chap, xix RUBIES IN CEYLON 79
exceeds 6 ratis, and is perfect, it is sold for whatever is asked for it.
All the other coloured stones in this country are called by the name ruby, and are only distinguished by colour.1 Thus
in the language of Pegu the sapphire is a blue ruby, the amethyst a
violet ruby, the topaz a yellow ruby, and so with the other stones.
The
dealers are so particular about their profit in trade that they will
not show you a parcel of rubies, although they may be fine, unless you
promise beforehand that in case you do not buy you will make them a
small present—such as a turban or a waistband ; and when you act with
some liberality to them they show all their stock, and you can then
transact some business with them.
The other place in the East whence rubies and other coloured stones are obtained is a river in the island of Ceylon.2
It flows from high mountains which are in the middle of the island, and
as the rains greatly increase its size—three or four months after they
have fallen, and when the water is lowered, the poor people go to
search the sand, where they find rubies, sapphires, and topazes. The
stones from this river are generally more beautiful and cleaner than
those of Pegu.
I forgot to remark that in the mountains which run from Pegu towards the Kingdom of Camboya 3 some rubies are
perfect in colour (Dames, Book of Dtmrte Barbosa, vol. ii, ed. 1921, 126).
1 A very legitimate system of nomenclature, as they are all of the same chemical composition, viz. alumina or corundum.
2
In Ceylon sapphire is the variety of corundum most commonly found, but
rubies are also sometimes met with. The annual average value of
precious stones found in Ceylon is said to be about £10,000 at present.
' Stones of inferior kinds are found in the beds of streams about
Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Badulla, and some of the small rivers in the
south; but the more precious stones, such as the ruby, sapphire, topaz,
alexandrite, and catseye, must be sought within a radius of 30 or 40
miles from Eatnapura (the City of Gems), the capital of Saffragam, a
district of the Western Province, though occasionally rubies are found
in Uva.' (Tennent, Ceylon, i. 36.)
* The
mode of occurrence of rubies in Cambodia and Siam is not very well
understood, but Ball had met with some references to the fact,
