PHYSICAL GEOGKAPIIY. 



[PART I. 



Amethysts are got in the gneiss, and some discoloured 

 though beautiful specimens hi syenite ; they are too com- 

 mon to be highly esteemed. The "Matura Diamonds," 

 which are largely used by the native jewellers, consist 

 of zircon, found in the syenite not only uncoloured, 

 but also of pink and yellow tints, the former passing for 

 rubies. 



But one of the prettiest though commonest gems in 

 the island is the "Moon-stone," a variety of pearly 

 adularia presenting chatoyant rays when simply polished. 

 They are so abundant that the finest specimens may 

 be bought for a few shillings. These, with aqua marina, 

 a bad description of opal rock crystal in extremely large 

 pieces, tourmaline, and a number of others of no great 

 value, compose the list of native gems procurable in 

 Ceylon. 1 Diamonds, emeralds, agates, carnelians, and 

 turquoise, when they are exhibited by the natives, have 

 all been imported from India. 



During the dynasty of the Kandyan sovereigns, the 

 right of digging for gems was a royalty reserved jealously 

 by the King ; and the inhabitants of particular villages 

 were employed in their search under the superintendence 

 of hereditary officers, with the rank of " Mudianse." By 

 the British Government the monopoly was early abolished 

 as a source of revenue, and no license is now required by 

 the jewel-hunters. 



Great numbers of persons of the worst-regulated 

 habits are constantly engaged in this exciting and pre- 

 carious trade ; and serious demoralisation is engendered 

 amongst the villagers by the idle and dissolute adven- 

 turers who resort to Saffragam. Systematic industry 

 suffers, and the cultivation of the land is frequently neg- 



1 CASWINI and some of the Arabian 

 geographers assert that the diamond 

 is found at Adam's Peak ; but this is 

 improbable, as there is no formation 

 here resembling the cascalhao of 

 Brazil or the diamond conglomerate 



of Golconda. If diamonds were of- 

 fered for sale in Ceylon, in the time 

 of the Arab navigators, they must 

 have been brought thither from 

 India. (Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xiii. 



