LEISURE HOURS AMONG THE GEMS

CRYSTAL OF SAPPHIRE
CEYLON
Exact size.
HAMLIN COLLECTION

LEISURE HOURS AMONG THE GEMS

BY
AUGUSTUS C. HAMLIN
AUTHOR OF A TREATISE ON THE TOURMALINE FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NORTHERN EUROPE CHEVALIER OF ST. ANNE, ETC.

“Now in matter of the knowledge of the works of nature, I would have thee give thyself curiously; so that there be no sea, river, nor fountain of which thou dost not know the fishes; all the fowls of the air; all the metals that are hid within the bowels of the earth; together with the precious stones that are to be seen in the east and south of the world. Let nothing of all these be unknown to thee.”—Rabelais.

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1891

Copyright, 1884,
By Augustus C. Hamlin.

All rights reserved.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company.

DEDICATION.

Whatever of interest or value there is to be found in these pages is earnestly inscribed
To the Memory
OF
JEAN ANDRÉ DE PEYSONNEL,

who ventured to announce to the men of science of the Royal
Academies of Europe in the eighteenth century that the
Coral was the product of animal life, and not of vegetable
growth. In answer to his simple discovery and honest declaration,
the naturalist was met with a storm of contempt and derision that
eventually wrecked his happiness and his life.

CONTENTS.

THE DIAMOND.

Le diamant: c’est l’art des choses idéales
Et ces rayons d’argent, d’or, de pourpre, et d’azur
Ne cessent de lancer les deux lueurs égales
De pensers les plus beaux, de l’amour le plus pur.
Il porte du génie et transmet les empruntes,
Oui, de ce qui survit aux nations éteintes,
C’est lui le plus brillant trésor et le plus dur.

Alfred de Vigny.

LEISURE HOURS AMONG THE GEMS.

CHAPTER I.
THE DIAMOND.

The advice of Rabelais quoted on our titlepage indicates sound judgment, if not a glimmer of prophetic feeling; but we doubt very much whether the quaint philosopher had any conception of its extent and scope when he gave it. Could the queer, sceptical old fellow return to earth again after his long quiet sleep of almost four centuries, how astonished would he appear at the revelations of the students who have followed his suggestion during the last century even! And yet in reality how little has been revealed to the limited vision of man, compared with the vast resources of nature still unexplored and shrouded in mystery. In enumerating the precious stones among the works of nature worthy of the contemplation and earnest study of man, Rabelais not only exhibited a prophetic discernment, but he disclosed the fancies which invested these mineral objects in his day and in earlier times, and which have in a measure descended to the present era, and still exert some influence.

The study of the gems is one of the most interesting of all the objects of natural history; and although the field of research appears somewhat limited at first glance, the scene expands as we advance, and we are soon lost in the beauty and mystery of the subject, which as yet no man has been fully able to comprehend and explain. It is commonly understood that this study is simply a matter of commerce, or belonging to the province of the jeweller or the mineralogist. But the subject is really of far greater importance. Several of the ablest of our philosophers have been deeply interested in this pursuit, and have revealed to us startling phenomena, many of which have been turned greatly to the aid of science and the comfort of mankind. After so many years of study and research, the field of observation and discovery is by no means exhausted.

We may take another view of the subject solely with the artistic eye, and find much for enjoyment and contemplation. In the art of ancient times the precious stones played an important part, and by means of the engraved gems we are enabled to form an idea of the wonderful skill of the artists of those periods. By means of these engraved stones the portraits of many of the illustrious characters of antiquity have been preserved, and also representations of some of the masterpieces of sculpture, which have since been destroyed by time or the hand of barbarism. If the reader, exercising a little credulity and patience, will kindly follow me through the observations of many years here condensed and recorded, he may in a slight degree partake of some of the enthusiasm and interest of the author.

But, before we proceed very far on the pleasant and seductive journey, let us understand each other, and, above all, allow the author to confess that his knowledge of the subject is decidedly imperfect, and perhaps somewhat visionary at times.

We will consider first the diamond, not because we regard it the foremost in interest among minerals, but because it is to-day reckoned commercially, as it was in the time of the Latin philosopher, Pliny, nearly two thousand years ago, “Maximum in rebus humanis,”—“The most costly of human possessions.” But we must, however, slightly modify the remark, and now apply it to the rare colored varieties of the gem, since commerce and refined taste rank the red sapphire far above the colorless diamond in value, and sometimes even the emerald and rare blue sapphires exceed it in price. It is interesting, and at times amusing, to read the views of the ancient gem-writers, and even those of mediæval times, relating to this remarkable mineral, and compare them with the accepted opinions of the present day. The ancients were completely ignorant of the nature of the stone, and called it “adamas,” or the invincible, from the mistaken idea that it could resist all external violence, and was also perfectly indestructible. Modern science, however, has disclosed the fact that the gem is not only quite delicate in its structure, but that it is also utterly perishable in its nature. The revelations of chemistry have clearly demonstrated that the glittering stone, known as the diamond, is simply crystallized carbon, and one of the allotropic forms of that protean element which, by the aid of some mysterious agency, can deposit its substance in the shape of a sooty blackness, as in the coal, or in the transparent crystal of diamond, which may be regarded as the very emblem of light. Furthermore, the gem is not only the concentrated embodiment of human valuation, but it is also the standard of hardness among all mineral substances; and yet, strange to say, plumbago, which apparently is of the same composition, is exactly the reverse, and quite as soft as talc.

Here, then, we may behold one of the strangest antitheses to be seen in the whole mineral kingdom, for we have a simple and singular mineral composed of the meanest of elements, yet whose different forms illustrate the extremes of hardness, and may also be considered to represent the antipodes of material treasures.

The crystallized and transparent variety, when it occurs in its greatest perfection, and especially with the rare colors of red, blue, and green, forms indeed the most beautiful of all the decorative stones yet known to man. For it not only far exceeds all others in degree of hardness, but it also surpasses them in its extraordinary brilliancy and the wonderful display of the prismatic colors, especially by artificial light, which charm it alone possesses of all the gems and precious stones.

Although it is widely distributed over the world, and has been known to man for many centuries, yet its distribution, its deposition, its geological age, are not only puzzling themes to the mineralogist, but they are yet subjects of startling interest to the philosopher.

The origin of the stone has long been a subject of inquiry among experimentalists, and it has received more attention from them than all the other gems reckoned together. As for our humble opinion, after long consideration of this multitude of hypotheses, we are inclined to assert the diamond to be the product of decomposition of vegetable material, and derived from one of the numerous chemical compounds of carbon and hydrogen. We find some of these forms generated wherever vegetable matter is decomposed under water, and in the gem strata of the diamond placers we may observe abundant evidence of material for metamorphosis. If we admit the origin of the gem to be from vegetable matter, or derived from any transformations of organic débris, we then reduce the history of the diamond to a simple problem; for it is quite easy to explain, or rather imagine, the required chemical change under the action of electricity or telluric magnetism, and all along the true gem formations the phenomena of the earth’s vitality in this respect are remarkable.

Carbon is commonly mentioned as the meanest of elements, yet, when we come to consider its bearing in the mineral kingdom, and its vast relations in human industry, or its effect in the progress of civilization, it deserves a higher rank, or certainly a more generous classification among the constituents of the earth. For it not only occurs in various states in the air, the sea, and the more solid portions of the earth, but we find it an essential ingredient in the structure of all animal and vegetable life. It is really one of the most interesting and important of the elementary bodies, and may present itself in a variety of allotropic forms of remarkable and striking character. To its combination in the mineral substance known as coal the world owes its greatest blessing, save the golden grains Triptolemus gave to mankind. From its purest and crystallized form art derives its richest and most dazzling object of ornamentation. Without it the globe would soon become desolate and all organic life cease to exist.

In contemplating the transcendent beauties of the purest of its states, the observer can hardly realize that between the sparkling diamond and the black, lustreless mineral known as graphite, there is only the difference in the arrangement of their invisible atoms. Yet, so far as we know at the present day, the two objects are apparently of the same composition, differing only in their system of crystallization. The first we recognize as the perfection of natural beauty, the concentration of brilliancy, and the standard of limpidity, while the other is directly the opposite in its effects and relations. The diamond, when exposed to sufficient heat, parts with its wonderful beauty and disappears, leaving only a minute trace of seemingly carbonized matter.

It often perplexes the student in chemistry to explain the varied forms and the different properties of substances having apparently the same composition. It is not especially in the mineral kingdom that he meets with these strange anomalies, but his mystery becomes intensified when attempting to solve the problems of organic life. For instance, in seeking to explain the odors of vegetable substances, he finds that ten parts of carbon and sixteen of hydrogen appear to form the sole constituents of many perfumes,—like the oil of lemons, lavender, turpentine, etc. And yet, with the elements known, he not only finds himself unable to combine them artificially so as to produce the perfumes, or explain satisfactorily why bodies possessing the same constituent parts exhale odors so different.

Among all these investigations and reasonings the question comes forcibly to the mind, why was the gem created, and has the day gone by when the conditions required for its formation no longer exist? With due respect to the phenomena connected with the crystallization and deposition of metals and minerals at the present time, we cannot answer this inquiry hastily.

We may affirm, perhaps, that nature possesses the power to form the diamond to-day, but are the conditions requisite for its evolution present and complete? We will not now attempt to discuss the arguments bearing upon this interesting theme; but we will, however, modestly state that it is our belief that the diamond is the last gem placed upon the earth, and that the period of its deposition was subsequent to the introduction of some of the higher forms of animal life on the globe, and, possibly, since the appearance even of man.

CHAPTER II.
ANTIQUITY OF THE DIAMOND AS A GEM.

It is quite certain that the diamond is not one of the earliest gems known to man, and the facts of the stone not having been found among the ruins of Nineveh or Bassora, the Etruscan sepulchres, or the jewels of the ancient tombs of the Phœnicians of the island of Cyprus, recently explored by Di Cesnola, afford strong presumptive evidence that its discovery dates within historic times. As the gem in its natural state is not often finely crystallized with smooth planes and perfect transparency, like the limpid crystals of quartz, it was probably long overlooked by man, and its adoption in the decorative arts preceded by the bright-colored and softer stones. The rough crystals are not attractive when placed in comparison with many other gems, and their degree of hardness, coupled with their rarity, probably gave them their value among the ancients. We are inclined to think that their use was governed by the fancy of the rich and powerful nobles, and that the emerald and the blue and red stones took precedence in the selection of gems until the art of polishing was discovered.

In the time of Pliny the stone was acquired only by the richest of kings; and in the days of Alexander Severus, in the third century, it was remarkable for its price, while the emerald was estimated for its beauty. Lollia, at the Banquet of Caligula, glittering with the spoils of Asia Minor, of fabulous value, did not wear the diamond, so far as we can ascertain.

There is evidence to lead to the presumption that the gem was regarded in the early periods more of a curiosity possessing talismanic powers than as an ornamental stone. The famous crown of Chosroes, made in the latter part of the sixth century, and brought to light by Shah Abbas after a thousand years of concealment in an obscure fortress among the mountains of Lauristan, does not contain diamonds among its ornaments, but is incrusted with pearls and rubies.

The absence of the stone in this royal tiara, constructed at this early period of time, is certainly significant, and indicates that it was not high in estimation, or that the art of polishing in a definite manner, so as to reveal the hidden splendors of the gem, had not then been discovered.

The early practice of polishing the natural faces of the crystal did not reward the patient lapidary by a corresponding increase of beauty. Hence we can explain the setting of rough diamonds in mediæval times long after the process of polishing had been discovered and put in practice by the Orientals.

The crown of the Khan of the Tatars, captured on the Oxus by the Persians in the fifth century, is described as being ornamented with several thousand pearls, but there is no allusion to any stones resembling diamonds; yet the Tatars had undoubted access to the commercial marts of India.

The cup of Chosroes I., of the seventh monarchy of Persia, and which is still extant, is composed of small disks of colored glass united by a gold setting, and having at the bottom a crystal engraved with the figure of the monarch. This royal relic is destitute of diamonds. When the treasures of the Persian palace of Dastagherd were captured in the seventh century, no mention of the diamond was made in the enumeration of the articles. Among them were the famous throne of gold called “Takdis,” supported on feet composed of rubies; also the crown formed of a thousand huge pearls. If diamonds were abundant at this period, why do we not find them among the decorations of the royal jewels? Macondi, however, says that the Sassanian king had nine seals of office, the first of which was a diamond with a ruby centre, bearing the portrait, name, and titles of the monarch.

The sacred standard of Persia, the famous “durn-foh-Kawani,” or leathern apron of the blacksmith Kawak, which was eighteen feet long by twelve feet broad, was richly adorned with silk and the finest gems when it was captured by the Arabs in 636, at the great battle of Cadesia. Its value was then estimated at $150,000, but the diamond is not mentioned among its ornaments, and if it had been abundant we might expect to see it prominently displayed among the decorations. However, we must admit that many of these historical descriptions are very incorrect, and often partake largely of the nature of the fabulous. And so, in the description of the capture of Ctesiphon by the Arabs in the seventh century, the historian states that vast quantities of gems and precious stones and treasures of wondrous beauty, of more than one hundred millions of dollars in value were obtained. Among the descriptions of the articles comprised in this immense booty we fail to find any allusion to the diamond, and yet we know that the gem was not unknown to Persians at that time.

To give the reader an idea of the magnificent tastes of the Persian nobles at that period, we will mention some of the articles captured at this time by the freebooters of the desert.

A wonderful carpet woven of white brocade is described as being one of the marvels of the world. It was four hundred and fifty feet long by ninety feet in breadth, and exhibited a border worked in with precious stones of various hues to represent a garden of all kinds of beautiful flowers. The leaves were formed of emeralds and other green colored stones, while the buds and blossoms were composed of pearls, rubies, sapphires, and other gems of immense value.

The captured robe of state was thickly embroidered with the most beautiful rubies and pearls. The arms, helmets, and scimetars found in the royal treasury fairly flashed with the gleams of the rarest precious stones, so thickly were they incrusted over the metal. At a later period of the monarchy the Sassanian kings adorned the paraphernalia of their courts to a degree of magnificence which is almost incredible. Some of the coins and sculptures yet extant have preserved faithful representations of their luxury in dress. Many of the robes were beautifully embroidered and covered with gems and pearls.

The royal crown at this period, it appears, was not worn by the monarch, but was suspended from the ceiling in the throne-room directly over the king’s head when seated on the throne.

Theophrastus, a Greek writer living three centuries before the Christian era, does not mention the gem in a clear and distinct manner. It is true he alludes to adamas, but it is now thought by several mineralogists that this term was then applied to steel and some of the varieties of corundum. The descriptions of the splendid fêtes given by the army of Alexander at this period, when the wealth of India and Persia was brought forth to deck the Persian maidens, do not mention the diamond.

At this period, and even in later times, the royal insignia and the emblems of Persian authority were such as wreaths and vines of pure gold laden with flowers and clusters composed chiefly of emeralds, rubies, carbuncles, and other bright-colored gems, but not including the adamas. Of like description were those famous canopies under which the ancient potentates of Persia sat and gave their audiences.

Pliny, three centuries later, was the first to describe the gem in unmistakable terms, but even then but very little of a definite character was known of it.

The Romans had access at an early period to the gem-producing countries. Ceylon and India had long been known to the Roman merchants, and their caravans traversed entire Asia from the coast of Syria to the Chinese ocean in two hundred and forty-three days. Their fleets sailed regularly in the time of Claudian from the Red Sea to Ceylon, Coromandel, and Malabar. Ceylon was then famous for its luminous carbuncles and the lustre of its pearls. The famous fairs of Armenia and Nisbis, which attracted the merchants of Asia, also furnished the Romans with many of their luxuries. There certainly were no serious obstacles to the introduction of the gem into the bazaars of the wealthy nations of the Mediterranean in early times and subsequent periods if it was then an article of commerce.

With the ancient history of the gem there is also a remarkable fact to be considered in its study,—its diminutive size. It is believed by many antiquaries that the diamonds known or used by the Romans were well-defined octahedral crystals, of not over four or four and a half karats weight. It may be stated in reply that the exportation of larger gems may have been forbidden by the Hindoo rulers, as we have seen in later times concerning the rubies found in Burmah. But we place but little confidence in this objection. Large and fine gems, had they been known in the days of Roman prosperity and luxury, would surely have found their way from time to time to the wealthy marts of the empire.

There is other evidence to found the belief that most, if not all, of the diamonds of antiquity were of small size. The celebrated traveller and diamond merchant Tavernier boldly asserted in his day, that prior to the sixteenth century the largest diamonds seen in India were about ten to twelve karats weight. Tavernier was well informed of the history of the gem, and had visited several times the most famous mines of India. We are inclined to support the views of the French traveller, and believe that the famous diamonds known as the paragons are of modern discovery, or since the sixteenth century.

CHAPTER III.
DIAMOND LOCALITIES.

The diamond is widely dispersed over the earth, and undoubtedly occurs in countries where its existence is not now suspected. The difficulty of detection has restricted its geographical area in history, yet enough is known to regard its deposition as almost universal, or at least quite as frequent as that of gold. In some countries the deposits are very limited, while in others, like those of Africa, Brazil, and India, they stretch away over immense distances.

