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Gem Trader
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end
of the great Braganza by saying nothing to dispel the illusion
surrounding their great national possession. Certainly Barbot, who saw
the stone, describes it as being of a dark-yellow colour, which
possibly suggests a topaz. The date of its discovery by the three
outcasts is variously given as 1741, 1764, and 1797.
A
diamond that has always remained in the possession of a native prince
is the "Matan", so called because it belongs to the Rajah of Matan, in
Dutch Borneo. It was found in 1787 in the Landak mines N.E. of
Pontianak, among the oldest known and, before the opening of the Rand
mines, probably also the most productive in the world. As far back as
1738 the Dutch exported from this district some 300,000 dollars' worth
of diamonds. Sir Stamford Raffles wrote of that time: "Few courts of
Europe could boast of a more brilliant display of diamonds than did the
Dutch ladies of Batavia in the prosperous days." All these diamonds
came from Borneo. For over a century the Chinese worked those mines,
but they were so cruel and tyrannous in their treatment of the Dyaks,
natives of the country, that in the end the latter rebelled and
massacred the Chinese almost to a man.
When
found, the Matan diamond weighed 367 carats. It is described as being
the size of an average walnut (favourite description of very large
diamonds, for some reason!) and of a bluish metallic lustre. It has
never been cut. The Dutch Government were very anxious to buy it, and
the Governor of Batavia is said to have offered 150,000 dollars plus
two large war brigs, with full complement of guns and other war
material, but the native prince refused the offer. Tt is still in the Sultan's treasury, but for
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