No. 31.— 1885.] 



PLUMBAGO. 



209 



It thus appears that the best deposits of plumbago at 

 present worked in Ceylon are situated at the foot of the 

 north-western portion of the mountain zone. The mineral 

 exists at high elevations, up to Nuwara Eliya indeed, but 

 apparently not in paying form or quantity. It would appear 

 that while the veins of plumbago run generally from south 

 to north in the Western Province, their direction in the 

 Kurunegala District are from east to west. 



In the Central Province as now constituted, few plumbago 

 mines seem to have been opened. The mineral must be rare 

 in the North-Central Province, and still rarer, if really 

 existent, in the Northern Province. Plumbago mining, in 

 any case, seems to be, at present, practically confined to the 

 North -Western, Western, and Southern Provinces, and a 

 Sessional Paper, issued with reference to the legislation of 

 1873, stated that the number of pits then was altogether no 

 less than 1,779, of which 1,181 were on Crown land, 539 on 

 private land, and 59 on land specially exempted. Of the 

 pits enumerated, 1,086 were in the Western Province, 

 644 in the Southern, and 82 in the North- Western. In 

 the Western and Southern Provinces by far the larger pro- 

 portion of the mines were on Government land, there being 

 none on Government land in the North- Western Province. 

 Of the 1,779 mines enumerated, more than half were 

 represented as having been abandoned. In dealing with the 

 question of mines in the "Ceylon Directory" of 1880, the com- 

 piler stated that it was impossible to obtain the exact number 

 of plumbago mines in Ceylon, but that it was usually reckoned 

 at about 400, besides 230 gem pits and 30 iron quarries. 



It seems possible that if digging for gems and plumbago 

 continues on a large scale, and becomes widespread, 

 legislation may be needed such as exists regarding the pro- 

 tection of wells, and that measures to prevent accidents from 

 subterraneous blasting and the collapse of tunnels, as also to 

 secure free ventilation, may be necessary. Though not so 

 much so as gem-digging, plumbago mining is, no doubt, 

 largely a speculative pursuit, involving the loss and demorali- 

 zation which ever accompany gambling pursuits. The ultimate 

 result is, however, beneficial to the people and the country. 



From some of the Administration Reports consulted, it 

 would seem that the plumbago industry is a recent one in 



