74 
But so far as we are aware no such search for 
the matrix by anyone thoroughly cuainffleterjt lu 
m ike it ind persistenl in tohowing it'haaaa yel bi a 
made — at least on the Sabaragamuwa Side, although 
the late Dr. Gygax evidently regarded the Baian- 
goda and Barabarabotuwa country, in which the 
Kaluganga and its tributaries take their rise, with 
favour as a rich mineralogical region. WJ.en Sir 
Samuel Baker last visited Ceylon, it was rumoured 
that he and Mr. LeMesurier of Nuwara Ehya spent 
some time and money in trying to discover the 
matrix of the ruby on the Uva side of the central 
dividing range ; but without result. The fact 
however, that, according to Mr. Streeter, in Burma 
it has now been decided that limestone constitutes 
the matrix of the ruby, might furnish an indication 
upon which a search of the kind might well be 
specially instil uted. Irjdeed we learn that 
Rakwana proprietors have already given orders to 
look out for limestone along the sides of 'the 
streams cutting through certain estates. It 
Bhould not require much exploration to expose 
to examination the veins of limestone in the 
upper portion of the Ratnapura river, these 
being doubtless liable to attrition by its waters, 
and the cost of this work could not he very serious. 
A question that will be asked is, By whom could 
such exploration be most profitably conducted? Mr. 
Streeter recommends th<a association in this 
object of the present chief proprietors of gem 
pits in Ceylon, a nd we may at least counsel 
them to consider the m-it er in their own interests. 
At any rate the local Gamming Syndicates reported 
to have agents at work should see to this ex- 
ploration being accomplished. For, should they 
not do so, it seems to us far from improbdbie that 
our Government — as suggested by our London Coire- 
spondent — may be urged to und-rtake on behalf 
or publio interests a search which would promise, 
if successful, such large results to the public 
finance^. In such a case, what would become of 
those private individuals who, it may be, have 
invested a considerable amount of capital in the 
industry as at present carried on? It is not likely 
that, once the Government had established a valu- 
able publio property, it would permit, by the 
granting of further licences, the continuance of 
indiscriminate, haphazard competition. As has 
been done in Burma so it would be arranged, we 
may feel confident, in Ceylon: exclusive mining 
rights would be leased to the highest bidder, and 
such an offer we rn :y be sure would come from a 
public Company formed upon the same lines as 
has been the Burma Ruby Mining Company. As a 
measure of self defence, therefore, it might be wise 
for the persons at present interacted in Gemming or 
in Gem Syndicates in Sabaragamuwa to associate 
themselves with the view of being first in the field. 
Many among the native gem-pit owners are 
known to be possessed of wealth, and tue task 
should, therefore, be well within their means. Mr. 
Streeter assigns to Ceylon a foremost position among 
the countries of the world for the richness of its 
gem-bearing strata. Il will be a thousand pities 
if nothing be done to determine the locality of 
these and to develop their yield to the fullest 
po«iMe extent. 
Wei'. tended i< appendhere afurther communication 
fruni the writer who has been discussing— at our 
instance — the case of the Burma Gemming regiou as 
compared with that of Ceylon and thee' couragement 
to capitalists to form a Company to work in Sabara- 
gamuwa. This paper must, however, be kept back 
for another issue. It contains a good many 
criticisms of Mr. Streeter's statements to our London 
Correspondent, and altogether we hope the present 
disoudoion will go a long way to conoentrate 
attention in the most likely quarters at home, on 
'lie rich Gem region of O^yion, until practical r^-su'ts 
r.y the formal on of a strong y supported Company, 
are achieved. 
AN ENGLISH RUBY COMPANY FOR 
BURMA:— WHY NOT A LONDON GEM 
COMPANY FOR CEYLON :— NO. IV. 
MB. STREETER ON BURMA AND CEYLON : 
" CEYLON ONE OF THE RICHEST BEDS OF NATURAL 
(GEM) WEALTH IN THE WORLD." 
It must not be supposed that when advocating 
the cause of Ceylon as a prolific field for mining 
of gems, it is intended to deny the Ex.-tence in 
Burma of a profitable field for similar enterprise. 
Quite the contrary: what is sought to be established 
is the fact that whatever the case may be in regard 
to the Ruby Mine Company, the greater advan- 
tages arid facilities affotded in Ceylon would endow 
such an industry with far greater certainty of 
success as a profitable undertaking than would 
Burma at the present day. At the same time 
it is but fair and legitimate in this endeavour to 
divest the fcrmer of some of the gilded halo of 
imaginary wealth with which it has been surrounded. 
It is interesting to look back at the utterances of 
Mr. Streeter before the formation of the Ruby 
Mine Company and compare their tenor with what 
has been more recently put before the public. " I 
have," said Mr. Streeter, "projected many expeditions: 
some have been successful, others not. It is a 
great gamble and one must take the good with 
'the bad. In Ceylon I have taken rivers for cats- 
eyes and sapphires. Then just before the Burmese 
war broke out, I was negotiating with Theebaw 
for a concession to work the famous ruby mines 
which lie above Mandalay. We have plotted out 
the road for which we were to receive (paying 
£20,000 for the mine con ession) eight miles on 
each side of the Irrawaddy, along w hich the road 
lies.'' By way of interpolation it may be remarked 
that Mr. Streeter's assertion as to having " taken 
rivers in Ceylon for catseyes and sapphires'" 
must be regarded as apocryphal ; were it a 
true statement it would have been known 
in Ceylon long ago. The concession of eight miles 
on either side the Irrawaddy, it will be observed, 
is a totally different matter from what has since 
obtained in the concession from the Indian Govern- 
ment. Considering that the road to the ruby mines 
now lies over 170 miles up the river, and there are 
nearly 100 more to the mines ; and that the first 
portion of the distance was covered in K ng Theebaw's 
time by steam on the river, it is difficult to know 
whether Mr. Streeter was again drawing on his 
imagination, or whether he was unier the impres.-ion 
that the valley of the Irrawaddy itself contains 
precious stones, as a similar locality would do in the 
gem-bearing districts of Ceylon. Mr. Streeter again 
writes: — "It is reported that the King of Burma 
has a ruby of the size of a pigeon's egg, but no 
European has seen it." He then alludes to " two 
most important rubies ever known in Europe," 
which did really come from Burma — the poverty 
of the P)iirmese Government berny the cause of their 
disposal, as a proof of iheir being considered some- 
thing very extraordinary even in the country from 
which they came, — he adds : " In Burma the sale of 
these rubies caused extreme excitement, a military 
guard being considered necessary to escort the 
persons conveying the package to the vessel." Under 
such circumstances we may well believe these gema 
to have been uuique, and as a matter of faot Done 
such have since come to light. Another state- 
