for gold, which they find equally convenient for concealment.[1]

[Footnote 1: So eager is the appetite for hoarding in these hills, that
eleven rupees (equal to twenty-two shillings) have frequently been given
for a sovereign.]

The lapidaries who cut and polish the stones are chiefly Moors, but
their tools are so primitive, and their skill so deficient, that a gem
generally loses in value by having passed through their hands. The
inferior kinds, such as cinnamon-stones, garnets, and tourmaline, are
polished by ordinary artists at Kandy, Matura, and Galle; but the more
expert lapidaries, who cut rubies and sapphires, reside chiefly at
Caltura and Colombo.

As a general rule, the rarer gems are less costly in Europe than in
Colombo. In London and Paris the quantities brought from all parts of
the world are sufficient to establish something like a market value;
but, in Ceylon, the supply is so uncertain that the price is always
regulated at the moment by the rank and wealth of the purchaser. Strange
to say, too, there is often an unwillingness even amongst the Moorish
dealers to sell the rarest and finest specimens; those who are wealthy
being anxious to retain them, and few but stones of secondary value are
offered for sale. Besides, the Rajahs and native Princes of India,
amongst whom the passion for jewels is universal, are known to give such
extravagant prices that the best are always sent to them from Ceylon.

From the Custom House returns it is impossible to form any calculation
as to the value of the precious stones exported from the island. A
portion only appears, even of those sent to England, the remainder being
carried away by private parties. Of the total number found, one-fourth
is probably purchased by the natives themselves, more than one-half is
sent to the Continent of India, and the remainder represents the export
to Europe. Computed in this way, the quantity of precious stones found
in the island may be estimated at 10,000_l_. per annum.

RIVERS.--From the mountainous configuration of the country and the
abundance of the rains, the rivers are large and numerous in the south
of the island--ten of considerable magnitude flowing into the sea on the
west coast, between Point-de-Galle and Manaar, and a still greater
number, though inferior in volume, on the east. In the low country,
where the heat is intense and evaporation proportionate, they derive
little of their supply from springs; and the passing