GEM-STONES 



MINOR 



Tourmaline 



Cambay 

 Industry. 



GEM-STONES 



Murrhine 

 Vases, etc. 



Burning and 

 its Effects. 



Seasons. 



Trade. 



Colours. 



Onyx. 



Jasper. 



Opal. 



Cat's-eye. 



Tourma- 

 line. 



important place at which agates are cut is Cambay, but a certain amount of agate- 

 cutting is also carried on at Jabbalpur, and other places within range of the 

 Deccan Trap. They are much used for ornamental and decorative purposes, 

 being made into brooches, rings, seals, cups, etc. The ancient murrhine vases, 

 famous from the tune of Pliny, are supposed to have been made of agates from 

 Broach and Cambay. While collecting the pebbles the miners divide them into 

 two primary classes those that are not improved in colour by burning, and 

 those that are. Of the former there are three chief varieties : (1) the Onyx, 

 known as mora or bdwa ghori ; (2) the Cat's-eye. cheshamaddr or dola ; and (3) a 

 yellow half-clear pebble called rori or lasania. All other stones are baked to 

 bring out their colour. During the hot season, generally hi March and April, 

 the stones are spread in the sun in an open field. Then in May, a trench, two 

 feet deep by three wide, is dug round the field. The pebbles are gathered into 

 earthen pots, which, with their mouths down and a hole broken in their bottoms, 

 are set in a row in the trench. Round the pots, goat or cow-dung cakes are piled, 

 and the whole kept burning from sunset to sunrise. The pots are then taken 

 out, the stones examined, and the good ones stowed in bags. About the end of 

 May the bags are carried to the Nerbudda and floated to Broach. Here they are 

 shipped in large vessels for Cambay, and offered for sale to the Carnelian dealers. 



By exposure to the sun and fire, among browns the light shades brighten 

 into white, and the darker deepen into chestnut. Of yellows, maize gains a 

 rosy tint, orange is intensified into red, and an intermediate shade of yellow 

 becomes pinkish purple. Pebbles in which cloudy browns and yellows were at 

 first mixed are now marked by clear bands of white and red. The hue of the 

 red carnelian varies from the palest flesh to the deepest blood red. The best 

 are of a deep, clear, and even red colour, free from cracks, flaws or veins. The 

 larger and thicker the stone, the more it is esteemed. White carnelians are 

 scarce. When large, thick, even coloured, and free from flaws, they are valu- 

 able ; yellow and variegated stones are worth little. It may be of interest to 

 add in this connection that the burning of agates at Cambay is fully described 

 by Barbosa at the beginning of the 16th century, so that it would appear to 

 be a fairly ancient industry. And moreover other writers of an even earlier 

 date allude to the agates of India without specially indicating their production. 



[Cf Varthema, Travels, 1510 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 107 ; Barbosa, Coasts 

 E. Africa and Malabar (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 1517, 66-7 ; Mandelslo, I.e. 1662, 26, 

 40, 83; Tavernier, I.e. i., 69; Milburn, I.e. ii., 497-9; Paulus Mgineta 

 (Adams Comment.), 1847, hi., 476 ; Campbell, Bomb. Oaz., iii., iv., vii. and 

 xxiii. ; Watt, Rev. Min. Prod. Ind., 1894, 17 ; Ind. Art at Delhi, 1903, 73-4.] 



(c) Onyx. Ball, I.e. 503. 



The onyx is the general term for those varieties of agate in which the colours 

 are arranged hi flat horizontal planes. It is reported to be plentiful in the crystal 

 pits in the Betul district, and to occur near Amerwara in Chhindwara. It was 

 formerly in great repute for cameos, and is employed for various articles of 

 adornment. [Cf. Milburn, I.e. ii., 515 ; Watt, Rev. Min. Prod., I.e.} 



(d) Jasper. Ball, I.e. 503-14; Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind., 1895, xxv., 202. 



A quartzose mineral, commonly of a red or yellow colour. The former occurs 

 among the Cambay stones from the Deccan, and the latter in Tenasserim. A 

 green variety is found in Burma, and fine specimens of ribbon jasper are met 

 with in the Sandur hills, Bellary. [Cf. Garcia de Orta, 1563, Coll., xliv.] 



(e) OpaL The dhudid pathar. 



Compact uncrystalline semi-transparent to opaque hydrated silica. There 

 are various varieties, of which the most valued is the Noble Opal, of a milky 

 white colour, opalescent and exhibiting a rich play of colour. [Cf. Milburn, I.e. 

 ii., 515; Bennet Brough, Mining Non-Metall. Min., inJourn. Soc. Arts., Jan. 

 15, 1904, 174.] 



(/) Cat's-eye. The chush-maidar, lasniydn or lahsaniya. 



A variety of chalcedonic quartz, presenting a peculiar opalescent reflection, 

 said to be due to the presence of asbestos. It is called Cat's-eye from its re- 

 semblance to the eye of a cat, hence also the Burmese name kyoung, which has 

 that meaning. [Cf. Garcia de Orta, 1563, Coll., xliv. ; Linschoten, Voy. E. Ind., 

 1598 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 1885, ii., 141 ; Milburn, I.e. i., 361.] 



13. Tourmaline. Noetling, Tourmaline Mines in Mainglon State, 

 in Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind., 1891, xxiv., pt. ii., 125-8 ; Holland, Rev. Min. 

 Prod. Ind., 1905, xxxii., pt. i., 109. 



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