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Updated: May 26, 2025
Rubies, sapphires and spinels are found in Pegu. Diamonds are found in several places, as in Bisnagur, Agra, Delhi, and the Javan islands. The best pearls come from the isle of Bahrein in the gulf of Persia; and an inferior sort from the fisheries near Ceylon, and from Ainan, a large island off the southern coast of China.
This search is particularly rigid in regard to diamonds, pearls, and other articles of small bulk and great value, as all things, in Pegu that are not of its own productions pay custom both in or out. But rubies, sapphires, and spinels, being productions of the country, pay no duties.
The king of Pegu has no naval force; but for extent of dominion, number of people, and treasure of gold and silver, he far exceeds the Grand Turk in power and riches. He has various magazines full of treasure in gold and silver, which is daily increased, and is never diminished. He is also lord of the mines of rubies, sapphires, and spinels.
I saw little really fine jewellery, probably because I was obviously unlikely to be a big buyer, but many good spinels, dark topaz, and rough emeralds. The stones I wanted I failed to get. Alexandrites were not, and pink topaz scarce and dear. The dealers generally tried to sell pale spinels as pink topaz.
He would often spend a whole day settling and resettling in their cases the various stones that he had collected, such as the olive-green chrysoberyl that turns red by lamplight, the cymophane with its wire-like line of silver, the pistachio-colored peridot, rose-pink and wine-yellow topazes, carbuncles of fiery scarlet with tremulous four-rayed stars, flame- red cinnamon-stones, orange and violet spinels, and amethysts with their alternate layers of ruby and sapphire.
He would often spend a whole day settling and resettling in their cases the various stones that he had collected, such as the olive-green chrysoberyl that turns red by lamp-light, the cymophane with its wire-like line of silver, the pistachio-coloured peridot, rose-pink and wine-yellow topazes, carbuncles of fiery scarlet with tremulous four-rayed stars, flame-red cinnamon-stones, orange and violet spinels, and amethysts with their alternate layers of ruby and sapphire.
This money is very weighty, as forty byzas make a porters burden. As in receiving, so in paying money, a public weigher of money must be employed. The merchandises exported from Pegu are gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, spinels, great quantities of benzoin, long-pepper, lead, lac, rice, wine, and some sugar.
In this island there is great store of rubies, sapphires, and spinels of the best kind, but the king will not allow the inhabitants to dig for them, lest they should tempt his enemies to make war upon him and deprive him of his dominions.
He would often spend a whole day settling and resettling in their cases the various stones that he had collected, such as the olive-green chrysoberyl that turns red by lamplight, the cymophane with its wirelike line of silver, the pistachio-coloured peridot, rose-pink and wine-yellow topazes, carbuncles of fiery scarlet with tremulous, four-rayed stars, flame-red cinnamon-stones, orange and violet spinels, and amethysts with their alternate layers of ruby and sapphire.
They were roughly polished and threaded on what I recognized at once to be hair from an elephant's tail. From certain indications I judged these stones, which might have been spinels or carbuncles, or even rubies, to be very ancient. Possibly they had once hung round the neck of some lady in old Egypt.
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