Travels in India (Tavernier) 152.2.7

152.2.7

The upper part of the handle was already covered with diamonds, and in plaque which was at the end there was a large one cut into facettes, which, as far as I could judge, was worth at the least 15,000 or 16,000 écus. The King told me that he had received it as a present from the Queen of Borneo, and that he had sent it to be cut at Goa, but he valued it much higher than what I considered it to be worth. All the handle and likewise all the sheath were covered with bezels applied without order, this proved to me that he did not understand design. The King had no other stones, neither diamonds nor rubies, nor anything to place in these bezels, and he wished to induce me to obtain for him some that would fit. I made him understand that that would be impossible, and that he ought not to limit himself to these bezels. That when he had acquired the quantity of stones which were required to cover the dagger, other bezels of the shapes of the stones should be made, and that in Europe when we begin a work of this kind we first arrange all the available stones on wax; this I exemplified to him at the same time, but that was beyond his understanding, and he told me that he did not care to destroy a design which he had himself taken the trouble to arrange, and to have made for his own use. In spite of any reasons which I could give for the purpose of escaping from a commission which I was not able to execute, the King wished positively that I should take the dagger with me to Batavia.