Dondra Head.--"The City of the Gods."--A Vast Temple.--A
Statue of Solid Gold.--A Famous Rock-Temple.--Buddhist
Monastery.--Caltura and its Distilleries.--Edible Bird's
Nests.--Basket-Making.--The Kaluganga.--Cinnamon
Gardens.--"The City of Gems."--A Magnificent Ruby.--The True
Cat's-Eye.--Vast Riches hidden in the Mountains.--Plumbago
Mining.--Iron Ore.--Kaolin.--Gem-Cutting.--Native
Swindlers.--Demoralizing Effect of Gem Digging.
At Dondra Head, which is now only a small fishing village, the
mouldering remains of a grand and ancient temple are seen, which are
believed to antedate those of Anuradhapura, though probably built by
the same race of people. It is well known that this locality was the
annual resort of multitudes of devotees, from the remotest ages.
Indeed, such was its sanctity that two thousand years ago it was
called Devi-nuwara,--"The City of the Gods." Ptolemy describes the
place as being the most renowned point of interest, for pilgrims, on
the island. There was a temple here, built by the Hindus in honor of
Vishnu, so gigantic that its dimensions sound to us almost fabulous.
Some of the finely carved columns which were once part of the
structure are still extant, though partially covered with jungle grass
and tangled vines. "So vast was this temple," says an ancient
historian, "that from the sea it had the appearance of a large city."
Tradition says that this shrine contained a thousand idols of stone
and bronze, and that there were a thousand Brahman priests attached to
it besides five hundred dancing-girls. We need not be surprised at
this, since these trained performers still form part of the equipment
of all temples in southern India, doubtless constituting priestly
harems.
These items are recorded by a Moorish traveler, John Battuta, who
visited the spot six hundred years ago. The same authority further
tells us that one of the most sacred idols was life-size, that is, as
large as an average man of his period, and was made of pure and solid
gold. "The eyes consisted of two rubies, of such lustre that they
shone like lanterns." The Portuguese first looted the temple, putting
its devotees to the sword, and then entirely demolished the edifice,
leaving it a shapeless mass of ruins. Over two hundred granite
monoliths, with many finely sculptured stones, still remain to testify
to the original character of this marvelous building.
About fifteen or twenty miles from Dondra, there is an ancient and
famous rock-temple after the style of that at Dambula, already
described. It is called the temple of Mulgirigalla, the place being
still a sacred shrine kept up for the benefit of the faithful. The
rock of which it is a portion rises over three hundred feet above the
level of the surrounding plain, the summit crowned by a large dagoba
containing relics of some Buddhist saint. On the face of the crag
below, there is a series of buildings still occupied by the
priesthood. The temple consists of several chambers or artificial
caves, decorated, after the usual manner of these shrines, with crude
paintings and stone statues. After twenty centuries of consecutive
occupancy, the place is still devoted to its original purpose. A
Buddhist monastery exists upon the crag, conducted by white-haired
priests like those of Kandy. Close at hand are the tombs containing
the ashes of the cremated high priests who have lived and died upon
the spot, during so many ages, in the service of the temple. Had the
old crag a ready tongue, what curious stories it might reveal of its
past history, depicting strange events which no pen has ever recorded.
At Caltura, situated on the coast between Galle and Colombo, about
thirty miles from the latter, in the midst of a district crowded with
cocoanut-trees, the distillation of arrack is carried on quite
extensively. Caltura is, and has long been considered as, a sanitarium
in the south part of the island. It is swept at all times by sea
breezes from the southwest, and is surrounded by delightful scenery.
