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And
the greatest of them all was the Cullinan. It was the largest diamond
in the rough that man ever set eyes upon, so far as anyone living today
knows and so far as history attests. The Koh-I-Noor, the Great Mogul,
and all the other Indian diamonds were minor-league stones compared
with it. If you want to visualize how big it was, and you are a grown
woman, double up your fist. (If you are a man, grown or otherwise, ask
your wife, daughter, sister, or mother to double up hers.) The CuIIinan
was about as big as that fist in length, in depth, and almost in bulk.
But in weight it was far heavier.
The
CuIIinan was one of Eve great stones to come out of South Africa. These
were among the six of the world's great diamonds. On a warm summer
afternoon in 1905, one Frederick Wells, "surface manager" of the
Premier mine in South Africa, was strolling through the mine to inspect
it as the day's work was Hearing a close. Eighteen feet below the
surface of the ground his eyes were drawn to a shining reflection on
the wall of the mine. He inspected it, saw it to be a large diamond
crystal, but wasn't sure, because employees of the mine were
constantly playing tricks. It was his impression that, knowing he would
be making an inspection, they had imbedded a large piece of glass in
the blue ground and were lying in wait to watch his excitement— and
disappointment.
Well,
if they were watching, they found him excited enough. He thrust the
crystal into his pocket, hurried to his office. There he made tests,
the results of which nearly made him faint. If what those tests showed
was correct, he
(71)
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