genuine
diamond of which there is any record." We are not in a position to
express a definite opinion upon the genuineness of the stone. There are
travellers who are as emphatic in their belief as to its reality, as
others are in denouncing it. The question is who among them have seen
the original stone, and who only a model of it; for it is alleged that
the Sultan only exhibits the latter under very special circumstances.
It was found apparently in the year 1787 in the Landak mines near the
west coast of Borneo. The town of Landak, the centre of this rich
mining district, which is said to abound in gold, diamonds, and iron,
lies to the north-east of Pontianak, a little north of the equator, and
in 1090 53' E. long. The district is comprised within the
territory of the Rajah of Matan, which stretches along the west coast,
between Pontianak and Sarawak, and which has long been subject to the
Dutch. The diamond takes its name from the Rajah of the territory, in
whose family it has remained ever since its discovery.
Very
little being known regarding these Borneo diamantiferous regions, the
subjoined particulars may be found interesting. Those of Landak are
amongst the oldest and most productive in the world, and have been
worked,though not very systematically, ever since the establishment of
Malay settlements on the coast. Here diamonds are found not only in the
river beds when dry, but also in their original sites at the foot of
the mountains. The diggings are usually carried to a depth of from ten
to thirty feet, and constant experience has shown that the deeper they
are dug the gems are both more plentiful, and of larger size and
