but
within that area it is not by any means continuous, and any attempt at
estimating the probable output and the extent of reserves could only
result in the most erroneous conclusions. Owing to the secrecy observed
by the Burmese in the matter among themselves, and the fact that they
usually travel long distances to find a market for their better stones,
the output up to the present of saleable stones is merely a matter of
conjecture, and is variously estimated by the headmen as from 3 to 6
catties, say, over 22,000 carats perhaps. One man showed me what he
declared was the result of his year's work—three good stones of rich
colour and good water, for which he expected to get 100, 60, and 50 Es.
respectively, and some forty small ones (some of them of very poor
colour), which after an hour's bargaining one could certainly have got
for 50 Es. He had, besides, of course, numberless fragments and scraps
which were valueless. The chances are, from what I saw, that this is a
fair example of what the average digger obtains; but it must be
remembered that no information voluntarily given by the Burmese on this
head is ever reliable. They invariably keep something in reserve, for
they never feel quite certain what the Englishman may be up to with his
questioning; and even among themselves the dodges resorted to to hide
the exact truth are very amusing. In buying stones one always has the
worst produced first, and after an exhaustive pick out of them all, pi
ssently, slowly, out of infinite wraps of paper and cotton, come some
better ones, and after an hour or so the best are produced, and
probably this is the real extent of the man's stock ; but if through
impatience one closes the bargains too early, the best are never
produced, but will be kept for the future, and will eventually be
taken over to Eangoon, or even Calcutta.
In
a few years' time there will, no doubt, be more men at work, and larger
areas of pits in work. At the present moment the ground in Hoay Pakham
has only been dug out for a distance of half a mile from the flood
level of the Mekong, with a breadth averaging 80 yards. Work is only
carried on in the morning, when the pit will be bailed out dry; at noon
the digging and washing ceases, and the men return home, and sit all
the afternoon in their houses chaffing, talking, and picking over and
enjoying the sight of their stones, in which they find great delight.
The washing consists simply of cleaning the basket of muddy gravel with
water, and picking over the remains twice by hand. The operation is
very quick, and the eye never misses the faintest sign of colour.
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