June I, x888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
847 
assimilate, and those, with perhaps a little caper or 
Lapseng Souchong, goto form their standard blends. " 
The rapid increase in tho importance of the Indian 
tea has developed the tendency to combine under one 
proprietorship independent tea gardens with a view 
to economy in working. This is illustrated by the 
faot that though the number of gardens declined 
from 911 in 1885-G to 883 hist year, the area mean- 
while was increased by 18,288 acres, the total area 
being 034,134 acres. Improved methods of cultivation 
also are resulting in an increase in the average yield 
per acre. The increase has been very extraordinary 
in Sylhet and Kachar.— H. $ 0. Mail, April 20th, 
GOLD IN CEYLON: EEPORT ON THE 
DEWURANGALA GOLD-FIELDS. 
In addition to the several special letters in our 
columns this time, we give the following report 
which Mr. G. Armitage has written for the local 
"Times" :— 
Having visited, and to some extent prospected, the 
Dewurangala Gold Fields, I now send you a few notes 
which may be of interest. 
The fields are situated about one mile from the road 
between Guile and fllorawaka. The path leading from 
the main road is on the left of the Atwela bridge going 
to Morawaka and about 35j miles from Galle. The 
tields over which gold has been found extend on 
both sides of a stream. Some of the land is dry, 
but other parts are deoidedly swampy. So far, the 
area acknowledged to be auriferous Is not more than 
about 10 or 12 aores, but, from the large size of the 
nuggets found, there can be little doubt that the 
country round for miles is more or less auriferous. 
Color has been found in a neighboring valley to pros- 
peot which a license has beun obtained. I am also in- 
formed that gold tins been found higher up the stream. 
I du^ several pits, going down in one over 19 feet, 
and am satisfied that the bed-rock is that immediately 
below the drift known to the natives by the name of 
III an, and which contains garnets, catseyes, k.o. The 
bed-rock is called " Mulawa" by the natives, irre- 
spective of the nature of the rock. It is not the same 
on alt parts of the field, being a granulite in some 
parts, and in others a talcose schist. The former is 
very much disintegrated, the feldspar having been 
converted into kaolin. The latter for some inches is in 
an equally — if not more — disintegrated state, but be- 
low this the rock is harder than those composed of 
granulite. 1 was told that gold is found where the bed- 
rock is of a granulite formation, and precious stones 
only where it is schistose, but this (as might be ex- 
pected) I found was not tho case. The gold having 
been drifted on to tho bed-rock, it naturally matters 
little of what it is composed. Had either of these 
rocks been tho matrix, and the gold discovered 
through its decomposition, it would have beeu quite 
another matter, and deserved consideration. It is, 
however, quite possible that the gold deposited on the 
schistosu rock sank as the latter disintegrated, and 
the parts bring less cohesive than in tho stitf argil- 
laceous granulite, the diggers would have to Beek 
lower in it. This, they never do, as they only work 
to get out the Ulan. From the fact tint all the 
gold found in these fields has been fouud in the 
lllan, and that deeper digging gives no sign of fur- 
ther dnii, and above all that the bod on which the 
Ulan hat) beeu deposited is to all appearances a bed- 
ruck ami not a detrital deposit, it may be inferred that 
the " Malawa" of the natives is (he bed rook of tho gold 
deposit. In Oeylon we need never eipeot to have to 
go down very (ar before reaching our alluvial deposits 
as they have iioih' of them been covered over by or 
bad the protection of, large sheets of Basaltic lava, 
such a- is si i ii in Australia and California. 
A writer to the Obstn rr lay* groat stress on the pe> 
euhar appear 'lire of tin- gold, and this he might wi ll 
do, had it been washed down ns gold along with the 
drift. Under tho latter cireum stance* it could never 
have retained its pn prut appearance, but, as it has 
evidently oomo down (in my opinion) as nuriferous 
pyrites, and thu siilphidu ol iron has beeu decomposed 
I washed off in situ, the gold has retained its hackly 
appearance. This decomposition probably took pluce 
before the drift whs covered by the detritus now over- 
lying it, aud the large amount of uudecomposed, or 
only partly decomposed, pyites to be fouod 
in the drift has been protected by this 
covering. I have in my possession a speci- 
men of auriferous quarts from Australia ( show- 
ing the color of the oxidized iron) with gold in the 
hackly condition in which it is found at Darangalla. 
It must not, however, be supposed that all the gold 
found there ha9 this appearance ; some of it has 
evidently travelled a litle. 
I herewith send you tracings of some nuggets 
which 1 placed on my pocket-book and run my 
pencil round. These will give you Borne idea of 
the sizes of tho larger ones. They were taken 
off a portion of an aero of ground. The owner, or 
rather the holder, of the license to dig (Constable 
Arachchi) showed me probably some 50 or 60 
more, but I did not count them. In all, they 
weighed about half a pound. The gold seemed to be 
more or less of tho same quality as those you gave 
me, but I did not try any on the touchstone. As I 
wrote to you before, I make out roughly that there is 
about 80 per cent of gold, or say 19 carats, 
I went about half way up the Dewurangala Hill, and 
found the rocks to be chiefly granulito of a more or less 
schistose character. 
The only nuggets I found were the two small ones I 
showed you ; but my time was too limited, und I could 
not rest satisfied till I had seen the results of deeper 
digging, which took up much of my time. 
The country round should be well prospected, the 
quartz aud pj rites being tested as the work proceeds. 
The rough testing could be all done in camp, but, for 
anything more elaborate, samples would have to be sent 
to Colombo. There is very little encouragement for 
prospectors in this country, as they have to bear the 
expense, and got no concession from Government. 
THE NORTH BORNEO PEARL OYSTER. 
From the interesting letter which lias been 
placed at our disposal, we are led to suspect that 
the pearl oyster of Borneo is essentially different 
from the so-called " oyster " of the Ceylon pearl 
banks. The Borneo mollusk seems to be a true 
oyster, existing on mud or sand banks at the 
mouths of rivers and in comparatively shallow 
water, — 3 to 10 feet against 5 to 10 fathoms in 
the oase of the Ceylon pearl-bearing mussel. In 
shape our pearl shell is an oyster, but the byssus, 
by which it olings to masses of coral or other 
rock, separates it from the edible oyster, which, 
bred in mud and lying on mud, needs no suoh 
appendage. Our only doubt as to the classification 
of the Borneo shells with the oysters instead of 
the mussels, arises from the statement that tho 
Borneo mollusks are found in masses two feet 
thick. Bomething in the nature of a byssus 
would seem to be necessary to enable them 
thus to adhere ? On tho other hand, the 
Noith Borneo oysters bred on the mud or 
sand of estuaries arc not only edible, but superior 
in quality to the common rock oyster. If, too 
native testimony can bo relied on, they come to 
maturity in less than half the time allotted to 
our Ceylon shell, even if we adopt four instead of 
tho old period of seven years for the full age of the 
latter. From their liability to destruction by fresh- 
water floods, the Borneo oysters are likely to be 
quite as precarious a source of revenue as aieour 
own bivalves, while in the quality of the pearl 
yielded there is no comparison. Tho Ceylon pearls 
arc amongst tho finest, if not tho finest in tie.' 
world, Rome attaining a largo size while poifeot 
in lustro and shape. Tho pearls yielded by the 
North Borneo oysters are, on the other hand, de- 
scribed ae never larger than small rico grains aud 
