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Sec. III, Ch. 7: The Emerald

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The Emerald.                                207
one shaft and took out string to the length of 450 feet. The descent was a steep incline> with occasional perpendi­cular drops of six to ten feet. At this depth was a chamber where were ranged some thirty baskets of ore all ready for raising to the surface. It was difficult to be­lieve that the baskets were seventy years old.
The old Emerald mines of Egypt have recently been visited on my behalf by Mr. H. W. Seton-Karr. In December, 1897, he explored the ancient workings of Sikait and of Zabbara, and brought home a quantity of rough Emerald, some of which has yielded stones of excellent quality. The prevailing rock, forming the matrix of the Emerald, seems to be mica schist, of various colours. In the white schist he found small Emeralds of brilliant green colour ; in the grey schist, the crystals were larger but not of such bright hues ; whilst in the black schist, the Emeralds though very large are of such poor quality as to be practically worthless.
It seems unlikely that these mines, which were so extensively worked by the ancients and yielded valuable gems like those of Cleopatra, should be exhausted. Believing that they will be well-worth re-opening and working by our improved modern methods of mining, I have applied to the Egyptian Government for a concession, and at the time of writing am awaiting a reply to my application.
RUSSIAN EMERALDS.
Emeralds were first discovered in Russia in 1830, when a charcoal-burner found crystals of the mineral at the roots of a tree which had been overturned by the wind. He took the crystals to Ekaterinburg, where the traders in precious stones at once recognized their value. This
Sec. III, Ch. 7: The Emerald Page of 366 Sec. III, Ch. 7: The Emerald
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