202 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
kaong-wen, or the cat’s eye ruby ; the star ruby ; 
the green, the yellow and the white sapphires; 
and the oriental amethyst. The common sap¬ 
phire is by far the most frequent, but in com¬ 
parison with the ruby is very little prized by the 
Burmese, in which they agree with other nations. 
I brought home with me several of great size, the 
largest weighing no less than 3630 grains, or 
above nine hundred and seven carats. 
While 1 was at Ava, two stones, partaking 
equally of the sapphire and ruby, were brought 
to me for sale. One of these, the property of the 
queen’s brother, was a very fine gem, without a 
flaw, the red and blue colour nearly dividing it 
into two equal and distinct parts: five hundred 
ticals, or about sixty pounds, were asked for it. 
I did not purchase it at once; and when I in¬ 
quired for it a few days afterwards, I found that 
it had been stolen from the owner. Another 
stone, a very large one, a portion of which was 
white and the remainder sapphire-coloured, was 
also brought to me for sale: it was, however, 
very imperfect, and of little value. Among 
some rubies which I brought home, one of con¬ 
siderable size was a fine and perfect Asteria, or 
star-stone. The spinelle ruby, Zebu-gaong, is not 
unfrequent in Ava, but is not much valued by 
the natives. I brought with me to England a 
perfect specimen, both as to colour and freedom 
from flaws, weighing twenty-two carats. The 