The temperature averages from ten to fifteen degrees cooler than
Colombo. This point was considered of such special importance by the
Dutch that they erected elaborate fortifications here, the ruins of
which still form a prominent feature of the place. There are several
caves hereabouts where a species of the swallow--known as the
"swift"--constructs the edible nests so much valued as a table luxury
in China. Neither the native Singhalese nor the other inhabitants of
the island make use of these nests as food; in fact, they require to
be manipulated by expert cooks, in order to bring out their peculiar
properties. We are told that centuries ago the people of this
nationality came to Caltura to obtain these nests, so much valued as a
table luxury by the Mongolians, carefully transporting them to Pekin
and Hongkong, where great prices were, and still are, realized for
them. The edible nests are held to be the choicest dish to place
before the emperor. The best and most glutinous product of this
species of bird comes from Java, Borneo, and Sumatra, and the shores
of Malacca Straits, generally. Caltura is also famous for the
manufacture of fancy baskets of various shapes, made from palm leaf,
rice straw, and lemon grass. They are put up in nests of a dozen in a
package, one within another. These baskets find many purchasers among
those who come to the island, who are glad to carry away a souvenir of
their visit. Here the traveler will see that rare and favorite fruit,
the mangosteen, flourishing, and, so far as we could learn, it is one
of the few districts in Ceylon where it is to be found.
On returning from Adam's Peak, visitors often descend the Kaluganga in
boats to Caltura. The distance from the coast to the summit of the
mountain is about sixty-five miles. The country through which the
river passes is by no means thickly populated, but intersects some
native villages and towns, such as Hanwella and Avissawella, together
with numberless rice plantations and thrifty cocoanut groves.
This river, like nearly all in Ceylon, is more or less infested by
alligators. Like the tortoise and the turtle, they deposit eggs in the
sandy banks of the stream, where they can mature by the heat of the
sun. A certain species of the monkey tribe is very partial to new-laid
alligator eggs, and is on the watch much of the time to discover the
mother when she deposits them. After she has ingeniously covered them
and returned to her native element, the monkey feasts royally upon the
eggs, and he knows where to come again on the following day for a
renewal of the feast. As the alligators are not often disturbed by man
on this island, were Nature not to place some check upon their
breeding habits, they would soon overrun it. The Ceylon leopard, as it
is called, feeds upon the monkey, so that _his_ tribe may not become
too numerous.
The natives, who are believers in the doctrine of metempsychosis,
often express the wish that their post-mortem fate may be to reappear
in the shape of monkeys, because, in this land of perpetual summer,
the wild, free wood-life of that creature seems to them so delightful.
The tribe is a large one, and exhibits a great variety in Ceylon, from
tiny objects like dolls to gigantic fellows which would give Du
Chaillu's gorillas odds, and beat them out of sight. Bishop Heber
speaks of a Ceylon monkey that attacked a huntsman friend of his, and
broke his gun-barrel! One of the ridiculous fables connected with the
island's history is to the effect that in ancient days, "when time was
young," Ceylon was invaded and conquered by an army of monkeys. The
mendacity of these old legend-makers is equaled only by their
fertility of imagination. The more the credulity of the natives is
taxed, the better they like the fabrication, and we have no doubt that
there are many comparatively intelligent islanders who absolutely
believe this story of a conquering army of chimpanzees. The Kaluganga
is altogether a beautiful waterway, but little inferior to the Rhine
in breadth and volume. It is improved for transporting rice, areca
nuts, choice cabinet woods, and other inland products to the coast.
Lake Bolgodde, near Caltura, is the resort of innumerable waterfowl,
and, being so near the ocean, both salt and fresh water birds are
represented. Hither come European sportsmen to obtain good shooting.
There are some sugar plantations in the neighborhood, but, as we have
remarked, the cane does not flourish in any part of the island.
Continuing along the coast northward, we come to Morottu, about
fifteen miles south of Colombo. There the Cinnamon Gardens commence,
and extend nearly to the capital, forming a wilderness of green. The
surrounding atmosphere is very sweet and fragrant with the soft
breath of buds and flowers, not belonging, however, to the
cinnamon-trees. This favorite spice was the great specialty of
Ceylon's products in the days of the Portuguese and the Dutch, as well
as before and since their occupancy.
Ratnapura--the "City of Gems"--is situated about fifty miles southeast
of Colombo and twelve or fifteen miles from Adam's Peak, on the banks
of the Kaluganga, a hundred and fifty feet above sea level. There is
an official residence here, a small Episcopal chapel, a Roman Catholic
chapel, a jail, and a hospital. A rocky hillock is surmounted by a
small fort, within whose walls is a meteorological observatory. An
ancient mosque also testifies to the fact that Islamism is no new
profession here. Lofty hills tower all about, radiating from Adam's
Peak. A couple of miles west of Ratnapura is one of the richest
Buddhist temples in Ceylon; by rich, we mean most liberally endowed.
