146 THE GREAT DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD.
him in the street, and at a glance saw something unusual had happened. In reply to my question ' Anything good to-day ?' ' Yes, a white one this time,' he replied, and at the same moment proceeded to hand the stone to me,
which I partially hesitated in taking. I saw it was so uncommonly
white, that I thought some one had been playing a practical joke upon
the man, but once in my hand, I realised its genuineness. I had had the
diamond about four months before the fact was made publicly known.
Besieged by gentlemen anxious for a sight of it, I made arrangements
with a friend, who kindly consented to allow me to exhibit the diamond
in his office. We had some difficulty in restraining the crowd, as each
person expected to be allowed to handle it, which I considered
reasonable enough. There was great excitement amongst those who"
understood the matter, each willingly paying a sovereign, and within an
hour I had taken £100. This, with further amounts, arrived at something
like £500, and was handed to the managing committee of our hospital on
the diamond fields. I must mention that most of the dealers keep what
you will better know as 'test stones,' for the purpose of trying the
color of parcels of diamonds offered them for sale, as according to the
light of the day, or the tint of the particular kind of paper the
stones may be wrapped in, the buyers are apt to be deceived, and to
guard against this, the ' test stones' are placed with the others, by
which means, they better assure themselves of the quality of the stones
offered. Many gentlemen produced their ' test diamonds,' and I am
