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88 THE DIAMOND
Imagination
has confused the early history of the " Eugenie," as it has that of
many notable stones. It is said to have been found by a peasant, in the
Wajra Karur district, who offered it to a blacksmith for repairing a
plow. The smith threw it away, but afterwards picked it up again and
sold it to Mr. Arathon, a merchant in Madras, for 6,000 rupees. The
merchant sold it for a large sum to Napoleon III. That a peasant and a
blacksmith in a diamond-mining district, where thousands of poor spend
their lives hunting for diamonds among the detrital matter of ancient
rivers, did not suspect the value of the stone, is possible but not
probable. The finder may have had no right, however, to his find, in
which case both he and the smith may have feared to sell it until the
convenient merchant who would ask no questions came along. Another
account says that it was owned by Catherine II of Russia, who gave it
to her favorite Potemkin, in whose family it remained until Napoleon
bought it as a wedding gift for his bride Eugenie. After her
dethronement she sold it to the Gaikwar of Baroda. It is a fine stone,
cut as a brilliant, weighing 51 carats.
The
" White Saxon Brilliant" is described as one of the finest diamonds
known. It is square cut, and measures 1-1/16 inches in diameter.
August the Strong paid one million thalers for it.
"
The Polar Star " is a fine stone of 40 carats, brilliant cut, and
variously reported to be among the Crown jewels of Russia and to belong
to the Princess Yous-soupoff.
There is a large diamond belonging to the house of Austria which has an authentic history back to Maria
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