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THE REGENT.
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were
most stringent regulations for the detection of theft. No person who
was not above suspicion — and who indeed was ever above the suspicion
of an absolute Asiatic prince ? — might leave the mines without being
thoroughly examined, inside and out, by means of purgatives, emetics
and the like. Notwithstanding all these precautions however, the Regent
was concealed in a wound made in the calf of the leg of a slave. The
inspectors, I suppose, did not probe the wound deeply enough, for the
slave got away safely with his prize and reached Madras. Alas! poor
wretch, it was an evil day for him when he found the great rough
diamond. On seeking out a purchaser he met with an English skipper who
offered him a considerable sum for it; but on going to the ship,
perhaps to get his money, he was slain and thrown overboard. The
skipper then sold the stone to Jamchund for one thousand pounds
($5000), took to drink and speedily succumbing to the combined effects
of an evil conscience and de-
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