n8 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1888. 
where along the Haputale path. Dr. Tothill, Maitland, 
and others have formed a Gold Company, and have 
purchased 50 acres of land on the patanas. An 
Australian (German) Hirst is their head man, and 
Horsford is under him. Have n't they kept it all 
quiet? They evidently mean business, because the 
freight alone on the three loads of posts, &c, was K179." 
As was stated some time ago in the Observer, Mr. 
LeMesurier, the Assistant Government Agent of 
Nuwara Eliya, has for some time back been prospect- 
ing the country along the Haputale path and railway 
trace, especially the quartzy formations near 
Padupola at the foot of the Totapala range, where, 
if anywhere, we should suppose gold will be found 
in the rocks in quantity worth working for. As 
to appreciable nuggets in the alluvial, none that 
I am aware of have yet been found in this 
region such as were some years ago reported from 
Batnapura and recently from the neighbourhood 
of Akuressa in the south of the island. In one 
of the streams which run down from Totapala Mr. 
LeMesurier found a small nugget of gold weigh- 
ing about a couple of grains, but all attempts to 
discover the matrix failed, as they seem always 
to have failed in Ceylon, perhaps because the 
quantity of gold discovered in the alluvial has not 
seemed to justify the expenditure necessary for 
digging and crushing operations on a large scale. 
Associated with the gold, — at any rate in the same 
formations, Mr. LeMesurier found pieces of very 
beautiful and very promising copper pyrites and also 
black ore of manganese. Both copper and man- 
ganese, like tin, are at present selling at such de- 
pressed prices, that the existence of those metals 
in the loftiest of our Ceylon formations is more 
a matter of scientific curiosity than of economic 
value, even if they were found in quantity. But 
the world is hungering for fresh supplies of gold, 
which, as the great medium of currency and ex- 
change amongst the nations, has so appreciated in 
value as compared with silver, that the rupee which 
we remember to be worth 10 per cent more than two 
shillings is now down to Is. 4d., or close on that. It 
would be a great matter for Ceylon therefore if gold in 
quantity were discovered in her rocks, and it would 
be specially interesting if the region through which 
the long-delayed Haputale railway runs should be 
found to be so richly auriferous that active gold 
mining may proceed pari passu with railway cutting 
through the beautiful upland prairies which stretch 
from Nuwara Eliya into Uva, and the quartz, 
quartzite, and schist formations which extend 
from " summit level " near Padupola (6,215 feet 
above sea level) into Uva, which ought itself from 
its appearance to be in many places auriferous. A 
truly enormous quartz formation, the most extensive, 
probably, in Ceylon, extends from beyond Haputale 
round by Padupola, New Galway, Hakgala, and 
across to Port Maedonald in Udapussellawa on 
the inside of the Uva basin. Mr. LeMesurier in 
looking about him very naturally came to the 
conclusion that if a gold-bearing lode exists, 
it must be found in an offshoot of this reef, 
From the steps taken by the Syndicate of which 
Dr. Tothill and Mr. Maitland are members, it seems 
probable that Mr. Hirsch has improved largely on 
Mr. LeMesurier's finds, and we trust, for the sake 
of the country as well as the individuals who are 
going to considerable expense in thoroughly testing 
an appreciable area, that suocess may crown the 
digging operations. The swampy upland patanas 
or prairies of the region which stretches from the 
base of Pidurutalagala to the foot of Totapala and 
away into Uva must be formed largely of decom- 
posed rocks, for precious stones have been found 
in many of them, and with precious stones gold is 
very frequently associated, as has been proved at 
lialnapuia and recently beyond Matara in the 
south. Gold, as the heavier substance, naturally 
sinks further in the soft formation than do the 
gems. It will be interesting, therefore, to learn 
if gold has been found in the swampy patanas 
resting on the bed rock which Mr. Waring found 
at a depth of 9 feet, or whether Mr. Hirsch, like 
Mr. LeMesurier, has found his gold in the streams 
which run through the quartz formation on the 
side of Totapala. How far up, beyond 0,215 feet 
above sea-level, the quartz goes, I am not certain, 
but in all probability it goes to the summit of 
Totapala and may underlie the magnificent ex- 
panses of the Horton Plains. What with digging 
operations about to be actively carried on atWakwala 
near Galle, at Dewurangala near Akuressa, and on 
what is likely to be a large scale between Nuwara Eliya 
and Haputale, we ought soon to know if really 
Ceylon is to be classed with the paying and pro- 
ductive gold countries of the world. Curiously 
enough, the map which accompanis that most 
comprehensive and useful publication, "All About 
Gold, Gems and Pearls," does not give Nuwara 
Eliya as one of the places where gold has been 
found, but surely, in view of Sir Samuel Baker's 
operations in 1854 and Mr. Judd's recent letters, 
it must be included in a revised edition which 
is likely soon to be called for, with Wak- 
wella, Akuressa, and the spot on which the opsra- 
tions of the Syndicate represented by Dr. Tothill 
and Mr. Maitland are to be carried on. 
At present there is no indication that gold in 
any quantity is found farther north in Ceylon than 
Bangala, the very name of which translated into 
English, means the gold mountain, as Banwela 
means gold ground. Ambepussa, the scene of 
the gold digging operations of 1851, is nearly on a 
line with Bangala. Then farther south we have, 
in a group, Kegalla, Dolosbage, and Buwanwella. 
Finally Bamboda is indicated, And there the 
list of places which had shown promising quartz 
ended when the map was framed. But it looks 
as if many additions would have to be made, 
southwards beyond Matara and eastwards into 
the extensive quartz formations of Uva. Not that 
gold is confined to quartz : indeed it would be 
difficult to say in what ancient series of rocks it 
has not been found. Black iron sand is one of the 
most common accompaniments of the precious 
metal, and iron pyrites is often as rich in gold as 
it is in arsenic. The great drawback to gold- 
digging is the uncertainty which, after all the 
discoveries of science, remains as to where and 
how digging should be conducted so as to reach 
gold in quantity. If in the alluvium in any abun- 
dance, it is soon found, but the difficulty is in regard 
to deep diggings in quartz rock and the profitable 
crushing of such rock by appliances which, includ- 
ing stampers, mercury, &c, are costly. We trust 
those who are spending money to solve the gold 
problem in Ceylon may be well rewarded for their 
enterprise. So far at present, but more remains 
to be said about possible paying gold finds in Oe,ylon. 
Sandalwood, — The Mysore Government estimate 
that in the prsent year (1888 89) the receipts from 
the sale of sandalwood will be not less than 
R6,66,400, This is a very handsome return in 
1886-87 — a favourable year, — the Forest Department 
realized the good round sum of B6, 48,349. — 
Bangalore Spectator. 
A Cuiuous Beinjal has been sent to us, which 
seems to have been grown at Batticotta, Jaffna. 
It is the white fruit of an egg-plant, or rather 
a combination of three. The main fruit closely 
resembles the body of a child, the two minor 
fruits going off like stumpy arms. The monstrosity 
has a droll effect. 
