GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 303 
the whole contents had been worked over, the basket was passed to 
another man who reexamined its contents with greatest care in order 
to pick out any minute particles of gems which might still remain 
in the gravel and which might bring some small return. When all 
the illam was washed the gems found would be taken to Colombo 
and sold and the proceeds divided pro rata among the partners in 
the claim. 
The location of the pits often seems to have been selected in a 
haphazard manner, although frequently the attempt is made to locate 
them in what is conjectured to be the course of the old stream which 
originally meandered through the valley. 
Visitors coming to the district from abroad often think the gem- 
ming could be carried on much more efficiently and to great advan- 
tage by employing large modern dredging plants. The chief reason 
why this can not be done is that it is very difficult to secure titles 
to any extended piece of territory. The paddy fields are held in 
small areas by different owners, who, as a general rule, have many 
mortgages and liens on their lands—often of the most complicated 
character—so that it is practically impossible to secure a clear title, 
free from encumbrances, to an area sufficiently large to operate a 
dredge. 
The following precious and semiprecious stones are found in Cey- 
lon: Amethyst, aquamarine, chrysoberyl (and its varieties, alex- 
andrite, and cat’s-eye), garnet, moonstone, peridote, ruby, sapphire, 
spinel, topaz, tourmaline, and zircon. They are all found in the 
alluvial deposits just described, but the moonstone (a clear chatoyant 
variety of orthoclase feldspar) is more generally obtained from peg- 
matites and other quartz-feldspar rocks which are found in situ. 
Ruby and sapphire have the same composition, being clear, trans- 
parent varieties of corundum, the former red and the latter blue in 
color. Some stones show a peculiar blending of the red and blue col- 
ors, the latter preponderating, and are known as “ oriental amethyst.” 
While the true sapphire is blue, yellow sapphires (called sometimes 
“oriental topaz”) and white sapphires are frequently found as well. 
Diamonds, emeralds, opals, and turquoise are not found in Ceylon. 
Much has yet to be learned concerning the details of the processes 
by which the gem stones have been transported and concentrated in 
the gravels in which they are now found. Of the gems washed from 
the same deposit some are found to have suffered but little rounding 
of the crystal edges through attrition, while others are so much 
rounded that no traces of the original crystal form remain. This is 
true even of exceedingly hard gems, such as sapphires, and would 
seem to indicate that while some of the stones have been moved but a 
short distance from the veins (?) in the bedrock whence they are 
derived, others must have been carried a very considerable distance 
