Note 1 — Chapter I

: 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.