History of the Missing Turkish Diamonds: Turkey I and II

THE TURKEY I. AND II.

Gems in the Turkish Regalia--Abdul Aziz and his Creditor--An Incident of Turkish Trouble--A Reign of Terror.

There are two large diamonds in the Turkish Regalia of which little or nothing is known beyond the fact of their existence. We have named them as above. The first weighs 147, and the second 84 carats, The heaviest of the two is said to have been "picked up on the sands by a boy." One can hardly imagine a more vague description of discovery. We have made considerable efforts to obtain fuller information in regard to the antecedents and present character and appearance of these two gems, but so far without success. A gentleman holding an official position in the East undertook to assist us. He wrote to us as follows from Galata on July 19, 1881.

"In reply to yours of 11th inst., I beg to say that I shall endeavour to get the information you seek; but as the Turkish fast, the Ramazan, is now coming on, it is quite useless to attempt anything till after Bairam, that is in five weeks. I shall then apply, through the Embassy, for a firman to inspect the jewels, which may or may not be given. At that time I shall also endeavour to get such drawings and legends as you wish for. I may, however, say that of late years immense robberies have gone on; and very likely the stones you speak of have disappeared. When Abdul Aziz was dethroned, and Murad came in, he paid his banker, a certain Christaki Effendi, the debt he owed him (pound 500,000) in diamonds; giving him, so it is alleged, no less than pound 800,000 worth of stones. Christaki Effendi went to Paris, where he disposed of the gems; but as Murad in the mean-while was dethroned, he never took the trouble either to come back or to render an account. It is thus very likely that my search for the stones of which you speak may be fruitless. In the meantime you must be patient, and I shall promise not to forget your request."

Five months later our correspondent writes again, this time from Constantinople:--

"I have your memorandum of 2nd inst., and can well understand that you are surprised at my long silence. I regret, however, to say that I am not one whit nearer the information you desire than when you first wrote to me about it; and that I doubt very much if I ever shall get anything reliable to communicate to you. I have taken no inconsiderable amount of trouble in the matter, and have approached several high and influential men on the subject; but with absolutely no result. It is not at all a question of money; but simply this, that the reign of terror in the palace is so absolute, that no one would ever dare to ask a question referring to crown jewels."