THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan.  2,  18Q3. 
452 
quantity  of  material,  and  have  every  chance  of 
success. 
13  to  ‘20.  The  Uakwanne  Properties. — As  these 
are  ati  adjoining  each  other  in  the  same  valley,  and 
are  similar,  they  are  described  together. 
Butiyatenne  is  situated  on  the  south  side 
of  the  headwater  of  the  Rambuke  River,  and 
consist  of  roach  undulating  and  hilly  land  lying 
between  it  and  a steep  mountain  range  to  the  south. 
Adjoining  it  on  the  west  is  Golden  Grove  Estate, 
consisting  of  undulating  valley-land  betwe  n the  omi- 
tinuation  of  the  same  mountain  range  an  t the  river  ; 
while  next  beyond  it  comes  Spring  Vale  and  Depedene, 
the  latter  properties  extending  across  the  Kambuke 
for  some  little  distance  on  its  northern  side.  Bulal- 
kande  and  Melbrake  Me,  one  on  the  S >utb,  aud  the 
other  on  the  north  of  Depedene,  and  are  chiefly 
mountain-side  lands;  while  F rnlee  lies  uor'h  of 
Spring  Vale.  While  Butiyatenne,  Golden  Grove,  Bulat- 
kande  and  Ferulee,  are  not  ac  present  under  cultiva- 
tion, Spring  Vale,  Depedene,  and  part  of  Melbrake 
are  planted  with  tea.  The  llambuke  is,  in  this  part, 
a mountain  torrent  of  considerable  size,  flowing 
amongst  gneiss  bjulders,  whilst  numerous  similar  rocks 
are  spread  over  thesurfaoeof  the  surrounding  country. 
On  the  road,  the  watershed  b tween  tms  and  the 
Rakwanne  River  is  2,600  feet  above  the  sea,  while 
at  Depedene,  the  river  flows  at  a level  ot  1,770 
feet,  showing  a rapid  fall  of  830  feet  in  a distauce 
of  two  and  a half  miles  ; whioh  reuders  the 
district  a most  suitable  one  for  hydraulic  workings, 
any  amount  of  pressure  beiug  obtainable.  Both 
Butiyatenne  and  Golden  Grove  are  watered  by  numer- 
ous streams,  two  of  which — Hindapan  Dola  and  its 
branch — are  of  considerable  size,  and  contained  a good 
supply  during  the  dry  season.  From  either  of  these 
an  abundant  supply  of  water  may  be  obtained  for  work- 
ing purposes,  which  cm  be  easily  led  to  any  portion 
of  the  four  properties  situated  ou  the  south-side  of  the 
Rambuke.  . 
Gemming  on  these  lands  had  long  been  oarned  on  in 
the  shallow  illans  in  the  river  and  stream  bids,  and 
adjoining  hill-wash,  wheu  some  16  years  ago  a rioh 
layer  of  gem-bearing  gravel  was  discovered  near  the 
watershed  of  the  Kambuke.  In  workiug  this,  it  was 
fouud  that  it  formed  a lead  becoming  deeper  and 
rioher  when  traced  westward  down  the  valley.  This 
induced  one  of  the  Sinhalese  mine  owners  to  sink 
a deep  pit  in  the  stream  bank  on  Buuyatcnne, 
in  which,  at  some  CO  feet,  he  came  to  the  lead 
whioh  proved  of  exceptional  richness,  chiefly  in  sap- 
phires of  a fine  colour.  Since  that  time  numerous  pits 
have  been  sunk,  and  a large  extent  ol  ground  mined 
by  means  of  shafts,  with  tunnels  driven  from  their 
bottoms,  by  which  more  than  one  gutter  was  discovered, 
and  the  contained  gem-bearing  gravel  extracted.  The 
main  lead  runs  in  a southwesterly  direction,  and  will 
be  most  probably  found  in  the  portion  of  Butiyatenne 
leased  to  the  Syndicate.  On  the  six  acre  Butiyatenne 
lots  worked  by  natives,  the  deepest  pit  at  present  is 
90  feet ; and  there  the  illan  lies  at  a depth  of  40  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  present  bed  of  the  Rambuke. 
This  deep  illan  does  not  appear  to  be  in  the  hill-wash 
(though  under  it),  but  is  a true  alluvial  deposit,  and 
has  a layer  of  under-clay  oalled  *•  Malawa,”  between 
it  and  the  bed-rock.  In  this  part  of  Butiyaienne  a shal- 
low ilUn,  a few  feet  below  the  surface,  likewise  pro- 
duced valuable  gems  ; and  in  various  other  portions 
of  theao  properties  are  layers  of  gravel  iu  the  bill 
wash,  all  of  which  are  gem-bcaring  a greater  or 
lesser  degree. 
The  following  information  received  from  per6onB  living 
ou  the  spotis,  I think,  well  worth  recording,  as  it  throws 
some  light  upon  the  possible,  capabilities  of  these  pro- 
perties. On  the  hillside  not  far  from  the  Depedene 
Bungalow,  a coolie  picked  up  a catseye  which  he  sold  for 
50  rupees  to  a Moorman,  who  subsequently  re-sold  it  in 
Colombo  for  1,000  rupees.  This  sione  was  found  lying 
on  the  surface  at  au  illan  out-crop.  On  other  parts  of 
the  same  estate  the  coolies  turn  out  after  heavy  rain, 
and  s<  arch  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  in  the  tea 
fields  for  gems,  sometimes  with  success. 
The  Manager  of  the  E-.tate  found  some  men  gem- 
ming in  Depedene,  one  quarter  of  a mile  west  of  the 
Bungalow,  and  t ad  th  m arrested.  The  illan  they  had 
dug  out  of  a 6mr.ll  pit  waB  washed  \ the  conductor, 
and  a sapphire  fouud  which  Sold  for  400  rupees. 
