8,10 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



the rubies which are now put on the market come from Burma. It is probable, howevei", 

 that part of this supply is the gradually accumulated stock of former times, and that the 

 yield of the mines is now smaller than formerly. 



The Burmese ruby mines were mentioned long ago by Tavernier. According to his 

 account, which, however, was not based on personal observation but en second-hand 

 information, they were situated in the " Capelan Mountains," in Pegu, twelve days 

 journey in a north-east direction from the town of Syriam, now a small village close 

 to Rangoon. The yield at that time (second half of the seventeenth century) was 

 apparently not very great, and was estimated at 100,000 ecus (^£"22,500) per annum 

 by Tavernier, who adds that he found the importation of rubies from Europe into 

 India a lucrative business. 



Tavernier s error in describing the locality of the ruby mines has been repeated again 

 and again, and is even now current in the text-books of the present day. There is not the 

 least doubt that the mines referred to are those which are still being worked in Upper 

 Burma, and which are very much further removed from Syriam than Tavernier stated them 

 to be. The distance from here to Mandalay is at least thirty-six days journey, and from 

 Mandalay to the principal ruby district of Mogok is another eight days journey, the less 

 important district of the Sagyin Hills lying, however, a little nearer. Until recently the 

 exact location of these mines was a secret jealously guarded by the Burmese, who thus 

 rendered them practically inaccessible to Europeans. Since the annexation of the country 

 in 1886 by Britain, more detailed information has been obtainable, and a part of the 

 workings has been taken over by Europeans. The district was officially visited and reported 

 upon in 1888 by Mr. C. Barrington Brown. The rocks and minerals collected there were 

 examined by Professor -J. W. Judd, the result of their joint examination being published in 

 1896 in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 



The district of Mogok is the most important " ruby tract," or " stone tract," and 

 embraces an area of forty-five square miles, or, if some abandoned mines are included, sixty- 

 six square miles. The ruby-bearing area is, in all probability, much greater than this, 

 extending to the south and east into the independent Shan States, and has been estimated 

 by Lockhart, who for two years was resident engineer to the Burma Ruby Mining 

 Company, at 400 square miles. This opinion is supported by the recent discovery of an old 

 ruby mine in the river gravels of the Nampai valley, near Namseka village, in the Mainglon 

 State. The district, which is mountainous, and scored by deep valleys, lies to the east of 

 the Irrawaddy, from which it is separated by a plain thirty miles in width, in which a few 

 unimportant ruby mines are worked by the natives. 



This district has formed a part of the kingdom of Burma since 1637 ; its chief town and 

 centre of the trade in precious stones is Mogok, latitude 22° 55' N., longitude 96° 30' E. of 

 Greenwich, thirty-four miles in a straight line (but fifty-eight by road) from the river, and 

 ninety miles north-north-east of Mandalay. A little below Mandalay is Ava, formerly 

 known as Ratanapura ( = city of gems), the old capital of Burma, round which the trade in 

 precious stones of the whole country centres. Mogok stands at an elevation of 4100 feet 

 above sea-level, while the highest point of the district has an elevation of 7775 feet. In 

 spite of this the country is covered with thick forests, and is unhealthy both for Europeans 

 and natives. The principal mines are situated in the valleys in which stand the towns of 

 Kathay and Kyatpyen ( = Kapyun). The mountains surrounding the latter town have been 

 conclusively proved by Prinsep to be identical with the "Capelan Mountains" of Tavernier. 



'Yhe mother-rock of the ruby and of the minerals, such as spinel, with which it is 

 .associated, is a white, dolomitic, granular limestone or marble, which forms whole mountain 