We will proceed to give brief descriptions of the well-known diamond districts, and mention others but little known to commerce or the mineralogists. For more extended accounts of the historical mines we must refer the reader to the works of the authors quoted in our text. We will commence with those of Asia.

The diamond fields in India are very extensive, and occur everywhere among the hills of the great range that extends from Cape Comorin through the whole of Bengal for a distance of several hundred miles and with an average breadth of fifty miles.

How long these mines have been known to man must always remain a matter of conjecture; but it is nevertheless certain that the famous mines have been discovered within the past thousand years, and probably a much less period of time. It is stated that many of the gem districts along this range have not been explored carefully, and that the kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour alone have supplied most of the gems known in India. And it is also related that none of these localities have been scientifically mined or surveyed with a view to thorough development.

The most ancient of the diamond mines in India are supposed to be those of Soumelpour, near the river Gonet, a tributary of the Ganges; but the celebrated mines of Golconda and Raolconda have been known only since the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The richest mine of India, and the most extraordinary of any yet discovered in the world, is that known by the name of Gani, or Couleur. It is situated under a plain at the foot of a mountain about seven days’ journey west of Golconda, and was discovered by accident about the middle of the sixteenth century.

A native digging the earth to sow millet threw up a bright, clear crystal of twenty-five karats. It was soon recognized to be a diamond, and crowds of Hindoos flocked to the fields to reap the most wonderful harvest of gems yet known. A vast number of large gems were obtained, and among them the Great Mogul, which weighed in its rough condition seven hundred and ninety-three karats. The gems of this mine were remarkable for their large size, but they were not of the clearest and purest water, the color and lustre of the stone seeming to partake of the quality of the earth composing the matrix.

This idea, which prevails among the miners in other gem districts in India and also in other countries, lends support to the belief that the diamonds were formed in the strata of gravel where they are now found, and not in the hard crystalline rocks and afterwards set free by disintegration.

The matrix of these mines, as well as of all the others in different parts of the world, is essentially the same; and consists of rolled or broken masses of quartz, mixed or united with sand or earth impregnated with a ferruginous oxide. Amongst this conglomerate, or immediately below it, mixed with clay, the diamonds are found, and generally unattached to any substance.

The earliest and best accounts of the mines of Golconda are to be found in the narrative of Tavernier, who visited them in the middle of the seventeenth century. At this time they were in prosperous condition and furnished occupation to many thousand men. There were but four mines then worked in Hindostan, and more than sixty thousand miners were employed at the mine of Gani, or Couleur, alone. About thirty years after the last visit of Tavernier, the Earl Marshal of England, who had previously examined the diamond mines on the coast of Coromandel, visited those in Bengal. He found that diamond mines occurred everywhere along the slope of the hills extending through the country; but that very few of them were worked, and that nearly all of the diamonds then supplied to commerce were obtained from the kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour. He gives descriptions of twenty-three mines in Golconda and fifteen in Visapour.

The most famous of these at that time was called Currure, and was worked by the king for his own use. Several very large gems are said to have been found at this locality. It is related that a Portuguese gentleman from Goa, having received permission to explore a part of this mine, had the good fortune to discover a diamond of two hundred and six karats, which so overjoyed him that he erected a large stone over the spot with an inscription in Hindoo commemorative of the event.

Near this place there was another famous mine which yielded stones of fine form and water, occurring in black earth, which is regarded in India as a singular formation. In all the mines of Visapour the diamonds are found in red and yellow earth, and this is generally the color of the matrix elsewhere.

William Methold visited the mines of Golconda at a later period, and relates that at that time they gave employment to about thirty thousand laborers. The means for exploration were then exceedingly simple, and no mechanical contrivances were adopted for excavating the pits or bailing out the water. Shafts were rudely sunk in the earth to the depth of sixty or seventy feet, and the cascalho found at even that depth. It appeared to be reddish, mixed with white and yellow chalk, and was rich in diamonds. Rarely, stones of one hundred and twenty to two hundred karats were found, while those of ten to fifteen karats were quite abundant; but by far the greater number were so minute that it required from eight to twenty of them to weigh a karat.

Within the present century Dr. Buchanan and Mr. Voysey visited the mines of India, and have left interesting and accurate descriptions of their examinations and observations.

The famous mine of Pannah was examined in 1813, and found to be situated in a table-land of great extent a thousand feet or more above the Gangetic plain. The whole plain, wherever the gravelly formation appeared, afforded diamonds at various depths ranging from six feet to twenty-four. Many mines were worked in beds or borders of rivers because they were easy of access, and the lazy natives lacked the ability and means to explore the adjacent plains, which abounded in diamonds, but were destitute of the water required for washing the gravel.

The effect of the Brazilian discovery and its yield of several tons of diamonds was severely felt in Hindostan, and many of its mines were stopped in consequence. Yet there is abundant virgin territory left in India for future successful exploration, if conducted scientifically and with ample means.

The natives, with their rude methods of mining, generally ceased operations when the deposit required the removal of twenty-four feet of superincumbent soil. Hindoo labor, also, though apparently very cheap, is in reality costly when we come to compare their slow and feeble results to the efforts of well organized and conducted operations. Hence the diamond has always been a costly gem in Hindostan, and it is worth more in that country at the present time than in Europe.

Concerning the widespread idea of the reproduction of diamonds in India we will make only a brief allusion at the present time.

This theory does not seem to be of a very recent date, for the Portuguese traveller Garcias, who had been physician to the Viceroy at Goa in the early part of the sixteenth century, and who visited the mines, has left in his treatise published in 1565, some curious notes on the rapid generation of diamonds at that time. And he affirms that the soil a few feet below the surface will, in the interval of two or three years, produce diamonds again; but he also admits that the largest gems are only found at much greater depths.

Mr. Voysey, who examined the principal mines in Southern India in 1821, was also assured by the miners of this reproduction; and from his investigations he was led to adopt similar views.

Dr. Buchanan in 1813 visited the famous Pannah mine, and these views then prevailed at that locality. He examined the diamond-bearing earth, but observed nothing very peculiar in its formation. It seemed to be very red, and characterized by pebbles stained by iron and a great variety of quartz in broken fragments, chiefly white in color, or stained red in places, or dotted with black spots.

The miners who were then operating the mines assured the Doctor “that the generation of diamonds is always going forward, and that they have just as much chance of success in searching earth which has been fourteen or fifteen years unexamined as in digging in what has never been disturbed; and in fact,” he says, “I saw them digging up earth which had evidently been before examined, as it was lying in irregular heaps as thrown out after examination.”

Borneo is thought to be rich in diamonds, but concerning the extent and productiveness of the placers but little definitely is known. The island has long been known as abounding in the gem, but travellers and mineralogists have been prevented from exploring it by a variety of causes, chiefly arising from opposition of the native rulers and difficulty in penetrating into the interior of the country where the mines are found.

Tavernier was desirous of visiting these mines, but was dissuaded from going by these supposed or fancied difficulties, and the fact that the Queen at that time forbade the exportation of the gem. Therefore we have to regret the absence of the report which this able and truthful traveller would have made if he had visited those regions.

The Borneo diamonds are reported to be the best in the world, and to owe their excellence to a faint steel-like tinge and a very vivid adamantine flash. We are inclined to think, however, that diamonds of this description may be found in various countries, and that commerce assigns their locality to Borneo as a matter of convenience and trade.

Borneo is yet a terra incognita, and its features have not yet been made known to geography or even commerce. The second island in size in the world, and itself almost a continent, it presents a vast field to the explorer, with its broad prairies, immeasurable forests, deep and impenetrable jungles, interspersed with lofty ridges of mountains. Its mineral wealth is undetermined, but enough is known to found the belief that the island is one of the richest in this respect on the globe.

Concerning the diamond mines we have but imperfect accounts and none of very recent dates. However, it is known that the character of the mines is the same as that of India and elsewhere, and that the gems are found in a gravelly stratum at various depths below the surface. The best of these mines are said to be situated along the river Lavi, near Sukkademia, and to be worked in a rude manner by the Malays and Chinese. Mines on the northwest coast of the island have been worked extensively, but it is reported that no large diamonds have been discovered there. The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Low, states that the gems are found in the greatest quantities in Sango, Landak, and Banjarmassin, and that the stones, although of small size, are of the purest water.

The quantity of diamonds afforded by Borneo is not exactly known, but a recent writer in the Journal of the Geographical Society of London gives it as about two thousand karats annually. It is also stated by various authorities that the mines of the island have never yet yielded a diamond of thirty-six karats in weight.

If these reports are correct, how can we explain the accounts of the great diamond belonging to the Sultan of Mattan, which may be found in the History of Java, by Sir Stamford Raffles, and also in the Memoirs of the Batavian Society?

The famous mines of Brazil, which gave rise to a new era in the commerce and history of diamonds, were discovered by accident. And we are not aware of an instance of the discovery of a single diamond district or region of country, with the exception of the Urals, which can be ascribed to the results of scientific research. Even the wonderfully rich mines of the Province of Bahia in Brazil were first made known by a slave who noticed the similarity of the soil to that of the diamond mines of Minas Geraes, where he had formerly worked.

In 1727 a Portuguese by the name of Lobo, while visiting the gold mines of the Sierra do Frio, a desolate country about four hundred miles north of Rio Janeiro, noticed some bright crystals of stone which the ignorant miners picked up from time to time and treasured as trifles. Gathering a number of them, he submitted them to some Dutch traders, who informed him as to their valuable character. The Dutch at once contracted with the Brazilian Government for all of the rough diamonds that might be found, and for a long time controlled the trade. The mines where the gems were first discovered were situated in the midst of a desolate country destitute of vegetation and of considerable elevation above the level of the sea. Since this period other mining districts have been discovered, and it is now ascertained that the whole of the vast territory situated between the twelfth and twentieth parallels of latitude and extending even to Matto Grosso, a thousand miles distant, belongs to the gem-bearing formation.

This vast space of territory has not been examined scientifically, and but little is known of its condition except that it is diamond yielding. Since their discovery the mines have been worked with more or less activity with slave labor under the direction of companies of large capital. Skilled labor with the modern appliances of science has not yet been employed in these mining districts. And the condition of the country, its laws, and the controlling power of the diamond corporations, will render the application of scientific skill a difficult and hazardous task. The explorations are conducted in a primitive manner during the dry season, which lasts from April to October. They are made generally in the beds of the streams which have been dried up by the summer’s drouth. Rivers are sometimes diverted from their natural course, and their gravelly beds completely removed to sheds on the banks to await the rainy season, when water, which is required for washing, will be in abundance. The cascalho, a name given to the peculiar gravel, composed of quartz fragments mixed with sand and clay united with a ferruginous cement, which contains the diamonds, is then placed in shallow troughs, and a stream of water directed upon it until it is well cleansed, when it is removed and dried in the sun. The dried residue is then carefully searched for diamonds, and it is not always easy to distinguish them among a great variety of pebbles, of which the débris is chiefly composed.

Some of the diamond mines were of great extent and required many laborers to conduct the operations. That of Mandanga employed twelve hundred slaves in its excavations alone, besides many free persons engaged in other duties. The yield of the Brazilian mines at first was enormous, and one thousand one hundred and forty-six ounces of the precious gem were shipped to Lisbon in one year. The vast quantities of the gem thrown upon the markets brought the price of them down to five dollars per karat.

Consternation speedily spread among the diamond dealers all over the world; and many of them, believing that the gems would soon be as common as transparent quartz, declined to invest largely, even at these low prices. But a panic was checked by the prompt action of the Brazilian Government, in claiming the working of the mines as a royal monopoly, and also regulating the supply. In this condition of affairs the working of the mines and the trade remain at the present day; but the African discoveries and free explorations may change this restriction and monopoly if the Cape fields continue to yield their present supply. According to the estimates of Baron d’Eschwège, the quantity of diamonds obtained from the Brazilian mines under the Government restrictions averaged between 1730 and 1814 thirty-six thousand karats annually, the cost of which amounted to nearly four dollars per karat.

From a variety of causes the supply gradually diminished until about the year 1830, when the diminution was so great, coupled with the increased cost of exploration, that the rough stones cost eight dollars per karat. In 1843 the discovery of the Bahia mines increased greatly the yearly supply, which was then about thirty thousand karats. For two years after the discovery of the Sincora mines the supply amounted to six hundred thousand karats. But the great distance of the mines from the large towns and the coast, the fearful malaria which prevailed in the district, together with the difficulty of obtaining supplies, have prevented the working of the mines to any great extent; and in consequence the supply in 1852 sank to one hundred and thirty thousand karats. In 1732 the price of the rough gem was five dollars per karat, but in three years after it rose to about eight dollars per karat, and remained at that figure as late as 1742.

The Brazilian diamonds are generally very small compared with those yielded by some of the India mines, like that of Gani, which produced a great many gems of ten to forty karats weight. Of the Brazilian yield it was found by Professor Tennant that out of one thousand diamonds, one half weighed less than half a karat; three hundred, less than one karat; eighty, one and a half karats; one hundred and nineteen varied from two to twenty karats, and only one reached twenty-four karats.

Brazil still exports annually diamonds to the value of several millions of dollars, but the exploration has probably been checked by the influx from South Africa and the consequent fall in prices.

Out of the immense number of gems yielded by these mines,—the district of Minas Geraes is said to have produced two tons in weight,—it is strange that more large gems have not been found.

Quite a number of diamonds exceeding fifty karats have been discovered, and several over one hundred karats, the largest being known as the Star of the South, which weighed two hundred and fifty-four karats. This fine gem was found in 1853 in the mines of Begagem by a negress. It was in the form of a dodecahedral crystal. Another fine gem, called the Abaethe, was found in 1797 in the alluvium of the river Abaethe. Three convicts, banished into the interior of the savage country, wandered about from thicket to thicket and mountain to mountain, in hope of discovering some treasure that would restore them again to their friends. After six years of weary wanderings and severe privations they at length stumbled upon a diamond of one hundred and five karats in the bed of the river above named. They ventured to return to the inhabited regions and confided their good fortune to a priest. He took them at once to the Governor of Villa-Rica, who suspended the sentence of the convicts and sent the priest to Rio Janeiro with the gem.

A frigate was despatched with the treasure and the clergyman to Lisbon. The King, delighted with his acquisition, fully pardoned the convicts and advanced the priest to a high rank in his profession.

Many attempts have been made to trace the diamonds of Minas Geraes to primitive and unbroken rocks on the more elevated plateaux or even among the more distant mountains. And sometimes the gems have been found in cascalho at a great elevation, or perhaps in crevices of the sandstones; and hence the idea has arisen that the solid matrix has been found. The cascalho is the true matrix, whether found in the lowlands or on the mountain peaks. The color of this conglomerate is not uniform and varies in many districts. At the rich St. Antonio’s mine it is of a dark gray; at the Veneno it is of a light ochre with lumps cemented with ferruginous oxide; in the Pitanga mine it is of a light gray and almost white, and contains but few diamonds, but of the finest quality. The observer is sometimes led to believe that the abundance of the ferruginous oxide is evidence of the abundance of gems, and this fact is also noticed in the famous mines of Ceylon, where, however, the diamond does not occur.

Concerning the accounts of finding the diamonds in Brazil in their native rock, as described by Claussen and later still by Redington, we are not yet willing to give full credence any more than to the stories of diamonds having been found in the “old rock” in India. We have no doubt of the gem having been found in what appears to be a soft sandstone, but which is in reality a secondary product like the heterogeneous cascalho. And we can conceive this sandstone-like deposit to be formed at the bottom of lagoons under like conditions which gave origin to the conglomerate.

Claussen published in the Bulletins of the Academy of Sciences and Belles-lettres at Brussels, in 1841, an interesting account of his observations while searching for a matrix of the diamond.

He affirms that the gems are found at the mines of Grammagon in beds of a soft sandstone, which he calls a psammite sandstone, and which resembles the itacolumite, which is much harder. He also describes several specimens in which the gems are embedded in the sandstone, but admits that they are not very common. The same writer mentions instances where they are said to have occurred between plates of mica like the flattened garnets. Furthermore, he states that the crystals found in the itacolumite are rounded octahedrons and those found in psammite sandstone are perfect octahedrons.

Claussen, although he believed the itacolumite to be the matrix of the gem, was unable to explain its total absence in places where the itacolumite was greatly developed. He was also forced, when tracing the origin of the cascalho, to admit the existence of a secondary itacolumite posterior to the transition formation.

It is interesting as well as perplexing to follow the multitude of views expressed by mineralogists when attempting to explain the formation of the diamond. Most of them are determined to give the gem an ancient origin, and insist upon the action of plutonic forces upon dioritic veins. Humboldt maintained that the gems of the Ural Mountains had a geological relation to the carboniferous dolomite of Adolfskoi as well as to augitic porphyry. But Verneuil and Murchison, examining the mines, found the alluvia which contained the diamonds had no carbon; therefore the hypothesis was incorrect, and the matrix of the stone must be sought in another direction. The mines of Brazil have been examined during a century past by a number of geologists and amateurs like Mawe, Martins, St. Hilaire, Claussen, Eschwège, Burton, Hartt, and others; and to their works we must refer the reader for extended descriptions of the geological features of the country and the peculiarities of the gem mines.

