difficult
to trace back to their original sources precious stones which have
passed through many hands. All that can be said on the present occasion
may be included under the following heads :—Diamond, amber, corundum,
ruby, sapphire, spinel, beryl, emerald, garnet, lapis lazuli, turquoise.
In
the " Economic Geology" fifty pages have been devoted to a correlation
of the hitherto widely-scattered facts regarding the occurrence of the
diamond in India. I have succeeded in identifying the famous diamond
mines visited and described by Tavernier in 1665, and by other still
earlier travellers. Their identity was much disputed 100 years ago, and
since then they have been simply alluded to as being forgotten and past
hope of identification. I have also, 1 believe, fully established the
oft-disputed identity of the Koh-i-nur with the Great Mogul diamond,
which was described by Tavernier, who states that it had been found 100
years before his time, at one of the abovemen-tioned mines. Quite
recently I have found a reference to apparently this identical diamond
by Garcias ab Horto, who wrote just 100 years before Tavernier, or in
1565. These are but examples of the results which have followed from
the reading of ancient historical notices, under the light thrown upon
them by modern geography and geology. Even the old myth of the
inaccessible valley containing diamonds, and the method of obtaining
stones from it, described by Marco Polo, in the " Arabian Nights," and
elsewhere, has been shown to rest upon a basis of fact.
The
diamond-bearing tracts are situated in three widely separated regions,
namely, in Madras; in the Central Provinces, with Chutia Nagpur; and in
Biindelkhand. The geology of these is all more or less perfectly known,
and it is possible to indicate roughly the limits of the actual
diamond-bearing strata. That these have been exhausted is most
improbable ; and in spite of the large quantities of diamonds which
have been taken out of the detrital deposits, it seems just to conclude
that properly conducted operations would yield as many more, and by
means of modern appliances, at a great saving of the amount of time and
labour which was formerly expended. Under existing conditions in India,
it may be doubtful whether it would pay to re-open these mines ; but I
am, on the whole, inclined to believe that the facts known regarding
certain localities would justify systematic trials being made of the
present productiveness of the mines and washings.
Amber.— This
substance is not found within the British Indian territory, at least
not in sufficient quantity to be of value; but in some tertiary
coal-measures which are situated in the valley of the Hukung, in Upper
Burma, there are mines which have been worked for a very long period.
The amber which is obtained is in part carried to China by merchants,
who visit the locality for that purpose.
Corundum, Ruby, Sapphire.—Although
I have collected a number of ancient, and some comparatively recent,
references to the existence of sources in India from whence the
transparent forms of corundum—namely, ruby and sapphire —have been
obtained, I am still inclined to believe that there have never been
regular mines of either in India proper. The majority of the sapphires
to be found for sale in India formerly, as at present, came, I believe,
from Ceylon; and, in a similar manner, the rubies have been brought
from the famous mines of Upper Burma. Corundum, however, is known to
occur at so many localities in India, that the discovery of the
mineralogically nearly identical ruby and sapphire, would not be
surprising. Sapphires have at different times been reported to occur in
the Himalayas. It is not inconceivable that it may hereafter be found
profitable to export corundum from India to Europe, for manufacture
into emery.
Spinel.—The spinel or balas ruby
has been found, I believe, sparingly, in Southern India, but the
principal localities where it has been mined for are situated in
Afghanistan, Badakshan, and Upper Burma. Many of the famous and historical so-called rubies are now known to be only spinel.
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