Precious Gem stones production in 1906 Page 66



	PRECIOUS STONES.	1241

	feldspar, and muscovite, with spodumene, lepidolite, and tourmaline in smaller quantities. A soft, unctuous-feeling, pink clay, called halloysite, apparently derived from rubellite, occurs in many of the pockets. At Rincon gem minerals are found in pegmatites of similar structure to those of Pala, though inclosed in badly decomposed granite. The hard pegmatite contains black tourmaline, massive almandine garnet, large beryl, and greenish muscovite; and the pockets contain crystals of quartz, orthoclase, and beryl of gem quality (tourmaline and kunzite have since been found in the pockets also, according to Sickler). The crystals of the pockets have been corroded and partly dissolved by alkaline waters, leaving the faces rough and scarred. GEMS OF CEYLON. An interesting article, by Mr. Ralph Stokes," appeared in 1906 on the gems of Ceylon. It seems to be very difficult to obtain reliable information about the gem industry from the natives or elsewhere. The output is handled almost exclusively by a small ring of Mohammedans in Colombo. The merchants obtain their supplies through Moorman dealers from the smaller villages nearest the gemming districts, to which the miners bring their stones for disposal. The Moorman dealers are generally lapidaries and take all the risk incident to the loss of material in cutting. The methods of cutting employed by the lapidaries arc primitive, and the tendency is to sacrifice everything for size. The quality of the cutting is otherwise often excellent. The more common gem stones of Ceylon are sapphire, ruby, star sapphire, chrysoberyl, cat's-eye, and moonstone, with some green, blue, and red spinel, topaz and oriental topaz, green, yellow, and colorless zircon, garnet cinnamon stone, aquamarine, and tourmaline. These stones are obtained almost entirely from alluvial deposits derived from the denudation of crystalline rocks. According to Dr. A. K. Coomeraswamy,* the natives of Ceylon appear to have located nearly all of the deposits valuable for gems. In the gem districts themselves the richer places are pretty well known and generally partly worked out. In some cases only the deeper "illam" or gravels remain. Gem mining probably can never be profitably undertaken by Europeans. Even for the Ceylonese it is usually a lottery. Several unsuccessful attempts have already been made by gemming companies and it is not likely others will succeed, since the gem lands are owned by scattered landowners, who apparently claim all the beds except in the larger rivers, and all operations would require careful supervision. The gemmers fall into three classes: Illicit gemmers; fairly prosperous men who work their own lands, occasionally employing help; and rich men who have their pits worked for them or rent out the land. In the latter case the lessees dig a pit down to the "illam," when the owner or other responsible man attends the work to see that nothing is stolen. The gems are divided, three-fourths to the owner or lessee and one-fourth among the men along with their food, but with no wages. In the gemming region of Sabaragamuwa the Cingalese employ a crude system of dredging to obtain gems and sometimes gold. A oMin. World, April 28, 1906, pp. S23-524. & Administration Repts., Ceylon Min. Survey, pt. 4, 1905 p. E 11.