people
be generally covetous, spending but little, scraping together what they
can, yet such is the Government they are under, that they are afraid to
be known to have anything, lest it be taken away from them. Neither
have they any encouragement for their industry, having no vend by
traffic and commerce for what they have got.
GEMS AND GEM SEARCHING IN SAFFRAGAM. (From the Colombo Obsetver, June n, 1855.)
Ratnapura, 8th June, 1855. To the Editors of the Colombo Observer. Sirs,—If
you deem the accompanying account of the Gems and the Gem-men of
Saffragam of sufficient interest to appear in your valuble paper, I
shall feel obliged by your inserting it at the earliest convenience.
I remain, your most obedient servant,
J. K. Stewart.
An Account of the Gems and Gem-men of the District of Saffragam.
The
district of Saffragam has from the earliest times been famed for the
various sorts of precious stones and gems found in it, and no doubt its
principal town Ratnapura (Anglice, Gem City), owes its name to the circumstance. Tradition has it, that a peculiar people called " Mookaro," (probably
a race of Malabars, some of whom, I believe, even now are called
Mookara), were the first engaged in mining for gems, and that their
leader whom the people now call " Mookery," a woman, had left the
island, with a ship-load of precious stones, which said ship had
foundered at sea through the evil influence of some demon or other. In
support of this, the people now show mounds of earth and pits of
different depths in gem-productive localities as the remains of their
operations, and also adduce the fact of pieces of earthenware, beads,
charcoal, &c, being found at great depths, where they could not
possibly have found their way, unless such places were at some great
distance of time excavated. And they further suppose that the original
contrivance used for washing the gravel in which the gems are found was
an earthen-vessel now called " Koraha," as the greater number of
fragments of earthenware found in such places are those of such
utensils, whereas the present means is a wicker-basket to be described
hereafter.
To
avoid technical names, the gems found in this district are the ruby,
the sapphire, the topaz, the cat's-eye, the pink ruby, the green,
yellow and white crystal [quartz], and the toramally [tourmaline].
The
ruby (ratha of the Sinhalese, and also called " neelakantia " by them
when there is a dash of blue in it) is the hardest and the most
beautiful and valuable of the gem-tribe in Ceylon. It is scarce, and
when found is of considerable size and seldom pure—that is without
defects. But of late large sized ones have been discovered, though not
pure. The defects of this stone are many; the principal which renders
it almost valueless is what is called " Coovangoo,'" as in fact
it does other stones, excepting the toramally, the value of which, when
it exists in it to a certain degree, it enhances, converting it into a
cat's-eye to be described hereafter. This " Coovangoo " is perhaps the
result of imperfect crystalization. The other defects are cracks, and
other flaws called " mola ncero" which are dark specks in the
body of the stone. From one or the other of these imperfections the
stone is seldom found free. Then, the colour may be more or less than
the standard, detracting from its value; but the tinge of blue which is
frequently found in the stone (giving it the name of neelakantia) is
easily removed by burning. The process is simple and is as follows:—The
stone is enclosed in a thick coating of chu-nam [lime] (that which is used by the natives with their betel-leaves) and
