THE RUBY MINES OF UPPER BURMA 865
tunnels
to the spots where the loam containing the rubies is found—this they
either carry to the surface in baskets or it is hoisted up by means of
balance poles—and it is then washed at the surface at the nearest
watercourse.
From
such caves the finest rubies ever found have been obtained, and from
one in the Pingu Hill, near Kyatpyen, Mr. Brown states that, after the
detritus had been passed, of every basketful of the ruby clay which was
raised half consisted of rubies.
A
certain royal mine of this character is said to have produced a ruby as
large as a walnut, and in another the rubies were found in association
with the bones of some extinct animal of very large size.1
This
description opens up a somewhat wide vista of speculation, and one can
hardly resist the temptation of prophesying as to the wonderful
discoveries which may be made when adits and shafts are driven
to afford access to these natural caves and fissures in the mass of the
marble hills. In such safe receptacles it is not unreasonable to
suppose that stones which have suffered but little from attrition and
fracture may be found, and that there the greatest prizes will be
obtained.
Quarries.—To
the north of Mogok village, at a distance of about three-quarters of a
mile, a bed of calcspar in the .limestone, which is 20 feet wide,
produces rubies, but in order to obtain them the use of powder has to
be employed as well as the hammer, and when chipped out the gems are
generally more or less fractured ; but good stones have been obtained.
Whether any method can be devised of avoiding the injury resulting from
the use of explosives is at present doubtful. It is not easy to suggest
how a firm rock, such as this calcspar, could be mined without recourse
being had to violent methods of some kind.
The
rose-pink rubellite (a variety of tourmaline) is obtained on the margin
of the Meobychoung river, 15 miles S. of Mogok and 3 miles from
Mamlong. The mines in the alluvium are worked by a rude hydraulic
system, and the produce is sent to China, large pieces obtaining a good
price.
Under
the arrangements which have been made with the New Burma Ruby Mine
Company, the rights and interests of the miners have apparently been
very fully safeguarded, but whether the miners on their part will
refrain from smuggling and comply with the regulations, and disclose
their more valuable finds and submit them to taxation, remains to be
seen. The total production of rubies in 1887, when the
1
The fossil remains of Mastodons and other large mammalia, allied to
those found in the Siwalik hills of India, hare long been known to
occur in Burma.
