As is related in the account of Colonel Blood’s attempt to steal the Crown,[20] for convenience of porterage the arches were battered in and the rim bent double, so that it might conveniently be slipped into a bag carried for the purpose. During this rough treatment many of the stones fell out, and amongst others the great ruby, which, when the marauders were captured, was found in Parrett’s pocket. That this large ballas ruby, as it is described, was the Black Prince’s ruby is very clearly evident, because the setting of Charles II’s State Crown is still in existence, in which may be seen a vacant hole the exact size and shape of the Black Prince’s ruby. Curiously enough, this historic setting is not State property, but passed into private possession, and was last owned by the late Lord Amherst of Hackney. The ruby is not set clear, but has a gold backing, how ancient is not known, but so old that no jeweller will run the risk of taking it off to weigh and accurately measure the stone. Messrs. Rundell and Bridge more than a century ago refused to do so, and Messrs. Garrard, the Court Jewellers, at this day would be equally diffident. A stone so old as this, though apparently perfectly sound, is not wisely put to so severe a strain as might be occasioned in removing the gold setting. That was the latest great adventure which is recorded of the ruby. From that time to this, a stretch of two and a half centuries, it has passed in succession to thirteen Kings and Queens of England, and now occupies the pride of place in front of the State Crown of King George V, and rests secure and safe in the Tower of London. * * * * * More famous even than the Black Prince’s ruby, and with perhaps an even more exciting history, is the great diamond known throughout the world by the name given to it many centuries ago in the East, Koh-i-Nur, or Mountain of Light. This priceless jewel was found in the diamond-fields of Golconda in Southern India, and is first heard of when in the possession of the King of Golconda. The King of Golconda was a petty chieftain much too insignificant to own so great a stone, the fame of which had spread throughout India, and stretched its alluring light so far north as the throne of the Great Mogul at Delhi. The Great Mogul at this time was the Emperor Shah Jehan, and as Golconda was some 1500 miles from Delhi, the ordinary procedure of sending an army to knock Golconda on the head and seize the jewel was not feasible. Shah Jehan, therefore, employed such guile and diplomacy as is dear to the Oriental heart to obtain his desire in a less expensive manner. Thus by bribery and cajolery the jewel passed, and quite fittingly from a historic point of view, into the hands of a great monarch.