An Account of a Small Book

An Account Of a small Book in French, entitled HISTOIRE DES JOYAUX. ET Des Principales Richesses de l'Orient et de l'Occident, par le Sr. Chapuzeau. This History treats of Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Pearls, Coral, Bezoar, Yellow Amber, Amber-gris, Insigo, &c. Of Diamonds, The Author shews: 1. The Places, whence they are taken; of which he finds five in all the East-Indies, whereof two are Rivers, vid. Saccadun in Borneo, and Nage in the Kingdom of Bengala; at the bottom of both which, he saith, the Diamonds are found among the sand, after the waters, that fall as great Torrents from the Mountains, are run off; and the three others are Mines, in the Kingdoms of Decan, Cuncan, and Golconda. In this Relation he observes, that the Diamonds which are found at the bottom of those Rivers, have the best Water; but those, in Mines, have often Flaws (which he imputes to the violent knockings of the Rock) and Blebs, ascribed to the condition of the Earth or Sand they are found in, vid. when that is not pure, but fettish or black. He takes also notice, that Diamonds are the heaviest of precious Stones, as Gold is of Metals. 2. The Manner, how they are found and separated; which is the same in substance, with that, described Num 18. p. 328. 3. The Price of them, according to the proportion of their weight; for which he gives this Rule. Take, faith he, a Diamond of 10 Carats: this number is to be squared (which makes 100.) then, if the Stone be clean, each Carat according to its perfection, may be worth 40 to 60 Crowns; if it have no good water, or have a Bleb or Flaw, the Carat will not be worth but from 10 to 30 Crowns. So multiplying the said 100 by the number, which each Carat of such or such a Stone may be worth, the product is the price of the Stone. For Rubies, he discourses also of the Places, where they are found; and of their Price. The Places, are, the Kingdom of Pegu, and the Isle of Ceylon; whence very few are suffered to be carried away. The Price is, that a good Rubi of the weight of 1 Rati (which is \( \frac{7}{8} \) of a Carat) is esteemed at 20 old Pagodes in India, each Pagode being about 10 shillings English. | Ratis | Pagodes | |-------|---------| | Of 2 | valued at 100. | | Of 3 | 250. | | Of 4 | 500. | | Of 5 | 900. | | Of 6 | 1500. | | Of 7 | 2300. | | Of 12 | 12000. | Concerning Turquois, they are found in Persia, in the Province of Chamaquay, North of Ispahan, in two Mines, called the Old and the New Rock. These of the New, are of an ill whitish Blew; but those of the Old, are not suffered to be digged out, but by the King of Persia himself. Emeralds are affirm'd by him, never to be found in the East-Indies, but in Perou, whence they were carried by that Trading People to the Moluccas, even before America was discovered by the Europeans; and so they come from the Orient; of much less value, than they were formerly, by reason of their commonness. The Author notes, that Emeralds grow in stones, just as Crystals, forming a Vein, in which they are by little and little refined and thickened: and that some of them are seen, half white and half green; others, all white; and others all green and perfect. To Pearls he assigns in the Orient, four places, where they are fish'd: The Isle of Baharem in the Persian Gulf; The Coast of Arabia Felix, near the Town of Catif, over against Baharem; The Isle of Ceylon about Manar: The Isle of Japan. The best at Ceylon, but small; the biggest at Japan, but uneven. In the West-Indies they are fish'd in the North-Sea, in the Isles of Marguerite, Cubagua, St. Marthe; and at Comana, and Comanagote, near the Continent; and in the South-Sea, near Panama: which American sort, though they are much inferior to the Oriental, in Lustre, yet they far excel them in bigness, amounting sometimes (saith this Author) to 42 Carats. In this Relation 'tis mention'd, that sometimes 5. or 6. Pearls are found in one Oyster: That Pearl-fishers are fed with dry and roasted meat, to give them better breathing: That Pearl-bearing Oysters are not good to eat, being flat and hard of digestion, &c. As to the Price of good Pearls, well fashioned, he marketh it, as follows: | Grain | Crowns | Carats | Crowns | |-------|--------|--------|--------| | 1 | 1 | 4 1/4 | 289 | | 2 | 4 | 4 3/4 | 324 | | 3 | 9 | 4 3/4 | 361 | | | | 5 | 400 | | 1 | 16 | 5 1/4 | 441 | | 1 1/4 | 25 | 5 1/2 | 484 | | 1 1/2 | 36 | 5 3/4 | 529 | | 1 3/4 | 49 | 6 | 576 | | 2 | 64 | 6 1/4 | 625 | | 2 1/4 | 81 | 6 1/2 | 675 | | 2 1/2 | 100 | 6 3/4 | 729 | | 2 3/4 | 121 | 7 | 784 | | 3 | 144 | 7 1/4 | 841 | | 3 1/4 | 160 | 7 1/2 | 900 | | 3 1/2 | 196 | 7 3/4 | 960 | | 3 3/4 | 225 | 8 | 1024 | | 4 | 256 | | | Of Corals, He taketh notice, where they are fished, and in what manner. The Places, he saith, to be Eight; Three upon the Coasts. Coasts of Corsica and Sardinia, vid. at Argueil (where is the best) Baza, and near the Isle of St. Peter: One upon the Coast of Sicily, near Drepanum: Two upon the Coast of Africa, near the Bifion of France, and at Tabarca: One more, upon the Coast of Catalonia, at the Cape of Quiers: And the last, about Majorca. Observing, that red Coral is not found, but in the Mediterranean alone, where 'tis fished from the beginning of April, till the end of July, employing commonly about 200 Boats. The manner of fishing them, is with two big beams of wood, laid cross wise, with a good piece of Lead on the middle, to make it sink, casting about it course Hemp, carelessly twisted, and tying this Wood to two Ropes, whereof one hangs at the Sterne, the other at the fore-part of the Boat; and so letting this contrivance fall into the Current, along the Rocks, where the Hemp being turned about, and engaged in the Coral, there need sometimes many Boats to draw away the Instrument. Bezoar he saith, is not onely found in Golconda, in the Province of Renquery, in the Maw of Goats, whereof some are at times furnish'd with a dozen a piece; but also at Macassar, in the Isle of Celebes, in the Body of Apes; bigger than those found in Golconda. He mentions, that the people in those parts, to find whether a Goat hath any of those Bezoar-stones in its body, do beat his belly with their hands, and rub it, till all the stones in the Animal come together, and then they feel and tell them, as you do stones in a Bag, &c. FINIS. In the SAVOY, Printed by T. N. for John Martyn at the Bell, a little without Temple-Bar, and James Allestry in Duck-Lane, Printers to the Royal Society, 1667.