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The Emerald. 207
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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.
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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
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