October i, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



259 



atioDS of the trade until from small begiunings it has in 

 the past five years att-jiiiKnl truly important tiimensions, 

 whether regard be had lo the i^uantity and value of the 

 mineral exported, or the r*^.veuue derived by Uovernmeiit 

 from a royalty filially fixed in 1S77 at the very moderate 

 rate of K5 per ton. 



For the first three years of the period beginning with 

 1I53-4 uo export duty was levied on this article. From 1»37 

 to 1»4G, and again from ISoS to ISlii), a duly of 2J per 

 cent was levied, which yielded in the earlier period sums 

 so low as R12-25 in 1839, rising to R759 in 1840. In the 

 second series of years, when export duties were levied 

 expressly for railway purposes, the duty rose from K1,U10 

 in 1S58 to the appreciable sum of K22,240 in 1869. The 

 latter sum was levied on 22tj,lb2 cwt. valued at K8b9,620. 

 The rated duty seems, therefore, to have been as nearly as 

 possible one-tenth of a rupee per cwt. The only customs 

 impost to which plumbago is now liable is, apart from 

 the royalty, 7 cents per barrel, recently exacted for 

 harbour purposes. As each barrel contains 5^ cwt. net 

 of mineral, the burden is only a fraction over one cent 

 per cwt., in addition to the royalty which since 1877 has 

 been levied at the rate of R5 per ton, or 25 cents per 

 cwt., equivalent to 2i per cent on the {Justoms valuation 

 of RIO per cwt., but "rising to 5 per cent if the real value 

 is only about RlOO per ton. Previou.sly to K'iSt no royalty 

 was levied, and the varying rates sirce then have been; — 



In 1864 per ton... 16s. 



„ 1869 30s. 



„ 1873 „ ... RIO 



„ 1877 RS 



In 1851 per ton... 4s. 



„ 1862 5s. 



„ 1859 „ ... 7s. 6d 



„ 1S62 „ ... 14.V. 



There can be no possible question, it would seem, of 

 the propriety of exacting a royalty, moderate in propor- 

 tion to its market value, on this mineral, which ie entirely 

 an article of export, and which is as much the property 

 of Government, or the people of Ceylon, as are the pearly 

 treasures of the "oyster" banks off Ai-ippu, — providing, too 

 as the revenue from plumbago does for the constiucti-in, 

 amongst other public works, of means of communication 

 which facilitate and cheapen the operations of the dig- 

 gers. AVe could only wish that copper, tin, nickel, and 

 other ores which have been eo positively written about 

 as occurring in Ceylon, with gold, which beyond question 

 does exist, were found in quantities sufficient to add ap- 

 preciably to the revenue in the shape of royalties. The 

 one necessary qualification is, of course, that the amount 

 of the tax should be such as not to bear heavily on an 

 enterprise which is always toilsome and often precarious. 

 Taking the average value of plumbago at RIO per cwt., 

 the Customs figure, the present impost of 25 cents is, as 

 noticed above, only equivalent to a rate of 2^ per cent, 

 which certainly cannot be complained of as unduly onerous, 

 however justifiable complaints and remonstrances were 

 when 14s, IGs, and even 30.s per ton were exacted, or 

 RIO between 1874 and 1877. The present rate has the 

 merit of being light, easily collected, and productive, for 

 in the five years ended 18S4 an average export of nearly 

 12,tK)0 tons per annum, of an annual value of R2,4fcO,OUO, 

 yielded royalty equal to a yearly average in round numbers 

 of R60,000. When the proceeds of digging licenses and 

 leases of Crown lands, and stamps on those leases, are 

 added, the average may be raised to R65,000. The maxima 

 of quantities exported, total value, and total revenue were 

 reachetl in 1883, when the figures were : — 



Plumbago exported 

 Value @ RIO jier cwt. 



( Royalty ... R65,694 j 



(Leases k licenses 4,727 ) 

 Wonderful contrasts these, even if we reduce the Customs 

 valuation by one-half, to an export of only 423 cwt. in 

 183U, valued at only R490, or a little over Rl per cwt., 

 and yielding to tho revenue of the Colony only 1{I2'25, a 

 sum scarcely worthy of collection ! The totals for the 

 whole period of half-a-century of the export trade in 

 Ceylon plumbago are striking, viz. : — 



Quantity exjiorted .. cwt. 3,52C,f)00 



Value of this quantity ... R25,742,00O 



Contributions to revenue ... R841,000 



Crediting plumbago revenue with items brought to 

 account under stamps and other headings, the amount 

 might be raised to R900,'jOO, and, had Government always 



Total revenue 



cwt. 262,774 

 R2,6S7,737 



R70,421 



got its own in the shape of royalty, the round million 

 ot rupees would be considerably excelled. 



