iginal price, and begs you to show it to your friends, and not to
lose a good bargain. He brings the beautiful gem to you several times
for further examination, at the same time watching your movements
carefully. Finally, the moment comes for you to embark on the
outgoing steamer. He is watchful and intercepts you, once more
offering the sapphire, while declaring that he is poor and cannot
afford to keep it, but must let you have it for the forty pounds you
offered; actual necessity compels him to sacrifice it at that price,
etc., etc. You hastily pay over the money, and receive the gem, as you
suppose, just as the boat pushes off from the shore, headed for the
ship. The anchor is already being hoisted, and in a few moments you
are under way. Curiosity causes you to take one more look at the
coveted treasure before putting it safely away. You seek the cabin in
order to get the effect of a strong artificial light upon the gem.
Somehow it does not look quite so brilliant and rich in color as you
expected. It must be the dampness of the ship which clouds the
sapphire. You look more closely. Is it possible? Yes, you hold in your
hand a piece of worthless glass, of the size and shape of the real gem
which had won your admiration from the first. You do not know the name
of the rascal who has so cunningly cheated you, and could prove
nothing if it were possible to return to Colombo. It is of no use to
sacrifice time and money in an attempt at recovery of your forty
pounds. You have to swallow your indignation and pocket the loss. The
author has thus given an extreme case, but it is a typical and a true
one, the actual experience of a person who related the circumstances
to him.

"These villainous Moormen all look alike," said the victim, "and I
very much doubt if I could identify the fellow if he were now standing
before me."

It is the same here in mining for precious stones as with gold-mining
in Australia and other countries. The majority of persons who engage
in the exciting occupation of gem hunting are irresponsible, and of
ill-regulated habits.

An intelligent resident of Ratnapura told the author that the presence
of these gems in the earth of Ceylon, so far from being of any real
advantage to the inhabitants or to the true prosperity of the island,
is a source of a vast amount of evil. "After a Singhalese has once
embarked in gem digging," he said, "he is good for nothing else;
henceforth he becomes a genuine loaf