312 THE GREAT DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD.
of the Republican forces, Napoleon had already amassed wealth enough to afford to spend £8,000
on a single gem. Still more remarkable is the fact that nothing more is
heard of this diamond after it thus came into the possession of " le
petit caporal." In the inventory of the crown jewels prepared by order
of the emperor in 1810, there is no separate entry of any diamond of
this size. It may possibly have been removed from the sword, and
included in one or other of the numerous groups of brilliants contained
in that collection. But in any case it must have been sold before
Napoleon III. came to the throne, for the Empress Eugenie has assured
us that she never saw it amongst the French crown treasures.
