at Galle recently brought to him a ruby about the size of a small pea, which he had taken from the crop of a fowl.
Of
late years considerable energy has been shown by those engaged in the
search for gems; neglected districts have been explored, and new fields
have been opened up at such places as Karangoda and Weralupa, whence
stones have taken of unusual size and value.
It
is not, however, in the recent strata of gravel, nor in those now in
process of formation, that the natives search for gems. They penetrate
these to the depth of from ten to twenty feet, in order to reach a
lower deposit distinguished by the name of hTellan in
which the objects of their search are found. This is of so early a
formation that it underlies the beds of rivers, and is generally
separated from them or from the superincumbent gravel by a hard crust
(called Kadua), a few inches in thickness, and so consolidated
as to have somewhat the appearance of latarite, or of sun-burnt brick.
The nel-lan is for the most part horizontal, but occasionally it is
raised into an incline as it approaches the base of the hills. It
appears to have been deposited previous to the eruption of the basalt,
on which in some places it reclines, and to have undergone some
alteration from the contact. It consists of water -worn pebbles firmly
imbedded in clay, and occasionally there occur large lumps of granite
and gneiss, in the hollows under which, as well as in " pockets " in
the clay (which from their shape the natives denominate " elephants'
footsteps ") gems are frequently found in groups as if washed in by the
current.
The
persons who devote themselves to this uncertain pursuit are chiefly
Singhales, and the season selected by them for " gemming " is between
December and March, when the waters are low. (a) The poorer and
least enterprising adventurers betake themselves to the beds of
streams, but the most certain though the most costly course is to sink
pits in the adjacent plains, which are consequently indented with such
traces of recent explorers. The upper gravel is pierced, the covering
crust is reached and broken through and the nellan being shovelled into
conical baskets and washed to free it from the sand, the residue is
carefully searched for whatever rounded crystals and minute gems it may
contain.
It
is strongly characteristic of the want of energy in the Singhalese,
that although for centuries those alluvial plains and watercourses have
been searched without ceasing, no attempt appears to have been made to
explore the rocks themselves, in the debris of which the gems have been
brought down by the rivers. Dr. Gygax says:—"I found at Hima Pohura, on
the south-eastern decline of the Pettigala-Kanda, about the middle of
the descent, a stratum of grey granite containing, with iron pyrites
and molybdena, innumerable rubies from one tenth to a fourth of an inch
in diameter, and of a fine rose colour, but split and falling to
powder. It is not an isolated bed of minerals, but a regular stratum
extending probably to the same depth and distance as the other granite
formations. I followed it as far as was practicable for close
examination, but everywhere in the lower part of the valley I found it
so decomposed that the hammer sunk in the rock, and even bamboos were
growing on it. On the higher ground near some small round hills which
intercept it, I found the rubies changed into brown corundum. Upon the
hills themselves the trace was lost, and instead of a stratum there
was merely a wild chaos of blocks of yellow granite. I carefully
exam'ned all the minerals which this stratum contains:—felspar, mica,
and quartz m.ilybdena, and iron pyrites,—and I found all similar to
those I had previously got adhering to rough rubies offered for sale at
Colombo. / firmly believe that in such strata th,' rubies of. Qeyton are originally found, and that those in the white and blue
