Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-17
JEWELS OF THE ORIENT.
Three Bushels of Diamonds Founa
 Inside a Barbarian Idol.

Inside a Barbarian Idol. From Leisure Hours.
 The history of gems in the East is the his
 tory of the governing princes, for often has the course of history in the Orient been l affected by intrigues about precious stones that they assume State importance. The traditional diamond in the East is the Great Mogul. The original weight of this stone was 767 carats, but by cutting it was re- duced to 297 carats. The stone disappeared at the last Tartar invasion, when treasures to the value of S350, ,000, 900 were captured by Nalir Shah. It is believed to be at present hidden away in some obscure fortress in Asia Minor, and it may be recovered at some flu ture time.
 Some idea of the abundance of precious stones in the East may be gained from the fact that when Mahmoud, in the eleventh century, captured Sumnat, idol statue was broken open and found to contain three bushels of diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Ala-ud-deen obtained from the Raiah of Mahrattas fifty pounds of diamonds and ru- bies and 175 pounds of pearls. Shah Jehan, the greatest of the mogul soveregns. left a treasure of incalculable wealth at his death, 8 throne valued at $50, ,000, 900 and crown worth S12, 2,000,000. The throne was the eel ebrated peacock throne, called from the images of two peacocks which stood before it, each made of precious stones so matched in color and position as to resemble the nat ural colors of the bird.
 The throne was six feet long and four feet wide, of solid gold and crusted with dia- monds, rubies and emeralds. Steps of silver led up to it, while canopy of gold fringed with pearls, supported by twelve pillars blazoned with gems, surmounted the whole On each side sacred umbrella made of velvet, embroidered with pearls, the handle being of gold inlaid with diamonds. It was the most costly work Of art ever made. Its only rival was the cerulean throne of the house of Bahmenee, in the Nizan1. This was built in the seventeenth century, was nine feet long by three feet wide, made of ebony, covered with plates of gold crust ed with gems, and was valued at S20, GOO, 900.
 A late traveller gives an account of the magnifcence of the Persian crown jewels. In the jewel room he found treasures valued at 535, ,0O0,0 ,000, among them the crown, mass of diamonds surmounted by ruby as big as Q hens egg. The kings belt is won der of barbaric magniheence, weighing about twenty pounds and composed of solid mass of diamonds, rubies and emeralds. As Per sia is the native land of the turquoise, it is but natural that the finest stone of this de scription is to be found in it's collection. This royal specimen Is four inches long. per feet in color and without flaw. When the shah was in Europe, some years ago, he wore a variety of diamonds and other precious stones that kept the detectives in constant fever of fear lest he should be robbed of some of 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 button was diamond larger than the Kohinoor, while every part of his clothing seemed to be useful, not as covering for his body, but as places to hang diamonds on