174 On the Beryl Mine^ of Paddioor. [July 



matter; the latter contained both tlie muriate and sulphate of soda ; 

 which salts, and nitrate of potass exist abundantly in the soil of the 

 adjacent district. The water at the bottom of the mine is sufficiently 

 pure for irrigation and the purposes of life. 



There are marks of other excavations in this vicinity, and in the same 

 bed. The natives, however, assert their perfect ignorance of their use. 

 Judging from the high barren situation in which I found them, these 

 excavations could hardly have been made for wells. Blocks of the 

 cleavlandite, which forms the matrix of the gem, had been throw^n out, 

 and evidently broken up in search of what it might be supposed to 

 contain. The excavations were shallow, but extensive, and the quantity 

 of the broken up gangue very large ; it (the cleavlandite) can be traced 

 in the rocks in the vicinity to an extent, east and west, of about thirty- 

 eight miles ; and it is likely that, in ancient times, antecedent to Maho- 

 medan conquest, when rights to landed property were more secure, the 

 gem was obtained in abundance. Now, the surface veins appear to be 

 completely exhausted in all the excavations I examined ; but it is pro- 

 bable, from the inquiries I made, that it is still secretly procured by 

 natives from certain localities in this district, as it still forms an article 

 of traffic in Indian bazaars. It has been thought, with some reason, that 

 the largest crystallized Beryl ever known, weighing six ounces, and 

 costing £500, and which was supposed to have been brought to Europe 

 from Ceylon, was the produce of the Beryl mines of Coitnbatoor, as 

 neither Davy, nor any of the authors conversant with the mineralogy of 

 Ceylon, mention its existence on that island. It has been stated posi- 

 tively that it does not occur there. 



To Mr. Heath the merit is due of having first brought these mines 

 under the notice of government. Mr. Fischer, the enterprising land- 

 proprietor of Salem, informed me that the gem was first discovered by 

 the diggers of a well on the estate of the village Potail, who sold them 

 secretly to the itinerant jewellers and chittjs, who purchased thera in 

 large quantities for a mere trifle, and sold them at an immense profit at 

 Madras, Pondicherry, and other European settlements. This, coming 

 to Mr. Heath's knowledge, afforded a clue by which he was enabled to 

 trace the beryl to its situs. He lost no time in obtaining the condi- 

 tional consent of government, and arranging with the native owner of 

 the land. Mining operations were carried on for about two years, and 

 were discontinued in consequence of the mines being exhausted, and 

 the expense of draining off the water. It has now (1840) reverted to 

 its original purpose of irrigation, and is still the property of the Potail 

 who originally caused it to be dug. This venerable old Hindoo, Chin- 