Hindis,  onr  Sup.  rintemlcnt,  states  that  the  natives 
foimer.y  worked  the  shallow  illansou  part  .4  D pedene 
and  Sp  ing  Vale.asin  Butiyatei  n-,  am>  hebasseen  many 
valuable  sapphires  eold  by  auct  on  in  Rakwanne  which 
have  come  from  thes9  estaU  8.  He  bim-elf,  fi  orn  a small 
pit  in  the  latter  property,  of  some  6 feet  in  eptb, 
got  out  £'200  worth  of  sapphires.  He  »lso  said  that 
whilst  sinking  our  Golden  Grove  Pit,  N".  2,  a Rak- 
wanne man,  weil-kuown  to  him,  iu  passing  visited 
it,  aud  told  him  rh-t  7 years  ego,  when  Sp  ing  Vale 
aud  Depo  'ene  were  abandoned  estates,  he  pul  down 
a pit  within  30  feet  of  where  we  were  sinking.  Irom 
wbieh  be  got,  besides  sapphires,  a catseie  which  he 
sol  i for  5,OJO  rupees.  1 f mud  this  pit  to  bo  about 
12  feet  deep  and  as  it  is  on  the  slope  at  a level  of 
10  feet  below  ours,  the  illan  tbere  is  evidently  the 
one  we  passed  through  at  a depth  of  25  feet  from 
the  surface. 
Across  the  road  from  onr  pit  tbere  are  numerous 
old  sha  low  pits  from  which,  it  is  said,  some  very  fine 
sapphi'e-  were  formerly  obtained;  and  that  in  the 
bed  of  the  small  stream  at  the  lower  rice  s'ore  in 
Spring  Vale,  a cat-eye  was  dug  out  of  shallow  illan 
which  fetched  4 000  mpees. 
Our  head  man  at  Fernb  e pit,  who  has  g-mm*d  for 
years  Ou  Depedene  and  Spring  Vale,  sh  >wed  me  a 
place  at  the  head  of  a sinad  stream  in  the  litter  pro- 
perty flowing  down  to  Depedene  Bungalow,  where 
there  were  numerous  shallow  executions  under  large 
gneiss  rocks,  from  which  a good  many  stun- shad  been 
prooured.  He  said  he  had  seemed  sapphires  tbere 
of  the  value  of  400  rupees  each.  When  these  estates 
were  again  put  iu  cultivation,  no  gemming  was 
allowed.  The  Rakwauue  miners,  it  allowed,  would 
glidly  resume  mining  for  gems  in  Golden  Grove  aud 
the  two  above-mentioned  estates. 
It  was  deemed  advisable  to  sink  a few  trial  pits  in 
these  properties,  for  ihe  purpose  of  ascertaining  tte 
positions  of  the  various  illans ; in  I if  possible  to  try  for 
a deep  illan  in  places  where  the  oovering  might 
reasonably  be  supposed  to  be  not  great.  Owing  to  the 
rocky  nature  of  the  hill-wash,  which  contained  numer- 
ous laige  boulders  of  guei  s,  the  work  was  difficult  and 
slow,  aud  a great  deal  of  blasting  with  dynamite  had 
to  be  performed.  We  put  down  five  pita,  one  on 
Butiyatenne  near  the  fojt  of  the  mountain  ; two  in 
Golden  Grove;  one  iu  Ferulee;  and  one  iu  Depedene. 
Of  these,  the  Centre  pit  in  G-Men  Grove,  at  a depth 
of  27  feet,  got  into  rnnning  ground  and  had  to  be 
abandoned  the  one  in  Ferulee,  at  51  feet,  retched  the 
under-clay  without  passiug  through  and  well  defined 
illan  ; while  that  in  Depedene  reache  I the  b-d  rock  at 
42  feet,  32  feet  below  the  bed  of  the  river,  after 
passing  thi  ougn  a layer  of  gravel,  3 feet  C inches  from 
the  surface,  of  one  foot  in  thickness,  which  gave  a 
poor  prospect.  (See  No.  20.) 
The  second  pit  in  Goldeu  Grove,  at  a depth  of  21 
feet,  struck  an  illan  of  agrey  sandy  nature,  contain- 
ing large  well  water-wo:  n pebbles  of  quartz,  whioh, 
however,  did  not  give  good  results;  and  eventually 
came  to  the  bed  rock  at  a depth  of  50  f<  et,  30  ft  et 
beMw  the  bed  of  the  river.  The  pit  on  Butiyatenne, 
where  we  expected  to  reach  illan  at  18  teei  or  so, 
was  down  50  feet  without  reaching  tbe  deep  gravel ; 
but  as  it  promised  well  when  I left,  it  was  being  con- 
tinued. A so  six  men  were  engaged  n_  getting  cut 
some  more  illan  from  the  second  pit  in  Golden  Grove 
by  n tunnel  driven  in  on  the  south  side,  which  work 
would  only  occupy  a few  days. 
Besides  these  pits,  some  shallow  ones  were  made, 
and  gravel  from  three  tunnels  was  tested;  the  result- 
ing pro- peels  from  which,  chough  promising,  did  not 
si  ow  any  gems  of  Value.  But  this  could  hardly  be 
expected  where  a lew  trisl  pits  are  put  down  over 
such  a large  area.  The  object  oi  so  con  g was  to 
ascer  ai.>  if  the  gem-bearing  gi a. e'  n as  there,  and  if 
ii  gr  ve  ii  eicatif  ns  of  lOD’air  mg  precious  stones  ; aud 
this  1 have  satisfied  my  Btlf  is  the  case.  (See  prospects 
Nos.  14  to  24  ) 
