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2l8
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PRECIOUS STOA'ES.
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opinion as to its true character, some judges believing it to be
a topaz, others rock-crystal ; but as the government declines having it tested, the doubt cannot be cleared up. It is about the size of a hen's egg, and of a deep yellow color. It was found in Brazil in 1741, by a convict or a slave. . Some writers have considered the Braganza a different
stone from the King of Portugal's, and identical with the Portuguese Regent, a gem of two hundred and fifteen carats. King mentions two uncut diamonds of about this weight belonging to the crown, and Streeter says the Regent and the Braganza, which have been regarded identical, are different stones. The Nizam. — The history of this diamond is involved in
the obscurity of a doubtful tradition, and though one of the largest on record, there is but little positive knowledge concerning this gem, except its size, and present owner, the Nizam of Hyderabad, a semi-independent ruler of the Deccan, for whom it was named. It was discovered in the so-called Golconda mines, which are in the dominions of this prince, and weighs, in the rough, three hundred and forty carats, after having been broken by some accident, during the great Indian revolt ; before this casualty, its weight is supposed to have been four hundred and forty carats. The Rajah of Matan. —This diamond was found at Landak,
on the western coast of the island of Borneo, during the last century. It is said to be egg-shaped, of the purest water, and weighs either three hundred and sixty-seven or three hundred and eighty-seven carats, according to different estimates ; cutting would probably reduce it below the Orloff. As its true character has never been fully established, its large size awakens suspicion of its genuineness, but since the owner is the Rajah of Matan, there is little probability that it will ever |
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