August i, 1889,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
81 
that it must be conducted in exactly the same 
manner as the diamond diggings, and he does not 
believe the industry here will pay till the true 
matrix is found. Then how is the matrix to be 
found? He thinks that there are sure to be good 
paying pits at present in its neighbourhood, but the 
owners have not gone down far enough through the 
different strata to reach the true deposit. To the 
expert there will doubtless be special features of the 
country which will indicate the existence of the 
deposit underneath. The strata that he has had 
experience of have always been very hard rocks, and 
he thinks the strata here will be the same, and 
that they can be pulverized by the action of water and 
the atmosphere. 
HOW TO GET THE GEMS FROM THE STRATUM. 
In South Africa they blast out the stratum in great 
blocks, and then break it up with picks. They 
then expose it to the atmosphere and the rain, by 
spreading the blocks on the veldt for four or six 
months. The pulverized rock is then put through 
the washing machines at the rate of 300 or 400 tons 
per day. It is the quantity that they can get through 
that makes the mines so valuable. The veldt is 
not enclosed, but radiates from the mines, which 
are in the centre, to a distance of three or four 
miles. 
To return to Ceylon, Mr. Purdie has an idea that 
the matrix at one time extended almost to the sur- 
face, but that the action of the wind, the atmosphere, 
water, and decayed vegetation has formed a very 
deep alluvial soil, which must be got through 
before the matrix is exposed. It will be necessary 
in prospecting to sink shafts to a considerable 
depth. He thinks the matrix will be composed of 
carboniferous material, the same as the diamond 
matrix, which will include sapphires, rubies, eatseyes, 
etc As all have been formed by the same action, 
they will all be found together. When the true matrix 
has once been found, he thinks the industry might 
prove remunerative to British capitalists. 
A S ABARAGAMU W A MAN ON MR. STREETEJR's 
CONDEMNATION OF CEYLON, 
A Eatnapura correspondent, well-up in the sub- 
ject of gemming, writes : — 
" I admire your Burma and English ruby mining 
correspondent in his letter No. 4, in his justifi- 
able and deserving criticism of Mr. Streeter's 
condemnation of Ceylon as a suitable field for the 
operations of a Gem Mining Company. Why, ac- 
cording to Mr. Streeter's own admission, Ceylon 
produces about one-third of the whole of the 
world's gems. What an absurd idea that without 
finding the matrix : no Company would be succesful 1 
What are the several strata one deeper than the 
other, of gem-yielding gravel, but the matrix, at 
least the only one known to exist in Ceylon, 
and it is from them, and no other source, that 
the river gems are washed down the streams, 
and found — some worn round and some in crystal, 
according to the distance travelled. The gem 
stratum or illan is to be found nearly all over 
Sabaragamuwa, from the very surface to an un- 
known depth. In fact I have seen places where 
the whole hillside is illan, and it has been 
turned over like a road cutting and washed and 
carefully searched to a depth of 30 to 40 feet, 
making thousands of pounds of profit for the lessee." 
ANOTHER BIG ALEXANDRITE. 
Seyid Ahamadu Moulana is a lucky man. 
Not long ago we were told that he had found an 
alexandrite weighing 26 rupees, on his land at 
Weligama, and that this precious stone was sold 
for R14,500. Now it is said that be has become the 
possessor of another alexandrite weighing 6 lb. and 
u 
8 rupees which has been found at the same place. 
Some say it is valued at R200,000 and others 
at R150,000. There is, however, we hear, a dispute 
about the ownership of the land. 
Our Galle correspondent writes : — 
Galle, 10th June.— From Weligama comes the news 
that another alexaudrite has just been discovered by 
the Moorish priest (mowlana; weighing 6 lb. and 8 
rupees. It is stated that the gem is fully worth K200,'00. 
If so this monster stone must be considered as one of 
the most remarkable finds ever made in Ceylon. It is 
a curious coincidence that nearly all the valuable alex- 
andrites found in the island should have been dis- 
covered in the gem-pits owned by this priest. 
♦ 
PURE ARROWROOT FLOUR. 
Mr. R. P. Jayawardana of Kotte, who is the Head 
Olerk of the Provincial Regi-trar, Western Province, 
has been favoured with a certificate from the Chair- 
man, Agri-Horticultural Show, Kandy, held on the 
24th and 25th ultimo, to say that he has won a silver 
medal for his arrowroot known as " Jayawar.lhana- 
pura" arrowroot. Mr. J. has had reason to suspect the 
purity of the stuff sold in the native market as " ar- 
rowroot," and bad been induced to attempt to produce 
a really pure supply of an article that is so largely 
recommended by medical men. The arrowroot of the 
native market is largely adulterated with the starch 
of tho sweet potato, the cassava and rice, — an article 
which the doctors recommending " arrowroot " would 
hesitate to permit their patients to take. The low- 
ness of the price, viz. 12 to 20 cento the pound, is 
sufficient evidence of the inferiority of the stuff ; a 
pouud packet of '• Jayawardhanapura " arrowroot is 
35 cents, a half-pound packet is 18 cents. Mr. J. is 
taking a great interest in inducing the villagers of 
Kotte and its neighbourhood to go in largely for arrow- 
root cultivation, and they have taken to the work 
rather readily. Mr. J. himself has planted over 12 
acres of ground with arrowroot, and he is steadil 
extending his cultivation and preparation of the flou^ 
which is being done in a small band-mill, turned b r ' 
two blind paupers, who were, a year ago, begging abou^ 
from door to door to the annoyance of many. Mr. J 
also supplies employment for some womeD, children" 
and men in Kotte at his arrowroot establishment, 
and he appears to be very proud of the medal he has 
won, because he values it better than an honorarj 
rank nowadays conferred by the Government, for a 
medal of the kind is an admitted guarantee of the 
industry and perseverance of its recipient. Mr. J. 
has had a silver medal awarded in 1888 by the Chair- 
man of the A.-H. Show at Nuwara Eliya.— Com. 
AN ENGLISH RUBY COMPANY FOR 
BURMA :— WHY NOT A LONDON GEM 
COMPANY FOR CEYLON ?— NO. V. 
MR. STREETER ON BURMA AND CEYLON : 
" CEYLON ONE OF THE RICHEST BEDS OF NATURAL 
(GEM) WEALTH IN THE WORLD." 
CRITICISMS ON MR. STREETER'S OBJECTIONS TO A GEM- 
MING COMPANY FOR CEYLON — THE LATEST FINDS OF 
ALEXANDRITES — AUTHORITIES ON MINERAL WEALTH 
OF CEYLON : DR. GYGAX AND MR. A. C DIXON — GEM- 
PRODUCING MATRIX AND CENTRES OF CEYLON — DE- 
MAND AND SALE FOR PRECIOUS STONES. 
A report of Mr. Streeter's conversation with the 
London correspondent of the Ceylon Observer having 
just reaohed the island, a few remarks upon that 
gentleman's objections to a Gemming Company for 
Ceylon will appropriately follow whathas been written 
previously. 
He says: — "In the first place the main ob- 
stacle must be the competition of diggers outside 
any association that might be formed. Cey.on ia 
not at present circumstanced as we are in Burma 
