DIAMOND. 27 
ratio ; whilst, for a stone that is cloudy, foul, or of bad 
colour, even three quarters of the estimated value will 
perhaps be deducted. 
No diamonds are so valuable as those that are per- 
fectly transparent, and of snow-white colour. The 
green and yellow varieties are, however, much esteemed: 
the blue kinds were formerly more valued than at pre- 
sent; and the least valuable are those that have a grey 
or brownish tint. Black diamonds are much prized 
by collectors. 
The principal use of the diamond is in jewellery. It 
is also used by lapidaries, for slitting hard stones, and 
for cutting and engraving upon other gems; by clock- 
makers in the finer kinds of clock-work; in the glass- 
trade for squaring large pieces or plates of glass, and 
among glaziers for cutting their glass. 
The largest diamond ever known (if it be such, and 
not a white topaz, as some people have imagined) is 
in the possession of the Queen of Portugal, and weighs 
1,680 carats, or more than eleven ounces. It was found 
in Brazil, and sent to Lisbon in the year 174-6. It is 
still uncut, and has been valued at 5,644,800/. 
The Rajah of Mattan, in the island of Borneo, pos- 
sesses a large diamond, shaped like an egg, with an 
indented hollow near the smaller end. It was found in 
that island about eighty years ago, is said to be of the 
finest water, and to weigh 367 carats, or more than two 
ounces and a quarter. Several years ago the Governor 
of Batavia, desirous of purchasing this gem, sent a 
Mr. Stuvart to the Rajah, authorizing him to offer for 
it 150,000 dollars, two large brigs of war, with their 
guns and ammunition., together with a certain number 
of great guns, and a quantity of powder and shot. 
The Rajah, however, refused to deprive his family of 
so valuable an hereditary possession; for the Malays not 
only attach to it the miraculous power of curing all 
diseases by means of water in which it is dipped, but 
also believe that the fortune of the family is sustained 
by its continuing in their possession. 