In the recent exploration of the diamond fields by Professor Hartt, the Professor decidedly opposes the views of Claussen by saying, “I do not believe that the diamond ever occurs in the true palaeozoic itacolumite in Brazil, but that it is derived from the tertiary sandstones.” After casual examination of the diamond-bearing sands of the mines in Bahia, he is also led to believe that they have resulted from the disintegration of Chapada sandstones; and he regrets that they have never been critically examined, for he thinks that the mystery of the origin of the diamond may be solved from their study.

However, from the multitude of hypotheses to which the study of the subject has given rise, we find nothing to shake our confidence in the belief of the formation of the diamond in the secondary gravel beds where they are now found.

Shortly after the opening of the Bahia mines, black, brown, and even clay-colored pebbles were found associated with the transparent diamonds in the cascalho. These pebbles were of various sizes, generally quite small, but sometimes appearing in masses as large as one thousand karats. Their nature was not at first recognized, and they were thrown aside with all other stones of little or no value. Finally a quantity was gathered and sent to a merchant in Paris, where they were seen by Count de Douhet. The Count in 1867 presented a notice of them to the Academy of Sciences and pronounced them to be massive carbon, and a variety of the diamond. The exact localities in Brazil where it occurs we are unable to describe, but believe them to be situated in the Province of Bahia. As to the quantity gathered we are also unable to give a definite opinion, but have reason to think that it is quite limited; and, moreover, we have yet to learn that it occurs in any other diamond mines in the world.

The color of the carbon, or carbonado, as it is called by the Brazilians, is generally black, but it may be light-brown or of a greenish gray color, when diluted with clay. It is always opaque, but is not always compact, being sometimes quite porous, like pumice-stone. It never crystallizes, but generally appears in angular pieces in lumps or concretionary masses whose specific gravity is 3 to 3.4, while that of the transparent diamond is 3.5.

The black and perfectly crystallized diamond, which is very rare, is not to be confounded with this variety.

The hardness of the carbon is equal to that of the transparent diamond, and probably some of the purest and most compact specimens are harder even than the limpid variety; for the black gems are generally harder than the light-colored, and we have for instances the deep-blue sapphire, the black tourmaline, etc.

At first this newly discovered mineral was pulverized, and its powdered dust used to polish diamonds and other gems, and was then sold for a few francs the karat. Lately, however, science has applied its use to new inventions; and the demand for it in its application to the drill and the saw has increased its value to several dollars the karat, and the price is still increasing. Its advantages over the crystallized varieties are very decided, and it is as hard and has no cleavage planes, and is therefore far better able to resist the effects of shock.

The only diamond known to have been found in modern times in Western Europe is that picked up in a brook in the County of Fermanagh in Ireland. Its weight was not given, but it was stated to be of a reddish cast and valued by Mr. Rundell at twenty guineas. Some mineralogists have maintained that the stone in question was not in place and was probably brought in the crop of some bird of passage from Brazil or the tropical countries of America.

To us, however, a more plausible and probable theory would be that the stone was in place, and that its presence is no more remarkable than the gold nuggets found in the same country. In fact, this instance is no more strange than the finding of the great American diamond in Virginia, which was also a solitaire and many miles below the auriferous fields whence it is supposed to have drifted. We shall not be surprised to learn of the occurrence of diamonds in other parts of Europe. Pliny ends his chapter on the diamond by stating on the authority of Scepsius that diamonds are found in Germany and in the island of Basilia along with amber.

Eastern Russia was long ago suspected of being diamondiferous; and as early as 1826 Maurice Englehardt pointed out the resemblance of the Ural districts to those of Brazil. It was, however, left to Humboldt and his companions to make known the actual occurrence of these gems in this country. For in 1829, during their visit to Siberia, they discovered several diamonds on the estates of Count Porlier, about one hundred and sixty miles west of Perm, on the western declivity of the Ural Mountains. Active search having been instituted, forty diamonds were found in the detritus on the banks of the Adolfskoi. Strange to relate, they were discovered in the gold-bearing alluvium twenty feet above the stratum containing bones of mammoths and rhinoceroses. Since this period they have also been found at several other places along the Uralian chain.

In commenting upon the occurrence of these diamonds of the Adolfskoi which are preserved in the collection of Prince Butera, some of our best geologists have come to a startling conclusion.

Humboldt, Sir Roderick Murchison, and M. Verneuil, obtaining information from different points in Siberia, have been led to the belief that the diamond in these localities was formed at a date subsequent to the destruction of the mammoths.

Since this period Colonel Helmersen has made known other points along the Uralian chain of mountains where the gem has been found, as Ekaterinsburg, Kushvinsk, and Versch-Urak. But we have no information of “placers” of any considerable extent having been discovered, or the finding of the gem in sufficient numbers to warrant systematic explorations.

Future research may reveal other localities in Siberia where this gem occurs, for the country was known to the ancients as furnishing the adamas.

Amnian in the fourth century mentions the region of Agathyrsi as one of the gem-bearing countries; and this country included the Ural Mountains and part of Siberia. It is not at all strange that the exact localities should have been forgotten during the long intervening space of time and the many political convulsions that have interrupted commercial intercourse with those far-off regions.

It was well known that Scythia furnished the ancients with gold for centuries; but in modern times all trace of the localities was lost until revealed by the researches of German miners exploring for copper and iron. Stranger still, the locality of the gold mines in Spain, so famous in ancient times, is unknown at the present day.

The gold fields of the Southern States of North America have been known to be diamond-bearing for forty years or more, but as yet no earnest or well-directed search has been made for the gems. During this period of time more than thirty diamonds have been picked up by accident along the gold belt which extends from the central and eastern portion of Alabama, through Georgia, North and South Carolina, even to the interior of Virginia. All along this auriferous formation the itacolumite appears in the gravel beds or in ledges or even in large mountains in some localities.

In Alabama, where the itacolumite is abundant, several fine diamonds of three or four karats weight have been found.

The northeastern portion of Georgia has also yielded some beautiful stones to the miners while washing for gold. Some of these we have seen and found them to be of the purest water. The Glade mines, a few miles north of Gainesville, have yielded several fine diamonds, some of which have been cut in London. They were found by accident in the riffles of the gold-washing machines, and were preserved by the miners simply as curiosities. At the Horshaw gold mines, a few miles farther to the northeast, a large diamond was picked up, but unfortunately destroyed by the ignorance of the laborers, who unluckily reasoned like the ancients concerning its destructibility, and therefore tried the effects of a heavy sledge upon it while placed on an anvil. An examination of this last deposit in 1866 convinced the writer that it was a true diamond field; and search was rewarded with the finding of two small but well-crystallized diamonds. So far as we can ascertain, all the diamonds thus far discovered in these regions have been finely crystallized.

North Carolina has also yielded some fine specimens of three and four karats weight; but the largest diamond thus far found in the United States and preserved was picked up in 1856 on the banks of the James River, opposite the city of Richmond in Virginia. The spring floods had probably washed it down from the gold fields which are situated a few miles above. The stone was a well-defined octahedral crystal. Its weight, while in the rough state, was about twenty-five karats, and its color was of a faint greenish white tinge. Its transparency was perfect, but its refractions were somewhat impaired by a flaw or a speck in the interior.

The American diamond-cutting establishment of Morse, Crosby, & Foss, of Boston, cut this gem very successfully at the cost of about $1,300. The stone was purchased by a distinguished American athlete in New York, and worn by him in a breast-pin for many years.

None of these diamond fields have been examined systematically by experienced miners with a view to their development, and in fact no definite idea of their limit or their value can be given. But we have the impression that they are far more extensive than has been imagined by mineralogists. The returning gem-seekers who have been educated in the diamond mines of South Africa may investigate ere long these unknown districts and settle the question beyond further inquiry. In California, a few diamonds are reported to have been found here and there among the gold fields, but nothing like a gem placer has yet been revealed. The geological formations of Arizona and New Mexico are more promising than any part of the United States, and explorations may disclose extensive and valuable gem deposits in those regions. The originators of the famous diamond swindle in Arizona chose their locality with more than ordinary sagacity.

The account of this daring scheme reads more like romance than reality, and it was more than ordinary boldness that prompted the perpetrators to visit foreign lands, purchase quantities of rough diamonds and then plant them in a distant, desolate, and hostile country to entrap the wary speculator. The success of this piracy was fortunately checked by the sagacity of one of the United States geologists exploring the adjacent territory, who quickly disclosed the fraud, but not in time to prevent the swindlers from pocketing large sums of money from speculators in California.

Pliny mentioned Arabia as one of the localities of the gem; but modern investigators believe that he founded his views on the facts of the diamonds being obtained from Arabian merchants, and that they really came from other countries.

This probably is the true version of the commerce of the Arabians in those days; but we see no objection to the belief that Arabia may have been a diamond-bearing country in early times, and may possess undeveloped fields at the present day. Northern Africa was also asserted to be diamond yielding, and modern investigators have established the truth of the assertion.

In the year 1867 the attention of gem-seekers was turned to vague reports of the discovery of rich diamond fields in South Africa, and the pages of history were examined closely to prove that in ancient times this continent was known as a diamond country. It is undoubtedly true that Africa yielded diamonds to the ancients, for within thirty years several have been found in Algiers, and are now preserved in the collections of Paris. They were discovered in the auriferous sands of the river Goumal, in the Province of Constantine, by natives while washing for gold. They were small in size but of unmistakable character. This discovery strengthens the ancient report of the Carthaginians’ procuring the gems from the Etrurians, who brought them from the interior of Africa.

In 1867 a diamond was discovered by accident in the soil several hundred miles north of the Cape of Good Hope. The report was not credited, and it was not until a number had been found and tested that the attention of adventurous men was fairly aroused. Success soon rewarded the labors of the first bands of gem-seekers; and the news, widespread over the world, soon brought thousands of determined and hardy men, who are even yet earnestly exploring the gem districts and also revolutionizing the country.

The gem mines now under process of exploration are situated on the Vaal River and its tributaries, the best of them being found near the junction of the Vaal and Orange Rivers and from five to six hundred miles north of the Cape. The locality known as Du Toits Pan soon became famous and yielded a great number of diamonds, some of them over 100 karats and one reaching the great weight of 288³⁄₄ karats. The topography of the country around these mines is characterized by low, flat-topped hills, which strike the observer at once by their singularity. The storm clouds, their frequency, their dull gray hue, their constant commotion, and the nearness of their approach to the earth are also quickly noticed by the new-comer, so strangely different are they from the ordinary atmospheric changes.

Five miles to the north of Du Toits occurs one of the most remarkable mines yet discovered in any part of the world. It is called Colesberg Kopje, and although one of the richest spots of the globe, it is also one of the meanest places on God’s earth. Several thousand men have been actively engaged upon it for a number of years past, and many thousand diamonds have been taken from it. So rich has been its yield that it is stated that four thousand have been obtained in a single day.

The extent of the excavation is enormous, and yet all has been done by simple and even rude means. But little advantage has been taken of the use of machinery and skilled labor, and most of the operations have been conducted in a primitive manner. The distance to the coast and the great expense of transportation is perhaps the principal reason why different and more satisfactory arrangements have not been made.

The photographs of the appearance of this field and its excavations strike one with amazement. The countless array of tents in the distance on the borders of the deposit; the thousands of busy miners; the huge and deep ditches stretching across the plain, vast enough to float a fleet of men-of-war; the lofty mounds of thrown-up earth,—all together present a startling picture never to be forgotten.

The depths of these enormous ditches vary from ten to more than one hundred feet.

All this herculean labor has been performed in less than twenty years under the stimulus of extraordinary prosperity, and it indicates a determination to explore the country thoroughly.

As yet there has been no complete survey of these regions, and the extent of the diamond fields is still unknown. Sufficient evidence, however, has been received to indicate that they cover an area of one thousand square miles, and are situated principally in the Orange River Free State, but also extend into the Transvaal Republic and Cape Colony. These districts alone will afford remunerative labor for some time to come, and we have little doubt but that other fields of even greater extent will before long be discovered in other parts of Africa.

For a long time past we have been led to regard this continent as containing the most extensive and richest diamond deposits on the globe. A great portion of Africa belongs to the geological conditions which produce the diamonds, and the present explorations will educate a host of gem-seekers, who will not only investigate other parts of Africa, but will also explore other countries. Therefore we may expect the diamond trade to receive a strong impetus for some years to come, and that new mines may for a time reduce the present prices of the gem.

The largest diamond yet afforded by the South Africa mines is that called the Stewart. It was found at Waldeck’s plant, in November, 1872, by a man named Antonies. Its form was that of a modified octahedron, beautifully crystallized, and exhibiting a faint tinge of yellow. On the outside of the crystal were a few specks and flaws, but the interior appears to be free from imperfections. Its original weight was 288³⁄₈ karats.

A vast number of the diamonds found in these fields are tinged with a faint hue, generally yellow or faint brown. This peculiarity was also noticed with the yield of the Brazilian mines.

It is quite impossible to give a correct account of the quantity afforded by these mines up to the present time. It amounts to many millions of dollars, and is sufficiently large to produce a marked effect upon the market, but nothing like the panic which followed the discovery of the Brazilian mines. The value of the diamonds exported at Cape Town in 1871 is said to have been $7,500,000, but it was probably much greater.

Australia has afforded to the gold miners quite a number of small diamond crystals, and gem fields undoubtedly occur within its borders. Among the auriferous sands of the Maguarie River minute crystals have been picked by the careless miner from time to time, and other localities have also afforded specimens of the mineral, but no systematic search has yet been made for them. A number of these specimens of diamonds, although of minute form, were exhibited at Melbourne in 1865.

The islands of Java and Sumatra yield diamonds among their mineral treasures, but, strange to say, the island of Ceylon, which is the most remarkable gem deposit in the world, does not produce a single specimen. The island is not far distant from the gem districts of lower Bengal. The formation appears to be of the same character, but it is evident that the geological conditions which deposited the sapphire, the zircon, spinel, etc., differed from those required by the diamond.

CHAPTER IV.
ORIGIN OF THE DIAMOND.

The origin of this precious stone has been a favorite study with man from the earliest times of its history; and, as we have already stated, it has given birth to a multitude of hypotheses.

The peculiar fascination which attends the contemplation of the gems arises partly from their commercial distinction, as well as from certain mysterious properties with which they have been invested not only by tradition but even by scientific research.

We will not, however, venture to affirm that they are more wonderful or deserving of a higher place in the estimation of man than the beautiful and more transient flowers of vegetation. Both are indeed objects of our highest consideration.

The transparent diamonds always occur in crystalline forms, although they sometimes appear almost amorphous or even cylindrical or globular. Its primitive form, however, is the octahedron.

They are found generally in limited deposits, which are often as shallow and well defined as the gold fields, which are termed placers; and therefore we will also call the diamond fields “diamond placers.”

In some “placers” the shapes of the crystals are perfectly regular, while in others they are greatly modified and rendered indistinct. In some mines they occur in fine octahedrons with beautifully truncated edges, but in other districts the rare form of the regular cube may abound. Every section of the diamond-bearing countries seems to have some peculiarity either in color, form, or arrangement of crystal. It is indeed true that experts, from an examination of the rough specimen, are sometimes able to detect the locality whence the diamond was obtained. The same facility may be applied to the natural crystals of other gems, but it cannot be established as a fixed or general rule. The diamond “placers,” distinct and well defined, are far more numerous on the earth’s crust than is generally believed.

A thousand plausible and often ingenious theories on the geological character of the diamond have been advanced in modern times or within a century past; and a great variety of rocks or mineral substances extending from itacolumite to xanthophyllite have been affirmed to be the parent mineral. The real matrix, or such as we believe it to be, of the diamond is the same all over the world. The associate minerals which form the conglomerate in which it is generally found may vary somewhat, but the character of the deposit is but little changed. This matrix is a secondary product, and consists of a conglomerate gravel which once abounded in remains of animal and vegetable life.

The keen eye of Buffon early detected the formation of the true gem strata; and believing that the gems were produced in these peculiar beds by the solar forces, he boldly asserted that they were formed in the superficial strata from débris of older formations, mineral, animal, and vegetable. “On ne peut leur donner d’autre origine, d’autre matrice que la terre limoneuse qui rassemblant les debris des autres matieres.”

This matrix is a well-defined conglomerate, which is found generally on elevated plateaux, and which corresponds to the bottoms of shallow lagoons or lakes of inconsiderable depth. In the earthy portion, which is composed of a variety of débris, occur the diamonds, interspersed among the quartz or rock pebbles, and in a marked and continuous layer. These formations are well known to the geologist, for they occur in almost every country on the globe.

In various parts of the earth’s structure we find solid strata of conglomerate and sandstone, which have been formed at distant and different periods of the world’s history. In other places we may observe the loose materials of the same formation awaiting transformation when exposed to the action of water highly charged with iron, lime, or silica, and we may even see the process taking place at the present day. For example, we will take the broad tracts of level country known in the south of France as the “Landes.” Here we have an excellent illustration of the formation of the gem beds, lacking, however, the precious stones. Below the surface of these plains, and generally at the depth of about three feet, a conglomerate called “allios” has formed, and is still in the process of forming. This stony layer, which is composed of quartz pebbles mixed with sand, has been cemented strongly together by the vegetable and organic matter which has trickled down from the surface of the earth during indefinite periods of time. The action of this organic débris soon renders the conglomerate quite impervious to water, and retards its passing into the sand beds or other strata below. In consequence thereof these broad tracts of level lands become stagnant lagoons of water during the rainy seasons, and all the remains of vegetable and other organic life sink down into these layers of stone, gradually filling up the interstices among the rocks and lesser pebbles.

