The morning call., 1891-06-14
SOMETHING ABOUT
FINE DIAMONDS.
GlG BragalZa Of Brazil, Valued Uncut at
f300,000,O0O.
What a Diamond Is-How They Are Obtained.
Their Qualities The Grimes and Suffer
ing They Have Caused.

/ IL
"adamant." is the hardest and most highly
yalued Of all known substances. 1t is sim
pIy carbon crystallized and in its greatest
purity. 1t becomes electric by friction, and
when cut and polished is lustrous beyond
description.
Diamonds are found In alluvial soils, in
the sands of rivers, and in quartz, sand
stone or cODglomeTate, where they are some
times associated with gold. Brazil produces
yearly from $4,000 to $4,000 caTats of da-
m0ndS, although not more than one-third
Of these are capable OF being cut. The
waste and dust of diamonds is called bort
Diamonds are ground into curious shapes.
The brilliant form is the best TO bring out
the beauty of the stone The greater the
number of facets the greater the value OF
the gem. There are also rose and table
diamonds Dalbeek, a Dutchman, was the
first to invent the art Of saving diamonds
when the depth was too great for their sur
faces. On account Of numerous recent dis
Coveres diamonds are not now held TO be Of
the same value that they were iG primitive
ages.
Diamonds are of divers colors. We have
the yellow, black, blue and even red dia-
mOndS, although q iTSt-class white diamond
IS The rarest and most precious of them all
Tie Star diamond, from South Africa,
Dieulafait describes as a lovely stone, which
attracted attention bY revealing under the
microscope q prospect of pointed mountain
cTests lit up by vivid sunlight in all the
ColOrS Of the rainbow.
Tavernier, who saw the Mogul diamond,
states that it weighed in the rough (bruD
about 100 CaratS.
Barbot represents it as being of pure
water, Of a soft rosy tint and estimated as
worth $40. GOO.
Brock tells Us that this wonderful stone
presented the form Of an egg cut in half,
and was about rs big as a common hen egg.
The BragauZa of Brazil has been Vaued
at 6 0,000,00O, and it is said 10 be the size of
q gU0se's egg and 10 weigh 1880 carats, or at
the rate Of $50 caTats to the ounce, over II
ounces. Emanuel makes this mammoth
stone weigh as much as 1880 car2ts, which
would bring its weight to over pound troy.
The Regent probably comes neXt-Second
10 the Great MOgul-f0T the BTaganZa has
no parallel, though it has never been cut
The Regent was bought by the Duke Of
Orleans. 1t Is valued at 100000 francs.
II weighed but 137 caTatS when cut, having
been unfortunately reduced from 40 caTatS
ID the rough By bad workmanship.
Murray asserts that fragment was
broken off through the ignorance Of the per-
son who found it, he having struck 1t blow
with a hammer This, if true. would go to
show that the BraganZa is quite brittle
stone. ard liable to waste. JeffTIes' eStlma-
ton places its actual cut value at between
&1,oC0,000 and 100000
We have the Russian OTlOtf the Austrian
Yellow, the French Blue, the Dresden
Green, the Star of the South, the Mountain
of SplendOT, the Eye of God, the Moon of
Mountains, the Star Of Africa, the Star of
SaTaWak, the Sea of Glory, the Pasha of
Egypt, the Napoleon, the Rajah, the Shah,
the Turkey the Brazilian, tn sRhodes, and
Likewise the Pear OF Persia aud the Bantam,
but all of them are not great.
There are diamonds Of a violet olive, fire
color, sapphire and ruby red. The South
western Ghauts is the locality where this
unique specimen is found 1t is fame of
crimson, drOD OF bl09d
Mr.. Noors8nger cut the great K0h-i-NUr.
and has been paid as high as 5000 for his
work on a single stone.
The French Regent was found by a slave,
who. in order TO secure the treasure, cut
hole ID the calf Of his leg and inserted it in
the wound, afterWaTd selling it 10 a skipper
for mere song.
