The
first authentic appearance of this diamond in history was in December,
1701. In that month it was offered for sale by a diamond merchant named
Jamchund to the Governor of Fort St. George near Madras, Mr. Thomas
Pitt, the grandfather of the great Earl of Chatham.
Although,
as we shall see later on, the diamond came fairly into the hands of
Mr. Pitt, it had already a taint of blood upon it. I allude to the
nebulous and gloomy story that has drifted down to us along with this
sparkling gem. How far the story is true it is now impossible to
ascertain. The Regent itself alone could throw any light upon the
subject, and that, notwithstanding its myriad rays, it refuses to do.
Tradition
says the stone was found by a slave at Partreal, a hundred and fifty
miles south of Golconda. The native princes who worked these diamond
mines were very particular to see that all the large gems should be
reserved to deck their own swarthy persons; hence there
