Cii.vr. T.J GEMS. 37 



It is strange that althougli the sapphire is found in 

 all this region in greater quantity than the ruby, it has 

 never yet been discovered in the original matrix, and 

 the small fra2;ments which sometimes occur in dolomite 

 show that there it is but a deposit. From its exquisite 

 colour and the size in which it is commonly found, it 

 forms by far the most valuable gem of the island. A 

 piece which was dug out of the aUuvium within a few 

 miles of Eatnapoora in 1853, was purchased by a Moor 

 at Colombo, in whose hands it was valued at upwards of 

 four thousand pounds. 



The original site of the oriental topaz is equally un- 

 known with that of the sapphire. The Singhalese rightly 

 beheve them to be the same stone only differing in 

 coloiu", and crystals are said to be obtained with one por- 

 tion yellow and the other blue. 



Garnets of inferior quahty are common in the gneiss, 

 but finer ones are found in the hornblende rocks. 



Cinnamon-stone (which is properly a variety of 

 garnet) is so extremely abundant, that vast rocks con- 

 taining it in profusion exist in many places, especiaUy 

 in the alluvium around Matura ; and at Belhgam, a few 

 miles east from Point-de-Galle, a vast detached rock is 

 so largely composed of cinnamon-stones that it is carried 

 off in lumps for the purpose of extracting and pohshing 

 them. 



The Cats-eye is one of the jewels of which the 

 Singhalese are especially proud, from a behef tliat it is 

 only found in their island ; but in this I apprehend they 

 are misinformed, as specimens of equal merit have been 

 brought from Quilon and Cochin on the southern coast 

 of Hindostan. The cat's-eye is a greenish translucent 

 quartz, and when cut en cahochon it presents a moving 

 internal reflection which is ascribed to the presence of 

 filaments of asbestos. Its perfection is estimated by the 

 natives in proportion to the narrowness and sharpness of 

 the ray and the pure olive-tint of the ground over which 

 it plays. 



D 3 



