10 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
idol in a Tricliinopoly temple, and was stolen 
by a French soldier who sold it to the captain 
of a ship for 50 rupees. It then passed into the 
hands of a German Jew, who paid, I think, 
£4,000 for it, hut the Jew knew what he was 
about, as he sold the stone to the Eiu])ress 
Catherine of Russia for £80,009, an annuity of 
£8,000, and a title of nobility. I could have sold 
my cat’s-eye ring many times had 1 wanted to 
part with it, for it has been seen by many officers, 
both Civil and Military, of higli rank, and it 
was always \^ery much admired. It would make 
a handsome brooch stone, if surrounded by dia- 
monds, rubies, or emeralds, and would then grace 
the neck of the fairest lady. I have had in my 
possession many years a very good fire opal. It 
IS set in a massive gold ring, nearly all the 
colours of the iviinbow are visible in this stone. 
A large spot of red is often seen in it of such 
luightness that to look at it is like looking into 
a furnace, the colour is so vivid. This gem 
has also been much admired by many people, .and 
a District Sessions Ju''ge some yeais .ago was 
anxious to necome its possessor. I applied the 
two lighted candle test to this stone also, and 
tlie different colours that came out by simply 
changing the position of the stone by a slight 
turn of the lingers was something marvellous, and 
brought back to memory what I had read of the 
fire opal the size of a hazel nut, that Nonnins, 
the Roman Senator, had in his |>ossession. It 
was valued at 50,000 sesterces, and rather than 
part with his gem to the Empeior, he suffered 
exile, and took his beautiful opal with him. 
A rich lady, the wife of a gallant officer of Cavalry, 
who was in this station last year, had in her 
possession a veiy large fire opal — something really 
worth looking at, and worth having also ; for a 
Delhi jeweller, who was at this station for a 
short time, offered 15,000 rupees tor it, but the 
offer was not accepted. I have a small cat’s eye 
stone set in a gold ring that will give two 
opalescent rays. The little gem is worth looking 
at, and is of nearly the same colour as one 
belonging to a gallant colonel, now in Madras 
which he wears set in a se.arf pin surrounded witli 
small diamonds. I saw' this stone a few' years 
ago, and w'as told by the Colonel that he got 
it direct from England and gave £75 for it. 
Alexandrite is not a very common stone. I have 
crot a well cut one that was brought from Ceylon. 
It is a dark green stone, but will turn of a red 
colour from reflected light ; the light fiom a lucifer 
match is sufficient for tlie purpose. The stone 
was named Alexandrite after Alexandra the 
Princess of Wales, and is only a recent discovery. 
I saw a very large uncut one some years ago 
in Madras. It was shown me by Streeter’s agent, 
who was spending his X’mas holidays that year 
with a friend of mice a few ye.ars ago. I read 
in the English papers that the Maharajah Dhu- 
leep Singh had purchased in London some hand- 
some opals as a present to his mother, as there 
'were no opals in India. I could have told Dhu- 
leep Singh whom I had seen in this country 
when he was a boy, that he was under a w'rong 
ji^^pj'0ggjQn, for opals aie found in India, foi I 
picked up a very good one in the Ninnul Jungle 
in Feb. 1858, which I gave to Cajit. Robin.son 
w'ho commanded my company .as something 
that would remind bim in after years of the 
Ion" march the regiment had during the Mutiny 
from Madras to Calpee. During the Mutiny I 
purclnased a few stones of Banda, Kirwee, Saugor, 
and other places, but of no particular value, ex- 
cept a few rubies at Saugor for tw'O officers of 
[July i, 1897. 
the regiment. .Some beautiful moss agates, onyx, 
sardonyx, carbuncles, topazes and other stones I 
came across. Some of them are real curios. I 
have in my possession a large piece of stone so 
that no one w*ould ever think of picking it 
up. Yet, nevertheless, it is really worth having, 
as a half score of brooch stones and a score of 
finger ring stones could he cue from it ; the 
polish it takes, and the betutiful colours in it 
then come grandly out. It is probably a blood 
stone, but the blood stones seen in rings aie 
nothing in comparison either in richnes.s or colour 
to the ugly looking treasure I have. I have ail 
sorts of comnduni, but the greatest curio is a 
ruby corundum 4 inches long, hexagonal, or six- 
sided (the true formation) and weighing over two 
pounds. This is no doubt the large.st'’ruby not 
a cry.stal ever found, and it will take a f.Wly 
gooil imh.sh of a cloudy ruby colour. Ifitw.a.«a 
pure crystal it would be wortii million.s ofimunds. 
The weight of this stone would not be credited 
by anyone_ not knowing the relative weight of the 
different kinds of precious stones. Probably 
Die bpt judge of precious stones iii 
England has stated that he has seen 
£l,t)00 paid for a good cat’s-eye lin" stone 
Some jewels were sold lately at the Mysore Palace 
and 4 cat’s-eye stones were sold for 8,000 rupees 
by a jeweller from Bomh.ay. An engineer officer 
who saw the stones spoke anything hut in praise 
of them at the trial of Mr. Jacobs, at .Secun- 
derabad (the great diamond ca.se). I read in the 
Madia:^ jiapei.s that he had two cat’s-eye rings on 
his fingers when in court which were much admired 
by those present. One of these stones was valued 
at 8,00() rupees. Nearly all large diamonds have 
eventful histories. The Kohinoor (mountain of 
light) now worn by Her IMost Gracious Majesty 
the Queen-Empress has a wonderful history so 
has the Pitt or Regent diamond. Pope in ’ his 
Man of Ross, I think, would lead his readers to 
believe that it was stolen by Mr. Pitt when 
Governor of Madr.as : 
“ Asleep and naked as the Indian lay 
An honest factor stole the gem away.” 
Ml. Pitt wrote at length to prove the accusation 
false, stating that he had purchased the stone 
from one Helmachund, and mentioning the num- 
ber of pagodas he paid for it ; the purchase 
nevei tireless was a profitable one for he sold the 
stone to the Regent Duke of Orleans for £120,000 
and it wa,s worn afterwards by the Emperor 
Napoleon in the pommel of his sword. The De 
Farcy diamond has probably the most wonderful 
history, as it was the |)iopercy of King Charles of 
bweden, and he had it with him at the battleof Piil- 
towa.where he was killed. Afterwards .lohii De 
Barley, Count DeFarey, became its possessor, and he 
sent It as a present to the king, but the mounted 
servant to whom it was entrusted was .attacked by 
robbers and killed ; the diamond, however, was re- 
covered, the faithful serv.ant having swallowed it, 
Uhelaigest diamond in the world belongs to the 
Rajah of Borneo ; it is uncut and in shape like 
a pear. There have been large sums offered for 
this stone, especially by the Dutch, but the 
Rajah will not part with it, as it is a treasure 
mine to him. Water is put into a small hole 
at the top of the stone and the jieople of Borneo 
oelieve that the touching of this water with the 
finger and putting a drop to the forehead will 
cure the worst diseases. In this belief all those 
vvho can afford it try this w'ater cure. A very 
rich man could, if he wished buy a small basket- 
ful of diamonds from 4 to 8 carats weight each 
but he could not buy a basketful of rubies or 
