357 
Minerals of Ceylon. 
the lower parts of the island, and the Dutch ibimd it tlie ea- 
siest method of procuring them to demand from him a cer- 
tain quantity as tribute. For some time that Prince was obliged 
to comply with the mandates of his imperious neighbours, 
and send them a certain proportion of stones every year. Of 
late, liowever, he has shaken off tins servitude ; and to tempt 
the avarice of Furopeans as little as possible, he has prohibit- 
ed any more from being collected in his dominions. He does 
not now allow his subjects, on any account, to barter precious 
stones with Europeans, or to carry any above a certain value 
out of his territories, umler pain of death. It is even danger- 
ous for a Candian to retain any above a certain value in his 
possession, as by a royal decree they all belong to the king. 
I have already mentioned the hardships to which the poor 
natives are exposed by this arbitrary decree, and that they 
will often rather privately give or throw valuable stones away 
than run the risque of being obliged to carry them up to 
Candy, and wait half starved, at the palace gate, till his Ma- 
jesty deigns to receive them. 
'Fhe precious stones are generally sought for among the hills 
and rocks, and along the banks of rivers, where they are fre- 
quently picked up. By the river which passes Sittivacca, and 
divides the King’s country from ours, they are particularly 
found. The violent rains, which frequently fall in the higher 
parts of the island, wash down these stones from the hills; and 
when the rivers begin to subside, and get clear and low, they 
are found among the sands of the channels which are then 
left dry. I have seen the black fellows, whom we usually call 
stone-merchants, tracking the bed of a river for this purpose,, 
and often with great success. 