This collection of decayed various organic substances is generally of a gray or blackish color, or may be of a rusty yellow-hue like ferruginous sandstone. Its cementing power has given a special name to the formation it has caused; and to the gold-miner it is known as hard-pan, to the gem-seeker as cascalho or “mellan.” Its peculiar hue, together with the metallic fracture of its layers, has given rise to the belief that it was composed chiefly of a ferruginous oxide. Recent analysis, however, of the “allios” has shown that this idea is partly erroneous, and that the color and the substance of the formation in reality arises from the juice and débris of plants loaded with tannin and other matter. Iron, it seems from these investigations, is present only in small quantities, and also is afforded by the secretion of vegetable life. However, the quantity of iron in the conglomerate varies considerably in different localities, but most of it seems to be acquired from the action of vegetable vitality.

These conglomerates of the Landes have been a long time in process of formation; but in other localities, like those of the Cape de Verde, to which the waves of the sea have had access, we may witness the transformation going on with rapidity. No great time is required by nature for this production, but rather the application or conjunction of certain materials exposed to the action of chemical changes and telluric forces.

It has been asserted that the diamond has been found embedded in the singular quartzite to which Count D’Eschwège gave the name of itacolumite, but we are inclined from examination of one of these specimens to think that its presence is quite accidental.

In the State of Georgia there are immense beds of itacolumite, appearing, also, here and there along the auriferous formation which extends from Virginia to central Alabama; and they afford ample fields for proof of the statement that the mineral is really the true matrix of the gem. But, after careful examination of some of these exposed rocks, we are led to regard the itacolumite as an associate mineral to the diamond, and that any farther connection with the gem is very distant. Fragments of this rock are quite often found together with quartz in the conglomerate; but we do not regard their presence as essential as that of a ferruginous oxide, which is one of the distinguishing features of all gem mines, and especially of the famous deposits of Ceylon, where the diamond is never found.

The best and most characteristic mines of India, Brazil, and Africa are situated on elevated plateaux, where there is at present but little vegetation.

To give the reader an idea of the formation, we will describe one of the districts of South Africa, which may serve to illustrate all others. At Pnict Kopje, in the Vaal region, the diamonds are found on an elevated plateau one hundred and fifty feet above the river bed; and many of them have been discovered but two or three feet below the surface, in company with fossil wood and even bones. In the Orange River Republic they occur frequently in peculiar isolated and circumscribed spots, called by the miners “pans.” These are basin-like hollows which are filled with water during the wet seasons. In these pans none of the diamonds exhibit signs of abrasion caused by shock or attrition, although the quartz pebbles forming the gravel and conglomerate show in their rounded angles evidences of aqueous action. The gems are not only found in the shallow edges of these hollows, but are taken from depths of one hundred feet and more. And they are always found in their peculiar and connected conglomerate, which seems to have formed at the bottom of some pool or lake. Hence we may explain the superficial depth of the cascalho at the shores of the extinct pond, and the increased depth at central parts of the fields. If motion had taken place among the pebbles forming the conglomerate after the deposition of the diamond, we might properly look for worn surfaces on the gems from shock with contact with loose rocks; for slight blows will mar the surface of the diamond, even if its edges scratch all other minerals with perfect ease.

In these pans the diamonds are natural in form, indicating that they have not moved since the time they were deposited. But in the beds of the rivers which have in later times worn deep ravines in the face of the country we find diamonds with abraded surfaces, having been rolled about by the torrents for indefinite periods of time. Whence come the alluvial soils and the gravel beds which cover the gem strata and completely fill up the lake depression, especially when there are no surrounding elevations to furnish disintegrated material?

This serious question will naturally arise in the minds of all observers; and to answer it clearly will be a difficult task. Sometimes the thought occurs to us that much of the quartz gravel has formed in these pools at subsequent periods and has been broken up and rolled about by the waves until another stratum of alluvium has formed above it; but we will not venture to assert an opinion to this effect. Still, it is a great mystery to ascertain whence some of the quartz pebbles came from in the present elevated condition of the placers and the absence of similar rocks in the vicinity. There is another fact connected with the diamond placers which deserves consideration, and that is their great elevation above the sea level.

The mines of India, Africa, and Brazil are situated at a considerable altitude above the ocean. Those of India are generally a thousand feet above the sea level; while the wonderful gem mines of the adjacent island of Ceylon, which are also true placers, occur but few feet above the line of the tides, but do not yield the diamond. It is certainly remarkable that Ceylon does not afford this gem among the great number of other precious stones. At first thought the idea occurs to the observer that as flora and fauna have their distribution according to certain elevations a similar rule may be applied to the deposition of minerals. But there are too many exceptions known to oppose this view, however pleasing the theory may be.

One of the strongest arguments in favor of the theory of the recent deposition of the gem is connected with its discovery in the gold mines of the Adolfskoi in Siberia. Here they were found in alluvial strata twenty feet above those deposits which contained the bones of the mammoth and the rhinoceros. Hence Humboldt, Murchison, and Verneuil were led to the conclusion that they had been deposited there since the introduction of animal life. There are also some remarkable evidences to sustain the view that these gems were formed in the conglomerate and earth where they are now found. In some of the mines of India they have been taken out of red earth with the earth clinging to their sides as if it had become attached to them, while the crystals were of a soft, glutinous substance. In the Museum of Rio Janeiro there is a large rounded diamond which has very distinct impressions of grains of sand upon its sides. The British Museum contains an octahedral crystal attached to alluvial gold, and Dr. Nello Franka mentions another which enclosed a leaf of gold. A number of specimens have been observed containing splinters of ferruginous quartz and crystals of other substances. The microscope often reveals in the interior of these stones germs of fungi and even vegetable fibres of higher organization, some of which resemble the moss-like appearance seen in the moss agates.

It was from the study of these conditions, connected with the fact that the stone becomes black when strongly heated, that Goppert was led to assert that it could not be of igneous origin. It was also from investigation of the refractive powers of the gem that Sir David Brewster was induced to assume the hypothesis that it was, or that it might be, a congealed secretion of a vegetable production. This distinguished philosopher was seeking a perfect lens for microscopic use; and discovered that the diamond, notwithstanding its immense refractive power, was of very doubtful character in its adaptation to this purpose, and that its laminæ were sometimes of different shades and even arranged in a series of stratification. They not only differed from each other in color and purity, but did not exhibit a common focus. Therefore, Brewster was led to infer from these and other phenomena that the mineral was of vegetable origin, and that its parts must have been held in solution before crystallization took place.

There is nothing very startling in this hypothesis, no more so than in the case of the amber, which is now admitted to be a fossil resin, and which is, in its refractive powers, second only to the diamond. Therefore we cannot object to the theory of vegetable origin on account of the property of brilliancy.

Tavernier observed that the color of the diamonds in India often partook of the color of the gravel in which they were deposited,—white, reddish, blackish, or greenish, according to the color and purity of the matrix. This fact has also been noticed in Brazil; and it lends support to the view that the gems have been deposited under stagnant water, and have received some tinge from its color.

The diamond is admitted by microscopists to be one of the foulest gems known to them; and specimens are rare that do not exhibit cavities, imperfections, or foreign matter in their interior. A painstaking microscopist, after examining the large collection of rough crystals of the East India Company in London, which numbered several hundred specimens, came to the following conclusion: “It seems to be a general truth that there are comparatively few diamonds without cavities and flaws, and that the diamond is a fouler stone than any other used in jewelry.”

Berzelius first called attention to a black substance which he found in a diamond belonging to the collection of Countess Porlier; and since then many other examples have been observed. Frequently black specks resembling anthracite have been noticed in the Brazilian diamonds. Tavernier saw in India a large diamond of one hundred and four karats, whose central portion was so foul as to render the stone worthless. When it was cut open the cavity yielded about eight karats of filth, resembling that of a rotten weed.

The diamond is now recognized by the chemist as a crystalline form of pure carbon. Newton, in 1675, with the wonderful penetration of his genius, and reasoning from the high refractive power of the gem, which so far exceeded the degree due its density, believed it to be combustible. More than a century later the experimentalists of the Academy of Florence strengthened this view by destroying it in the focus of powerful burning mirrors. Lavoisier, however, dispelled all doubts concerning its combustibility by burning it under a receiver filled with oxygen gas. It has since been ascertained that a temperature of 14° Wedgewood completely volatilizes the diamond, producing carbonic acid gas. An English experimentalist, however, has recently declared that the gem may be consumed at a red heat, and maintains that he has accomplished this result by enveloping the stone in certain alkalies.

It has been admitted by eminent geologists that the diamond proceeded from the slow decomposition of vegetable material, and even animal matter, as the requisite carbon could be obtained from either source. But they have also strenuously maintained that the gem was formed under the same conditions of heat as produced the metamorphism of argillaceous and arenaceous schists, these schists being supposed to have once been altered from shales impregnated with carbonaceous substances of organic origin. To this theory the revelations of the microscope offer decisive objections, since this instrument shows that there has been no action of heat in the formation of the stone, for the vegetable remains often detected in the interior of the mineral forbid the development of any considerable degree of caloric. Therefore, as there is no evidence of the influence or effect of heat upon these organic matters within the diamond, the theory must be abandoned.

Geologists have been, perhaps, too tenacious in their views of the origin of many of the rocks that compose the earth’s crust, and especially in maintaining that many crystalline rocks are as old as the dawn of creation. We know that some of these minerals may be produced artificially at the present day, and that the forces that arranged all rocks of a high molecular organization are still in force.

We sometimes speak of old crystalline rocks with the inference that their age is beyond comparison, and therefore undetermined. Yet the microscope is constantly lessening the force of these views by revealing prodigious numbers of minute and animal forms in fossil condition in various kinds of crystalline rocks.

We also observe that various forms of silex have been deposited on the earth in recent periods of its history, and even since the appearance of animal life, for we find their remains transformed into agate. Thus it is evident that nature still possesses the power to deposit certain forms of mineral substances.

Arago and Biot, reasoning from the energy of the refractive power of the diamond, were inclined to believe that it contained hydrogen. Sir Humphrey Davy suspected the presence of oxygen, but sought for it in vain after many careful experiments. Chaucourtois, however, deriving a theory from chemical results, came to the view that the stone is derived by the humid process from a hydrocarburet. Reasoning from the process of forming sulphur from hydro-sulphuretted emanations, he believed that in the humid oxidation of a carburetted hydrogen the hydrogen is oxidized, while part of the carbon becomes carbonic acid, and the rest remains as carbon and may crystallize into diamond.

Supposing this hypothesis to be correct, where do you find the required materials for the formation of the diamond? the reader may ask. At the bottom of these lagoons the decomposition of organic matter furnished abundant means for the production of the gem. Carbonic acid is everywhere produced from the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter. It is constantly evolved from the earth, and has the property of decomposing many of the hardest rocks. It is the cause of that mysterious decay which Dolomieu called “La maladie du granite.”

In carburetted hydrogen we have the united force of two of the most active substances known as organogens, or generators of organic bodies. But of the vast range of their properties, their affinities, and their interior changes we are still profoundly ignorant. We may, however, easily recognize the fact that their combinations and also almost every other chemical compound may be decomposed by electricity or galvanism.

Here then we have a clew, though perhaps distant, to the formation of the gem. Is not the production of drops of water by passing the electric spark through a mixture of hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen suggestive of the manner in which the diamond might be formed from carburetted hydrogen? It is true this experiment in the laboratory has failed to produce the transparent and crystalline form of carbon, although it has thrown down the element in an amorphous state. This failure is by no means decisive, for many of the simple acts of nature are beyond the imitative power of man.

And then again the chemist may exclaim, “How is it possible for the gem to be produced in this manner, when the combination of these elementary bodies is always or nearly always attended with the development of a considerable degree of heat, while the diamond contains at times germs of organic matter? Would not these organic remains be destroyed during this process? On the contrary, they do not exhibit the least trace of the effect of combustion or even heat, and are as well defined as the insects in the fossil resins.” In reply we will point to the formation of fulgurites through the agency of the lightning without the evolution of heat.

History presents some almost incredible examples of the stupidity and obstinacy of mankind in the explanation of natural phenomena. It seems quite impossible that when the German philosopher Chladni, less than a century ago, asserted that meteorites were extra-terranean bodies, the Academies of Europe laughed at him in scorn. Several meteoric showers falling in Europe shortly after did not convince the bigoted philosophers. And when Pictet in 1802 read a paper before the French Institute in favor of the theory, he was insulted by his learned audience. It was not until a year afterwards, when the great meteoric shower occurred in Normandy, that Biot, deputized by the French Government, succeeded in convincing the most sceptical. Yet only a few years previous De Luc, the first meteorologist of Europe, the founder of geology, declared that he would not believe it even if a stone should fall at his feet from the skies. In 1751, Peysonnel presented to the Academy of Sciences at Naples an elaborate memoir in which he very plainly proved that the coral belonged to the animal and not the vegetable kingdom. But his admirable paper was hooted at by the European naturalists; and even the distinguished philosopher Reaumur declared that the idea which was advanced was really too absurd to be discussed.

When we come to review the hypotheses of science during the last century, we shall feel more inclined to be generous and flexible in our views of natural phenomena.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

The nodular or globular forms of the gem present no serious objection to the idea of vegetable or animal origin; and we may refer for argument to the calcareous nodules of the old red sandstone. These concretionary and radiated masses are merely sarcophagi of animal remains; and their arrangement plainly shows the chemical influences of decaying animal matter and also the multiple and varied effect of crystalline attraction and electric force. Can we say that the crystallized diamonds occurring in well-defined placers are any more remarkable than the little globular petrifactions found in the cretaceous formation and known as the Coscinopora globularis, and which nature provided with a perforation so that ancient man adopted them as ornaments in place of beads?

We are often reminded by the antiquary of the remarkable foresight or acuteness of the ancient poet Lucretius in his explanation of certain natural phenomena which have since been verified by modern science. But of all the heaven-inspired dreamers none have come nearer the truth in terrestrial matters than the Arabian poet Fizee, who wrote:—

“The sun from whom the seven seas obtain pearls,
The black stone from his rays obtains the jewel,
The mine from the correcting influence of his beams obtains gold.”

Plato believed that the gems were produced by a sort of vivifying spirit descending from the stars. It is undoubtedly from the influence of the solar forces and the magnetic and electric currents which are constantly playing through the crust of the earth that the gems derive their origin.

These phenomena of the earth’s vitality are manifested in their greatest force along certain elliptics, which may be traced over the true gem districts of Asia, Africa, and Brazil, and in marked contrast to adjacent territories. The miners in South Africa, disturbed by the severe whirlwinds and frequent thunder-storms, soon began to imagine that the excessive electric action had something to do with the creation of the gems they sought. Mr. Voysey, Geologist to the India Survey, also observed the very marked telluric action in the diamond formations of India, and moreover that the process of crystallization took place there with wonderful rapidity. So convinced was this keen observer of the present reproduction of gems in the alluvial soil or conglomerate that he commenced to collect the proofs of recrystallization. Unfortunately for science, Mr. Voysey died shortly after he adopted these views. Dr. Buchanan, another traveller who visited many of the mines of India, was impressed with this idea; and he was assured by the miners all over India that the regeneration of diamonds is always going on in the peculiar gravel. In proof of their statements, many men were then engaged in working over the débris that had been examined many years before. An interval of fifteen years was sufficient in their estimation to reproduce new gems, at least to a certain extent. This reproduction, or rather, we will say, assertion of a reproduction, reminds one of the mysterious action of the nitre beds, which yield rich returns after a rest of a few years, and especially those which occur among rocks which are destitute of potash.

It is to the learned Abbé Haüy we owe the theory that crystals are made up of an assemblage of minute parts or molecules, each having the same definite form. To the diamond especially this hypothesis may be applied, since it is composed of thin laminæ covering or concealing its primary form. With the aid of the skill of the artisan we can remove these coverings one after the other, until the definite and elementary form of the crystal be revealed. In the time of Louis XIV. it was thought that the size of diamonds might be increased by placing them in certain solutions, as crystals of salt are enlarged by immersing them in solutions of the same substance. But the difficulty then was to find the required liquid; and even at the present day we have not yet succeeded in discovering the composition of the water of crystallization of crystals of quartz or topaz, although Nature has shown the fluid to us in the cavities of certain crystals.

These curious speculations which were discussed in the days of the “Grand Monarque” are again revived by the theory that gold nuggets are not only deposited from aqueous solutions, but are actually increasing in size under certain influences and conditions.

But where does this metal come from? the inquirer may ask. From a variety of sources, we may reply. Does not the water of the ocean contain it in appreciable quantities, and did not M. Sage extract it from the ashes of certain burned vegetable substances? We also know for a certainty that iron is produced by vegetable vitality, but we will not attempt to explain the manner or whence the material is primarily derived. Cosmic dust or the invisible atoms of the atmosphere may be the source. The origin of the gold nuggets and the particles of gold-dust in the well-defined placers, as advanced in the hypotheses of Raymond and Murray within the past few years, is connected very closely with the theory of the recent formation of diamonds in similar placers.

