The
box was the same which now lies open upon your table. A key was
hung by a silken cord to that carved handle upon the top. We
opened it, and the light of the lantern gleamed upon a collection
of gems such as I have read of and thought about when I was a
little lad at Pershore. It was blinding to look upon them. When
we had feasted our eyes we took them all out and made a list of
them. There were one hundred and forty-three diamonds of the
first water, including one which has been called, I believe, 'the
Great Mogul' and is said to be the second largest stone in
existence. Then there were ninety-seven very fine emeralds, and
one hundred and seventy rubies, some of which, however, were
small. There were forty carbuncles, two hundred and ten
sapphires, sixty-one agates, and a great quantity of beryls,
onyxes, cats'-eyes, turquoises, and other stones, the very names
of which I did not know at the time, though I have become more
familiar with them since. Besides this, there were nearly three
hundred very fine pearls, twelve of which were set in a gold
coronet. By the way, these last had been taken out of the chest
and were not there when I recovered it.
"After we had counted our treasures we put them back into the
chest and carried them to the gate-way to show them to Mahomet
Singh.
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