Tie Crown Of the Moon occasiOued a
fieudjsh crime. Sir John. Malcolm has writ
ten It's biography:
"Risa ku.i Khan, Governor Of Kazprum,
came TO pay the EiChi visit. This old no.
blenan had silk band overhis eye-sockets,
having had his eyes put out during the
fierce struggle between the Zend and hajaT
families for the throne and royal treasures
of Persia. he thus related his terrible tor
lures i had been too active a paitisan.'
says he 10 expect much mercy when fell
inte the clutches Of the rascaliy tribe OF
end l looked for death, and was rather
surprised at the lenity which condemned
ne but TO the loss OF my eyes. A stout
fellow Of the feTesh came in as eXecutiOneT
Of the sentence He had in bis hand a large
blunt knife which he meant to make his in
sirument of torture. l offered him twenty
tnmaiBS If re would use penknfe that l
showed him. He refused in the most brutal
manner. Seeing continued Ria, that |
had no tenderness to look for from him |
pretended submission to my fate and laid
myself uron my back. He seemed quite
pleased, tucked Up his sleeves, 5Tandlshed
his knife and very cOmDOsedly put one knee
on my chest and was proceeding TO do his
butchering work when, observing him off
his guard, | raised one of my feet and plant
ing it in the pit Of his stomach, sent him
heels over head. ! at once sprang up; so
did my enemy. We had a short tussle, but
he was the stronger, and having Knocked
me down, finally succeeded In cutting out
my eyes
The story Of the Star Of South Africa is
thus related BY MT. Murray: Albania was
portion Of the GTi1ua territory, settled by
Dutch cOlonists. One of the c0lonists was
Mr. Van NiekiTk Mr.. ORielly called
upon Mr. Van NiekirR and remained with
him over night. In the course of the even
ing che Of Y an NiekiTk'S children, a little
girl. was playing on the floor with some Of
tie pretty pebbles which are common IN
TIE l'l-IDOI OF the ddi TtlFeIs MI
O'kl6lly attention was directed to one OF the
stones which threw out a very strong light,
and which, in Mr.. ORleuy'S eyes, seemed
unusually bright. He accordingly took il up
from the floor and at once offered to buy 1t Of
the owner. The simple-minded BOeT said he
would take no money for a stone, but ii
MI 0'ReIly had mind to he could have it.
The latter, however, said that he believed
IL TO be precious stone Of value. and
would not consent 10 take 1t for nothing.
f..HE
mated value, namely ej00 and it was sub
seqnently sCld for eli, 200 The Star OF
the South, sold for 9S000, was picked out by
negress when at work in the mines OF
Min2s-GeTaes. The Austrian Yellow was
picked up bv a peasant who, taking il for
piece OF glass, sold it for form. The
Abbas Mira was used by beggar OF KhOr-
assam as flint for his STEEL and weighed
$50 caratS 1t cost $4,000 to cut it,
The French Blue was reduced by cleavage
into one large and two small fragments. 1t
originally weighed 1i2 caTats and was worth
100000 francs. The famous Regent was
once stolen from the Tuileries. the rob-
bers having obtained access TO the great
halls Of the Garde Meuble had torn off the
seals without forcing the LOCKS and carried
away the enormous treasures contain ed in
the cabinets. An anonymous letter was adj
dressed to the Commune stating that some
of the stolen jewels would be found in a
ditch in the Alice des NeuYes, Champs
Elysees Here. sure enough, was unearthed,
among other valuables, the Regent diamond,
which, probably because of its vast worth,
had been obliged to be abandoned by the
thieves themselves
The Regent diamond, or Pitt diamond
which weighs ia its cut state 1864 carats, Is
unriyaled in its limpidness and It's form, its
diameter and its depth being nearly equal.
IL was found in GOlconda, ana was brought
from India by an English gentleman named
Pitt the grandfather of the first Earl Of
H. rta 20 In Ntlr1 q
Orleans for G13O, 900. 1t decorated the hilt
Of the sword Of state of the First Ma
pole0n, was taken by the Prusslans at
Waterloo, and now belongs to the King of