So 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August r, 1889. 
THE MESSES. STREETER AS AUTHORITIES ON GEMMING 
IN CEYLON. 
Mr. Streeter's book on " Gems and Precious Stones" 
is a work that might have been made much of. 
but is most disappointing to anyone taking a 
scientific or practical interest in gems. I have 
not the pleasure of the Messrs. Streeter' acquaint- 
ance, and anything I may have said in regard 
to them has been forced upon me from the promi- 
nent position in which your London correspondent 
and others have placed them as expert, in gem 
ruining. It is quite possible they may be so, but 
I can only judge from what your correspondent 
reports. 
THE CHANCES OF SUCCESS. 
On the other hand there can be little doubt 
that any oompany for gemming supported by Mr. 
Streeter would doubtless stand a very good chance of 
success from the prominent position held by those 
gentlemen in the gem trade, but this applies 
equally to some of the other large firms carrying on 
similar business. 
A GENERAL CEYLON MINING COMPANY. 
What is required most in Ceylon is not a 
Company that would confine itself to gems only, 
though that would be its chief work, but a general 
Ceylon Mining Company, with a large capital, and 
prepared to embark on any profitable mining ope- 
rations that they may see their way to. And 
among these gold will doubtless prove one of them. 
Plumbago mining, scientifically worked, is another 
valuable industry requiring capital to develop it. 
The deeper the mines are worked the better the 
plumbago, and ihe larger the veins are generally 
said to be. But tbis has nothing to do with the 
special subject you have come to see me about. 
HOW SHOULD A COMPANY BEGIN WORKING ? 
Any Company starting gemming here should begin 
on the alluvial, tracing it up to its source as op- 
portunities arise. My experience points to the fact that 
most of our alluvial gravels are to be found within a 
few feet, generally under 20 ft., of the surface, and 
they are usually not above a few inches in depth, 
and rest on the country rock, which sometimes 
varies considerably, though in close proximity. 
Careful working is required here, particularly in 
any land where gemming has not been carried on 
close by, to ascertain whether the disintegrated rock 
on which the alluvial gravel is lying is the country 
rock, or another layer of alluvial soil with a 
second deposit underlying it of alluvial gravel. 
And should the pit be small a boulder in what 
has been the bed of a stream may lead to the 
erroneous conclusion that the rock bed has been 
struck. It is, therefore, advisable that a fairly 
large pit should be made at first, provided the 
nature of the ground admits of it, and that timber 
sufficiently large can be obtained in close proxi- 
mity to support the side 3 in the event of the 
ground being swampy." 
Such are Mr, Armitage's views, based upon long 
and practical research in the island. Some other 
phases of the question might have been enlarged 
upon, but in the course of this one interview Mr. 
Annitage has added much valuable information to 
the important discussion now being carried on. 
Before leaving Mr. Armitage's office, our representa- 
tive was bhewn two or three specimens of Ceylon 
nuggets from Akuressa, and the bit of coal which 
Mr. Armitage hud just discovered in a sample of 
plumbago, and which is probably the first coal ever 
loijud in Ceylon. 
AN INTERVIEW WITH A KIMBERLEY 
DIAMOND-DIGGER. 
The opinion of a practical man on any question 
is always valuable, and as so much interest ap- 
pears to be taken at the present time in the 
prospects of the Gemming industry in Ceylon, our 
representative had a conversation with Mr. Hume 
Purdie, who is at present dental surgeon in the 
Colombo Apothecaries' Co., but who some years ago 
had over 18 months' experience at the Kimberley 
diamond mines. He thinks the process of mining 
for gems in Ceylon would be precisely the same 
ae the process of mining for diamonds in South 
Africa. 
"To start with," he said, "the old diamond-diggers 
used to proceed in just the same way as the natives 
in Ceylon have worked from time immemorial, 
but they did not make much until they introduced 
steam and machinery, and invested capital ; then 
they made their money hand over fist. They found 
diamonds all along the north of Cape Colony, but the 
difficulty was to find the matrix. A few diamonds were 
discovered at the side of a small lake at Kimberley, 
and then shafts were sunk all round, and in some 
of them good paying diamondif^rous soil was 
found. Then they passed through several different 
strata, some of which yielded no diamonds at all, 
and were, in fact, compose! of clay and shale. 
In digging it was found that the soil for 50 ft. 
below the surface was purely alluvial. After that 
they came to the solid blue rock, called among 
the miners 'the blue,' and when they came to 
this they thought for a long time that they had 
come upon useless rock, and the majority of the 
miners sold out. Those who held on, however, 
after testing this rock and pulverizing it, found it so 
extremely rich in diamonds that it was apparent 
they had come upon the true matrix." This, Mr. 
Purdie believes, was the first time the diamond 
matrix was ever discovered. Previously the pre- 
cious stones had always been sought for in the 
same haphazard sort of way that they seek for 
gems in Ceylon. This blue rock, explained Mr. 
Purdie, showing a specimen, is exceptionally heavy 
and full of carboniferous material, with garnets 
appearing at the side and showing innumer- 
able scales of mica. Referring again to the 
methods adopted by the early diggers in South 
Africa, Mr. Purdie said that his uncle was one 
of the Vaal river miners, and afterwards one of the 
pioneers of Kimberley. When the Kimberley mines 
were discovered, most of the diggers went there, 
but some of them to this day continue to work 
on the Vaal river, earning a precarious livelihood. 
They come across a good stone sometimes which keeps 
them for three or four months : just the same 
as the natives here occasionally come across a valu- 
able gem. 
WHERE WILL THE MATRIX BE FOUND ? 
Speaking about the matrix in Ceylon, Mr. Purdie 
does not think they will find it on the mountain 
side as some people seem to think. At K'mberley 
the mines were discovered on an undulating plain, 
the real pits being on four little " coppies " or 
hillocks. Although there is no indication of volcanic 
action, it appears to some high authorities that at 
one time the land must have been affected by 
some similar action, which would have a tendency to 
locate the diamond-bearing strata. Mr. Purdie's idta 
is that the matrix will be found on the 
plateaux. He has come to this conclusion as the 
result of his South African experience, and the 
appearance of the mountains here. He has no 
doubt that if gemmers turned aside some of the rivers, 
and worked the beds, a good many stones would 
be found, but they would soon be exhausted, as 
a true matrix would not be found there. It was 
proposed to do the same in South Africa before 
the true matrix was discovered. Mr. Purdie does 
not pretend to have any special knowledge of the 
gemming industry in Ceylon, but it is his opinion 
