CHAP. I.] GEMS. 37 



It is strange that although the sapphire is obtained 

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

 never yet been discovered in the original matrix, and 

 the small fragments 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 

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

 piece which was dug out of the alluvium within a few 

 miles of Ratnapoora 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 

 believe them to be the same stone only differing in 

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

 tion yellow and the other blue. 



Garnets of inferior quality 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 rocks con- 

 taining it in profusion exist in many places, especially 

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

 miles east from Point-de-Galle, a detached mass is so 

 largely composed of cinnamon-stones that it is carried 

 away in lumps for the purpose of extracting and polishing 

 them. 



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

 Singhalese are especially proud, from a belief that 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 Hindustan. The cat's-eye is a greenish translucent 

 quartz, and when cut en cabochon 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 



