Two remarkable instances of the profitable commerce in diamonds are those in connection with the ” Orloff ” and ” Regent ” diamonds. The first was stolen from a Brahma temple by a French soldier, who sold it for £2000 to an English captain. He sold it to a Jew for £12,000, the Jew sold it to Prince Orloff of Russia for £90,000, and Orloff gave it to the Empress Catherine II., who rewarded the donor with a pension of £4000 a year.
The “Regent” stone was stolen from a diamond mine by a slave, who made a hole in his leg to conceal the gem. Escaping to the coast, he gave it to a merchant¬man captain for a passage to England. The captain sold it to Thomas Pitt for £20,000, and Pitt sold it to the French Regent for £135,000. But for this money. perhaps, the British House of Commons might neve? have seen or known the two illustrious descendants of Thomas Pitt. Napoleon afterwards placed this diamond in the hilt of his sword and pawned it to the Dutch Government for a loan