In connection with this theme, it is proper to make a digression in explanation of the condition and formation of the gold placers, as they seem to be highly suggestive of the depositions of the diamond placers. Gold is often found in the same strata with the diamonds, and the presence of the one sometimes indicates the deposition of the other. But this is not invariably the fact. Yet the peculiar formation in which the metal and the gem occur leads the geologist to similar trains of reasoning when seeking to explain their presence in the tertiary strata of very recent times. It has been generally supposed that all alluvial gold is the result of disintegration of the old crystalline rocks. But we now distinguish placer gold into two kinds, as the alluvial and that which results from decomposition of quartz reefs. The distinction between these two qualities of the same metal arises from differences which are quite strongly marked. The alluvial gold is generally much purer than the reef gold; and the reefs rarely, if ever, contain nuggets. The appearance of the nuggets and particles from the true placers, in comparison with the gold-dust evidently set free by aqueous action, is suggestive of a theory that they have been deposited by different agencies.

It has been suggested by Mr. Selwyn, the Government Geologist of Victoria, while studying these differences, that the gold nuggets found in the drift may have been deposited from solutions containing gold by means of electric and chemical agencies. Mr. Skey, analyst to the New Zealand Geological Survey, has recently come to similar conclusions from his researches on the subject. The theory is well illustrated by the formation of crystals and masses of iron pyrites from solutions of that metal; and as gold is often found associated, free and uncombined, in these pyritiferous depositions, there is sufficient evidence to believe there may be some connection in the manner of formation.

From the results of certain chemical experiments in the laboratory, it would appear that organic matter is one of the necessary chemical agents for the decomposition of some of the solutions of gold. Therefore, if we assume this hypothesis to have a positive bearing upon this question, the abundance of organic matter occurring in the gravel beds adds to its weight as an argument. Selwyn found in the gold-bearing drifts of Australia quantities of fragments of wood, roots of trees, and other organic débris to serve as nuclei, or as reagents for the reduction of mineral solutions. We may introduce as evidence the formation of iron pyrites in crystalline forms, which is taking place at the present day under the action of sea-water. The metal in these instances replaces the organic structure of wood, or assumes definite forms with a particle of organic matter as a nucleus.

The formation of gold nuggets from solutions of the metal is by no means as wonderful or difficult of explanation as some other phenomena witnessed in metallurgy. The strange play of pseudomorphism is well defined in some instances, if not well understood. Here we observe that the peculiarity of form may be rigidly adhered to, while the composition is completely changed. In the waters of certain copper mines, drills, rings, and bars of iron that have accidentally been left have in course of time become transformed into pure copper. The iron of the implements has changed places with the atoms of copper held in solution.

In connection with this interesting theory, there are some puzzling facts to be deduced from the phenomena of the auriferous sand beds of some of the rivers of Europe. The gold placers along the coast of the Danube and the Rhine are situated far from the mountains, the supposed sources of the metal, and there are also wide barren districts intervening. The river Tesino affords no gold in its sands until its waters have passed through and beyond Lake Maggiore. From these and other examples, it is quite evident that the gold which appears in these river beds has been derived from the placers through which the rivers have passed, and not from quartz reefs in the distant mountainous regions. The situation of these placers, with the evenness and regularity of their deposits, also the absence of auriferous ledges among the contiguous rocks, permit the observer to indulge in the idea that the gold may have been deposited from solutions and not from the decomposition of crystalline rocks. We certainly have sufficient evidence to object to that final explanation which ascribes all these depositions to aqueous action in distant times, and to the abrasion of primitive mountains, the evidence of whose existence is alone and doubtfully afforded by the débris which form the strata of the gold and diamond placers. The ancients long ago noticed the deposition of gold in the beds of rivers; hence the phrase “The gold-breeding sands of Pactolus.”

It has been a favorite theory with many persons of a philosophic turn of mind that all organic forms were created upon the earth not by mere chance or hap-hazard, nor by what have been called by the early geologists “freaks of nature,” but, on the contrary, with some definite intent on the part of the Creator, and perhaps for the welfare of mankind. Some of these far-sighted thinkers have advanced their views so far as to maintain that even obscure animal and vegetable forms may have some indirect or distant effect upon the well-being of man. We all must admit that it is indeed a beautiful hypothesis, even if it be contested by stern and savage arguments. But if we indulge in this manner of reasoning, there seems to be hardly a limit in natural philosophy in which we may not seek for evidence.

Can we not include the subject of our treatise among those things which are supposed to have some influence upon the moulding of human character? Certainly its geological age, its origin, the beauties and wonders of its physical properties, and their application to art and science as well as to the wants of society, furnish evidence to sustain an inference.

But how can a cold, inanimate object like a gem influence the condition or expansion of the human intellect? the rigid materialist may say. The gems, he will maintain, apply only to the superficial wants of man, and directly tend to degrade rather than elevate our natural morals; that they are articles of commerce, and that commerce debases our natural instincts.

On the contrary, we may say that the beautiful in nature of whatever degree is calculated to assist in the development of mental culture; and without these beautiful lessons and examples constantly spread out before us, man would always have remained in a state of utter barbarism. As we look back upon the history of life, how many of the triumphs of human architecture may be traced to the suggestions arising from the observance of the varied forms of nature! Nearly all of the beauties of the Gothic or Grecian styles may be found existing in the fossil relics of by-gone ages or even in the multiple forms of existing vegetation. What grand deductions Newton derived from his studies of the glories of the opal and the iridescent gleams of the soap-bubble!

Let us follow our theme a little longer. In reviewing the fragmentary remains of the early periods of the earth’s history, the observer will admit that there has been a marked progress in even vegetable life as well as in the animal. For in the primitive ages we find the non-flowering plants were more numerous than the flowering species. Therefore, in contemplating the precedence of succession of animal and vegetable life, the thought naturally occurs to us that perhaps the most delicate and beautiful of all our flowers elate from recent geological periods.

We may also apply this hypothesis to the gems, and perhaps maintain that they too have arrived at perfection by progressive stages. The corundum, for instance, in the primitive rocks is never so pure and perfect as the nodules and crystals found in the true gem strata of recent formations. The emerald of the limestone is also incomparably above the beryls of the granites. The spinels, the chrysoberyls, the zircons, and the topazes of the gem beds are generally far superior to those found in the old crystalline rocks. There are, however, some plain exceptions to this plausible theory; and the finest of the tourmalines are found in cavities in granite ledges that appear to be of an early age.

We are also sometimes inclined to think that color in the early ages of terrestrial life was wanting in the rich hues which now deck animate nature. For of all the relics of the old geologic forms that are preserved to us their colors are either greatly faded or were at first faintly painted. Even in the tertiary division the hues are not beautiful. The shells, however, exhibit a trace of the pearly hue of the nacre, which may once have shone as brightly as in the modern mollusca. Some of the fossil fishes display a gleam of the silver tints that now glisten on the sides of the living species. Fossil corals preserved in the marble, however, have retained the beauty of form but lost all delicacy of hue, if they ever possessed any. Still, absence of bright and glowing colors of the animals in a fossil state is by no means conclusive evidence that nature was then devoid of external decoration. For we may see on every side how the beautiful hues of animal and vegetable life may fade and disappear altogether on the suspension of vital activity; and also how the process of solidification and petrifaction may modify or even obliterate all traces of organic color. It is, however, a fact that the richest-colored gems and minerals are found near the surface of the earth, as though they required the direct influence of the solar rays, like the finest varieties of colored coral and the gorgeous flowers of vegetation.

In reflecting upon these phenomena, and in seeking for the causes that led to the creation of the diamond, and sifting down the evidence that science has patiently brought to light, we are naturally led to philosophic musings. It is a singular reflection that much of our commercial greatness is derived from luxuriant vegetations of early ages of the earth’s history. How much pleasure, how many of the comforts of civilization and even the necessities of life, do we owe to the extinct fauna of by-gone ages! Even invalid man, seeking to restore the exhausted fountains of his shattered nature in the waters of some of the sulphur springs, quaffs the life-restoring principles from the mineral and animal débris of the lower ocean of the old red sandstone. Here, then, is a happy adaptation of the vague and empty theory of transmigration of the ancients,—the metempsychosis of Empedocles. Certain elements imprisoned in the earth for ages return again at last to reanimate exhausted man and improve his social life. The same agency in recent times, and by natural though mysterious laws, has produced from similar materials the gem, which seems to be quite as necessary for the superficial wants of mankind as gold or silver.

In studying the earth’s history and examining the successive phases of its development, we are insensibly led to the idea that all these stages, seemingly progressive, never retrograde, were for a definite purpose, if not for the exclusive benefit of mankind. For it is only just before the introduction of man that some of the highest orders of vegetation, such as the Rosaceæ, appear on the earth. There is certainly a marked intent in the appearance of the pear, the apple, plum, cherry, peach, and other fruits, with the true grasses, late in the tertiary period.

We may also trace this suggestive progression in the development of even insect life. In the Silurian age the hum of the insect was unheard; and it was not until the oölitic period that this form of animal life appeared. A fossil gem—the amber—reveals the time of the birth of the insect dearest to man; and it was not until the eocene change that the earth heard for the first time

“The soft murmur of the vagrant bee.”

May we not also place in the same category of possible intents the late deposition of the diamond? It is not so very strange, after all, when we come to consider the vast field that lies within the range of the argument.

CHAPTER V.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, ETC.

Before explaining, or rather attempting to explain, the phenomena of some of the prominent physical properties of the mineral, it is proper that we should give a description of its forms and its natural appearance as it is taken from the mines, so that our reader may become more familiar with the subject. We will not, however, venture very far among the dry details of crystallography, even if it be a subject of great interest to the student in science. The stone which so readily attracts the eye by its dazzling splendors after it has received a definite form and polish from art, is seldom attractive to the view unless it occurs in a rare and perfect form of crystallization. Even then, in this primitive state it exhibits none of the rainbow play of color which makes the stone so celebrated and so beautiful. In reality, in these rare conditions it is seldom if ever so lustrous and pleasing to the sight as crystals of many other minerals. In general, the diamond is so obscure in its attractions that practised eyes are required for its search.

Recently the distinguished savant Von Tschudi, in visiting some of the diamond mines of Brazil, was unable to distinguish readily the gems as they lay in the washed cascalho, while the trained eyes of the negro miners picked them out with ease. It has been stated that the diamonds are always or nearly always covered with an earthy crust of various hues, especially greenish or yellowish, which is hardly the fact; for what appears to be a crust is often caused by the salient edges of the laminæ, among which a little earthy or coloring matter has been introduced. These extraneous colors generally disappear when the surface of the stone is removed; and, in fact, the degree of their intensity is very much modified when the rough gem is placed in alcohol or in any fluid of high refraction.

The dull, whitish appearance seen in the natural diamonds is also produced by the action of fire, which raises the edges of the laminæ, producing a faint milky aspect.

The primitive form of the mineral is the octahedron, and many irregular masses may be reduced by cleavage to that of a double pyramid. These octahedral crystals are sometimes as perfect in outline as a mathematical model, with clean-cut angles and smooth faces. In some specimens the edges may be truncated, that is, as if they had been flattened or ground off by mechanical means. Generally, however, the crystals are of the form of the octahedrons with rounded faces. The dodecahedrons, with their twelve faces, and the cubes, with their four sides, may also be reduced by cleavage to the primitive form of the double pyramid. Sometimes two crystals are united, forming what are called hemitrope or twin crystals. Then, again, a number may be grouped together, assuming on the whole a globular-like mass. But they are decidedly different from the globular, which in their form of crystallization radiate from the centre of the crystal.

The variety of diamond called boart, or bort, deriving its name from the supposed abortive attempt of nature to form a perfect crystal, is also quite deficient in cleavage, or its laminæ are so irregular as to render splitting quite impossible and the cutting of the stone equally so. The transparency of these forms is also affected by the arrangement of crystallization; hence they are generally crushed into powder for polishing material or used for various purposes in the arts. The specific gravity of these varieties seems to be influenced by the manner of crystallization. For instances, we find that the fine transparent crystals have a specific gravity of 3.55 (water being considered the standard as 1), while the bort is somewhat less; and the massive variety called the carbonado varies from 3 to 3.4, according to the amount of earthy matter it may contain. It has also been asserted that the blue, the green, the orange, and the red varieties are heavier than the white. The phenomena of electricity observed in the diamond are not remarkable, and are inferior to most of the gems. Some of the precious stones when excited retain their electrical properties for hours or even days, but the diamond loses it almost immediately. It exhibits vitreous electricity when rubbed.

Much has been said and written concerning the artificial phosphorescence exhibited by the diamond when removed to a dark room after having been exposed for a short time to the sun’s rays. We are not able to verify this statement, and feel inclined to doubt its correctness, although we have been assured by experimenters of the fact.

One of the most remarkable properties of the diamond is its extreme hardness, in which it far exceeds all known substances in the mineral kingdom. This peculiarity is due to the substance itself, but appears to be modified by its color and its form of crystallization like some other minerals.

The more perfectly the crystal is formed, the easier its laminæ become detached, and the softer the substance appears to be. In the globular forms, which are quite deficient in cleavage planes, the hardness is excessive, and often resists the most determined efforts of the lapidary. Even in fine crystals we shall find that certain angles are harder than others; and we may observe the same relative degree among crystals of other minerals, like those of the topaz. In the large transparent diamonds of irregular form, spots of excessive hardness are often found. These are called by the lapidaries “knots,” and appear to be due to a change in the process of crystallization. The coloring matter, or the mode of its formation, seems to affect the degree of hardness in many minerals; and in respect to the diamond, the rare crystallized black form is harder than the limpid or lighter colored.

Some years ago a black diamond from Borneo was placed in the hand of Gallais the lapidary, to be experimented upon at the expense of the French Institute. The chief object of the test was to ascertain the relative degree of hardness in comparison with some of the other varieties of diamond. In this trial the lapidary wore out his steel wheel and a large quantity of ordinary diamond dust without making the least impression on the surface of the black diamond. Although heavily loaded with weights, it lost none of its roughness, and was heated almost to whiteness by the friction of the wheel, which revolved with great velocity. During the period of this extreme velocity it is reported that a shower of sparks was emitted; but how shall we account for this scintillation, when the ordinary transparent diamond does not give forth sparks when struck by steel?

The carbonado, which is amorphous and without cleavage, is also extremely hard. The term “adamas,” which the ancients bestowed upon it as denoting an invincible infrangibility, is not quite appropriate; for although it is far superior in hardness to all other known substances, it is in reality very fragile. And in the power to resist the effect of shock it is also inferior to some of the other gems, and especially the sapphire. Therefore several mineralogists have thought that the ancients really applied the term to steel or to some of the varieties of corundum, like the ruby and the sapphire, and not the diamond. It is curious that this property should be ascribed erroneously to the diamond for so many ages, when a trifling experiment would have disclosed the real condition of things. In the days of the poet Lucretius the gem was believed to be able to resist violent blows.

——“adamantina saxa
Prima acie constant, ictus contemnere sueta.”

Pliny entertained the same idea, and also that its infrangibility could be overcome only by first steeping it in goats’ blood. Even in mediæval times Ben Mansur, the Persian mineralogist, gravely states that a diamond laid upon the anvil and struck by a hammer would not be broken, but would be driven by the violence of the blow into the substance of the anvil. This stupid but wide-spread idea has prevailed even in modern times; and many a gem has been sacrificed by the ignorant in testing the character of the stone. The brittleness of the gem is partly due to its singular cleavage, which in regular crystals is so perfect and uniform as to permit the lapidary to remove the laminæ so as to entirely demolish the structure of the crystal. But when once accomplished, no artisan, however skilful, can replace them again. The facility with which the stone may be separated was known in ancient times among the Hindoos, and probably in Europe as early as the sixteenth century, as De Boot knew of a physician who could divide the diamond into thin scales like a piece of talc; but it was forgotten until Wollaston not many years ago stumbled upon the secret of cleavage and made it known to modern science.

