53° 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1890. 
gemming land situated in the Rakwana district 
Oeylon; and to provide capital for developing the pro- 
perties and working the gemming pits already sunk 
and proven. 
The properties, which have been known for many 
years past to dealers in precious stones, consist of: — 
Bverton .. ... about 760 acres 
and Aberfoyle ... ... „ 520 „ 
Together... „ 1,280 „ 
being situated within 2 miles of Rakwana, and in the 
immediate vioinity of the Botiyatenna Estate, whose 
owner is reputed to have made a fortune by gemming it. 
Mr. Thomas Dickson has further negotit ted for the 
acquisition of the mining rights of the following pro- 
perties for a term of five years, with the option of re- 
newing same every five years upon payment of a 
nominal rent of one rupee per acre yearly, and a 
Royalty of 20 per cent of the net profits realised by 
gemming and mining upon each Estate seperately, 
and the same will be inoluded in the intended sale 
to the Company. — viz., 
1. Rangweltenne estate, consisting of 404 acres of 
land, forming the northern boundary of the Everton 
estate. Valuable gems have been found upon it, and 
the indications of what would be discovered by syste- 
matic working are very good. As much as R60 per 
month have been offered and refused for a license to 
open a pit with a few feet of area. 2. Springwood and 
Barra estate, consisting of about 1,100 acres. Precious 
stones have been found on this estate, part of which 
forms the east boundary of Aberfoyle estate. On the 
alluvial land on Barra estate the " Illan " indications 
are good, and preciouB stones have been found in it, but 
as yet no licenses have been granted for gemming. 
The cart road passes through the estate. Valuable 
deposits of plumbago, of which Ceylon has prac- 
tically the monopoly, have been discovered on 
this property, and the veins are now being worked. 
The above and the following particulars regarding 
the Estates have been furnished by Mr. C. B. H. 
Symons, who for many years past has taken a great 
interest in the searoh for preoious stones as carried on 
by the natives, and whose practical knowledge has 
been placed at the servioe of the Company, and 
from information supplied by Mr. Charles Shand, of 
Colombo, and Mr. A. A. Delmege, of Messrs. Del- 
mege, Reid & Co., who have visited some of the 
Estates to obtain authentic information as to the 
value of the land for gemming purposes. 
Mr. Symons reports, under date September 12th, 
1889 :— The tract of land comprised in the accompany- 
ing sketch contains some of the riohest gemming fields 
in Ceylon— the Everton Estate, known to natives as 
Kabragallakelle, runs from 2,810 to 3,300 feet in ele- 
vation. This Estate has been famous for its gems for 
the last 30 or 40 years ; the purity and depth of colour 
of the Sapphires found on the Estate are proverbial. 
Catseyes of the highest value have also been found in 
quantity, but only a very limited area has been gem- 
med — some 10 or 12 aores at the outside — and that 
only in the most primitive fashion. The stones found 
bo far on Everton are Sapphires, Rubies to a limited 
extent, Catseyes, Tourmaline, Amethyst, Topaz, Com- 
mon and Star stones. Corundum could be found by 
the ton, and there are several promising veins of Plum- 
bago, want of capital being the reason the mineral 
have not been worked. Crystals of remarkable size 
and purity of whiteness are found in quantity, and 
for optical purposes they are unsurpassed. 
There have been from 50 to 60 pits sunk in Kabra 
gallakelle, (Everton) which exist to this day, the most of 
them only sunk to the first strata of ilium, a few having 
been sunk to the second strata. He further states with 
reference to Aberfoyle: Gemming has never been 
systematically carried on here to any extent, but 
pits here and there have been sunk with success, 
and the anxiety of natives at the present moment to 
get licenses to dig, shows that the few are doing 
well ; indeed, it is positively known that one man 
has during the past week found sapphires and 
rubies valued at over R2,000, and his pit is not 10 
lout below the surface. The estate it peculiarly 
situated, having precipices on three sides of it, so 
that none of the stones that were washed into it 
in ages past can have found their way out, being 
stopped by the precipices that surround it, and the 
best judges have declared the land to be the most 
promising gem land in the district. 
