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The Moon of Mountains: Pallas

But Barbot's story is itself merely a re-hash of the account given by P. S. Pallas in his Travels through the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire, in 1793-4. Although involving some repetition, it will be best to give the text of Pallas in full, as it is constantly referred to by writers who have never consulted the original, and who have consequently superadded fresh errors to those for which Pallas is responsible. At p. 276 of the first volume of the English edition (London, 1812) Pallas writes:-- "During my residence in Astrakhan I became acquainted with the heirs of the late Grigori Safarov Shaffrass, the Armenian, who sold the celebrated large diamond, which is now set in the Imperial sceptre of Russia. The history of this diamond, which holds so distinguished a place among those of the very first water, may probably afford entertainment to my readers, as I shall thereby refute many false reports which have been circulated on this subject. Shah Nadir had in his throne two principal Indian diamonds, one of which was called the 'Sun of the Sea,' and the other the 'Moon of the Mountains.' At the time of his assassination many precious ornaments belonging to the crown were pillaged, and afterwards secretly disposed of by the soldiers who shared the plunder. Shaffrass, commonly known at Astrakhan by the name of Millionshik, or the Man of Millions, then resided at Bassorah, with two of his brothers. One day a chief of the Avganians (Afghans) applied to him, and secretly proposed to sell, for a very moderate sum, the before-mentioned diamond, which probably was that called the 'Moon of the Mountains,' together with a very large emerald, a ruby of considerable size, and other precious stones of less value. Shaffrass was astonished at the offer, and pretending that he had not a sufficient sum to purchase these jewels, he demanded time to consult with his brothers on the subject. The vendor, probably from suspicious motives, did not again make his appearance. Shaffrass, with the approbation of his brothers, immediately went in search of the stranger with the jewels, but he had left Bassorah. The Armenian, however, met him accidentally at Bagdad, and concluded the bargain by paying him 50,000 piastres for all the jewels in his possession. Shaffrass and his brothers being conscious that it was necessary to observe the most profound secrecy respecting this purchase, resolved, on account of their commercial connections, to remain at Bassorah. After a lapse of twelve years, Gregori Shaffrass, with the consent of his brothers, set off with the largest of the jewels, which had till then been concealed. He directed his route through Sham (Damascus), and Constantinople, and afterwards by land through Hungary and Silesia to the city of Amsterdam, where he publicly offered his jewels for sale. "The English Government is said to have been among the bidders. The Court of Russia sent for the large diamond, with a proposal to reimburse all reasonable expenses, if the price could not be agreed upon. When the diamond arrived, the Russian Minister, Count Panin, made the following offer to Shaffrass, whose negociator, M. Lasaref was then jeweller to the Court. Besides the patent to hereditary nobility, demanded by the vendor, he was to receive an annual pension of 6,000 roubles during life, 500,000 roubles in cash, one-fifth part of which was to be payable on demand, and the remainder in the space of ten years, by regular instalments. The capricious Shaffrass likewise claimed the honour of nobility for his brothers, and various other annuities or advantages, and persisted so obstinately in his demands, that the negociation was frustrated, and the diamond returned. "Shaffrass was now in great perplexity. He had involved himself in expenses, was obliged to pay interest for considerable sums he had borrowed, and there was no prospect of selling the jewel to advantage. His negociators left him in that perplexity in order to profit by his mismanagement. To elude his creditors, he was obliged to abscond to Astrakhan. At length the negociations with Russia were re-commenced by Count Gregory Grigorievitsh Orloff, who was afterwards created a Prince of the Empire, and the diamond was purchased for 450,000 roubles, ready money, together with the grant of Russian nobility. Of that sum it is said, 120,000 roubles fell to the share of the negociators for commission, interest, and similar expenses. Shaffrass settled at Astrakhan, and his riches, which by inheritance devolved to his daughters, had, by the extravagance of his sons-in-law, been in a great measure dissipated." It is obvious that Pallas received this version of the story from "the heirs" of Shaffrass, whom he met in Astrakhan, and who were naturally interested in suppressing the series of crimes, by which the Armenian merchant got possession of the diamond. It is also obvious that Pallas has wrongly transferred the whole story from the "Moon of Mountains" to the "Orloff." According to his own showing, the sale to the Russian Government was effected after Shaffrass had been "obliged to abscond to Astrakhan," that is, some years after his arrival in Amsterdam. But we have the already quoted contemporary testimony of the Museum Britannicum, to the effect that the diamond associated with the name of Prince Orloff, and now set in the Imperial sceptre of Russia, was purchased by Orloff, not in Astrakhan from Shaffrass, but in Amsterdam, from a Persian merchant in the year 1776. Pallas is, no doubt, quite right in supposing that the stone disposed of in Astrakhan came through the Afghan chief and Nadir Shah from the Delhi treasury. But it is equally evident that the stone purchased in Amsterdam, came from Mysore to Europe by the sea route. We are thus again driven to the same conclusion, that the Shaffrass story belongs to Nadir's diamond, the "Moon of Mountains," and the French deserter's to the Seringham gem, now in the Imperial sceptre.