CORUNDUM (RUBY)- OCCURRENCE IN SIAM 275 



The mines of Chantabun are about twenty hours journey by steamer from Bangkok. 

 They lie not far from the coast of the Gulf of Siam (Fig. 56), and near Chantabun, the capital 

 of the province of the same name. The lofty mountains of this region consist of greyish granite, 

 and the lowlands of limestone. The latter may possibly be, as in Burma, the mother-rock 

 of the ruby, but this point has not as yet been determined. At present the precious stone 

 is only known to occur in sands, which have hitherto been worked according to the most 

 primitive methods by the natives. The workers are for the most part Burmese, and their 

 usual method of working the deposits is to excavate a small shaft which never exceeds 

 24< feet in depth. Precious stones were at one time very abundant in this region ; according 

 to a missionary report of the year 1859, it was possible in half an hour to collect a handful 

 of rubies from the " Hill of Gems," an eminence standing to the east of the town of 

 Chantabun. This particular accumulation is now dispersed, but the town of Chantabun 

 remains the centre of the trade in precious stones of this region. 



More detailed information respecting the mines in the province of Krat has been given 

 by Demetri and others. Krat, the capital of the province, lies not far from Chantabun, in 

 a south-south-easterly direction, and is on the sea-coast. The mines of this region are 

 scattered over a wide area, and are divided into two groups thirty miles apart. Those of 

 one group are known as the mines of Bo Nawang, and of the other as the mines of Bo 

 Channa. At the time of Demetri's visit the men employed in the two groups of mines 

 numbered about 1250. 



The mines of Bo Nawang, situated in the neighbourhood of the village of Nawang, 

 near the eastern margin of the map (Fig. 56), cover an area of about two square miles. 

 They are small pits, 2 to 4 feet deep, sunk in a coarse yellow or brown sand, which extends 

 over a wide stretch of country and overlies a bed of clay. The rubies are found at the base 

 of the sand in a layer of material 6 to 10 inches thick. As elsewhere in Siam they are 

 accompanied by sapphires, and, though small, are said to be superior to rubies from other 

 Siamese localities. The mines have only been systematically worked since the year 1875. 



The mines of Bo Channa lie about thirty miles to the north-east of the other 

 group, and are scattered over an area about a mile square. The ruby-bearing sand is 

 6 to 24 inches thick, and a few of the mines reach a depth of 24 feet. The natives are of 

 opinion that the stones have been washed down by the river from the Kao Sam Nam, and 

 many fine stones are reported to have been found in the rivers rising in this mountain. 

 The mines have been worked since 1885, always under unfavourable conditions due to the 

 unhealthiness of the climate. 



Between the provinces of Chantabun and Krat lies the ruby district of the sub-pi-ovince 

 of Muang Klung (or shortly Klung), shown in the map (Fig. 56). It is situated to the 

 north-east of the town of Chantabun, and is reached after traversing twelve miles of rough 

 road. The centre of the district, which extends for a distance of seven miles, is the small 

 Burmese village of Ban Yat. The valleys of this district are from 600 to 800 feet above 

 sea-level, while the hills dividing them have an elevation of 500 feet more. The gem mines 

 are situated in the valleys and on the sides of the hills. All the valleys are traversed by 

 small mountain streams, affluents of the river Ven, upon the banks of which narrow patches 

 of alluvium are laid down. It is these alluvial deposits which are worked for gems. No 

 alluvium is laid down in the upper part of the valleys, since here the streams are too rapid ; 

 it is only in the lower and wider parts that the streams are sufficiently slow to lay down a 

 deposit. These small patches of alluvium are worked only in the dry season ; in the wet 

 season the miners confine their attention to the deposits on the sides of the hills, which lie 

 above the present high-water level of the streams. These deposits overlie a trap-rock of 