Taking averages of qualities and periods, it is probable 

 ihat K200 per ton is too high a valuation for this mineral, 

 and that twenty millions of rupees would more nearly 

 than twenty-five millions represent the total value of 

 the plumbago exported in fifty-one years, for which 

 figures are given. At any averiige price of less than RlOO 

 per ton it would probably not pay to dig plumbago, aud 

 as a matter of fact what was evidently over-productiou 

 between 1880 aud 1883 led to a reaction in 1884, when 

 not only did exports tall otf but operations in the pre- 

 paring yards in Colombo were stayed for a time by 

 general consent, seme not opening again even when the 

 probability of a war with Russia gave a fresh fiUii) to 

 the trade. 



It is a melancholy fact that plumbago is one of the 

 class of articles like ''villainous saltpetre" and some 

 others, the trade in which prospers when war has broken 

 out or when wartare is threatened. The reason in the 

 case of our staple mineral is, that the chief use by far 

 to which Ceylon plumbago is put is Ihe manufacture of 

 crucibles, nozzles, &c., employed in the preparation of 

 Bessemer and other steel, now in such large requisition 

 for shipbuikling, plates for ironclads, torpedoes, shot, 

 shell, &c.; this, in addition to the melting ot the precious 

 metals, for which crucibles of refractory plumbago are 

 eminently suited from their superior strength and perfect 

 smoothness. There are many minor uses to which plumbago 

 is put, as will hereafter be shown, but I believe I am 

 right in stating that its extended consumption (if that 

 word can be correctly applied to an article which is ' 

 almost unconsumable) in recent years is due to the 

 great and rapid advance of the steel industry on both 

 sides of the Atlantic, not merely to provide materials 

 for ships, durable aud light, but for the dread weapons 

 and appliances of modern warfare, such as Krupp aud 

 Armstrong guns, steel shot, ^c. liut the abuntlance of 

 the ore in Ceylon, aud the enterprise and activity with 

 which the mining, preparing and shipping of the mineral 

 have been pursued, have in this case, as in so many 

 others, recently led to production considerably in excess 

 of demand, so that the profits of the pursuit, never 

 very great and always precarious, lia\e recently been 

 low or nil. 



Wheu at its highest market value I do not suppose 

 that Ceylon plumbago ever sold for moie than £50 per 

 ton ; indeed the highest price of which I have evidtnee 

 is £48 realized by Mr. W. A. Fernando, of Browurigg 

 Street, Colombo. What is this to the celebrated Borrow- 

 dale pencil ' black-lead." mines, which, after having been 

 worked since the reign of Queen Elizabeth, recently gave 

 out, so that now pei.cils picked up at Keswick as curios- 

 ities cost sixpence each ! In the report ot the Watara district 



for 1870 the Assistant Government Ai;snt stated: 



''To meet Ceylon plumbago in Cumberland was cert- 

 ainly a surprise ; but when recenth at the Eiigli.sh Lakes 

 I learned that plumbago from this Island was mixed 

 with the local graphite to make good pencils." 



In the palmy days of the piumoago mines of the North 

 of England the black-lead obtained from thtm was 

 valued at 30s. per pound, or over £3,0(10 per ton, or 

 within about two-thirtls of the price of ordinary gold. 

 We cannot be surprised therefore to Itaru that a couple 

 of centuries before the woild heard o! the gold escorts of 

 California and Australia, the black-lead of the English 

 Lake rei;ion was guariled in its transit, in carts, trom 

 mine to manufactory by parties of military, the robbei-y 

 of black-lead mines being, by an Act of George II., 

 constituted a felony. The Act, curiously enough, recited 

 that black-lead was employed for divers useful purposes, 

 and more especially for the casting of bomb-shells, round 

 shot, and cannon-balls. The connection, therefore, with 

 the art of war of the mineral so long as.sociated with 

 the most intellectual ami humanizing of the arts of peace — 

 writing and drawing, to wit — does not date from yesterday. 

 The quality of the Borrowdale ore, dark-cidoured, pure and 

 soft, rendered it eminently suitable for pencils of the finest 

 descriptions, aud for about two and a-half centuries the world 

 was practically supplied with pencils from this one source. 

 From one pound of the ore, worth 30s., or at the rate of 

 £168 per cwt., the number of pencils cut averaged from 18 



