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CHAPTER III.
THE AUTHOR'S CONNECTION WITH THE RUBY MINES OF BURMA.
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S
my connection with the Ruby Mines of Upper Burma has been a subject of
public curiosity, and not unfrequently of groundless speculation, I may
take this opportunity to offer a brief sketch, shewing the origin and
nature of my relations with these mines.
Most
persons interested in precious stones have been fascinated by the
glamour of the "Oriental Ruby". Many years ago, during King Theebaw's
reign, my eldest son, the late Harry Edwin Streeter, who lost his life
while pearling with my fleet in the Western Australian waters, (an
industry now carried on by my son G. Skelton Streeter), expressed a
strong desire to visit the Burmese Ruby Mines. Knowing, however, how
jealously these mines were guarded from all Europeans, I would not for
a moment countenance so hazardous an expedition. But when "Upper Burma" some years afterwards became part of the British Empire, the case was
entirely altered, and I felt that the time had come when the resources
of the country—including the mysterious mines which for ages had
practically supplied the world with Rubies—would be thrown open to
commercial enterprise.
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