4 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [July i, 1889. 
lind, as fancy diotate to «he innyparuo ropula- 
tioti of Uie country. Ii is indeed surprising that 
during almost a centmy that has elapsed since 
the Dutch were ousiu' from the possession of 
Ceylon, ncthmg systematic in the way of ex- 
tracting the mineral Wealth of the island has 
ever been attempted by those whose lives have 
been tpent there in the endeavour to attain 
fortune and position. Isolated cases there have 
been — as is well-known to old residents — where 
Europeans have found it amply remunerative to 
employ their time in searching for precious stones, 
and native speculators have from time to time 
obtained extremely lucrative results from such 
operations, but up to this time they have never 
been attempted on an extended scale, such as 
would be made by a powerful syndicate which 
could afford to equip a really effective prospecting 
party, which should throroughly exp.mine the 
country, and determine the actual capabilities of 
the different districts which have abeady — on a 
small scale — afforded such satisfactory returns. 
Such a state of " masterlv inactivity" can 
surely be no longer toleraied. With untold wealth 
actually lying at our feet, it will not be in 
accordance wi.h the traditions of a great mer- 
cantile nation like England to allow it to remain 
unsought and untouched as it has been all too 
long already. It may confidently be foretold 
that before many mere months have passed over 
our heads we shall be in a position to show that 
Ceylon will hold the same pre-eminence in offer- 
ing its store of precious gems to wealth and 
beauty throughout the universe as it has hitherto 
held pre-eminence in all other ventures which it 
has ever undertaken. 
<. 
PLANTING ON THE CONGO. 
From a report of the Belgian Consul-General in 
the Congo State, it appears that the efforts made 
to introduce European vegetables and fruits in that 
district have been rewarded with very great success. 
The Government has imported tobacco-seed from Ha- 
vana and Sumatra, which is cultivated in conjunction 
with native tobacco. The natives cultivate tobacco 
badly, but efforts are being made by the Government 
to teach them better methods. The inhabitants of 
the Lower Congo have been very successful in cul- 
tivating not only the usual African products, such 
as manioc, sweet potato, &c, but also sorghum, 
maize, and the " wandu " haricot, called " Boma" 
by the natives. The cotton-plant grows in its wild 
state, and the natives manufacture from it hats, 
wallets &c. No effort has yet been made to cultivate 
it for trade purposes — Nature, April 25th. 
- — ♦ 
A FAMOUS DIAMOND. 
Tbe fictions which have so long circulated about 
the famous diamond which Thomas Pitt sold to 
the Regent Orleans, impart a peculiar interest to 
the work just issued by the Hakluyt Society, in 
which, for the first time, the facts of the case 
are told with the minute historical accuracy to 
have been expected from the learned editor of the 
volume. The circumstances under which a private 
Association for the printing of old works of travel 
came to concern itself with Pitt and his gem are 
in themselves almost romantic. Many years ago 
Mr. Barlow found, among the rubbish of a Canter- 
bury bookseller's bhop, a musty oli manuscript, 
which turned out to be the Diary of Sir William 
Rcdy/'B, who, during the years 1681 to 1687, piayed 
a notable part in India as the first Governor and 
Agent of ihu B ngal Factories. How it came there 
is not known. But, no doubt, like the curious Diary 
of Richard Cooks, of the English Factory in Japan, 
Bleo iBBUed by tha Hakluyt Sooiety, it formed part 
of some five hundred tons of " worthless " manu- 
scripts which thirty years ago were ordered to be 
removed from the India Office and sold as waste 
paper. The history of the gentleman, the grand- 
father of the great Earl of Chatham, and the 
ancestor of more than one illustrious House, whose 
name is inseparably associated with the Pitt 
diamond, has hitherto been rather obscure. He 
seems to have first appeared on the Indian 
Coast as the captain of a trading vessel, or 
" interloper," as the merchants who defied 
the monopoly of the Company were termed. 
So audacious did he become, that the Company, 
with a worldly wisdom which never deserted them, 
bought off his opposition, by making him Governor 
of Fort St. George, then their chief settlement in 
Madras. In this capaoity he accumulated enormous 
wealth, and, returning to England in 1711, played 
the typical Nabob by buying estates and rotten 
boroughs, giving great dinners, marrying his sons 
and daughters into great families, and obtaining 
places for his relatives ; returning himself as one 
of the members for Old Sarum, which he owned, 
and getting the lucrative post of governing Jamaica, 
though it does not appear that he ever took up 
the office. Altogether, ihis choleric factor seems 
to have led a stirring life of sixty-four years, 
and to have inspired, both in India and out of it, 
a great deal of ihat violent enmity which is often 
the surest test of a determined character. But of 
all his acts — commercial and political — his purchase 
and sale of the great diamond is the one which 
is destined to live longest in public memory. Like 
most of the Company's factors, Pitt enriched him- 
self by private traffic, and diamonds seems to have 
formed his favourite ventures. He was constantly 
sending home stones to his London agents, 
and the bulk of his early correspondence is 
occupied with the quaintly-spelt praises of 
these gems " without fowles." It was in 1701 
that he first wrote about the historic stone, en- 
closing a model of it to Sir Stephen Evance, 
though owing to the price asked for it— two 
hundred thousand pagodas— he expressed no im- 
mediate intention of buying it. Nor did bis cor- 
respondent offer any encouragement, since diamonds 
were at that time not rapidly saleable, as " wee 
are now gott into a Warr, and the French King 
has his hands and heart full soe he cant buy 
such a Stone, and there is noe Prince in Europe 
can buy itt." But the " excellent christaline with- 
out any fowles" was too much for Pitt's indiffer- 
ence. For in 1702 it was purchased and sent 
hame by him in charge of his son Robert, on 
board the "Loyal Cooke," which left Madras in 
October, 1702. 
From that day his troubles seem to have 
begun. His correspondence is interminable, and 
the burden of it " ye stone." He is in terror — 
on account of tbe diamond — lest the ship be lost 
or taken by " pyrats," and in London he is 
anxious about thieves, fire, and the failure of his 
agents. To Mr. De Ffonseca he suggests that 
the King of "Ffranoe or Spaine" would be " the 
likelyest ohapmen for it, unless our Parliament, upon 
good suocess in some noble undertaking, will be Soe 
Generous as to buy it for the Crown of England." 
But on no condition is it to be parted with for 
less than fifteen hundred pounds a carat. He is 
always harping on some Sovereign purchasing it, 
either immediately or after the " Warr, to which 
God send a happy and speedy conclusion ; since 
then he tells his agent, " you le have chapmen 
enough for it, for Princess generally covet Such 
Jewells." By-and-by gets doubtful whether his 
son is attending to his business, and cautions Sir 
Stephen Evance to see that, if some "fforeign Prince" 
