cause
it was bought by the Duke of Orleans while Regent of France during the
minority of Louis XV; the latter, because it was bought in India and
owned for some years by Gov. Pitt, grandfather of William Pitt, first
Earl of Chatham. It is said also that in India it was called "
Milliona." The supposition is that the stone was found in the diggings
of Parteal or Gani-Parteal on the north bank of the Kistnah about
forty-five leagues south of Golconda, in 1701. Some say that it was
found in a street of Malacca. There is a story that it was stolen from
the mines by one of the diggers, who managed to escape with it. No good
evidence exists of the truth of either of these statements. The stone
first comes to our knowledge through the statements regarding it, made
by Gov. Pitt, and though insinuations were circulated about his
veracity, and suspicions aroused at that time as to the methods by
which he obtained it, no proof was given that he had acted
dishonorably, and he held unchallenged possession for a number of
years before it was sold for his account finally to the Duke of Orleans.
At
that time diamonds were used largely in India as a means of remittance
to England, and Pitt, who was governor of Fort George, sent many to
England. It appears also from the researches of Colonel Henry Yule, C.
B., who was an Oriental scholar and president of the Hak-luyt Society
(" Some Famous Diamonds" by Alexander Japp, LL.D., F. R. S. E.), that
Gov. Pitt also had a commission from one Sir Stephen Evance of London
to find large fine gems, for Pitt wrote him from Madras, October 18,
1701, that there were two or three large diamonds " up in the Countrey
" but that " they ask soe
