remained
on the bar some time quite sound and uninjured, whilst the other burst.
A piece was then removed by the doctor with a hammer in the presence of
the same gentleman in order to discover the cleavage. Both these
experiments confirmed the opinions already expressed that it was a
white spinelle. It was then taken to Mr. Sowerby the celebrated
mineralogist, whose opinions agreed with Dr. Kdneg and Mr. Lowrie. In
the same year it was submitted to the opinion of many well-known
mineralogists, the majority of whom pronounced it spinelle. Mr.
Macholian, of Lisbon, wished to become a purchaser of it, and also a
French gentleman, but their offers were refused. About this time Major
Honner went to settle in Tasmania, and left the stone in the care of
his brother-in-law, Sir Charles Forbes, Bart., of the firm of Forbes,
Forbes & Co., City of London. When he returned home he was engaged
in the Portuguese service, and took no steps to dispose of the stone
until about 1843, when he was in Paris, and thinking that Louis
Philippe, King of France, might like to be possessed of so rare a
specimen, offered it to him. Louis Philippe was willing to become a
purchaser if Major Honner could obtain a certificate from the King's
jeweller stating it to be spinelle. Accompanied by Mons. Carson, Gresor
de la Couronne, he waited upon Mons. Basset, the King's jeweller, who,
much to their astonishment, owned that he never saw a white spinelle
and could not tell the character or properties which distinguished it
from other stones. For some short time it was in the custody of Colonel
Augustus Honner, c. B., brother of the Rev. A. Honner, who obtained
some valuable confirmatory evidence. At the death of Colonel Robert
Honner, a few years after, the stone came into the possession of his
widow, who at her decease gave it to the Rev. A. Honner in preference
to his eldest brother, Major-General Sir Robert William Honner, K. c.
B. The gem weighs 285 grains, has a specific gravity 3-56, does not
exhibit electricity when heated, does not refract double, and has a
cleavage peculiar to the spinelle. It is harder than topaz, but not so
hard as sapphire. Its intrinsic value has been estimated at ,£23,000.
The polarizing angle received from the surface is 32° or 310
30'. In 1867 the Rev. A. Honner exhibited it at the Archaeological
Society in London, and was offered a very large price for it. The gem
is supposed to have been cut 400 years.
REMARKS ON THE LATE MR. Wm. STEWART'S PAPER ON GEMMING IN CEYLON.
(By a Sinhalese.)
Generally
the adventurers are not the cause of immorality. Men who go to strange
parts to make money and having that determination steadily in view do
not generally misbehave. But it must not be forgotten that the Rodiya
women do tempt these adventurers and rob them of their hard gains
whenever they get an opportunity. This is one of the causes which has
produced an improvement in the condition of this people of late years.
It is not the Malavs but the Moors who resort to Sabaragamuwa to buy
gems, and the trade "is completely in their hands. Bargains are made
for ready money and not for cloth and salt. The author is treating of a
time not within the memory of man when he mentions this kind of barter
which has long since passed into history. The religious festival which
brings together traders from all parts of Ceylon is the Perahera of the
Maha Saman Dewala, which ceremony is not considered a Buddhist affair
by orthodox Buddhists, but one pertaining to the worship of Saman. That
the position of the people of Sabaragamuwa is so much improved that
they can very well retain their precious stones, is all nonsense. All
gems found everywhere in Sabaragamuwa are retained in
