CHAPTER XVIII
HISTORICAL DIAMONDS
THE number of diamonds which exceed a hundred carats in weight when cut is very limited. Their extreme costliness renders them something more than mere ornaments; in a condensed and portable form they represent great wealth and all the potentiality for good or ill thereby entailed, and have played no small, if sinister, rôle in the moulding of history. In bygone days when despotic government was universal, the possession of a splendid jewel in weak hands but too often precipitated the aggression of a greedy and powerful neighbour, and plunged whole countries into the horrors of a ruthless and bloody war. In more civilized days a great diamond has often been pledged as security for money to replenish an empty treasury in times of stress. The ambitions of Napoleon might have received a set-back but for the funds raised on the security of the famous Pitt diamond. The history of such stones—often one long romance—is full of interest, but space will not permit of more than a brief sketch here.
If we except the colossal Cullinan stone, the mines of Brazil and South Africa cannot compare with the old mines of India as the birthplace of large and perfect diamonds of world-wide fame.