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THE KOH-I-NUR.
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i-nur
was not immediately his, however, for it was some time before it came
to light, and then by the merest accident. An officer, happening to
scratch his finger against something that protruded from the plaster
in the walls of the prison of poor blinded Shah Raman, turned to
examine the cause of the wound. To his amazement he discovered it to be
the corner of the great diamond, which the unlucky prisoner fancied he
had securely hidden away. Shah Shuja wore the Koh-i-nur in a bracelet
during the brief splendor of his reign, and it was on his arm when
English eyes first saw it.
Mountstuart
Elphinstone, the pioneer of the weary throng of Englishmen who have
trod the road to Cabul, thus speaks of the Koh-i-nur and its possessor
to whom he was accredited as ambassador in 1812:
"
At first we thought the Afghan was clad in an armour of jewels, but on
closer inspection that appeared to be a mistake His real dress
consisted of a green tunic with large flowers in gold and precious
stones over which were
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