THEIR HISTORY. 93 



translation of Pliny's description of the Indian Diamond as fol- 

 lows : — " It appears to have a certain affinity to crystal, being 

 colourless and transparent, having six angles, polished faces, and 

 terminating like a pyramid in a sharp point, also pointed at the 

 opposite extremities, as though two whipping-tops were joined 

 together by their broadest ends." 



The only Diamonds known to the Romans were of small size 

 (from the descriptions handed down to us, probably not above 3 

 carats' weight), and as they possessed no means of cutting or 

 polishing them, were mounted in their natural forms, many of 

 which are easily recognised from Pliny's descriptions of them 

 under the names denoting from whence they came, as Ethiopian, 

 Macedonian, Arabian. He also describes very accurately the 

 cubic crystal under the name of Androdamas, and the spherical 

 form as Cenchros. In all, PHny divides his Adamas into six 

 kinds, four of which certainly seem to have been the true Dia- 

 mond, and two (which he himself rejected as not possessing the 

 qualities of the true Adamas) would appear to have been pale and 

 inferior Sapphires : these he styled respectively " Cyprian and 

 Siderites," and stated that they exceeded the others in weight, 

 which is conclusive proof that they were different minerals. 



As the Romans were unable to develop the beauty of the 

 stone by cutting and polishing, they probably esteemed and wore 

 the Diamond rather as a taUsman than as a jewel, and were 

 attracted to it by the supernatural virtues attributed to it by the 

 Indians, who have always regarded it with peculiar, and frequently 

 with religious, veneration. This has been forcibly depicted in 

 Wilkie Collins's novel of the " Moonstone," which does not, I 

 believe, at all exaggerate the feeling of reverence that Indians have 

 for many of the remarkable and historic Diamonds ; stones that 

 have, indeed, played most important parts in the history of their 

 country and princes. Most notable among such stones is our own 

 Koh-i-noor (see PI. X.), which the Hindoos consider to possess a 

 genius of " good luck," and also the power of bringing mischief 

 and ruin on those who possess themselves of it by fraud or force ; 

 and in confirmation of this they cite the remarkable history of the 

 stone. Indian tradition traces it from the year 57 b.c., when it be- 

 longed to Bikramajeet, Rajah of Milwa, where it remained a crown 



