Jan.  2,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
45i 
thousand  coolies  to  dig  gems  for  him  there.  From 
this,  across  the  level  to  Maralya,  there  are  numerous 
old  shallow  gem  pits  where  natives  have  sought  for 
precious  stones. 
2.  Kahaagama  has  an  area  of  250  aores  of  hilly 
land  with  two  flats,  one  at  the  head  of  a small  stream 
and  the  other  lower  down  on  the  same.  This  s'ream 
runs  south  for  about  half  a-mile  in  the  property,  and 
then  turning  esst  forms  i's  boundary  for  a short 
distance,  runung  >-t.ill  in  aneasterly  direction,  through  it. 
The  prospects  obtained  from  three  shallow  pits  to 
surface  i lan  resting  bn  decomposed  bed  rock  in  the 
upper  flat  was  good  and  showed  a large  proportion 
of  sapphires,  altlnu.  h of  a pale  blue  col  >ur,  and 
ODe  ruby  of  fourth  quaiitv  of  about  1|  carats.  Our 
other  pit,  in  the  lower  flat,  gave  poor  results,  and 
c nt  lined  surfao9  illan.  Both  of  these  flats  have  been 
worked  by  natives  ’o  some  extent,  bat  to  what  degree 
can  ot  be  accurately  determined.  (See  prospects  Nus. 
6,  7 and  8.) 
3.  Mabaliya. — This  ig  a small  property  of  some 
10  aores,  adjoining  Mi  lewitwa  on  the  north-east.  One 
pit  on  it  was  put  .iowo  to  a depih  of  6 fe  t 3 
inches,  of  which,  from  the  soil  downwards  for  3 
feet  3 inches  there  was  a rellawish-brown  clayey 
loatn  mixed  with  illan,  iu  which  were  blocks  of  an 
old  gravel  bed  cemented  firmly  by  seqai-oxi  ie  of  irou. 
The  prospect  obtained  from  it  was  a very  poor  one. 
there  being  only  one  pale  blue  sapphire  of  about  1 
carat,  found. 
Owing  to  the  illan  being  at  the  surface  it  could  be 
easily  wo-kpd  wheu  carted  to  a sluice  on  Mille.witiia 
close  by.  Maraiiva  is  constituted  of  flat  land,  with 
one  small  patoh  of  rockv  rising  ground  n it  far  from 
the  riv^r.  ( dee  prospect,  No.  9.) 
4.  MaraliYawatte  a ij  ins  Maraliya  on  the  north, 
and  is  all  flat,  O'  of  a slightly  undulating  natu'e, 
similar  *o  th-  la'ter  property,  having  surface  ilu-.n. 
5.  Hiddelana,  which  is  a smal1  piece  of  land 
close  to  the  Ratuapura  main  to  d,  has  a very 
small  workable  area  of  surface  illan  only,  and 
seems  to  have  been  pretty  'horoughlv  worked 
out  From  the  pit  we  had  snDk  we  obtained  very 
poor  r6-ults,  an  1 from  some  illan  I had  washed  from 
a pit  of  one  of  the  owners  there  was  not  a gem  of 
anv  sort  to  be  seen.  (S  e prospect  No.  10.) 
6.  Pothgool  is  situ  ted  in  a portion  of  a group 
of  hills  two  miles  due  wesl  of  Ratnnpura,  near  Ksrnu- 
goda,  the  we-teru  face  of  which  elopes  down  to  the 
Hamgomawa  Ganga  River.  A small  mountain  stream 
flows  through  it  called  Nagaha-dcda,  and  fails  into 
the  above-mt  ntioned  river.  This  small  tract  has  bem 
lesed  to  the  syndicate  by  the  Gem  not  ry,  who  is 
credited  with  having  made  quite  £200,01  0 at  eemming. 
He  informed  ub  that  he  bad  made  £85,000  out  of 
his  famous  Hkatedenya  alluvial  mine  near  Rati  apura. 
Near  this  property  com,  s a lot  of  hind  of  six 
acres  in  extent  ; and  between  it  and  the  Hangc- 
ma^wa  Ganga,  partly  on  the  lower  slope  of  the  hill 
and  partly  in  level  ground,  a small  tract  of  9 acres 
(No.  7)  which  has  hern  leased  to  the  Syndicate 
and  b ing  similar,  may  be  embraced  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  P.thgool  Jot. 
Ou  the  upper  part  of  the  Nagaha-dola,  on  the  hill 
top,  a good  amount  of  illan  has  been  t ben  out  by  the 
owner,  as  well  as  0 > the  side  of  the  very  precipitous 
face  of  the  slope,  from  amongst  large  blocks  of  g'  eiss 
ou  each  side,  as  w*  11  as  in  the  bed  of  the  stream. 
A large  open  cutting  with  a face  of  60  feet  in  height 
haa  been  exiavated  there  which,  if  prrp.rly  drained, 
could  be  worked  by  hydraulic  pi. wer  to  goodaccoun  . 
No  work  was  being  executed  at  the  time  of  our  vi.it, 
but  the  Gem  Notary’s  brother  said  that  they  hai  got 
a quantity  of  precious  (Tones  out  of  this  property, 
and  pointed  out  a place  under  some  huge  gneiss 
rocks  from  which  he  had  procured  £2,000  worth  of 
sapphire^. 
