412
RUBY MINING IN AUSTRALIA.
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are made by some of the shareholders on his unbusinesslike and, in some
respects, questionable way of placing them on the market. But the names
of well-known British experts have been published as the authorities
for the assertion that the stones submitted to them are true rubies.
Prices have been offered and given which show that a high value is set
upon them in the Loadon market. Private telegrams have been received by
persons of undoubted caution and veracity confirming the assertion
that satisfactory sales have been concluded. There is good reason by
this time not only to hope but also to believe that the discovery is a
genuine one. On no other grounds can the facts and statements be
explained except it be the existence of a plot of so extraordinary a
nature that it is difficult to conceive how it oeuld be carried out.
A
ruby mine is necessarily Bomewhat of a lottery. When Mr. Streeter
offered a high rant for the right to work the mines in the recently
acquired British territory in Burmah, opinions differed in a remarkable
degree as to the nature of the bargain he was proposing to make. Yet it
is certain that the rulers of Burmah and Siam have been accustomed to
extract from the ruby mines large revenues in the shape of rents and
royaliies. In South Australia—or, rather, in the Northern Territory,
for it is in that part of the colony that the MacDonnell Ranges" are
situated—perhaps the greatest service which the development of ruby
mines would confer would consist in its attracting population to large
tracts of country which in every respect deserve more attention than
they have hitherto received. The total area confined within the
province is 903,690 square milei,or no less than fifteen times the area
of England and Wales combined. Of this vast extent of territory perhaps
one-tenth has been moderately well examined in the search for its
mineral wealth. The rest lies practically unexplored, and certainly
quite undeveloped. The MacDonnell Ra >ges are believed to be rich
not only in precious stones, but also in metals. They are situated
almost exactly on the line of the tropic of Capricorn—a position which
corresponds very closely with that of the Burmese ruby-mining territory
in the Northern Hemisphere. It should not bo forgotten, however,, that
until tbe Transcontinental Railway bas been somewhat further advanced
than it is, the cost of carriage to the MacDonnell Range country will
necessarily be very great. The distance from Adelaide is almost exactly
1,000 miles, and the railway journey to the terminus at the Peake is
only 6o5 miles. Ev< n when the recently authorized extension to
Angle Pole has been accomplished there will •till be about 300 miles to
be traversed by conveyance. Of course, weight for value, no commodities
are easier to carry than precious stones. But the carriage of
provisions and other stores will for a considerable time to come bo
very costly. At present the extent of the ruby country is quite a
matter of conjecture, but should the genuineness of the various samples
of stones sent to London be established beyond doubt there will be good
reason for a movement of population in the direction of the MacDonnell
Ranges. The consequence will be that the mineral wealth of a large
extent of new territory will be prospected, and it will be very
surprising if some valuable discoveries are not made. Indications of
silver, tin, and copper have already been seen in the neighbourhood,
and some of the country is described as of a very likely character for
the presence of gold. The year 1888 will probably witness material
progress in the opening up of the Far North. The people of South
Australia are taking heart again. With a rising market for wheat, wool,
and copper they have some reason te hope for better fortune as regards
the land that ia already developed, and the progress of recent
discovery tends to show that only a small proportion of the field of
the colony's real worth has yet been tested.
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIN RUBIES. (Adelaide Observer, Jan.
9th, 1888.) Our London correspondent, writing under date December
2nd:—There is no longer any doubt cpneerning the value of the rubies
whioh Mr. Pearson, of Adelaide, as representing the MacDonnell Ranges
Ruby Mining Company, has introduced to this country. Some of them have
been already cut and set with diamonds, and have evoked unqualified
admiration. They have been shown to the Agents-General, who have
expressed astonishment at their beauty, and have been on view at the
Royal Colonial Institute, where their presence excites great
admiration, and where Mr. Pearson was closely examined az to hit dig-
