don Jew, then to a Greek, who offered it for sale to the
Empress of Russia, but, Catherine declining to purchase the
diamond, it was bought by Prince Orloff, for four hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, and a life annuity worth twenty
thousand dollars, and presented as a gift to his sovereign.
The patent of nobility said to have been given to the
Greek merchant was conferred upon the owner of the
" Moon of the Mountains," with whose history the Orloff has
been confounded. What became of the companion eye of the
Hindoo god has not been ascertained. Streeter discredits the
story of the idol, and says the Orloff was brought from
Seringapatam a fortified island in Mysore, and that its true
name was Koh-i-Tûr. Another conjecture about its early
antecedents is that it formed one of the trophies brought away
from Delhi by Nadir Shah, but was lost sight of for a time
during the fierce struggles which ensued on the death of Nadir,
was recovered and sold to an Armenian by one of the Afghan
generals, and through the Armenian it reached the Russian
treasury ; its course up to that event was marked by deception,
theft, and murder. It is said the original name, given by the
Persians, was Koh-i-Tûr, which has been rendered " Mount
Sinai," and that, with the Koh-i-Nûr, it constituted the eyes
of the bird in the famous Peacock Throne.
The Orloff is about the size of a pigeon's egg, of a yellowish tint, with a weight of from one hundred and ninety-three
carats to nearly one hundred and ninety-five. The identity
of this diamond with the Great Mogul is disproved by the
great difference in size.
The Austrian Yellow, called also the Grand Duke of Tuscany's, and Florentine Brilliant. — The identity and history of this
precious stone have been the foundation of much controversy,
which has not yet been settled to the satisfaction of all parties.
