June i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
837 
" A MINE OF UNKNOWN WEALTH :" 
GEM- DIGGING IN SABAEAGAMUWA : 
THE NATIVE "MODUS OPERANDI." 
(From our " Special.'") 
Eatnapura, named as it is " the city of gems," 
makes one think that the town and its immediate 
surroundings alone contain the valuable mineral ; 
but this is not so. The town is the centre of an 
expanse of country from 20 to 30 miles square, 
in almost the whole of which a strata of gravel 
exists varying from about 6' to 20 feet under the 
surface. Go where you like within the above 
radius, pits are to be seen near all the villages 
either being worked at the present moment or the 
remains of abandoned ones, proving conclusively 
that gems do exist. 
Now the native of a speculative turn of mind 
forms a Company of say 6 or 8 men who obtain 
a license from the Kachcheri by paying El for 
each man for one month, and off they set out together 
to the Crown allotment where they begin by 
marking off a square of about 10 ft. After re- 
moving about 3 feet of soil, the sounding rod— a 
piece of iron about £ an inch diameter and b' feet 
long—is used to sound for the gravel. Should it 
not be found another foot or two are excavated, 
then the rod applied again. If successful — which 
I shall presume they are — the digging is begun in 
real earnest till about 4 feet deep. Then should 
the sides be inclined to fall in, the soil being of a 
frail nature, four jungle posts, one at each corner, 
are put down, then four cross beams round the 
sides ; also two centre beams. After all have been 
lashed together inside, the side-beams are driven 
as stakes to support the sides and prevent them fall- 
ing in, and as the digging proceeds they are driven 
deeper and deeper till the gravel is reached. 
Usually on the second day the gravel is taken out (with 
many anxious eyes keeping watch) by means of bas- 
kets handed from one man to another, till all within 
the square is excavated. But should the miners find 
the soil fairly firm at the bottom of the pit they 
tunnel all round for about 2 ft., drawing out the 
grave] and sending it up also to be heaped with 
the rest, which usually completes the work of 
the second day, a watchman remaining near it all 
night. 
On the third day it is all washed in wicker- 
baskets by a circular jerking motion which throws 
out all surplus light stone and rubbish till a good 
quantity of heavy gravel is left in the bottom, 
which is carefully examined. There is hardly a 
basketful that does not contain some gems of in- 
ferior value which are usually sold by the lb. for 
about E9 and are called " dallam " by the natives. 
Should no valuable stones be found another pit is 
sunk, and so on till one or perhaps two or three 
really valuable gems are unearthed, which of course 
satisfies our not too ambitious gamblers, and off 
they set for Eatnapura, abandoning all intention of 
further gemming for the present. If valuable, say 
worth a few thousand rupees, the gem or gems are 
kept secret, and only shown to one or two men of 
money, who make the owners an advance and look 
alter the safe custody of the precious stones. Then 
they gamble and drink for some time till another 
advance becomes ntcessary, which is asked for, and, 
as assuredly given, and so on, till perhaps half the 
value is obtained. Then the party with the mort- 
gagee proceeds to Colombo or Kalutara, where rich 
Moor traders are summoned to purchase, and away 
goes the gems to London. Mind you, the general 
public know nothing about these transactions, and 
the valuable gems are never heard of in Ceylon, 
and, in fact, they hardly see the light of day till 
glittering in some shop in Bond Street, 
The natives have a great fear of exposing their 
finds till they are sold, and they have other most 
extraordinary superstitious ideas about showing 
them. This narrow-minded system of gemming 
has been in vogue for centuries past. It is only 
occasionally one hears of any native having en- 
terprise enough to dig a few feet below the first 
gravel to see if, by sounding, a second bed of 
gravel is within easy reach, for they fear the ex- 
pense of baling out the water, which increases as 
the greater depth is attained, although the second 
gravel is well-known to be much richer than the first. 
Considering that it is so well-known to the 
world that Ceylon possesses such wealth within a 
few feet of the surface in almost every low-lying 
part of babaragamuwa for many, many miles, 
the wonder is that no European enterprise 
and capit .1 havo been brought to bear upon 
the rich fields of " Serendib." Why can't a Com- 
pany be floated in London ? or even Colombo, 
for that matter ? Local residents know very well 
that any amount of land can be bought from the 
Crown and villagers, rich in precious stones, which 
only require enterprise to bring to light. 
From a few pits sunk on Mr. C. H. de Soysa's 
tea and cinnamon estates, 8 miles on the Colombo 
side of Eatnapura, in the usual primitive mode 
of the natives, without machinery (and abandoning 
after the first gravel) wore found about E20,000 worth 
of gems, which were sold by auction a few 
months ago, leaving a handsome profit to the 
owner, our local millionaire, who only spent a few 
thousand rupees on them. 
If I had money I would unearth every inch of 
" illan " in the Sabaragamuwa flats and ravines, 
where a mine of unknown wealth is stored. 
INDIAN TEA CEOPS AND EXPOETS. 
(From William Moron & Co.'s Market Report.) 
Calcutta, 30th April 1889. 
A few private sales have been made during the fortnight, 
but arrivals are still too small for public auction to be 
held. The first sales will probably not be until the 16th May. 
From most districts weather reports are all that could 
be desired. Chittagong is still very much in want of rain. 
Clearances of New Season's teas to date are about 120,000 
lb., against 95,000 lb. , last season. 
The Indian Tea Association has favored us with the 
following circular giving the estimate for the current 
season : — 
'' In their circular of the 15th February last, the General 
Committee published figures showing the Revised Esti- 
mate of the Indian tea crop of 1888 to have been 
95,758,228 lb., which the actual outturn from returns re- 
ceived was 96,308,281 lb. against the outturn of 1887 of 
86,791,815 lb. 
"The Committee have now the pleasure to hand you the 
followig estimate of the crop of 1889 taken from figures " 
Which they have been able to collect and from other sources: 
Assam ... ... 44,953,400 
Cachar and Sylhet ... ... 31,990,400 
Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars ... 20,460,620 
Chittagong and ChotaNagpore ... 1,536,740 
Dehra Dun, Kumaon and Kangra 4,500,000 
Private and Native Gardens ... 3,508,000 
Total ... 106,941,160 
'•The exports to Australia, America and other places 
(principally Bombay, Madras and Rangoon) during the past 
sea90u have amounted to 4,096,191 lb., and if this quantity 
together with the requiremeuts of Northern India, now 
calculated at half a million instead of one and a half 
million lb. as formerly, be deducted from the estimate 
there will remain about 102-J million lb. for shipment to 
Great Britain during the season of 1889." 
"In the circular of the 15th February last, it was esti- 
mated that about about 91 million lb. of the crop of 1838 
would be available for shipment to Great Britain, but the 
actual exports to that market from the 1st May to the 
Hist March have been 92i million lb. Such a discre- 
pancy betweeu the estimate for the present year and the 
actual outturn will no doubt be rectified by the reduc- 
tion of the requirements oi Northern India to the extent 
