
Mogtl soyercigns. left n treasure of in
calculablc value ut his death. n throne
valued nj go. on. 900 and crown worth
sl2.Un.Wn. The throne was the cele-
brated peacock throne. so called from
the images ftwo peacocks which stood
before II. each made of precious stones
80 matched In color and in position as
Ia resemble the natural colors of the
bird The throne was six feet long and
four feet wide. of solid gold and crust
ed with diamonds. rubics and emeralds.
Steps II silver led up to il. while n
canopy ~ gold. fringed with pearls,
supported by twelve pillars emblazoned
with grm~. surmountcd the whole. On
each side was n sacred umbrella made
II velvet. embroidered with pearls, the
handle being Of gold inlaid with dia-
monds. u was the most costly work of
art ever made. Its only rival was the
cerulcan throne of the house of Bah
mencc In tie Nissan. This was built in
the seventeenth century. was nine feet
long by three feet wide. was made of
ebony covered with plates of gold
crustcd with gems. and was valued at
sNi. $4,000 4 late traveller in the east,
Mr.. Eastw,ck, has recently given a
graphic account Of the magnificence of
the Persian crown jewels. In the jewel
room he found treasures valued at &35, =
wD,Un. among them the crown. a mass
81 diamonds surmounted by a ruby as
big ~ n hens egg. The kings belt is
wonder Of barbaric magnificence.
weighing about twenty pounds and
composed If solid mass Of diamonds,
r,ibes and cmcralds. As Persia is the
native land II the turquoise. it is but
natural that the finest stone of this de-
scription Is To be found in its collection.
This royal specimen IL four inches
long. perfect In color, and without a
naw. When the Shah was in Europe,
some years ago. he wore variety of
diamonds and other precious stones
that kept the detectives in a constant
fever II fear lest he should be robbed
II some III them, for one. even Of the
smallest would have been fortune for
half dozen thieves. The buttons of
his coat were five In number, and each
hutton was n diamond larger than the
kohinoor. while every part of his cloth
ing seemed to be useful. not as cover
ing for his body. but ~ places to hang
diamonds on. Leisure Hour.