that
of other places an opinion was expressed favourable to investigation.
Mr. Harvey is a very high authority in the gold-mining world and is
naturally, therefore, correspondingly cautious in the expression of his
opinion. He was the first, it seems, to inspect and report favourably
on the auriferous land belonging to the late firm of Messrs. William
Nicol & Co. of Bombay, and his report led to the establishment of
the Glenrock and other gold-mining Companies. I lis inspection of our
hill region was far too hurried to lead to definite practical results.
It may, in one sense, be said to be premature, for Mr. Harvey would be
the man to call in after some progress was made in the investigation,
to give a decisive opinion on the value of quartz, and the nature of a
reef. Planters will act quite rightly to make available representative
specimens of the quartz which they have reason to suppose to be
auriferous; but, as Mr. Harvey pointed out, the proper course in the
case of Ceylon where gold has been found in the river beds and nowhere
else (to speak of) as yet, would be to pan and wash in the river and
follow up so long as gold was found, until at last it disappeared from
the washings, and then to look right and left and \\\ round
for the matrix reef from which the gold had gradually been denuded. Sow
this is work appertaining to the Government of the country. It is
impossible that private individuals can undertake this duty, and we
think, therefore, there is good reason for calling on the
Lieut.-Governor to devote some portion of the surplus revenue from the
1'earl Fishery to an investigation which may be fraught with important
consequences to the revenue and prosperity of the Colony. It will be
remembered that in 1854 an attempt to follow up the Mahaoya and
liingula in the manner described above, was frustrated by the advent of
the south-west monsoon. Unfortunately this same rainy season is again
close at hand. Mr. Harvey was greatly struck with the advantages
presented to the miner in Ceylon in railway and road communication,
water power, good climate, &c. He also expressed an interest in the
gem-digging operations in the country and hazarded the opinion that
much deeper mining both for gems and gold in suitable localities (as
recommended by Sir Samuel Baker in the case of Nuwara Eliya), ought to
lead to successful results. The bed of an aifcient river, or the old
bed of an existing river which has shifted its course, would probably
be a favourite spot in which to operate for gold.
It
must be remembered that Ceylon is one of the oldest geological
formations. Geologistis speculate on this island having been connected
with Madagascar and the Malay Peninsula by land long since submerged.
They still regard a belt commencing on the east coast of Africa and
across Madagascar, Ceylon, Malay' Peninsula and Borneo as the most
likely division in which to find the remains of the earliest human
beings or of the most advanced apes, on the earth's surface. Denudation
of the rocks and reefs has therefore been going on in Ceylon far longer
than in i»ost countries, and the fact that very valuable gems and
evidences of gold have been found so near the surface affords good
reason for anticipating greater success from deeper mining.
Since
writing the above we have seen Mr, A. C. Dixon on his return from the
Rakwana district. The Rangwelletenne limestone with its supposed 90 per
cent of lime is a delusion. The limestone Mr. Dixon saw is poor. Gem
pits exist on Everton estate to the depth of forty yards, and Mr. Dixon
saw finer stones—sapphires chiefly—than any he had previously seen in
the island. Two or three were valued by the Chetty owner at over ^200 a
piece; but Mr. Dixon fully agrees that the proper localities have
probably not yet been explored for the best gems, and he is likely to
recommend a trial shaft in an old river bed.
GEMS AND LIMESTONE IN THE RAKWANA DISTRICT.
(From the Ceylon Observer, April
26, 1881.) We learn from Mr. Shand, senior, that the Rangwelletenne
limestone so well reported on by Mr. Hughes was found in the shape of
boulders in the river,
