CELEBRATED DIAMONDS 67
according
to the letter of January 2, 1776, quoted by Boyle. Orloff may, however,
have consummated both purchases. There appears to be no positive
evidence as to which of the two large stones purchased by Russia in
1775 and 1791 was the Orloff, or to which of them the story of the
French soldier rightfully belongs. The early history of these stones is
so beclouded by the inventions of thievery and knavery that very
little said about them is reliable.
Since
then, writers have confused the early histories of these two large
stones of the Russian crown jewels, confounding the weights, prices,
and stories connected with them, beyond disentanglement. The other
stone is said to weigh 120 carats and to be also now among the Russian
crown jewels. It was known as the " Moon of the Mountain," and was
taken with other loot from Delhi by Nadir Shah. At his murder, this
diamond with other jewels was stolen by an Afghan soldier, and sold by
him to an Armenian merchant, Shaffras. It is said to have been one of
two large stones which ornamented Nadir's throne. One circumstantial
account says that the Afghan took it with other jewels to Bas-sorah, a
large town on the Shatt-al-Arab, 70 miles from its mouth in the Persian
Gulf, where he offered them for sale to Shaffras, who resided there
with two brothers. Shaffras put him off until he could raise the money
with which to buy them. This frightened the Afghan, who fled to Bagdad
and sold them there for sixty-five thousand piasters (£500), and began
a debauch. Shaffras came to Bagdad, and finding the jewels sold, tried
unsuccessfully to buy the big diamond of the Jew who had it. He and
his brother thereupon murdered the Jew and