9.  WTraniy'Agoda  is  a tract  of  hill-side,  adjoining 
Pothgool,  on  the  routb,  of  55  acres  in  «.x  ent,  off.  red 
for  prorpectiou  to  the  Si  ndicatu  by  Ih  . Government 
of  t ey Ion,  but  without  pri  m'Se  to  l«„se,  in  the  event  1 
of  their  agent  applying  (or  it.  It  has  not  been  con-  j 
sidered  worth  testing  by  tbe  natives,  * 
Mora  to  the  nor'hwnrd,  on  ihe  western  face  of  the 
same  group  of  hills,  is  the  other  property,  called 
Haidola  (No.  8),  which  they  have  iutimated  that.ttny 
nuav  pe'haps  let  the  Syndicate  have.  It  oon.ists  of 
a li’ile  over  21  ace  8.  The  hills  here  are  from  150 
to  2U0  feet  in  height,  and  are  I reversed  by  two  mull 
streams,  which,  it  is  said,  contained  surface  illan 
bat  which  our  local  guile  stated  had  all  been  gemmed 
by  natives  long  since,  and  was  now  considered  to  be 
exhausted  ground. 
It  was  not  d,  emed  advisable  under  the  circum-tauces 
to  have  trial  nits  euuk  on  th  so  two  properties  as  the 
chances  of  acquiring  them  after  having  done  so  were 
very  uncertain. 
10.  Doloswella.-- -This  is  a large  tract  of  land 
containing  iu  a'l  1,200  acres,  consisti,  g of  hilly 
c ■ untry  some  of  the  ridges  rising  to  a height  of  nearly 
800  feet.  Along  tho  borders  of  the  Hangomawa 
Ganga,  which  flows  through  it,  are  eztensive  reaches 
of  flat  alluvial  1 nd- 
A trial  pit  was  sunk  close  to  a large  mountain 
stream,  flowing  amongst  gneiss  rocks,  and  having  a 
con  iderable  tall,  which  is  a tributary  of  the  Hango- 
mawa, joining  it  at  about  half  a mile  on  to  the 
northward.  Here  we  reached  the  illan  at  a depth 
of  10  Get,  a a low-r  level  than  the  bed  of  the  ntr<  am. 
Trie  illan  obtained  wa<  a dark  gray  randy  maferi»l, 
containing  waterworn  pebbl  s of  eneios  and  quartz, 
and  give  pr>  raise  of  the  lead  extending  iuto  the 
hill  We  were  unable  to  bottom  this  pit  owing  to  a 
heavy  fail  of  rain,  after  we  had  dug  out  a large 
quantity  . f illan,  causing  a laud slip  which  covered  it 
over  compl  tely. 
O it  of  150  cubic  feet  of  tho  illan,  washed  in  basket 
batons,  we  obtained  excellent  results,  although  none 
of  the  sapphires  were  of  first  qml  ty,  though  of  very 
fair  size.  Judging  fr.  m this,  Hi  - p omiae  of  valuable 
stones,  were  a large  quantity  of  ground  worked,  is 
very  encouraging.  The  fine  stream  there  having  a 
strep  run,  can  be  turned  to  pood  account  by  bydrau- 
licing.  Close  by  our  pit  is  one  not  long  since  dug 
by  the  natives,  from  which,  they  say,  they  procured 
some  good  rubes  and  sapphire’.  One  sapphire 
shown  me,  which  came  from  a pit  ou  the  same 
stre  m,  three  miles  higher  up  was  of  12  carats,  partly 
of  first  wa’er  and  partly  off  colour.  (See  prospects 
Nos.  11  and  12  ) 
11.  Dela  Mindagama  is  a large  property  a few 
miles  northward  of  Do  osweUa,  not  far  from 
Newitigala;  its  easteru  boundary  beiug  the  Wey- 
g.  nga  River.  The  ground  is  billy,  but  the  ridges  do 
not  attain  a height  of  more  than  300  feet.  Alongtbe 
margin  of  the  Wey-ganga  is  a strip  of  level  alluvium,  in 
which  a pit  was  sank  at  a distance  of  20  yds.  from  the 
river.  It  reached  a depth  of  15  ft.,  in  which  was  some  6 ft. 
of  illan.  Of  the  portion  we  washed  we  have  obtained 
poor  results.  Owing  to  the  friable  and  sandy  nature 
of  the  alluvium,  and  the  quantity  of  water  in  it, 
drainage  is  there  rendered  next  to  impossible.  (See 
proBpec  No  13  ) 
12.  Er  boda  lies  along  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Wey-gauga  to  Dela,  end  has  hills  of  the  same  height, 
with  alluvium  on  ihe  river’s  edge  h“ro  end  there. 
Our  pit  on  it  reached  a depth  of  19  feet  in  yellowish 
clay  and  sand,  but  did  not  r.  aoh  tbe  gravel;  the 
dangerous  nature  of  the  clay  and  sand  passed  through, 
and  the  influx  of  water  prevented  the  men  from  sink- 
ing fur'her. 
Both  Dela  snd  this  property  are  considered  to  be 
gcod  gem  lands  ; and  the  natives  work  the  ihan  below 
the  bed  of  the  river,  when  the  water  is  low,  with 
long-handled  hoes,  wi'h  good  n suits.  A Sinhalese  at 
D la.  who  0T1  s a small  propi  rty,  a goo  I bungalow 
and  50  head  of  cattle,  made  his  money  out  of  precious 
stones,  obtained  by  dredging  in  the  river  bed  one 
quarter  of  a mi  e from  his  place,  during  the  last  16 
yi  ars.  Commencing  with  absolutely  nothing,  he  is 
now  if  Dot  rich  exceedingly  well-off.  He  told  me  he  has 
sold  sapphi  res  for  as  much  as  £100  a piece, 
It  has  oocurred  to  me  that  a stream  redger,  which 
could  take  up  the  bottom  to  a depth  of  10  feet,  worked 
in  those  portions  of  the  river  bed  where  there  are 
no  large  rocks,  would  be  able  to  deal  with  a targe 
