242 A Book of Precious Stones
wealth, this enterprising disciple of Mahomet, it is said, acquired exclusively by plunder.
The
famous " Eugenie" diamond purchased by the Emperor of the French,
Napoleon III, was found by a poor peasant at Wajra Karur in India; the
finder tendered the stone to the village blacksmith as compensation for
repairing a plough; the smith threw it away, but upon reconsidering
its possibilities recovered it and sold it for 6000 rupees to a
merchant named Arathoon of Madras, who sold it to the French emperor
for a great sum.
Senior
S. I. Habid, a wealthy Spaniard of the rue Lafitte, Paris, proprietor
of a collection of rare gems, is, according to information published
in European and American newspapers during the spring of 1908, the
possessor of the famous blue " Hope " diamond. For some time this
celebrated stone was owned in America, the possessors being the firm of
jewellers in New York City, Messrs. Joseph Frankel's Sons. The American
owners admitted the sale of the stone in Paris, but declined to divulge
the facts as to the price or the identity of the purchaser, stating
that the information, if made public, must come from the purchaser. The
Sultan of Turkey was for a time the reputed buyer. Mr.
