June 2, 1890.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
The man who wagered he would throw another 
across the Mississippi pleaded that he did not 
expect to he successful with the first throw. Oranges, 
peaches, plums and baking pears are already great 
successes on the mountains of Ceylon, and the 
turn of apples, dessert pears, cherries, &c, may 
be not far distant. We met several parties at or 
going to the mountain gardens, which repose beneath 
the sphinx-like rock, and recognized Mi. Cull of 
the Royal College, striding down at the rate of 
at least 5 miles an hour. As we entered the 
Plain, on our return, an hour before sunset, we 
were met by a gratefully cool south-west breeze. 
We felt it here this ■ morning, as well as the 
specially dense mist it carried on its wings and which 
ended in a light shower (minus thunder,) at about 
2 o'clock. It soon ended, however, and the after- 
noon and evening have been beautiful. 
May 4th — rises calm and hazy, promising a hot 
day and perhaps a shower in the course of it, 
«- : — 
SELF-COLONIZATION OF THE 
COCONUT PALM. 
With reference to Mr. Hemsley's note on this 
subject to Nature (p. 537), I regret to have to in- 
form him that the two young palms found on 
Falcon Island were placed there by a Tongan chief 
of Namuka, who, in 1887, had the curiosity to visit 
the newly-born island, and took some coconuts with 
him. This information I received from Commander 
Oldham, who had been much interested at finding 
these sprouting nuts at some 12 feet above sea- 
level and well in from the Bhore of the island, but 
who found out the unexpected facts in time to save 
me from making a speculation somewhat similar to 
Mr, Hemsley's. W. J. L. Whaeton. 
— Nature, April 24th. 
GEM MINING PEOSPECTS IN BURMA: 
ABOLITION 01? SMUGGLING AT THE MINES — NATIVE MINERS 
AND FINDS— THE PROGRESS IN 12 MONTHS— NATIVE 
HYDRAULIC WORK. 
(Continued.) 
Under Euch circumstances there need be no diffi- 
culty in understanding low likely it is that very 
extensive smuggling is carried on, not only by 
the men actually engaged in the gempits, but also by 
the licensees who keep out of view the more valuable 
finds and dispose of them on their own account. 
Here is the opinion of a Shan trader who for- 
merly worked in these mines and traded largely 
in rubies during the king's time, and has spent all 
his life in the district except when visiting Man- 
dalay and Kangoon, and for about nine months 
on a visit to the Bangkok sapphire mines ; — 
" Big rubies are found still just as they used 
to be in the king's time, but the ' bo ' who went 
up to purchase offered such a small price, only 
about one-lil'th of what the king used to give, that 
tho miners became alarmed, and now often con- 
ceal valuable stones, selling them privately else- 
where. Stones are easily concealed, and as long 
as tho valuo is large — an 1 the monopolist refuses 
to give generous prices for them, smuggling will 
go on, when it is known the price in the market 
is much higher than it used to be. The English 
officials do all they can to assist the ruby mine 
monopolists in preventing smuggling. A man was 
thought to havo seerotod a number of 6lones and 
was ordered not to leave the district and was 
watched for some days. He did not leave by tho 
ordinary route but got away one night by 
the jungle path and was not missed until 
he had been gone a long time. The English 
do not punish the wife and children of offenders 
as they would have been punished in the 
Burmese time and people are not so afraid 
of smuggling. The company must arrange with 
the miners to prevent it. I cannot say how hon- 
esty can be brought about amongst the miners, 
but if they are treated well they may become 
honest. When the first ho went up they showed 
bim all the stones they got, big and little, but 
he offered so small a sum that they got disgusted 
and now they usually conceal the big rubies and 
only thew those of less value." 
These are the expressed opinions of a native of the 
country, and of themselves bear testimony to tha 
correctness of a general suspicion that as yet the Com- 
pany have failed in attempting to obtain the mora 
valuable stones which are found on their concession. 
From what was told us by Sir Lepel Griffin it 
will be seen that a very short time spent at the 
ruby mines enabled him to grasp the situation— 
and with a promptness of action observable in 
the lives of our best men in India he acted on 
his convictions and exercised without hesitation 
the powers conferred upon him by the directors 
in London. He has once for all abolished smug- 
gling at the mines as an offence by doing away 
with the obligation to refer all finds of stones 
to the Company; the licensees are at liberty to 
do as they like with the gems they find, and con- 
sequently their taking away the stones is no longer 
smuggling. The act remains, but the offence dis- 
appears. These are his own words in regard to 
this matter; — "I am very glad to find that the 
papers here and the opinion of the people I have 
spoken to are in agreement with what I decided 
to do very shortly after I reached Mogok, in abolish- 
ing entirely the rules for the prevention of smuggling. 
It is a matter of exceeding importance. At the 
present time the native licensed miners are naturally 
in a state of hostility to the Company. They must 
be so no doubt, and they do not bring us the 
rubies they find at our mines at all, but only 
rubbish. The large rubies they do not bring us. 
In the first place their feelings are not particu- 
larly friendly towards us, and in the second place 
smuggling is so easy that they can sell rubies for 
very nearly the real price without the reduction of 
thirty per cent which they would have to pay if 
we decline to take them, or if they sold them for 
other people. So, with the entire approval of the 
Government and the local authorities and the 
Financial Commissioner, and everyone who seems 
to have any senBe in his head, I abolished this 
system altogether. The market for the sale of 
rubies will now be quite free ; there is nothing to 
prevent them from bringing us their best rubies for 
preferential sale. At the same time they will pay 
us from one and a half to two lakhs of rupees a year 
for the privilege of being allowed to sell the rubies 
where they like. These native miners must make 
a great deal of money and of course it would be 
better for us to aboii6h native mining altogether 
so that we could entirely Btop smuggling. I mean the 
licensees who have the hereditary right of working 
— but that cannot be done without a great amount 
of friction and irritation, which would embarrass the 
Government and impede the Company. We cannot 
work with all the people of the country against us 
so we thought the next best thing would be to give 
them a free hand and abolish smuggling in this 
way, because unless we can abolish it we cannot 
make our mines pay. I may tell you we have not 
increased the number of native miners. A list is 