Mr. A. A. Delmege in writing, states :— The land 
you have got is imique; gems, and valuable gems, 
have been coming out of it for years, and you see 
the papers certify to the fact that gems are now 
coming out of the land. This is the gem land of 
Ceylon. The land is the most notorious for authen- 
tic finds. The finds have extended over a long se- 
ries of years, and the quality and value or the 
gems found are known to be of great value ; for 
instance, page 72 in Messrs. A. M. and J. Fer- 
guson's book upon " Gold, Gems and Pearls in Oeylon 
and Southern India," states that £9,000 worth (of 
gems) were taken from the Evert.n Ridge and 
Batakanda from J acres, and K90.000 worth of 
gems were sold at one auction being found near 
Martinstown. On page 110 of the same book:— 
"7,000 worth of gems have been picked up on one 
Rakwana estate in a year (the writer no doubt referring 
to Everton.) 
It is known in Oeylon that gems — that is, Sapphires, 
Catseyes, Rubies, and, I believe, Alexanrlrites, and nu- 
merous gems of lesser value — have been for many years 
steadily found on the land represented on this map. So 
: far as I am aware there is no other such pieces of gem- 
ming land in Ceylon. Gems for years have been and 
are steadily found on it. Their value must aggregate 
many thousands of pounds, but there are no meaDs of 
ascertaining their value, as the natives keep all finds a 
profound secret, and take the stones to Ratnapura, 28 
miles distant, where Moorish dea.ers go constantly to 
buy them. Yet yon may say the ground has scarcely 
been soratched. Doubtless there must be gems to an 
enormous extent to be got only wanting European ca- 
pital and enterprise to bring them to the light of day. 
Samples have been received which are on view at 
the Company's office of Sapphires found in the Rak- 
wana district, and upon the Estates acquired by this 
Company. On page 71 of the book previously Quoted 
it is stated : " We have seen Mr. Dixon on his return 
from the Rakwana district. Gem piis exist on Ever- 
ton Estate to the depth of 40 yarns, and Mr. Dixon 
saw finer stones (Sapphires chiefly) than any he had 
previously seen in the Island. Two or three were 
valued by the Chetty owners at over £200 apiece. 
The gravel pits are e; sily worked, very little machi. 
nery being required. Labour is abundant, and can be 
obtained at nearly nominal rates. Planters accustomed 
to work natives are easily got at a small remuneration. 
A good bridle-road runs through the Estates to Rak- 
wana, a distance of two miles ; and here it meets 
with the Government cart-road to Colombo. There is 
more than ample timber on the Estates for all pur- 
poses, and water for washing is to be had in abun- 
dance, as may be seen from the plan. 
The Directors, having every confidence in the high 
character of the gentlemen who have reported on the 
properties, as also in the information contained in 
Messrs. A. M. and J. Ferguson's book, which is fully 
confirmed by the articles which have appeared in 
the leading Ceylon newspapers of reoent dates, a few of 
which accompany this prospectus, have no hesitation in 
expressing their favourable opinion of this undertaking. 
As this will be the first Company in the East, with 
the exception of the Burma Ruby Mines, that has been 
.siarted with the view of prosecuting the gemming 
industry in a praotical and business-like manner, with 
the assistance of the best class of machinery and 
European engineers, the Board cannot make a fair 
estimate of the probab'e profits, but they see no reason 
to doubt the success of the operations of the present 
Company, and a very substantial return to the Share- 
holders in the near future. As the property is of 
such large extent the Directors may consider it ad- 
visable to dispose of part of their Estates to other Com- 
panies. An offer has already been received of £250 per 
annum as n rental for a small portion of the 
Aberfoyle Estate for tea planting, Should this 
