July, 1921 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
7 
(Nos. 7, 8.) The yellow sapphire, or Oriental topaz, 
is the queen of all Anakie stones, and perhaps the rarest ; 
and amongst its varieties the orange yellow is the most 
wonderful and beautiful. The yellow stone in the collec- 
tion was found twenty years ago at the Reward Claim, 
on Retreat Creek, near Ruby vale, where the first dis- 
covery of sapphires was made many years previously, the 
stone being found in the centre of a rough piece of 
corundum which was thrown away as worthless and 
afterwards picked up and broken in two, the yellow 
crystal showing in the centre. The deep yellow stone was 
obtained at Iguana Flat, close to Rubyvale. The colour 
varies frorr. a light canary (which is rare) to honey- 
yellow and lemon-yellow, all such tints producing nice 
effects when the crystal is not marked by cloudiness or 
silkiness. All the varieties of yellow sapphire are good 
stones for day wear, but some tints are very effective in 
artificial light, and with diamonds make very brilliant 
settings. 
(No. 14.) Blue sapphires. Light and dark shades of 
J his variety of sapphire are common, but a characteristic 
green tint is invariably present, which serves to dis- 
tinguish the Anakie sapphires from those of any other 
part of the world. These blues are the ‘ 4 bread and 
butter” stones of the miners, all others being classed as 
‘■“fancy stones.” 
(No. 13.) Parti-coloured sapphires are not so rare 
as the yellow stones, although much rarer than the blue 
and green stones. They are very beautiful when skilfully 
cut by the lapidary, and show quite a number of shades; 
but at present no very great demand exists for them. 
The combined colours are blue-green, blue-yellow, yellow- 
green, and blue-red. The yellow usually forms the centre 
and sometimes takes the shape of a triangle. Occasionally 
a pink band is found to encircle a blue stone, and bands of 
yellow alternate with bands of blue. 
B. SILICATES. 
(No. 19). Aquamarine, the sea-green variety of 
beryl, occurs in many of the alluvial deposits in the 
Chillagoe and Herberton mineral fields. The stone in the 
collection was cut from a six-sided prismatic crystal, three 
inches long and over an inch in diameter, the specimen 
being obtained from the Tate River gravels close to the 
township of Fisherton, in association with alluvial gold. 
(No. 18). Blue beryl is an uncommon stone in 
Queensland, and has only been found at Brooklands, near 
