THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
355 
pain of death. It is even dangerous 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 men- 
tioned 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 Majesty deigns 
to receive them. 
The precious stones are generally sought for among the 
hills and rocks, and along the banks of rivers, where they 
are frequently picked up. By the river which passes Sitti- 
vacca, 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 chan- 
nels which are then left dry. I have seen the black fellows, 
whom we usually call stone-merchants, tracking the bed of a 
liver for this purpose, and often with great success. 
Those black merchants swarm in great numbers about 
Columbo. They are a mixture of the different casts and 
nations of India; few of them are Cinglese or natives of 
the island. They are constantly seen in numbers hawking 
about their stones, and besieging the doors of the Euro- 
pean Officers and other gentlemen, whom they always find 
to be their most liberal customers. They present the stones 
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