The real charm and value of the diamond lie in its remarkable brilliancy, and in the wonderful prismatic display of the bright and beautiful colors, which are constantly fugitive, but perpetually returning, as the learned Abbé Haüy elegantly expresses it. When a ray of light is reflected from the surface of a body, a particular impression is conveyed to the eye, which we may properly term the eclat. This impression is often so decided and so varied in its effects, that we are able to distinguish certain substances at a glance; and the reflection from the diamond exhibits a peculiarity which is seen only in a very few substances. This is known as the adamantine flash, and none of the gems display it to any marked degree except the rare zircon. We witness the perfection of this property in the black and opaque but crystallized diamond, when faceted by art; and also in some few minerals of which we shall soon make mention. When the rays of light are refracted, after passing through the transparent diamond after it has been cut in a certain manner, and its facets are arranged in an exact relation to each other, then we obtain the remarkable exhibition of color which is known as the prismatic display. This singular property is seen in perfection, or even to any considerable degree, only in the diamond, among all the gems thus far known. But art, however, has succeeded in imitating it in one of her productions of glass, and so admirably, that under favorable circumstances it is quite impossible for the eye alone to distinguish the artificial from the real gem. Some of the theories relating to the causes of these phenomena we will discuss hereafter, and at the present will only say that it is to modern science the diamond owes the full development of its latent beauty; and that the result was not attained until Newton demonstrated the laws that govern the refraction of light. It is only in the brilliant and rose-cut forms, or their modifications, when made with mathematical precision, that the brilliancy and beauty of the stone is displayed in perfection. The ancients, therefore, were not acquainted with the full splendors of the gem. For, being ignorant of the laws of refraction of light, they polished the stone chiefly with the view of preserving its greatest weight; and, at the same time, producing perfect transparency. Hence most of the specimens of ancient and barbaric art are rudely cut, and therefore do not exhibit the degree of beauty which is latent in the mineral. This is also one of the reasons why the luxurious Romans preferred the opal to the diamond, since the polished, or even the rude specimens of opal exhibited their glorious reflections of wondrous hues, both by day and in artificial light by night; while the diamond, with its natural or polished faces, gave forth no prismatic display in the daylight, and but a slight degree comparatively in artificial light at night.

Whence arises this remarkable brilliancy, and to what particular cause is the property due? This inquiry has afforded a fruitful theme of speculation among philosophers, but at the present time we are content to say that the refractive power of the gem is due to the nature of its substance. This is somewhat indefinite, it is true, but what else can we say?

Under the general belief that the harder the gem the higher its refractive powers would be, it has been maintained that the brilliancy of the diamond arose from the simple property of its excessive hardness. Investigation, however, does not sustain this widespread view. Hardness, indeed, may have considerable relation with the arrangement and form of the molecules composing the gem, for in the same crystal it is not uniform,—some faces and angles being harder than others,—but it does not determine the degree of brilliancy. To strengthen this statement we will take for instances the soft minerals, crocroisite, the chromate of lead; the Greenockite, the sulphuret of cadmium; and the octahedrite, the oxide of titanium, which exceed even the diamond in brilliancy. There are also other decided examples among the transparent minerals to sustain this view; the most remarkable of which perhaps may be found in the zircon, a gem which is soft as quartz; yet it ranks next to the diamond in brightness, and far surpasses in eclat every other gem, even the sapphire, which is next to the diamond in hardness. Density does not seem to have anything to do with the determination of the refractive power of gems, for the garnet, spinel, sapphire, and zircon are much heavier than the diamond, and are yet far inferior in brilliancy. The topaz is exactly of the same specific gravity as the diamond (3.55), but nevertheless its refractive powers have but little more than one half the energy of the diamond. The relative brilliancy of the diamond to that of the purest limpid quartz is 8 to 3; but the relative density is only as 4 to 3. All diamonds do not exhibit the same degree of brilliancy, because they do not possess alike the same quality of purity or perfection of crystallization.

We often observe among the minerals that the most perfect specimens are found of a diminutive size; and we shall also find that the finest and purest types of the diamond occur in stones of little weight. The larger crystals, or amorphous masses, seem to be wanting in purity and brightness as compared with the lesser; and this peculiarity may be observed well marked in some of the other gems. Here, then, we may find material for the argument that the degree of brilliancy is in a measure due to the perfection of the crystallization of the stone; and, therefore, the larger and coarser the laminæ of the crystal the less will be its brightness. One thing, however, is certain; that the most brilliant gems are obtained from stones of no great weight, and which also seem, from their form, to indicate a nodular arrangement of particles in their formation; or, in other words, a certain concentric manner of crystallization. This form of deposition is not peculiar to the diamond, but is clearly shown in the sapphires, topazes, chrysoberyls, tourmalines; and the finest specimens of these gems are cut from these nodular forms. We think we are correct in stating that the greatest brilliancy and the most beautiful prismatic display may be observed in diamonds of less than ten karats in weight. In fact, the diminution of brilliancy in the gem, when above twenty karats, is easily discerned by the eye alone, as compared with the vivid and adamantine flash of a pure and perfect four or eight karat stone. The same peculiarity may be observed in the little globular masses of the chrysoberyl, which are seldom larger than a pea in size, but which, when cut, exhibit flashes of fire which are only equalled or excelled by the diamond, or the rarer zircon. We can hardly realize that the little rounded pebbles of white topaz, known as gouttes d’eau, “drops of water,” will yield gems of such lustre as to be often exhibited, and even sold for the diamond. Yet the larger irregular masses, or finely crystallized specimens of the same mineral, do not afford gems of unusual brilliancy. In these instances we may affirm that the form or mode of crystallization has something to do with the degree of brilliancy.

The prismatic play of color which this gem alone possesses to any considerable degree constitutes its chief charm, and its cause has been a matter of earnest study among opticians. A plausible theory has lately been advanced by an English philosopher that the colored rays are produced by the relation of the high refractive to its very low dispersive power. For instance, this refractive power in the diamond, or, in other words, its property of bending a ray of light falling obliquely upon its surface, is 2.439, while that of water is only 1.336, and that of glass 1.500. But its power of dispersing a ray of white light, or, in other words, of separating it into its compound colors in reference to its refractive power, is only 0.038, while that of glass is 0.052. Hence it is surmised that this inferiority of dispersive power is required for the production of the splendid colored reflections which constitute the glory of the gem. It is also maintained that this high refractive power separates the red and the blue rays more than a high dispersive power would in other transparent bodies, and to such degree as to allow each color of the spectrum its full force. As example, the zircon, with its inferior reflections, is offered, its refraction being 1.99 on the established scale, while its dispersive power is as high as 0.044. The relations of the spinel are also as 1.81 to 0.040, and neither does the gem display the rainbow hues. This theory is certainly ingenious, and if correct the test may be applied to other transparent minerals possessing similar relations. We may, therefore, expect the white garnet to exhibit the property of prismatic display, as it has a refractive power of 1.81 and a dispersive power of 0.033. But, unfortunately, perfectly pure and transparent white garnets are unknown, and we must therefore turn to other minerals for comparison.

To the white tourmaline, then, we will apply the test, since this mineral has a refractive power of 1.66, with a dispersive power of only 0.028. Here, then, we have nearly the same relation as observed in the diamond; and, if the theory be correct, we may reasonably expect the exhibition of the same phenomena. But, upon examination of several perfectly white and transparent tourmalines from Mt. Mica, cut into regular brilliants, we have failed to detect an increase of prismatic display, or even discover any evidence to lend support to the plausibility of the hypothesis. We, therefore, reluctantly turn to other arguments for a solution of this most interesting problem.

The snow-white diamond displays the rainbow hues in the greatest perfection; and this is the reason why this quality is sought for in preference to the light buff or deeper yellow, which are in reality more brilliant. The deeper the hue of the gem, the less becomes the prismatic display; and when the diamond becomes of deep and decided hue, the colored reflections cease altogether. It is somewhat singular that the colored gems are generally more brilliant than the pure white, that is, if the color is not so deep as to affect the transparency of the stone. For examples, we shall find that the white sapphire has an index of refraction equal to 1.768, while the blue has 1.794, and the red 1.779. The refractive of the white topaz is 1.610, while the yellow is 1.632.

The brilliancy and rainbow play of the diamond is not so apparent by daylight as by certain kinds of artificial light, when all its latent beauties are called forth as if by magic. The light of the camp-fire in the obscurity of night produces a marvellous effect upon the polished stone; and it is no wonder that the savage heart of the Russian General, Suvaroff, was fascinated by the vivid gleams of his treasured diamonds when viewed at night in the flickering beams of his bivouac fire. It may seem singular that the brilliant white light of gas does not display the qualities of the diamond as the duller flame of the wax candle. The secret lies, perhaps, in the difference in their spectra. Nevertheless, there is a great difference in their effects upon the gem, and it is a fact that the wax candle far exceeds the gaslight in calling forth the latent splendors of the gem. Therefore, we can assert that the brilliancy of toilets where the diamond is much worn depends greatly upon the manner of illuminating the apartment.

We now come to another interesting problem in the study of the nature of the diamond. We refer to the various colors of the gem. As we have maintained that the mineral is of vegetable origin we may be expected to explain the phenomena of its color upon this hypothesis, and also account for the various changes of the gem when exposed to the effects of heat or the fire test. But we must admit with candor that our views concerning this physical property are decidedly unsatisfactory, and shall refer the reader to one of the chapters in our treatise on the Tourmaline, in which are grouped some of the theories relating to the subject. In fact, we may repeat the remarks of Huyghens, who said at the end of the seventeenth century: “In spite of the labors of Newton, no one has yet fully discovered the cause of the color of bodies.” “We must, then,” says M. Babinet, “admire, without penetrating their secret, the unparalleled red of the Oriental ruby, the pure yellow of the topaz, the unmingled greenness of the emerald, the soft blue of the sapphire, and the rich violet of the amethyst. This is not the only thing the discovery of which we shall leave to posterity.”

The color-suite of the mineral is much more extensive and varied than has been generally admitted by mineralogists. We are led to infer from their works that white is the prevailing hue of the gem; but Beudant declares that perfect limpidity and whiteness is rare comparatively, and that the stone is generally affected with yellowish or brownish tints. But what becomes of the vast numbers of these clouded or tinged and inferior gems, if the mines yield so many of them in comparison with the snow-white? Are they consumed in polishing others, or expended in the arts, or have the lapidaries secret processes by which these objectionable tints are expunged from the stone?

Barbot, the French jeweller, declares that, by means of certain particular and energetic agents, aided by a proper degree of heat, he is able to remove the greens of all shades, the light-red, and the yellow, when the coloring matter is superficial, or even situated between the external laminæ. We are inclined to believe Barbot in this particular reference, especially as he admits that he is unable to change much the deep-yellow, the brown, and the smoky-tinted stones. Of the yellow tints, the diamond affords the most beautiful examples, and far surpasses in variety all the other gems, with the exception perhaps of quartz. To the yellow topaz it is decidedly superior in its range of shades, and in some of its chrome-like tints it is without an equal among the gems. This hue of chrome mixed with a faint tinge of green is a delicate, yet gorgeous, shade, and is not often seen. Stones of a canary-yellow are quite common, and perfect resemblances to the Brazilian topaz are not rare. From these hues they pass insensibly into brown and black. The transparent light-brown stones are often modified in hue when exposed to the action of heat, and some of them exhibit remarkable changes of color. M. Halpen, in 1866, exhibited to the French Academy of Sciences a singular diamond of this description. It was a stone of sixty grains weight, and of a whitish hue tinged slightly with brown. But when it was exposed to the action of heat it changed its tint to a fine rose-color, and retained it for six or eight days, when it gradually returned to its natural hue. This remarkable effect was not an accidental result, but was tried five times at the Academy with success and without injury to the stone. In other colored diamonds the action of fire often produces permanent effects, and sometimes a brownish hue is converted into a decided red color. Buckman saw a diamond with a large brown spot in its interior change to a beautiful red, like that of the Balais ruby, after the stone had been placed in borax and exposed to a red heat. Another stone, however, of similar appearance, likewise exposed, changed to a permanent black, to the great injury of the gem and dismay of the experimenter. The red varieties of this mineral are rarely of deep tints, but when they exhibit a decided red color they form the most gorgeous of gems. The largest and finest of this description known is the ten-karat stone purchased by the Emperor Paul of Russia for one hundred thousand roubles. This gem may be considered the marvel of the mineral kingdom. The princely collection of the late Mr. Hope possessed one of a blood-red garnet shade, also a fine twelve and a half karat stone of an apricot hue, besides several others of a beautiful hyacinth red, or of a lilac pink.

The celebrated cabinet of gems belonging to the late Marquis de Drée contained a large and beautiful rose-colored diamond. Prince Riccia, of Naples, acquired in 1830 a very fine rose-colored brilliant of fifteen karats weight. M. Halpen, in 1838, exhibited a magnificent gem of this description of twenty-two and a half karats. Among the crown jewels of France there are several splendid brilliants of a peach-blossom hue, and there are also quite a number to be seen among the princely caskets of Europe. It is, however, somewhat remarkable that this gem, although possessing several shades of red, never, or very rarely, occurs of a decided violet or purple color. Diamonds of a light aqua-marine of greenish and bluish tints are not rare, but those of a positive grass-green color are uncommon. Perfect stones of decided green form the most magnificent gems of this color. The velvety green flashed forth by the extraordinary power of the stone surpasses beyond comparison the finest emeralds with their duller reflections. In fact, we may term the splendid green diamond of forty karats, now in the Green Vaults at Dresden, as being one of the five paragons among all the gems of the world.

In the Museum of Natural History in Paris there are some small diamonds of very fine shades of green, which were collected by the celebrated Werner. Some of the diamonds which have a slight milky hue, when cut so as to allow the play of light within the stone, present a very beautiful appearance. The varied flashes of colored rays, in contrast with the duller hues of the stone, appear like the charming effects of the finest specimens of Siberian adularia, and are therefore entitled to the name of aventurine diamonds.

The asterism, or star-like form of six rays, which is so beautifully displayed by the sapphire when it assumes a certain form of internal arrangement of crystallization, is sometimes, though very rarely, witnessed in the diamond. There is one of this description to be seen in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.

The diamond is rarely found of a perfect shade of blue; but there are now in Europe several magnificent gems of this description. Foremost of all of them stood the famous blue diamond of 67²⁄₁₆ karats, belonging to the French crown. This marvel of Nature’s work, with two other diamonds of paler hue and lesser weight,—thirty-one and ten karats respectively,—disappeared on that fatal night of September, 1792, and have never since been discovered. At the present day, the finest known is that which belongs to the princely collection of the late Mr. Hope, and weighs 44¹⁄₄ karats. It is of a fine blue; but exhibits that steel-like tint which is so often seen in sapphires. The next in value and beauty is that which is preserved at Munich. It is a magnificent gem of thirty-six karats weight, and of superb color.

The crystallized black diamond is a very rare stone; and, when polished, it forms a unique gem, since it exhibits a remarkable brilliancy, proceeding, as it were, from darkness itself. We do not now refer to the compact variety, known as carbon or carbonado, which is never found except in the amorphous form, but the crystalline variety, which is of greater density and more homogeneous. The famous collector, Dogni, possessed a very fine specimen of this kind which had been cut with small facets, and exhibited a vivid eclat. It afterwards came into the possession of Mr. Bapst, who disposed of it to Louis XVIII. for the sum of twenty-four thousand francs. A large and unique diamond, almost black, formerly belonged to the late Duke of York. Several of the European mineralogical cabinets have interesting and valuable collections of colored diamonds; but the finest is to be seen in the Imperial Cabinet of Minerals at Vienna. This beautiful and complete series, which illustrates the great range of the color-suite of the gem, was the life-long labor of a Tyrolese gentleman, by the name of Helmreicher. This enthusiastic amateur went to Brazil, and passed most of his life in the mines, searching for the gems.

We will not fatigue our readers with long quotations of authors and philosophers concerning the spiritual properties of this gem; but we will briefly say, that a well-selected compilation of all these views and speculations, extending back to very early times, would form a chapter by itself, and quite as interesting as absurd. Even the good sense of the Latin philosopher Pliny was affected so far as to indulge in the belief that the gem was not only an antidote to poison, but also freed the mind from vain fears. Late in mediæval times, the adamas was invested with supernatural powers, and regarded as a spiritual creation. And even in the commencement of the seventeenth century Boetius de Boot, in his treatise on gems, asserts that the diamond possesses wonderful metaphysical properties; but remarks that they do not reside in the stone per se, but belong to the angelic spirits whom it has pleased the Almighty to connect, in a mysterious manner, with certain substances in nature.

CHAPTER VI.
THE TURKISH CASKET AND ANCIENT GEMS.

The Sultan of Turkey is said to possess many wonderful diamonds and other gems among the regalia and ornaments treasured up in the strongholds of the Seraglio; but very little is known, definitely and positively, concerning them.

In 1840 the Sultan granted a firman to the Duke of Devonshire and a party of friends, permitting them to examine the court-jewels. One of this party, my illustrious kinsman Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, has recently described to me the impression they made upon his memory, more than thirty years ago. The number of articles was too great, and their effect too dazzling, for the memory to be able to particularize them after so long an interval of time. He remembers that in two strongly built rooms, and displayed on mats, or cushions of velvet, were a vast number of decorations and insignia, crescents, tiaras, clasps, and necklaces, etc. Among the latter was one of wondrous beauty and perfection, which the Sultan wished to present to the Princess of Wales on her visit to Stamboul. The beautiful Princess wore it at the reception she gave the Sultan and his cabinet, but for various reasons was obliged to return the magnificent gift.

Among the arms of former Sultans were the swords of Al-u-deen, and Solyman the Magnificent. Besides their historical renown, they were interesting on account of their superb workmanship, and their decorations with gems of wonderful beauty.

