I h.' M 1. I ',(111 pit sliowiiig priiiiitivc crane and pool at which tlic caitli is waslicd for j,'ems 



CHVl.ON: Till: ISL.WT) OF JRW'ELS. 



I'.y LEOPOLD CLARLMONT. 

 Aidliiir (if "The (kiii-Ciittcr's Craft." and "The Idcittificdtioii of Gems." 



Tin: gi'iii-iniiurals willi wliicli ("i 

 urously (.■lulowi'il arc rcniarkal)k-. ik 

 l)L'auty. hut also on account of the 

 j;ruat variety of thcin. 



Altliou,i;h tlic diamond, opal, 

 cincrald, and jjcridot are cons[)ic- 

 uous liy their ahsence, all the 

 other well - known transparent 

 j^ems arc ahundantly represented 

 in the island. There are also 

 many very beautiful precious 

 stones with which the general 

 public at all ewnts. is more or 

 less unfamiliar. 



The principal mineral is corun- 

 dum, of which the red and hlu( 

 varieties constitute the gems ruh\ 

 and sapphire. (See I'^igure 2.) It. 

 however, also occurs in a lont; 

 series of different colours ol 

 varying shades, which range from 

 the ruhv-red to delicate rose pink: 

 fr<')m the royal sapphire to sky- 

 hhu': from plum to violet and 

 lilac : and from golilen orange to 

 primrose. 



There is also a most attraclive 

 rich salmon - pink \ariety, rc- 



yloi. 

 .1 on 



Iv fo 



gen- 

 their 



semhling 

 which i^ 



the tint 

 know n 



.■V soinewlial water-worn crystal of 

 Sapphire. 



f the ■■ .Sunrisi- " rose, and 

 in t"e\lon as piitf)iirii(>iiiii : and 

 \(.ry rarely only, the miner.d is 

 tound green in the island. 



In (enlral Oueensland. how - 

 rxcr. at a place called .\nakie. the 

 ^r< 111 \ariet\' is fairK- plentifu" 

 wiiilc the red and ])urple are 

 entirely absent. 



Some of the corundum gem- 

 stones exhibit the phenomenon 

 of ii.sfcrisiii. that is, they display 

 a bright shimmering six-pointed 

 star with the ravs divergent from 

 the centre of the stone when it is 

 lilt with a smooth convex surface. 



They are found almost exclu- 

 si\ely in '."eylon (a few ruby star- 

 stones are found in Burmah), and 

 under the name of tf.sYt'r/tf.s- or 

 .s7<7r-.sYo/it'.s are highh- valued by 

 connoisseurs when of choice 

 quality. I'or some unknown 

 reason, the yellow and green 

 varieties of corundum do not 

 exhibit the |)henonunon of 

 .isti-rism, 



.Vnother gem - mineral which 



