fear
of arousing the cupidity of scheming despoilers it is not now shown.
Occasionally, to gratify the curiosity of exalted visitors, the Rajah
displays a crystal replica. When it was still being shown, the Matan
was variously valued at anything between ,£270,000 and ,£350,000
sterling.
To
its owners the Matan had, like many another great gem, the added virtue
of possessing miraculous powers. The water in which it is dipped when
the medicine chest of the Rajah's household requires replenishing is
reputed to be a sure cure for all life's ills.
Another
great diamond remaining in the hands of a native prince, also still
uncut, is the "Nizam", property of the Nizam of Hyderabad, in whose
territory were the great mines of Golconda, famous source of the
diamonds of the ancients and of medieval men. The Nizam's ancestors
were styled "Kings of Golconda". The Nizam diamond weighs 340 carats
and its value was many years ago stated to be £200,000, but large as
the stone is, it is only part of a bigger stone which before fracturing
weighed 440 carats.
A
modern gem was the "Stewart" diamond. It was found in 1872 by a man
named Spalding in an outside claim (diggings), before the South African
Rand had become an El Dorado for diamond miners. Spalding was so
overcome by his find that he could neither eat nor drink for three full
days. Or so it was said. This stone weighed 288% carats in the rough,
was consigned to an important London firm, and, since no more
transpires, was presumably sold by them to someone who preferred to
remain the anonymous owner of a two-ounce diamond.
