December i, 1891.], THt r«OPJGAL AGRICULTURIST. 427 
Bought to enforce it wlien the Gemming aud Mining 
Oompany of Oeylon came forward. This nndertakiug 
cannot be said to have como out uticlei- the best or 
most favourable auspices. That goes without sajiug 
when we mention that it was promoted by the cele- 
brated Gold Trust and Inveatment Corporation, whioh 
promoted at about the same time 
THH N0T0BI0U3 PHR3IAN INVESTMENT CORPORATIONj 
in both of whioh it prided itself on retaining a con- 
siderable interest, though to what extent that reten- 
tion was voluntary or enforced, and in what measure 
the pride may still survive, we need hardly wait to in- 
quire. Tho sayiug that pride goos before a fall has, 
however, been pretty well exemplified in the case of 
these two undertalnnge. The history ot the rise and 
fall of the Persian Investment Corporation is too fresh 
in everybody's mind to need recaijitulation. The 
like story of the Gemming and Mining Oompany 
still remains to be told, though it has not yet 
reached the stage when that can be done with true 
dramatic effect. The latter company was formed 
in December, 1889, with an authoriaed capital 
of £100,000 in shares of £1 each, to acquire certain 
freeholds conaiating of 1,280 acres o£ laud, situated 
in Rakwana district, Ceylon. The mining rights of 
the Bangweltenne and one or two other estates were 
also acquired, subject to the payment of certain rents 
and royalties. The purehase price of the whole show 
was fixed at £50,000, payable as to ^12,500 in cash, 
and the rest in aheres or cash and shares, Looked 
at from the point of view of 
THE EXPEUT HHPOBTS 
on the business there was nothing about those terms 
at whioh anybody could oavil. A Mr. 0, £1. H, Symons, 
and a Mr. Charles Shand, of Colombo, were the two 
chief witnesses to the untold wealth of the property, 
and those two gentlemen brought to bear in support 
of their right to speak with unquestionable authority 
on the Bubjeot, the two important qualifications that 
the first had for many years past "taken a great 
interest in the search for precious stones as carried 
on by the natives," "while Mr. Shand and wife, repre- 
sented by a trustee, figured in the contracts for the 
sale and purchase of the alfair. One of the estates 
to be acquired, namely, tho Bverton, was said by Blr, 
Symons to have been famous for its gems for the 
lasc 30 or iO years. The sapphires had a purity and 
depth of colour which were proverbial. Oatsejes of 
the highest value had been found "iu quantity." Then 
there were tourmaline, amethyst, topaz, common and 
star stones, and all the rest of it. Corundum could be 
FOUND BY THE TON, 
and also crystals of remarkable size *nd " purity of 
whiteness," whioh, for " optical purposes are unsur- 
passed." These orystals could, of course, have been 
utilised as leuses with which to enable the share- 
holders at a later date to scan and decipher their 
dividend wan-ante, though they have not been adapted 
to that purpose yet. But more important than all- 
this vast show of wealth was the faot that there 
" were from 50 to 60 pits sunk in Kabragaliakelle" 
(m oompariaoa with which the mystic word Abra- 
cadabra Bounds mean), "which exist to this day." 
We say "mora important than all," because there was 
no knowing at the time to what untold uses these 
pitsj might be put at a lator date in the way of 
stoting the gems or, at tho worst, buryiug the hopes 
of the shareholders. The latter seems, at the present 
moment, likely to be their most immodiato use. The 
property being of such large extent the direolovB, eaid 
the piojpeciuf, "m^y consider it advisable to diepow 
of part of tho estates to other companies," but no 
such companies have come along to mar the eujoyment of 
SEAHCHINO ALL ALONE FOR THK GBEAT WEALTH 
supposed to lr,y buried in the undertaking. Tho 
second ordinary meeting was hold on Thursday, and 
tho clmirmau said ho regretted the report was not 
more favourable. The pits, there is every reason to 
behove, are in their old places, but the capital is 
not. That, snid the chairman, was steadily going," 
so the affair can soaroely be said to be in every 
particular at a standstill, and it was for this reason 
perhaps, that he sought to impress on the share- 
holders that they " should not lose heart." The land 
where they were carryiog on operations was honey- 
combed with tunnels and burrows mace by the nativeef 
for generations past, hut the people engaged to look after 
it had only got tho worst stones, the explanation volun- 
teered for this being that the native miners were 
"too many for them." The best mining experts in Oeylon 
had been engaged to explore and suivey the property, 
and tnese had all wound up their experience by telling 
the company to " go on and prosper," which was 
very handsome of them, though it would not have 
been amiss if they had at the same time given a hint how 
THE PBOSPEElNa PAET OP THE HUSINESS 
waa to be accomplished, In tho abaenoe of such in- 
formation the company has been unable to carry out 
the recommendation. " We could not do so," aaid the 
chairman, because the capital, as already remarked, 
is steadily going, "and "they did not seem to be 
getiiog what they contemplated they would get." A 
shareholder asked if they had let any of the gem land, 
to which there was vouchsafed the reply that " they 
had not, but that they contemplated doing so." In 
view of the glowing description of the property 
with its 50 to 60 pits, and the diggings and bur- 
rowings, and the precious stones, etc., that waa a 
somewhat singular, not to say startling, confession to 
make, and it is surprising tho shareholders did not 
show a little more interest to learn on what they 
were working all last year simply to lose close upon 
£4,000. They have on the way home 7| cwt, of corun- 
dnm, which said the chairman, is the " motherjf 
sapphires," though, as a matter of chemical fact, iti-i 
a crystallised state of alumina, of whioh sapphire, ruby 
amethyst, etc., are others; but they have not found 
any gems. What the directors will do with the alleged 
" mother of sapphires " we do not profess to know, 
unless it be to force her to yield progenyi That, at 
all events, seems to be the only way in whioh this 
Gemming and Mining Oompany of Oeylon ia likely to 
make anything. A subsidiary company for breeding 
sapphires would not bo a bad notion and we commend 
it, for what may be worth, to certain members of the 
promoting {ratermty,—I'a% Oracle, Oat. 17th. 
nethee£ands~1ndi A , 
Dr. Karaten, a botanical expert, calls attention to 
the extraordinarily high percentage of tannin in planta 
growing on marshy land near the seashore through- 
out the Indian Archipelago, He deems that these 
plants find in their tannin a preservative from the 
decomposing influences arising out of their unfavour- 
able en-vironment, and he strongly recommends their 
bark for tanning purposes in Europe. He points out 
th;iS tho mangrove is used in South America as dye 
and tanniflg material. Tho barks of the mangroves 
found in Java are used for tanning and dyeing but 
are not exported to Europe. 
Advices from the sugar, coffee, and indigo estates 
in B, Java are far from encouraging owing to. the 
long continued drought. 
Tho Batavia JVieutoshlad says that quinine hae 
been put to a new use as antidote against the opium 
h»bit. It is reported that natives given to opium and 
wishing to leave it off need only use quinine water, 
and that this remedy takes good effect on them.— 
Straits Times. 
PLANTING NOTES MIOM THE MLGIEIS. 
(From our own Corresi'ondent) 
OooNooB, Nov. l.~The drought of August and Sep- 
tember was followed by excessive rain in October. 
Between the 1st and 30th of last mouth the fall here 
has been over 55 inches ; euch heavy rain has not been 
known on the Nilgirisfor the last 30 years.* These 
abnormal showers have done a great deal of damage 
to estates in and near Ooouoor ; numerous landslips 
have t'-.ken place, especially on steep e3tato3, and 
* We ehouUl think it is unprecedented. A year's 
average rainfal in one month !— Ed, T. A, 
