THE "ORLOFF" AND "NIZAM" DIAMONDS. 87
has a faint cast of yellow. The story goes on that the successful Frenchman sold his- prize to an English captain for 2000l., the captain resold it in London to a Jew for 12,000l,
and subsequently the stone got into the hands of a Greek, who offered
it for sale to Catharine IL, but she declined the purchase as beyond
her means. Prince Orloff, however, bought it and presented it to his
imperial mistress (1772), paying for it 90,000l. in ready money, an annuity of 4000l. for the seller's lifetime, and a patent of nobility into the bargain.
THE "NIZAM."
This
Diamond is somewhat almond-shaped, almost in its native condition :
although it seems to exhibit some traces of an attempt to shape it into
the mystic Toni, probably with the intention of its being placed, as her usual attribute, in the. hand of Parvati, the
goddess of generation. In the cast from it which I have examined, the
ineffectual attempts of the Hindoo lapidary to work the obdurate
material to his fancy are extremely curious. This stone was by some
very ominous accident broken asunder in the year of the great Indian
revolt. Weight 340 carats.
RAJAH OF MATTAN'S.
This
Diamond comes next to the original crystal of the Eegent in magnitude,
its weight being 387 carats, and is reported to be of the finest water
; as far as can be judged in its native state. It was found at Landak,
Borneo, in the year 1787. Lowe ('Sarawak,' p. 28) was informed by a
party professing to be a competent judge of stones, that he had
examined this renowned Diamond which is actually in the possession of
the present Eajah : it is
