August i, i88 9 .j THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
15 
meat of Mr. S'reeter's is well worthy of considera- 
tion. " It was thought that when Pe^u, the ' Father- 
land of Kubies,' was annexed to England in 1852, 
Europe would be the richer in these beautiful 
stones, but it has not proved so. It appears that 
certain dangerB exist, or are said to exist, in 
the lands where rubies are found, such as 
wild beasts and reptiles. It is possible these may 
be exaggtrated by the ruby merchanls in order to 
hinder competition." Be the reason what it may, 
the expectation mentioned above has never been 
realized. Thirty-seven years have passed since the 
annexation, and we may be certain that in this 
lengthened period, any exaggerations or fictitious 
hindrances would long ago have been exposed, 
and the rubies of Pegu, had they existed in any 
profusion, would have come to light and been seen 
on European markets. If this is the truth as re- 
gards Pegu, the " Fatherland of Kubies," may it not 
turn out to be the same as regards Upper burma ? 
Bearing directly on this subject, and especially 
interesting as regards the much talked of jewelry 
actually found in Mandalay at the occupation by 
our troops, is a paper by Mr. A. Phillips '' On the 
application of gems to the art of the goldsmith." 
This paper bears date of 1887, and contains the 
following paragraph: — "It will be interesting to 
mark the influence on rubies, once European control 
shall be definitely established over the Burmese 
mines. There are those who astert that these mines, 
scientifically worked, are destined to yield U|> a 
vastly increased quantity of this most precious 
material. If this were v rifled, rubies must dimi- 
nish in va ue, but on the other hand, a flourishing 
trade would spring up, as was the case with sap- . 
phires when the prolific discoveries in Kashmir 
reduced by 50 per cent their market value, and 
admitted their application to jewelry within the 
reach of moderate incomes. Others assert that the 
Burmese ruby mines, which have been uninterrup- 
tedly worked from early ages, are exhausted with 
regard to important gems, and that rarely is a stone 
produced ot more than half a carat. My own ex- 
perience shows this to be an exaggeration. On the 
interesting occasion of my report to the Indian 
Government upon the Burmese loot, 1 found, on the 
contrary, that a very large proportion of the rubies 
exceeded half a carat in weight. Of the quality how- 
ever, I must sny that not one hundredth portion was 
suitable for facetting ot for the European market. 
If such may be taken as representative of" the 
Burmese supply, it seems right to conjecture that 
slight cheaptning influence will be brought to bear 
upon rubies of high quality." Here is indeed a 
revelation: of all the world-famed wealth of rubies 
in the possession of the King of Mandalay not one- 
hundredth part was found to be suitable for the 
London market. This indeed savours a good deal 
of the rubies of^Australia, for a valuation of some 
thousands of pounds of which a few shillings only 
were paid in London a few weeks ago. Mr. a. 
Phillips is the head of the firm " Messrs. , Phillips 
Brothers & Co." founded some fifty-two years ago 
by his father, Kobert Phillips, father and son 
having alike devoted their lives to the subj ct- 
matter of the paper from which these quotations 
are taken. 
There is no need at present to say more about 
the gems of Burma, but to show what can be proved 
of the precious stones of Ceylon. In the first 
instance it may he stated that rubies are not by 
any means plentiful in the island, they do not 
constitute the most valuable products of our gem 
pits. It is to sapphires and catseyes that the 
greatest importance must be attached, and to a 
great variety of valuable gems more or less well 
known on the markets of Europe and America. 
i As Mr. E. Streeter's nam- has become a house- 
1 hold word in regard to pearls and precious stones, 
it will be well 10 quote from his work entitled 
" Precious Stones and Gems " : — "It is acknowledged 
that India, Brazil and Ceylon have produced larger 
precious stones and in greater abundance than 
other lands. Ceylon received yearly a very large 
sum for its exports, and from this island we even 
now obtain n large portion of our colored precious 
stones. During the riynasly of the Kandyan Kings, 
the right of digging for precious sto es was most 
jealously guarded as a royal prerogative. Under the 
British Government this monopoly was given up 
and traders need no special permit." Commenting 
on the f=ct that the rare gems are cheaper in 
Europe than in Colombo he accounts for the 
anomaly by pointing out that the best and finest 
specimens are carefully held back b the traders, 
" who can always ensure a high price for the best 
Ceylon stones from the native prieces of India." 
This fact, as already pointed out, would be of 
immense advantage to any Company working in 
the island. "Rubies are rare in Ceylon, but sap- 
phir- s common and are remarkable for their colours. 
Amongst the stones found in Ceylon are corun- 
dum, diamond spar in beautiful green crystals, 
p:eonaste, asparagus or yellow green chrysolite, 
cinnamon stone or jaicnth, rock crystal, garnets, 
&o. The yellowish green tourmaline is very like 
aquamarine, and is found in the riverbeds of 
Cevlon from whence also comes the brown tour- 
maline. The value of the tourmaline depends 
upon the colour, quality, and size of ihe specimen. 
Ooe of exceptional colour and purity, 5 carats 
weight, would be worth £20. Toe catseye comes 
principally from Ceylon and has become more and 
more fashionable of lute years in Europe. There 
are' large specimens at present in the market which 
are worth upwards of £1,000. Star stones or 
as'.eria come from Ceylon The finest star ruby I 
have seen v&s valued at £20 ; small star sapphires 
range from £2 to £10, large ones £10 to £100. 
Zircon, jargon or hyacinth is obtained from 
Ceylon which is one of the richest beds of natural 
toealth in the world." 
This last assertion, coming from the source it 
does, is of great value at the present time. Leaving 
Mr. Streeter's statements, to speak for them elves, 
the following comes officially from the Assistant 
Government Agent of Sabaragai.uwa, the province 
most noted for gem-digging. 
Discussing the question of the Crown granting 
leases for gemming purposes, Mr. Saunders about 
twenty years ago reported thus : — 
" It is calculate-1 by those Who are. qualified to judge 
of such matters, that if any person bought the right 
to gem on Crown Ian. Is, and could conduct his oper- 
ations openly, and not as at present by stealth, that 
be would realise £3,000 a year. The agent here of 
the principal jeweller (the gem notary) tells me he 
would be inclined to offer the Government £500 a 
year for the right to gem in oie stream alone — the 
Niwitigalla river. In 1865 Mr. Birch sild 1| acre of 
land in lots and realised £420. Oue lot of 17 per- 
ches or 22 yards square, fetched £117 15s, — and from 
two pits out of the five which could be sunk on the 
land, the purehasers realised £300. That stones of 
very large vdue are occasionally found is established 
beyond doubt. 
"Idamal Easnailta Nilh me found a sapphire in one 
of his pits which he sold for £8d0 and it was resold 
in Iudia for £2,00". He bought another stone for 
£200 and sold it in Colombo for £395. The gem notary 
bought a sapphire lor £650 from bis fe low-share- 
hilders in the Weralupe pils — which is now valued 
at £2,000 in Ceylon." 
In 1881 Mr. Saunders adds :— " The value of gems 
exported from Bstnapura has inoreased very much 
