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XXIV
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THE ENGLISH DRESDEN.
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Faultless
Stone—Remarkable Success of Cutting—A Fortune made in Cotton and spent
on a Diamond— Crafty Agents—Singular Coincidence of Ill-Luck— A Ruined
Merchant and a Deposed Prince.
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HROUGH
the courtesey of Mr. E. Dresden, from whom it takes its name, we are
enabled for the first time to give the true history of this most
remarkable gem. Many of the subjoined particulars are contained in a
letter, dated June 14th, 1881, which Mr. Dresden kindly forwarded to us
in reply to an application for an authentic account of a diamond,
concerning which so many false reports are still current. This notable
stone was found about the year 1857, in the Bagagem district, Brazil,
the same place which also yielded the " Star of the South," and which
has been identified in our description of that gem. Soon after its
discovery, the " English Dresden" was brought to Rio de Janeiro, where
the owner's agents bought and forwarded it to him in London, in the
same year, 1857. A model was then taken of the rough stone, which
weighed 119 1/2 carats, although evidently forming a part only of the
original crystal. What became of the corresponding portion has
remained a profound secret, though, as Mr. Dresden suggests, it may
have either been destroyed in detaching it from the rock, or else may
possibly have remained behind in its original itacolumite matrix.
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