mond
known. The stone is wonderfully brilliant and rich in color, and as
faultless as any large stone of that kind has ever been."
The " Pasha of Egypt," a fine octagonal brilliant of 40 carats, was bought by Ibraham, Viceroy of Egypt, for £28,000.
The
" Cumberland " was bought by the City of London for £10,000 and
presented to the Duke of Cumberland after the battle of Culloden. The
House of Hanover claimed it, and about thirty-five years ago Queen
Victoria restored it to them. Its weight is 32 carats.
The
name " Victoria " has been given to two stones found in the Cape. One,
taken from the De Beers, March 28, 1880, weighing 428-1/2 carats in the
rough, and variously reported as weighing 228-1/2 and 288-1/2 carats
when cut to a brilliant. It is said to have been sold to an East Indian
prince. This stone was yellowish and a quite regular octahedron. The
other came to Europe in 1884, from what mine is not known. It was
colorless and in form an irregular octahedron weighing 457-1/2 carats,
which was reduced to 180 carats by cutting to an oval brilliant. It
was exhibited in the French jewelry section on the Champs du Mars at
the Paris Exposition of 1889, and sold finally to the Nizam of
Hyderabad for £400,000. It has since been known as the " Nizam," though
an older stone in the Hyderabad treasury has long borne the name.
Many
large stones have been found in the Cape mines which for various
reasons have not come to public notice. In the early days of diamond
mining, few records were kept. Knowledge of large stones found, was
often of