It has no architectural interest or beauty, but is quite like a score
of others met elsewhere inland.
About four or five years since, as the story is told, a ruby weighing
twenty-six carats was found at Ratnapura, which was valued in its
uncut condition, by the London jewelers to whom it was sent, at
twenty-five thousand dollars, and it is said that after it was cut it
lost but little of its weight, while it gained immensely in
brilliancy. This gem was sold to a royal party for forty thousand
dollars. Nearly all the high-cost jewels known to collectors of
precious stones, save the diamond, emerald, and turquoise, come from
the soil of this island. The true cat's-eye is a greenish, translucent
quartz, which presents, when cut and polished, an internal reflection;
hence the appropriate name which it bears. This gem is said to be
found only in Ceylon, though of this we are not certain. One sees
splendid native specimens here at Colombo, valued at three and four
thousand dollars each. As we have intimated, the finest gems produced
by Ceylon do not leave India. The Rajah of Jeypoor is said to have a
cat's-eye of fabulous size and beauty, valued at a king's ransom,
besides great wealth in other precious stones. Though this ruler is a
cultured man, like most of his nationality he is inclined to be
superstitious, and ascribes special protective virtues to his gems. It
is somewhat remarkable that diamonds are not indigenous here, since
the famous Golconda mines are so near at hand in southern India.
Occasional alexandrites, so called in honor of the Russian Czar, are
found in the island. Their color by daylight is a dark green,
bronze-like hue, but by artificial light the stone is a deep crimson,
and is highly prized for its distinctive properties.
Nearly every year, some fresh locality on the plains or in the valleys
is worked with profitable results by the gem seekers, but the rocky
regions of the mountains, whence these precious stones have been
washed in the process of disintegration which has been going on for
ages, have never been prospected. The vast richness which is hidden in
those primitive rocks will one day, perhaps, be brought to light,
rivaling the dazzling stories of the Arabian Nights, or the
fascinating extravagances of Jules Verne.
The choicest uncut stones which are still to be seen in the walls of
the Taj Mahal--that poem in marble at Agra, India, the tomb of the
wife of Emperor Shah Jehan--are said to have come originally from
Ratnapura. They were only crudely dressed by native skill for this
purpose, but the intrinsic value is there all the same.
Besides precious stones, Ceylon produces gold, quicksilver, plumbago
of the finest quality, and magnetic iron ore. Plumbago has at various
times formed quite an item in the exports of the island. The supply of
this article in the neighborhood of Ratnapura is practically
inexhaustible. It is found in large, detached masses of fine quality,
five or six feet below the surface of the ground. There is always a
sure market for plumbago, and it seems singular that a more organized
effort is not made to obtain it for export. The Colonial Blue Book
shows that in 1840 there were only about one thousand hundredweight
packages of plumbago or graphite exported from Ceylon. Each year since
has seen a large increase of these figures, until in 1891 there were
over four hundred thousand hundredweight packages sent from the
island, or say two hundred thousand tons. This aggregate, we are told,
will soon be largely increased by adopting American and European
machinery in mining the crude article. Some of these mines have
reached a depth of six and seven hundred feet. Plumbago mining may not
present the charm which attaches to the digging for rubies and
sapphires, but in the long run the cash results are far more
satisfactory. Even iron would pay better than gems, and it exists here
in inexhaustible quantities, particularly in the western and central
provinces, cropping out at the surface in great purity. The natives
have for centuries been in the habit of smelting this ore, and of
making it into such tools as they required. They are excellent
imitators in metal as well as in wood. In the Colombo Museum there is
a sample of the gun-barrels (really effective arms) which the natives
were accustomed to make, with such primitive tools as they possessed,
out of this home-smelted magnetic ore. The iron implements, which are
successfully wrought into various forms by the rude process of the
natives, are equal in temper to the very best Swedish work, showing
that the raw metal must be of a superior sort.
Long ago, the Chinese exported from this island large quantities of
kaolin (terra alba), for the manufacture of fine pottery, and it is an
article which is still abundant and easily procured here.
