well
as its history. It belonged formerly to the Grand Mogul, from whom it
passed into the hands of the sovereigns of Cabal. Rmrjeot Sing, the
king of Lahore, became possessed of it in 1813, after a victorious war
against the Shah Shuja. At the death of Runjeet Sing, the East India
Company took possession of his estates, and this relic fell into their
hands, and by the latter was presented to the Queen of England. Its
original weight was one hundred and eighty-six carats; it was of an
elongated form, which led to the supposition that it is a part of an
octahedral crystal; this opinion has been repeatedly expressed, and
more particularly by Mr. Tennant, who believes it to be a fragment of
the Grand Mogul's diamond described by, Tavernier. Its awkward shape
and bad polish induced the queen to have it recut, which was done by
Mr. Gaword, who gave the Koh-i-noor the form of the Regent Diamond, and
lost thereby nearly one third of its original weight. It is now a
beautiful diamond, and is valued at two millions of pounds sterling.
The Star of the South, a
Brazilian diamond, found in July, 1853, is at the present day the
largest in Europe, coming from Brazil. It belongs to Mr. Halphen, a
private gentleman, and weighs two hundred fifty-four and a half carats;
as a crystal, was a dodecahedron ; it has a specific gravity of 3'529.
On account of a deep cavity of an octa-hedric form, by which it
appeal's to have been attached, at ■ a previous stage, to another
crystal, it is ascertained by the French lapidaries that "this diamond
will lose nearly half its weight, so that after being cut and faceted,
it will weigh about one hundred and twenty-five carats, but will still
rank as a princely diamond. It was found by a negress employed in the
mines of Begagem, one of the diamond districts in the province of Minas
Geraes.
Another large Brazilian diamond was found in the river