In 1880 an American traveller was admitted to a view of some of the rooms in the Treasury of the Seraglio, and from memory of what he saw there wrote the following description:—

“In the centre of the first room is a throne. It is a platform about two and one half feet square, with a cushion of cloth-of-gold embroidered with pearls, rubies, and diamonds. Around three sides of the cushion is a low rail supported by miniature columns, and standing about eight inches high. The whole body of the throne is overlaid with plates of gold, and the rail is studded with clusters of rubies symmetrically arranged. The first thought that strikes one on seeing this throne is the surpassing value of its jewels, and the second is the superlative discomfort of the concern viewed as a resting-place. The rail, which answers for arms and back, is perpendicular and rectangular, and could rest neither the arms nor the back of the enthroned Sultan. Uneasy the man that sits the throne, must be the Turkish equivalent of the proverb concerning the wearer of the crown. In one corner of the room is another throne, said to be the throne of Nadir Shah, of Persia. It is of some dark wood, delicately inlaid with ivory and pearl, and has a canopy of the same materials, from the centre of which hangs a great gold ball decorated with precious stones.

“In one of the cabinets is the cradle of the imperial babies. It stands low on its rockers, like the cradles now in use in Turkey. The two ends rise a foot above the mattress, and are connected at the top by a bar which runs lengthwise of the cradle. The whole is of solid gold, and the outside of the cradle is crusted with pearls, diamonds, rubies, and turquoises.

“In one of the galleries are the effigies of all the Sultans of Turkey down to Mahmoud the Reformer. The figures are dressed in what professes to be the state robes actually worn by the Sultans whom they represent. The costumes are all different, and differ very much in cut, indicating the changes of fashion during the last five hundred years. But all these dresses agree in the feature of richness. Cloth-of-gold and silk brocade are the materials, and many of the figures are weighed down with jewels. The swords or daggers which all of the figures wear are especially magnificent in their display of precious stones. The dagger of Sultan Mahomet II., the conqueror of Constantinople, has in its handle an emerald full two inches long and an inch thick. I use the adjective ‘thick’ advisedly, for solidity of splendor is the impression left on the mind by that emerald. All of these gentlemen wore large turbans, and bedecked their turbans with diamonds. The only exceptions are seen in the case of the boy Sultan, Osman II., who was killed by his janissaries before he had attained man’s estate, and in the case of Sultan Mahmoud, the Reformer, who alone of all his kinsmen appears in European broadcloth. His head-dress is the fez cap, with a plume of bird-of-paradise feathers fastened in place by a great spray of diamonds.

“But there is no such thing as describing in detail the splendors of these rooms. There are antique arms and armor heavy with gold and jewels; there are innumerable horse-trappings and saddles, covered with plates of gold and studded with emeralds, rubies, topazes, diamonds, and pearls; there are saddle-cloths embroidered with precious stones. Several sofa-covers hang in the cabinets as background to the smaller articles. They are worth $150,000 apiece, and are heavy cloth-of-gold embroidered with seed pearls. In one of the cabinets are three uncut emeralds, the largest being the size of a man’s fist, and the smallest larger than a hen’s egg. The birds of the palace realized the experience of dwelling in cages of gold, for here they hang,—these ancient cages of gold wire. Some of the cages have a clock in the bottom, face downward, so that the royal household might see the time of day as they lolled on the divans beneath. The Imperial Princes appear to have gone to school in childhood, for here are the satchels in which they carried their books,—bags of velvet embroidered with gold and pearls and diamonds. In another place you see many mottoes from the Koran, embroidered in diamonds on red velvet. There are amber mouthpieces for pipes, studded with diamonds and rubies. There are coffee-sets and tea-sets of all degrees of magnificence; and vases of crystal and agate and onyx,—some of these profusely bejewelled. There are inkstands and snuff-boxes innumerable, all glittering with priceless gems. There are royal knives and forks and spoons of solid gold, with jewels on their handles. There is an immense array of clocks. One would suppose that every Sultan had his private clock, which ceased to tick when his heart stopped beating.

“Among the articles in this imperial treasure-house are many which must be regarded simply as toys. Of such is a tea-set of tortoise-shell as thin as paper. Another toy is a lady’s parasol of white silk exquisitely embroidered with gold, the staff of which is a single branch of coral so long and true and well adapted to its purpose that one might search years and fail to find its like. There are also very many fans of varying degrees of splendor. Another one of the toys is a figure of a sultan seated on his throne under a golden canopy ribbed with alternate rubies and emeralds. The whole structure is, perhaps, six inches high. The body of the figure is a single huge pearl, the lower extremities are carved from a blue turquoise, and the turban is a solid mass of diamonds. There is literally no end to the marvels of this place. After every conceivable use has been made of jewels, the surplus unmounted stones are gathered by handfuls into crystal bowls at one end of the cabinets in the second room. The spoils of all the empires which preceded the Ottoman Empire are heaped up in these two dingy stone rooms in the old Seraglio at Constantinople.

“It requires some time fully to realize the enormous wealth of this treasure-house. But slowly one becomes convinced that these treasures can only be the accumulation of centuries, and represent the heritage of the Ottomans from all their predecessors. Once assured of this, the traveller will find a peculiar fitness in the aspect and attitude of the guards of the place. They stand, dressed in spotless black broadcloth, four or five feet apart, in line along the cabinets, perfectly motionless. And they are solemn of countenance, as if standing by the catafalque of some deceased monarch lying in state for the homage of his subjects.

“I first visited this place shortly after the late war with Russia. The Turkish Government was in sore straits for the means of daily existence. The Sultan had just sent his gold and silver plate to the mint to be coined in order to buy up the depreciated paper currency. The people of whole districts were at the verge of starvation because the $80,000,000 of paper money in circulation had lost its purchasing power. I was naturally incredulous as to the reality of what I had seen. If these jewels were real, their value must be sufficient to pay off the dishonored bonds of Turkey. It did not seem reasonable that the Turkish Government could have passed through such straits as those to which it had been reduced by the war without having recourse to their treasure-house. Multitudes of articles in those rooms have an immense antique and artistic value entirely aside from their intrinsic value.

“I spoke in this strain to one of the officers of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, and he replied that the jewels were unquestionably genuine. He said that during the war the Turks borrowed $30,000,000 from the bank. The loan was to be secured by pledge of jewels from this treasure-house, and the bank officials were told to help themselves from its riches. They selected enough of the jewels to guarantee them amply against loss. These jewels were packed in three small boxes and removed to the vaults of the bank. But their removal left no gap in the great accumulation. Afterward I asked a Turk why the Government did not sell this treasure and be at ease. ‘Sell it?’ said the Turk; ‘why, it is the treasure of all the Sultans! It cannot be sold.’

“So there is this treasure-house to-day—a grand relic of ancient splendor—in the hands of the broken, ruined remnant of the house of Osman. The possession of this enormous wealth must be a terrible temptation at times to the worn man who wears the Sacred Sword of Turkey. But he clings to it through all his adversity, for it is the only relic left to the Empire of the glory of its past.”

Two of the oldest authenticated diamonds in Europe belong to the Sultan. One of them, a beautiful stone of twenty-four karats, and which adorns the aigrette of the Imperial plume on days of parade, was found in Constantinople in the time of Mahomet IV. It was picked up by a poor man upon a heap of dirt not far from the gate of Egrikapon. The finder had no idea of the value of his treasure, and sold it for a trifle. Passing through the hands of several purchasers, the gem was finally brought to the notice of the guild of goldsmiths, when its true character was made known. It was then seized by the Grand Vizier and annexed to the Imperial treasures by an edict. The other diamond, which is of greater beauty and weight, was found by a child playing in the Haiwanserai, or the Hebdomon, during the reign of Mahomet II., or about the middle of the fifteenth century. It was believed by the antiquaries that these gems belonged to the treasures of ancient Byzantium, and that the last may have adorned the crown of the Byzantine emperors. This jewel was lost by the fault of the masters of the wardrobe on the place of the Hebdomon during a triumphal march in the twenty-second year of the reign of Justinian, or 548 A.D. We can learn nothing more concerning the condition of these diamonds when found, but infer that they were polished, otherwise they probably would not have attracted the notice of the finders.

Lamartine and other historians of the Ottoman Empire allude to its treasury as in reality a wonderful museum of art, whose wealth is unknown and perhaps incalculable. They state that in four vast apartments beneath the Seraglio, vaulted subterraneously to shelter them from the ravages of fire, are collected the sacred relics, the jewels, the gems, and a great variety of objects of value that have accumulated since the origin of the monarchy. The antiquary may well say in viewing this collection of treasure, “The spoils of the universe are here represented.” For whatever of value and historic worth was saved from the wreck of Rome or preserved from the accumulations of the Greek conquests was gathered at Byzantium. In this fatal Acropolis at the extreme point of the continent of Europe, the Greek Empire had indeed collected all its monuments, all its masterpieces, all its riches, as if to tempt fate and render the prize all the more glittering to the eyes of the Ottomans.

Many, if not the most, of these priceless relics and treasures fell into the clutches of the Turks when Constantinople was won. Nothing escaped at that time. There is no doubt but that many remarkable gems were captured at this period, but concerning their nature and their value history has left us but little more than conjecture.

However, the historians speak definitely of the Greek emperors during their prosperity as displaying a magnificence worthy of the luxurious periods of Rome. The costumes of these rulers are described as marvels of art, and their jewels as of inestimable price. The accounts remind the reader of the descriptions left by Claudian of the treasures of Theodosius:—

“Sidonian mantles rich with purple fold,
Belts bossed with pearls, robes stiff with gems and gold,
And breastplates shining green with emeralds bright,
And helmets rich with precious sapphires dight.”

That diamonds were then used as gems and held in high estimation may be inferred from the single remark of the indignant historian, “One man buys entire Syria with the diamonds of his wife.” Perhaps the word diamond was thus used figuratively, and the expression referred to gems and jewels in general.

Besides these accumulations of the Greeks, much of the spoil collected by Timour in his merciless sack of India and Persia came afterwards into the possession of the Emirs of Asiatic Turkey, and eventually drifted to Constantinople. What these treasures were may be imagined from the glowing descriptions given by the historians of the last scenes of the life and reign of the great Tatar conqueror. The magnificent fêtes given by Timour on his return to Samarcand after the conquest of Arabia and Eastern Turkey, surpassed in historic splendor even the descriptions of Oriental fable. In the gigantic palace erected by him during the days of leisure between his conquests, and which was one of the marvels of the architectural world, he celebrated in a single day the marriage of six of his grandsons. The spoils of the universe were displayed in the decorations of the marriage feasts. The wealth of the Indies had been transferred to the home of the Tatar. Pearls, sapphires, and diamonds were showered in profusion upon the married pairs. Nine times did they change their apparel, and, arrayed in different solid cinctures of a tissue of pearls and diamonds, present themselves to the view of Timour,—the last festivities of the great Tatar chieftain.

This wonderful display of mediæval times recalls to the mind of the antiquary the magnificent marriage feasts of Alexander and his eighty lieutenants with their beautiful Persian brides. This historic festivity took place in Persia 324 B. C., when the Greek army returned from India, and continued for five days. Like that of Timour, it displayed in its magnificence the gems and art treasures of conquered Asia. The diamond, however, does not appear. Art evidently had not then acquired the process by which the natural and rough crystal is developed into a gem of sparkling and lustrous beauty. And the selected brides, to enhance their natural charms, wore pearls, emeralds, rubies, and turquoises wreathed among their tresses of hair, or in their necklaces, amulets, anklets, and bracelets.

Among the treasures supposed to be gathered in these catacombs, of an Empire’s wealth at Constantinople, there is one especially dear to the dilettante,—the wondrous ring of Ahmed. Vanquished in the long, bloody, and desperate battle fought upon the slopes of Olympus when entire Turkey was the prize, Ahmed offered to his victorious brother Selim I. a single gem to purchase the honors of a tomb. This precious stone was set in a ring richly chased in gold, and was the gift of Bajazet II. to the most beloved of his children. It was as dear as the ring Solomon wore, and which was gifted with wonderful powers extending even to the invisible world. But it was as fatal as that which Polycrates cast into the sea as an offering to the gods for his long-continued prosperity. History does not mention the nature of this remarkable treasure, nor relate whether it was diamond, sapphire, or emerald. However, we may glean some idea as to its rarity and beauty from the statement that the Genoese jewellers who were then the gem-venders of the world placed its value at a year’s revenue of all Asia Minor.

The antiquary may also find among these dusty and forgotten collections some of the lost gems and beautiful works of art of ancient Rome, or, perhaps, the rich ornaments brought home by the Macedonian soldiers from their Eastern triumphs, or the holy relics which the Arabs removed from the Gothic treasury at Toledo, and concealed in their fortresses and fastnesses of Syria. In mediæval times the precious stones and all that was marvellous in decorative art that fell into the hands of the Genoese and Venetian merchants went to Constantinople to adorn the magnificence of the Turkish nobles. Whatever the Mamelukes had gathered together in their treasury in Egypt, rescued from the dust of the catacombs, or wrested from the isolated strongholds of Western Africa, was seized by one fell swoop of the Turkish horsemen and transferred to the Bosphorus.

The extravagance of the Turkish nobility during some of the brilliant reigns of the Empire was extreme, and seems to belong to the golden age of fable rather than to the truthful periods of history. We can form some idea of the wealth of these favorites of the Sultans from the glowing descriptions left by the Ottoman historians.

Sinan-Pasha, the Turkish Marius, seven times exiled and seven times consul, yet dying at last at eighty while conducting the army to Hungary, left a heritage worthy of a king. Among his immense possessions the historian enumerates thirty-two cuirasses incrusted with rubies, fifteen strings of huge pearls, sixty bushels of fine pearls, seven tablecloths bespangled with diamonds, all accumulated during campaigns in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Another potentate, the Grand Vizier Sokolli, exhibited a love of magnificence worthy of the most reckless Roman profligates. His garden, near Tokat, was the wonder of Asia Minor, and was called the garden of Paradise, “Djennet-bagni.” Its parterres, instead of being covered with natural flowers, sparkled with rubies and precious stones imitating the form of flowers and surpassing them in splendor. This unique display of art was finally destroyed by the victorious barbarian hordes from Asia, and the beautiful imitations of flowering vegetation were borne off to the distant steppes to be transferred into ornaments for arms and horse-gear.

In forming a conjecture of the value of the treasures of the Turkish Seraglio, the antiquary naturally and justly recalls to memory the magnificence of early history and the numerous spoliations of ancient nations that eventually fell into the grasp of the Greek and Roman Emperors. Let us follow briefly the historian among some of the fragments of history which relate to this subject, and seem to indicate that the treasures of the earth gathered during the last two thousand years in reality drifted in course of time and by the fortunes of war to the Greek Capitol. It is the sad epitome of man’s greatness and his insignificance. For the pillage which graced the triumphs of the Greek and Roman arms not only represented the peaceful industry of nations, but they were also often the memorials of the destruction of the earth’s fairest hopes.

Rome, in the height of her glory, displayed a magnificence worthy of the valor of her arms and the magnitude of her conquests. Her temples were profusely decorated with gems, and her nobles vied with each other in the possession of the rare and the beautiful. At times the Coliseum exhibited the wealth of the nation and the liberality of its rulers. The poet who describes the games of Carinus affirms that the porticos of the immense edifice were gilded, and the extensive circles which divided the ranks of spectators from each other were studded with a precious mosaic of beautiful stones,—

“Balteus in gemmis in lita portico aureo
Certatim radiant,” etc.

In the triumphs of Rome the spoils of the last conquest were not only displayed, but the accumulated riches of the Empire were ostentatiously exhibited to view at the same time.

To give the reader an idea of the magnificence of these celebrations, we will describe the triumphal entry into the eternal city by Aurelian when returning from the conquest of Palmyra and the nations situated along the great commercial highways to Asia. This was one of the greatest of the Roman triumphs, and spread a dazzling glory over the name of the conqueror. The pomp was opened by the stately procession of twenty enormous elephants, followed by four royal tigers and more than two hundred of the most curious animals from all parts of the world. Then came a fierce and haughty band of sixteen hundred gladiators, selected for their beauty, strength, and skill. The wealth of Asia followed this vanguard of brute strength. Displayed in charming arrangement or carelessly heaped in immense piles, the spectators witnessed the arms, ensigns, and a vast collection of the objects of value and luxury of many conquered nations. Among the articles of gold were exhibited the numerous crowns of Aurelian, together with the magnificent plate and wardrobe of the Syrian queen. Amidst this glittering array appeared the embassies of foreign and distant nations; and the ambassadors of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, India, and China, with their brilliant or picturesque costumes, added greatly to the interest and splendor of the scene. Following these came long trains of captives from various nations,—Goths, Vandals, Sarmatians, Gauls, Syrians, etc.,—with the ill-fated emperor, Tetricus, and his son, dressed in Gallic costume. But the most attractive figure of all to the Roman populace was the beauteous form of the celebrated queen of the Syrian deserts. Zenobia was on foot and alone. As if in mockery of human ambition, she preceded the magnificent chariot in which she once hoped to have entered Rome. Her elegant figure was shackled with solid chains of gold, while she tottered under the weight of the inestimable jewels which adorned her natural graces. In the rear appeared the still more sumptuous chariots of Odenatus and of the Persian monarch. The triumphal car which carried Aurelian was resplendent with gems, and was drawn by four stags.

