Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-01-02
GEMS OF THE ORIENT.
hro.a Bushels or Diamonds
Found in an Idol.
q Throne All Grown Toyethcf Worth
Fovsy-T Two Million Dollars

Augustus uamlin, in his ssLeisura
Hours Among the Gems" says: The
history OF gems in the East is the his
tory Of the governing princes, for 80
often has the course Of history in tho
Orient been affected by intrigues about
precious stones that they assume q
state importance. The traditional
diamond in the East is the Great Mo
gul. The original weight of this stone
was 7S7 carats. but. by cutting. it was
reduced to 279 carats. The stone dis
appeared ut the last Tartar invasion
when treasures to the value of $3.50.
100000 were captured by Nadir Shah.
1t is believed to be at present hidden
away in some obscure fortress in Asia
Minor, and it may be recovered at
some future time. Some idea of the
abundance of precious stones in the
East may be gained from the fact that
when Mahmoud, in the eleventh cen.
tury captured Sumnat, an idol statue
was broken open and found to contain
three bushels of diamonds, rubies and
emeralds. Ala-ud-deen obtained from
the Kaja of Mahrattas fifty pounds Of
diamonds and rubies and Us pounds
of pearls. Shah Jehan, the greatest
of the Mogul sovereigns, left treas
ure Of incalculabIe value at his death,
throne valued at $30,0O0,OOO and
crown worth $12.000,0O0. The throne
was the celebrated peacock throne, so
called from the images of two pea
cocks which stood before it, each made
of precious stones so matched in color
and in 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 diamonds
rubies and emeralds. Steps Of silver
led up to it, while canopy of gold
fringed with pearls, supported by
twelve pillars, emblazoned with gems
surmounted the whole. On each side
was sacred umbrella made of velvet
embroidered with pearls, the handle
being Of gold inlaid with diamonds. 1t
was the most costly work Of art ever
made. Its only rival was the cerulean
throne of the house Of Bahmenee in
the 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
crusted with gems, and was valued at
$2O,000O00. A late traveller in the
East, Mr.. EastwicIx, has recently given
graphic account Of the magnilicenc
of the Persian crown jewels. In the
jewel room he found treasures valued
at $35. 100000, among them the crown
mass of diamonds snrmounted by
ruby as big as hens egg. The Kings
belt is wonder of barbaric magnfE
cence, weighing about twenty pounds
and composed Of a solid mass OF dis-
monds, rubies and emeralds. AS Per
STA is the native land of the turquoise
it is but natural that the finest stone
of this description il to be found ID
its collection. This royal specimen
four inches long. perfect in color and
without flaw When the Shah Wa
in Europe, some years ago, he wore
variety. OF diamonds and other precious
stones that kept the detectives IN .
constant fever Of fear lest he shoun
be robbed of some of them, for one
even Of the smallest, would have been
fortune for q half dozen Thieves
The buttons of his coat were five y
number, and each button was dls
mond larger than the Kohinoor, VINE
every part Of his clothing seemed "
be useful, not as a covering for nh
body, but as places to hang diamOno
on.