A considerable number of Tamils and Moormen are employed by dealers in
Colombo to examine the river-beds in mountain districts in search of
precious stones, and there are also certain individuals ready to act
as guides to those strangers disposed to try their luck in searching
for sparkling stones. Many casual visitors to the island do this, and
they are sometimes reasonably rewarded, but "big finds" do not often
come to such parties. There is another famous place besides Ratnapura
which produces gems. It is the flat country contiguous to Ballomgodde,
fifteen miles southeast of the City of Gems. Nearly all the valleys of
this, region have been receptacles at one time or another of the
gem-impregnated soil of the mountains, washed down by flooding rains
and former rivers, whose courses have since been diverted to further
the extended system of irrigation.
The valuable stones come into the dealers' hands in the rough state,
and to an inexperienced eye appear to be of little value. They receive
what may be called a preliminary cutting by natives who have acquired
some degree of skill at this business, but they are not really
marketable until they are recut by Europeans in London, Vienna, or
Hamburg, in an artistic and scientific manner. Probably far the
largest number of precious stones which are sold in Paris, or London,
or in America, excepting those we have already named, come from this
Indian island, but the reader may rely upon it that they can as a
rule be much more advantageously purchased elsewhere than in Colombo.
Let no person, unless he be an expert, trust to his own judgment in
purchases on the spot. The Moormen, in whose hands the trade almost
entirely rests, are a set of confirmed knaves and adroit swindlers,
whose cunning and dishonesty have become proverbial. If they cannot
cheat a purchaser in any other way, they will slyly substitute a piece
of worthless glass for a true stone at the last moment, after the
bargain has been made, and then disappear.
We heard some exasperating stories of these transactions, which should
put visitors on their guard. Almost every one who visits Ceylon,
whether he lands in the north or the south, is a witness of, or a
victim to, similar transactions.
For instance, you have been shown a really fine sapphire by a Moorman,
for which a sum is demanded which seems exorbitant. You would like to
possess the stone, and, after careful examination, offer forty pounds
for what was priced to you at sixty. It was a fair offer on your part,
and probably was very near its intrinsic value in the market. The
Moorman declares that he will not take one penny less than his
original 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 loafer, ignoring all legitimate
occupation, while contracting most undesirable habits and
associations. He is generally employed at miserable wages by the
Moormen in Colombo, though he is paid a premium when he finds and
turns over a really good stone. But the constant aim of these
contracting parties is simply to defraud and cheat each other to the
greatest possible extent." The native who is thus engaged steals more
stones than he accounts for, and coolly pockets his wages.
Diamond mining in Africa is not more demoralizing than gem digging in
Ceylon. Men who have nothing to lose but everything to gain are the
class engaged in such enterprises. Regular and legitimate occupations
are neglected by those who become thus absorbed. It is a sort of
gambling, only in another and perhaps more fascinating form. Doubtless
all the precious stones secured in Ceylon annually would not exceed
one hundred thousand dollars at their true market value. Were this sum
to be equally divided among the thousands of natives who thus occupy
their time, it will be seen that a less exacting and laborious
occupation, industriously pursued, would give surer and more
satisfactory returns. There is always the delusive charm of
uncertainty--of possibility--in gem seeking, fascinating to the
average mind. Emerson tells us that "no gold-mining country is
traversed by good roads, nor are there good schools on the shore where
pearls are found!" As if in verification of this assertion, nothing
can exceed the desolation of the shore in the neighborhood of the
pearl-fishing banks near Aripo, on the west coast of Ceylon. During
the brief period devoted to the fishery, temporary huts and tents are
occupied by people immediately interested; but, the short season over,
the place relapses into a state of desolation. Like all lotteries,
there are more blanks than prizes connected with the pearl fisheries,
and for one person who is made joyful by the profits which are
realized, one hundred and more go away in utter disappointment.
A story is told of an occurrence at Aripo which happened not long
since, and which had a fatal termination. A certain foreigner had come
from a long distance, and at great cost, to venture his all in a
season's effort to secure rich and rare pearls. His inexperience was
great, and his misfortunes were in proportion. The season closed,
leaving him impoverished. His disappointment was too great for
endurance, and the poor fellow in his despair sought a suicide's grave
in the depths of the sea.