One of the most magnificent exhibitions of extravagance and luxury of ancient times was displayed on the march of Tiridates and his Parthian nobles, when they went to Rome to receive the nominal crown from the hand of Nero. Four thousand selected Parthian cavalry, clothed in rich apparel, escorted the King. The entire expense of the journey, which lasted several months and amounted to more than thirty thousand dollars a day, was paid by the Romans. The triumphal procession traversed Asia Minor, crossed the Hellespont, passed through upper Greece, around the Adriatic, and then down the peninsula to Rome.

It was a great day for Rome when the Parthians approached its walls. The city was illuminated, and decorated with garlands and the movable wealth of the Empire. The Roman nobles were clad in white; and the splendid Pretorian guards, glittering with their arms and decorations, were drawn up in two lines stretching from the end of the Forum to the Rostra. Through these lines of steel, flanked by a vast assemblage of citizens, Tiridates and his proud nobles marched to the Rostra, and received from the hands of Nero the promised diadem. The Empire impoverished herself in this barbaric display and attempt to awe and charm her haughtiest foe. The accumulated spoils of three hundred triumphs at Rome formed a glittering prize to the minds of Alaric and his devoted Goths.

But six years before the capture of the city, Rome displayed her magnificence and her wealth in the ovation given to St. Melania on her return. The extent of the decoration of the temples and their shrines may be inferred from the quotations of the historians. Serena, the wife of the Roman general, Stilicho, on great occasions wore a magnificent necklace which she borrowed from the statue of Vesta. But the protection of the goddess could not protect the unfortunate woman from being strangled by the Romans during the siege by the Goths.

The fame of these treasures had spread all over the known world. And to the Goths the beauty of gems and the delights of luxuries were not entirely unknown. For, in previous times, they had invaded the coasts of the Euxine Sea and sacked many of the rich cities, like Trebizond. In the pillage of the city by the Goths, Alaric is said to have protected the consecrated plate and ornaments of the temples; but he undoubtedly confiscated the most valuable and notable of the treasures. The booty of the army was immense; and when the victorious soldiers took their departure the roads were incumbered with the rich and weighty spoils. The haughty victors, clad in the vestments of unexpected luxury, might have been seen resting by the wayside, waited on by their captives,—the sons and daughters of Roman senators,—drinking the wine of Italy in golden goblets, decorated with gems.

The treasures obtained by the Goths in the conquest and sack of Italy were borne away with them to Gaul. Besides these, the Gothic chieftains are said to have possessed many valuable gifts from other nations. The record of these wonderful works of art has been lost; but a few scraps of history, here and there, give glimpses of marvellous treasures. When the Franks pillaged the palace at Narbonne in France, in the sixth century, they found many curious and costly ornaments of gold.

But most of the treasures and choice works were undoubtedly carried along with the army into Spain, and deposited in the Gothic treasury at Toledo. These were eventually captured by the Saracens and sent to Damascus. Thus, by the singular fortunes of war, these remarkable and beautiful relics returned to the Holy Land whence some of them had been taken centuries before. Among these articles was the famous “Missorium,” or great dish for the service of the table, weighing five hundred pounds. It was formed of solid gold of exquisite workmanship, richly inlaid with gems, and was the pride of the Goths.

The wonderful emerald table, which has been so enthusiastically described by the Arabian writers, was also seized at the same time. The transparent top of this table was encircled with three rows of fine pearls, supported on three hundred and sixty-five feet, formed of gold and gems. This superb piece of workmanship was valued at five hundred thousand pieces of gold.

The marriage feast of Adolphus, the successor of Alaric, with Placidia, the daughter of the great Theodosius, was a memorable occasion in ancient history. It was celebrated at Narbonne, and displayed the prodigality and magnificence of the Goths. The ceremony was performed according to the lavish fashion of the Romans and the rude customs of the victors. Adolphus offered to his bride, in accordance with the manner of his nation, the spoils of her country. Fifty beautiful youths, attired in silken robes, presented the happy maiden with one hundred basins, one half of which were filled with gold, and the rest were heaped with gems of an inestimable price. Such was the inconstancy of fortune in those days, and such the cruelty of the times, that only a year after this grand event the beautiful woman, the daughter of a Roman emperor, and the wife of the Gothic chieftain, might have been seen marching on foot with a crowd of vulgar captives, in front of the horse of the assassin of her beloved husband. However, a few short days after the usurpation, the Gothic army, struck with pity and indignation at the sufferings of Placidia, attacked and slew her barbarous master.

Genseric, with his Moors and Vandals, fiercer in their pillage than the Goths of Alaric, ravaged Rome for fourteen days and nights. Everything of value, sacred or profane, was seized and borne away to the galleys of the invaders. Even the Empress Eudoxia was rudely stripped of her ornaments; and the holy relics, brought from Jerusalem by Titus and spared by Alaric, were taken from the temples and transferred to Carthage. One of the vessels, containing a part of the sacred utensils and other treasures, was shipwrecked on the same shore which a thousand years later swallowed up the wonderful and blood-stained emeralds which Cortez wrested from Mexico and carried with him when wrecked with the Admiral of Castile. The remainder were saved to swell the ponderous pile of booty when Carthage fell before the arms and genius of Belisarius. All these treasures, the collections of the Moor and the Vandal, were transported to the Bosphorus to enrich the city of the conquerors.

To the successful army and its general a triumph was decreed; and it was the first Byzantium had ever seen. The display on this historic occasion was worthy of the army and its hero. The wealth of nations was brought forth to heighten the splendor of the scene. Rich armor, golden thrones, chariots, varied forms of sculpture and furniture, statues, vases, and other objects of art, together with the holy relics of the Jewish Temple, were displayed in the procession.

But the grandest object of all was presented by the noble and majestic form of Belisarius, marching on foot at the head of a band of his bravest officers. Later in life, at the capture of Ravenna, Belisarius obtained the treasures of the Gothic army, which had been collected in that stronghold. These were transferred to the Byzantine palace; but the deserving general was deprived of his hard-won triumph, for Justinian had now become envious of the glory of his subject. The magnificent spectacle of the booty was not exhibited to the populace; but shown only to the flattering and subservient senate.

The results of the Persian conquests largely increased the number, variety, and value of the art and gem collections at Constantinople. The Persian monarch, Chosroes, to arrange and preserve the treasures gathered by rapine or tribute, constructed an elegant palace at Dastagherd beyond the Tigris. In this stronghold, protected in a hundred vaults, were deposited most of the gold, silver, gems, silks, aromatics, and other objects collected from Persia and other countries of Asia. All these fell into the bold hands of the Roman Emperor Heraclius; but a part of them, during an unlucky tempest, were lost in the waves of the Euxine Sea. In the capture of Tauris, Heraclius obtained what were supposed to have been the spoils of Crœsus, which had been transported by Cyrus from the citadel of Sardes.

Once only, before the coming of the Turk, was Constantinople, during its many centuries of varied prosperity and adversity, subjected to serious pillage. Hostile armies had again and again surged up to its almost impregnable walls, only to retire in discomfiture; and it seemed as though the grand old city was protected by some invisible agency from external violence. Internal dissension, however, was the bane of the capital, and was the true cause of the success of the Latins, and finally that of the Turks. The successful attack by the combined forces of the Latins and Venetians was one of the results of the Crusades. It took place in the commencement of the thirteenth century.

The city, however, remained under the Latin power for only fifty-seven years, when it was recaptured by a bold stroke of the Greeks. Injured by the pillage of the Latins, and many of its beautiful edifices destroyed by fire during the siege or subsequent occupation, the Greek capital not only lost its prestige of divine protection, but it has never recovered its former splendor. How much of the spoils were removed by the captors is a matter of conjecture. The historians of the Greeks and Latins—the spoiled and spoiler—undoubtedly exaggerate the injury of the conquest and the quantity of booty obtained.

Two of the Emperors, succeeding by usurpation, fled from the city with much treasure before it was finally captured. Even then one quarter of the accepted plunder was reserved for the elected ruler of Constantinople. And as to the remainder, which is said to have been divided equally between the French and Venetians, and valued at 11,125,000 marks of silver, or $11,000,000, there is no record extant of the articles. We know that the bronze horses of the Hippodrome were transferred to Saint Mark’s Palace, and the crown of thorns to the Sainte Chapelle at Paris. We also learn that many gems-the adamas, emerald, jacinth, ruby, sapphire—were among the spoils; but if the sack was complete, why did Venice years afterwards offer ten thousand ducats for the seamless vesture of the Redeemer, which was then among the sacred reliquaries of Constantinople? If these spoils were divided between the conquerors, how explain the fact recorded in French history, that the sacred relics sent to Paris and placed in the church erected to receive them were purchased? It is a matter of history that the crown of thorns, with the piece of the true cross, the antique gems, and other relics that were deposited in Sainte Chapelle, together with the construction of the building, cost Saint Louis of Baldwin, Emperor of Constantinople, a sum of money equal to 2,800,000 francs. This fact, coupled with the offer of the Venetians for the holy vestment, renders the accounts of the sack of the city still more obscure. The historian Yriarte declares that the only monuments of art deemed by the Venetians as worthy of transporting to their capital were the famous bronze horses. If this statement is correct, the Venetians must have been sadly deficient in taste, or history has wrongfully accused the founders of Constantinople of spoliation.

According to the early accounts, Constantine, in the reconstruction of Byzantium, despoiled the cities of Asia and Greece of their most valuable ornaments, the trophies of memorable wars, the objects of religious veneration, the most finished statues of the gods and heroes, of the sages and poets, of ancient times. The most celebrated works of the age of Pericles and Alexander were remorselessly seized by the Emperor and transferred to his capital to enhance its beauty and its renown. So many statues and architectural masterpieces had been transported to the Bosphorus that the historian Cedrenus ironically said, “Nothing in this great city was wanting except the souls of the illustrious men whom those admirable monuments were intended to represent.”

In the reign of Justinian the city was decorated by the best of living artists. In the construction of the public edifices, the richest materials were sought for and used with lavish hand. The bright hues, the primitive lustre, of many of the stones of which the buildings were composed were so remarkable as to form the theme of a poet. Distant countries were explored for choice materials. The costly marbles of Asia, Gaul, Greece, and Africa were transported to the Bosphorus. Among the rare stones used by the Greek architects, one may recognize in the ruins of the present day, the emerald-green marble of Laconia, the golden-hued of Mauritania, the black of Gaul, and the purple and red, with intersecting veins of sea-green, of Phrygia. The shrine which stood in the Mosque of Saint Sophia a thousand years ago or more must have been of marvellous beauty. The wealth and energy of the ancient world was expended upon it; and we can form some picture of it in our imagination from the fact that the Emperor Justinian, on beholding it after its completion, exclaimed, with outstretched arms, “Solomon, I have surpassed thee.”

The magnificence displayed by the wealthy houses of Byzantium in their internal arrangements must have been of an extraordinary character if we can judge correctly from the invectives of Chrysostom; and the utensils of silver and gold were in massiveness far beyond the prodigality of modern times. Ramusio, the Venetian historian, dazzles the reader with his glittering descriptions of the acquisitions of his countrymen. He mentions with preciseness the vases whose forms were as grotesque and varied as the caprice of man,—the murrhines Pompey won in his triumphs over Mithridates and Tigranes; chalices decked with gems or formed of turquoise, jasper, and amethyst; crowns of gold, studded with pearls; unnumbered emeralds, sapphires, topazes, jacinths, and other gems; also the matchless carbuncles which afterwards adorned the altar at Saint Mark’s, and which were believed by the superstitious to have the power of dissipating the darkness by their refulgent beams of light.

Constantinople, with its remaining works of art, again fell into the power of the Greeks and was retained by them until captured by the Turks. To describe the treasures of the Greek capital before its capture, and correctly estimate the character and value of the objects removed, and those secreted and again brought to light, will be a difficult task for some restless antiquary. We are, however, inclined to believe the Greeks successfully secreted many of their choicest gems. All through the pages of early and mediæval history, the reader will observe that by a strange caprice of fortune many of the richest and rarest works of art and nature passed into the possession of the rulers of Byzantium, Constantinople, or Stamboul. These three names, distinct in their meaning, yet relate to one and the same city, which, during its existence of more than a thousand years, passed successively under the sway of the Roman, the Greek, and the Turk. Stamboul is still the Mecca of the antiquary.

CHAPTER VII.
RUSSIAN REGALIA.

The empire of Russia has the most splendid collection of diamonds of any country in the world, with the exception, perhaps, of Persia. In the Kremlin at Moscow, and the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg, are preserved a multitude of gems of the highest perfection and beauty, and also many interesting ornaments formed or captured by the early rulers of Russia. Possessing many of the avenues of approach and trade with the countries of Central and Southern Asia, this country has long enjoyed excellent facilities for obtaining the gems from Upper India and Persia. The enormous quantity the treasury still possesses, added to the great number given away in past times by various sovereigns, naturally gives rise to the inquiry, whence this great abundance of precious stones came. We may say that this grand accumulation commenced in the earliest days of the Russian dynasty, and has been steadily increasing by direct intercourse with the gem-producing countries.

Many of the fine gems that fell into the hands of the Turks in their various conquests, have indirectly passed, by purchase or otherwise, into the possession of the Russians.

Some others recall the times of the incursions of the Cossacks of the tenth century, when the fearless hordes of the North marched even to the gates of Constantinople, and imposed menaces and ransoms upon the Greek emperors.

The crafty policy of the Russian dates back from those distant times. “Let us be content,” said the old Russian chieftain to his impetuous warriors complaining of treaties and tributes; “is it not better to obtain, without fighting, the gold, the silver, the silk, the precious stones of these people?”

The still earlier Scythians, with their light active horse, performed incredible journeys even into Illyricum and Thrace. The river Danube offered but a slight barrier to these fearless riders; and they boldly traversed flood, forest, and plain, sweeping, with impunity and menace, even up to the walls of Byzantium. They pillaged, without remorse, the rich towns and country palaces of the nobles, and returned to their forest wilds accompanied by thousands of captives, and laden with booty of immense value.

We are also reminded by the historian, that a part of Russia, especially Poland, was the Sarmatia of the ancients, whence issued the fearless swarms of invincible Huns and Goths and Sclavonians, who spread desolation at various times over nearly the whole of Europe. Although these fierce hordes seldom returned to their native plains, preferring the sunnier portions of the conquered countries, yet they did not abandon all communication with the land of their birth. Many of their incursions into the Roman provinces were rewarded with immense booty of captives, and a variety of plunder. For fifteen hundred years the customs of the Poles were but little changed. The love of nomadic life, of magnificence, of arms, dress, ornaments, was a predominating trait until a very recent period. The famous political assemblies of the Poles on the plain of Volo were among the grandest displays of barbaric splendors of any age; and sometimes one hundred thousand Poles were assembled in conclave.

The chivalry, the wealth of the country, was represented there. All the nobles and citizens of note attended, mounted upon the finest horses, and caparisoned and decorated in the most lavish manner. As the historian says, “The children of the desert strove to hide the furs and skins in which they were clothed, under chains of gold and the glitter of jewels. Their bonnets were composed of panther skin; plumes of eagles or herons surmounted them; on their front were the most splendid precious stones. Their robes of sable or ermine were bound with velvet or silver; their girdles studded with jewels; over all their furs were suspended chains of diamonds. One hand of each nobleman was without a glove; on it was the splendid ring on which the arms of his family were engraved,—the mark, as in ancient Rome, of the equestrian order,—another proof of the intimate connection between the race, the customs, the traditions of the Northern tribes, and the founders of the Eternal City.” But nothing in this rivalry of magnificence could equal the splendor of their arms: double poniards, double scimetars set with brilliants; bucklers of costly workmanship; battle-axes enriched in silver and glittering with emeralds and sapphires.

After reviewing the history of ancient and mediæval Poland, we are not surprised at the accumulation of gems in Russia, nor at the fact that some of the fine gems now in the modern cabinets of Europe were obtained from that country. For instance, the splendid green diamond of Dresden came from Warsaw.

The grand repository of the Empire is in the towers of the Kremlin; and here are preserved the sacred relics and the almost innumerable treasures of the Empire. In the galleries of this ancient castle of the Muscovites are gathered such an accumulation of wonders that the visitor is fairly dazzled, and is forcibly reminded of the tales of Eastern romance, of the munificence of the store-house of the Caliph Haroun-Al-Raschid, and the wells of Aboul Kasem.

Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, and other gems, of large size and wondrous beauty, flash from every side of the apartment; and their profusion astonishes the mineralogist, who has been accustomed to regard these natural treasures as rare. It will be quite impossible to enumerate or explain properly the glittering arrangement of these marvellous works of art and nature. The sceptres, the crowns, the caskets, the reliquaries, the globes, thrones, and the insignia of religion and royalty collected here, fairly dazzle the eye by the reflections from the immense number of gems which decorate them. The scene reminds one of the prismatic effect of the rays of the morning or evening sun upon the numberless raindrops on the grass, after a shower has passed.

Here we shall find the crowns of the Muscovite Czars, together with the captured diadems and regalia of the countries that form a part of this vast realm. Among them may be seen, in all of their original quaintness and splendor, the crowns of Siberia, Novgorod, Kazan, Moscow, Poland, and the Crimea. To this imperial display we may expect to see added, at no distant day, the jewels of the Southern countries, which seem to be the inevitable heirlooms of the sagacious Cossack.