THE DARYA-I-NUR. 137
peacock
throne with its priceless jewels, the treasures of the general
populace, even the ordinary stores of the labourer went in the
indiscriminate loot. The " Koh-i-Nur " (as previously shown), and the "
Darya-i-Nür," with waggon-loads of less renowned, but hardly less
valuable things, were removed en masse to Khorassan, where the
murderer arrayed himself in the spoils of his royal victim, and
unconsciously by his very triumph, paved the way to his own murder, and
the destruction of his dynasty and race.
"
The Darya-i-Nür," which in imagination might seem to flash blood red
rays, came out of this carnage, pure and lovely as when it was first
cut. It is probably the finest gem, as it certainly is the largest
diamond belonging to the Shah of Persia. It is a magnificent stone of
the purest water, and of almost matchless lustre, fully deserving the
proud title of "Sea or River of Light," by which it has always been
known in Persia.* It appears to be rose-cut, and weighs 186 carats,
which, strange to say, was the exact weight of the " Koh-i-Nür," before
that famous gem was re-cut in London. Were there any truth in the story
that the emperor Aurung-zeb had the " Koh-i-Nür," and another stone of
like size, set in the eyes of the peacock overshadowing his throne, we
might well suppose that this was the corresponding
