190 



JOUENAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. IX. 



Mr. Iye, who wrote apparently in 1755, professed to have dis- 

 covered " black lead" and copper ores in Ceylon. Mr. W. P. 

 Ranesinghe has nnearthed for me the tradition that the last 

 King of Kandy, infamons for his cruelties as he is famous 

 for his esthetic taste, added to his many-sided character a 

 development of the commercial instinct, supplying, it is said, 

 plumbago to merchant ships, more than seventy years before 

 such enterprising traders as the Fernandos and De Mels 

 appeared on the scene. The tradition seems also to indicate 

 that some of the plumbago in which the monarch traded 

 was dug from a mine on the lands of Molligoda Disawa. 

 Cor diner who wrote at the commencement of this century, 

 stated : — " Plumbago is found with mica at the foot of moun- 

 tains, in clay and red earth, most frequently at a considerable 

 depth : but is sometimes met with by itself in dry soil." 



In more modern times, 1812-20, Dr. Davy, the brother of 

 Sir Humphrey, mentioned plumbago as a mineral found in 

 Ceylon, a which might become an article of export." Dr. 

 Davy was apparently correct in his scepticism as to the 

 existence in Ceylon of ores of quicksilver, copper or tin, but 

 wrong in doubting the existence of gold. Coal however is 

 not, like gold in its very wide diffusion. Still, the mistake of 

 Davy in regard to gold forbids dogmatism. Bertolacci, who 

 wrote his work on the commerce of Ceylon in 1816, although 

 he dealt with every article of any importance in detail 

 up to the end of 1813, makes not the slightest mention 

 of plumbago. The export of the article must have com- 

 menced between 1820 and 1830, however, for Mr. Joseph 

 Dixon, the founder of the great American Crucible Company, 

 obtained a shipment of Ceylon plumbago in 1829. In 

 that very year Col. Colebrooke, one of the Commissioners on 

 Ceylon affairs, stated in his report that provision had been 

 made for the delivery of cinnamon and black lead in the 

 Kandyan Provinces (then including the Seven Korales) at 

 fixed rates. Reference to the Government Calendars shows 

 that there is no mention of plumbago until 1831, when it 

 was included in the list of articles liable to export duty, 

 the rate being lOd. per cwt. The amount of revenue at this 

 rate in 1832 was £22 18s. 6d. The mineral did not, however, 

 assume real importance in the commerce of Ceylon until 

 1834, and for the half century which has elapsed between 



