1: The mineralogy of Ceylon has hitherto undergone no scientific scrutiny, nor have its mineral productions been arranged in any systematic and comprehensive catalogue. Specimens are to be found in abundance in the hands of native dealers; but from indifference or caution they express their inability to afford adequate information as to their locality, their geological position, or even to show with sufficient certainty that they belong to the island. Dr. Gygax, as the results of some years spent in exploring different districts previous to 1847, was enabled to furnish a list of but thirty-seven species, the site of which he had determined by personal inspection. These were:—

1.Rock crystalAbundant.
2.Iron quartzSaffragam.
3.Common quartzAbundant.
4.AmethystGalle Back, Caltura.
5.GarnetAbundant.
6.Cinnamon stoneBelligam.
7.HarmotomeSt. Lucia, Colombo.
8.HornblendeAbundant.
9.HyperstheneDitto.
10.Common corundumBadulla.
11.RubyDitto and Saffragam.
12.ChrysoberylRatganga, North Saffragam.
13.PleonasteBadulla.
14.ZirconWallawey-ganga, Saffragam.
15.MicaAbundant.
16.AdularPatna Hills, North-east.
17.Common felsparAbundant.
18.Green felsparKandy.
19.AlbiteMelly Matté.
20.ChloriteKandy.
21.PinitePatna Hills.
22.Black tourmalineNeuera-ellia.
23.CalesparAbundant.
24.BittersparDitto.
25.ApatiteGalle Back.
26.FluorsparDitto.
27.ChiastoliteMount Lavinia.
28.Iron pyritesPeradenia.
29. Magnetic iron pyrites Ditto, Rajawelle.
30.Brown iron oreAbundant.
31.Spathose iron oreGalle Back.
32.ManganeseSaffragam.
33.Molybden glanceAbundant.
34.Tin oreSaffragam.
35.Arseniate of nickelDitto.
36.PlumbagoMorowa Corle.
37.EpistilbiteSt. Lucia.

GEMS.—But the chief interest which attaches to the mountains and rocks of this region, arises from the fact that they contain those mines of precious stones which from time immemorial have conferred renown on Ceylon. The ancients celebrated the gems as well as the pearls of "Taprobane;" the tales of mariners returning from their eastern expeditions supplied to the story-tellers of the Arabian Nights their fables of the jewels of "Serendib;" and the travellers of the Middle Ages, on returning to Europe, told of the "sapphires, topazes, amethysts, garnets, and other costly stones" of Ceylon, and of the ruby which belonged to the king of the island, "a span in length, without a flaw, and brilliant beyond description."[1]

1: Travels of MARCO POLO, a Venetian, in the Thirteenth Century, Lond. 1818.

The extent to which gems are still found is sufficient to account for the early traditions of their splendour and profusion; and fabulous as this story of the ruby of the Kandyan kings may be, the abundance of gems in Saffragam has given to the capital of the district the name of Ratnapoora, which means literally "the city of rubies."[1] They are not, however, confined to this quarter alone, but quantities are still found on the western plains between Adam's Peak and the sea, at Neuera-ellia, in Oovah, at Kandy, at Mattelle in the central province, and at Ruanwelli near Colombo, at Matura, and in the beds of the rivers eastwards towards the ancient Mahagam.

1: In the vicinity of Ratnapoora there are to be obtained masses of quartz of the most delicate rose colour. Some pieces, which were brought to me in Colombo, were of extraordinary beauty; and I have reason to believe that it can be obtained in pieces large enough to be used as slabs for tables, or formed into vases and columns, I may observe that similar pieces are to be found in the south of Ireland, near Cork.

But the localities which chiefly supply the Ceylon gems are the alluvial plains at the foot of the stupendous hills of Saffragam, in which the detritus of the rocks has been carried down and intercepted by the slight elevations that rise at some distance from the base of the mountains. The most remarkable of these gem-bearing deposits is in the flat country around Ballangodde, south-east of Ratnapoora; but almost every valley in communication with the rocks of the higher ranges contains stones of more or less value, and the beds of the rivers flowing southward from the mountain chain are so rich in comminuted fragments of rubies, sapphires, and garnets[1], that their sands in some places are used by lapidaries in polishing the softer stones, and in sawing the elephants' grinders into plates. The cook of a government officer at Galle recently brought to him a ruby about the size of a small pea, which he had taken from the crop of a fowl.

1: Mr. BAKER, in a work entitled The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon, thus describes the sands of the Manic Ganga, near the ruins of Mahagam, in the south-eastern extremity of the island:—"The sand was composed of mica, quartz, sapphire, ruby, and jacinth; but the large proportion of ruby sand was so extraordinary that it seemed to rival Sinbad's story of the vale of gems. The whole of this was valueless, but the appearance of the sand was very inviting, as the shallow stream in rippling over it magnified the tiny gems into stones of some magnitude. I passed an hour in vainly searching for a ruby worth collecting, but the largest did not exceed the size of a mustard seed."—BAKER'S Rifle and Hound in Ceylon, p. 181.

Of late years considerable energy has been shown by those engaged in the search for gems; neglected districts have been explored, and new fields have been opened up at such places as Karangodde and Weraloopa, whence stones have been taken of unusual size and value.

It is not, however, in the recent strata of gravel, nor in those now in process of formation, that the natives search for gems. They penetrate these to the depth of from ten to twenty feet, in order to reach a lower deposit distinguished by the name of Nellan, in which the objects of their search are found. This is of so early a formation that it underlies the present beds of rivers, and is generally separated from them or from the superincumbent gravel by a hard crust (called Kadua), a few inches in thickness, and so consolidated as to have somewhat the appearance of laterite, or of sun-burnt brick. The nellan is for the most part horizontal, but occasionally it is raised into an incline as it approaches the base of the hills. It appears to have been deposited previous to the eruption of the basalt, on which in some places it reclines, and to have undergone some alteration from the contact. It consists of water-worn pebbles firmly imbedded in clay, and occasionally there occur large lumps of granite and gneiss, in the hollows under which, as well as in "pockets" in the clay (which from their shape the natives denominate "elephants' footsteps") gems are frequently found in groups as if washed in by the current.