NO. 48. — 1897.] GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 



57 



Gold. — However slight may Ibe the proof afforded by such 

 names as Randenigama, Randeniya, Rangalapola, Rangama, 

 Ranmutugala, Rantetikanda, Rantetiyawa, &c,, which are 

 said to derive their origin from the existence of auriferous 

 ores in these places, and the doubtful testimony furnished 

 by "Wadula-pot" which relate in glowing terms of fabulous 

 wealth and countless treasures buried deep in the bowels of 

 the earth seldom accessible to man (!), the theory that gold 

 is an unknown quantity in the Island has been falsified by 

 explorations in this Province. Davy in his work made the 

 unqualified averment that the precious metals were not to 

 be found in Ceylon. Commenting on this statement, "it 

 is amusing," says Sir Samuel Baker, " to see the positive 

 assertions of a clever man upset by a few uneducated 

 sailors."* In March, 1854, seven discharged seamen from 

 the " Faithful " and the " Martin Luther," namely, Henry 

 Temple, William King, Charles Langley, James Mabley, John 

 Wilson, John Philips, and William Bradley, with experience 

 of gold-digging in California and Australia, touched at 

 Colombo and made a trip towards Kandy by the old road. 

 When about half way it struck them, from the appearance of 

 the rocks in the uneven bed of the Maha-oya, that gold must 

 exist in the sands. They had no geological reasons for this 

 opinion, but the river happened to be very like those in 

 California in which they had been accustomed to find gold. 

 They accordingly set to work with a tin pan to wash the 

 sand, and, as Baker exultingly records, "to the astonish- 

 ment of every one in Ceylon, and to the confusion of Dr. 

 Davy's opinions, they actually discovered gold ! " The 

 scene of the operations, called " Bradley's Diggings " after 

 the original discoverer, lay at Giriulla, "lh miles from 

 Kurunegala, in a sudden bend of the Maha-oya from a south- 

 westerly to a north-westerly course. In the centre of the 

 bed stood an island composed of " diluvial " deposits of 

 smooth gneiss, quartz boulders, sand, and gravel, cemented 



* " Eight Years in Ceylon," second edition, p. 49. 



