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Ch. 3: Famous Diamonds

Ch. 3: Famous Diamonds Page of 296 Ch. 3: Famous Diamonds Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
CELEBRATED DIAMONDS.
103
of the famous idol of Serringham in the temple of Brahma; the other eye was a diamond of the same order.
At the commencement of the eighteenth century the idea seized a French soldier of one of the French garrisons in India to steal the eyes of this cele­brated idol. He pretended to be inspired with a wonderful zeal for the Hindu religion, and gained to that degree the confidence of the priests that
they confided to him the care of the temple. He chose his time, and one stormy night carried off one of the diamonds; the other could not be forced from the socket. He fled to Madras, where he sold the stolen treasure to a captain of the English navy for $9300. Conveyed to England it was bought for $55,800 by a Jewish merchant, who sometime after sold it to Catherine II. for $418,500, and a pension for life of I 18,600.
It was this famous stone that suggested Wilkie Collins' novel " The Moonstone."
Ch. 3: Famous Diamonds Page of 296 Ch. 3: Famous Diamonds
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