HISTORICAL AND REMARKABLE DIAMONDS. 217
cutting ; 2/9TT5, 297, and 280 carats, after cutting. It was of
the first water, and valued at one million six hundred and
eighty thousand dollars.
This diamond, like its supposed twin brother, is connected in
history with some of the wars and revolutions in India, and,
during the Persian invasion, was lost sight of, which afforded
some ground for the general opinion that it now belongs to the
Persian crown, but King says there was no stone of this size
and pattern among the drawings of the Shah's diamonds recently brought to England, and it is more likely the Great Mogul
has been lost, and if so, it may come to light by some unexpected event, unless it has been cut into smaller stones to·
elude detection.
Tavernier entertains his readers with an account of the
ceremony of exhibiting the crown jewels at the Mogul's court,
in which he says they were brought into the imperial presence
by the custodian on lacquered trays, covered with brocade,
when they were counted three times, and a list was made out
by three scribes before they were returned to their cabinets.
The King of Portugal's, or the Braganza, called also the
Brazilian. — If this is a genuine diamond, of which· there are
great doubts, it is the largest on record. Its weight in the
rough (it has never been cut), has been estimated both at
1680 and 1880 carats. Probably the former weight is nearer
the truth. Cutting would doubtless reduce its size two-thirds,
leaving then a stone of five hundred and sixty carats, twice as
large as the Great Mogul. It has been rated at a fabulous
price, even for a true diamond, varying from about thirty million to nearly sixty million pounds. There is no infallible
standard by which to estimate the worth of an uncut stone,
therefore all such valuations are mere guesses.
This geological marvel has given rise to a difference of
