362 THE RUBY MINES OF UPPER BURMA
is so elevated, are subject to attacks of fever on first arrival there.
A
totally distinct ruby tract is situated in the marble hills at Sagyin,
which is only 16 miles from Mandalay. So far as is known, it is
comparatively of little importance, the rubies and other gems which are
found there being of inferior qualities. Other localities about 15
miles to the north and north-east of Sagyin are reported to produce
rubies, but nothing certain is known about them.
History.—The
"ruby mines" of Burma were first made known by European writers towards
the end of the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century there are
more definite references by Portuguese travellers, but they are not of
much practical importance. Tavernier,1 as we have seen,
gives an account of the mines and their produce from hearsay ; from
which it would appear that the reputation they then bore was not very
high, or he would probably have made an effort to visit them. The
yield, he says, did not exceed 100,000 icus (say £22,500) per annum, and he found it profitable to carry rubies from Europe to Asia for sale.
The principal authorities of the present century, previous to the conquest of Upper Burma, are Mr. Crawfurd 2 ; the Pere Giuseppe d'Amato,3 who visited the mines about the year 1833 ; Dr. Oldham,4
who visited Ava and collected information about the mines in the year
1855, when with Sir Arthur Phayre's mission ; Mr. Bredmeyer, who was in
the service of the King and visited the mines in the year 1868 ; and
Mr. Spears and Capt. Strover, of the British Burma Commission, both of
whom have placed on record their observations. From these authorities
we learn that the rubies which were found were generally small, not
averaging more than a quarter of a rati, and that the large stones were
generally smuggled away, but few of them reaching the King. It was
supposed that the Chinese and Tartar merchants who visited Mogok and
Kyatpyen conveyed most of them out of Burma. The large rubies were
generally flawed, and Mr. Spears states that he never saw one exceeding
half a rupee in weight, i.e. about 22 carats.
The
King's revenue derivable from the monopoly was variously estimated by
these authorities at from £12,500 to £15,000. The more recent
information now available confirms these estimates. The figures stated
on official authority are 90,000 to 100,000 rupees, the highest sum
being 150,000 rupees paid in one year. Besides which, however, was the
reserva-
1 Vol. ii. pp. 77 f. below.
2 ' Mission to Ava,' Edin. New Phil. Journ., 1827, p. 366.
3 Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. ii, p. 75. * Yule's Mission to Ava, p. 347.
