GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. — TENURE OF LANDS, 31i 



Exploring parties had been early dispatclied to make further investigations of the condition 

 and resources of the island. These investigations were directed chiefly to the examination of 

 the geological formation, the nature of the soil, and the mineralogical and agricultural resources 

 of Lew Chew. The officers selected for the various duties were Chaplain Jones and several of 

 the surgeons, whose studies and tastes were supposed to fit them especially for making those 

 observations, which had more or less a scientific bearing. 



The chaplain concentrated his investigations upon the resources of the island in regard to 

 coal, and the result seemed to prove the interesting and important fact of the existence, at Shah 

 bay, of that combustible, a supply of which might be readily obtained by proper mining. The 

 natives do not seem conscious of the presence of this valuable mineral in their island ; they 

 remain, probably, totally unacquainted with its uses. 



In the geological features of the island of Lew Chew, the first peculiarity that strikes the eye 

 are the great masses of coral rock abounding everywhere, even on the tops of the highest 

 mountains, four or five hundred feet above the level of the sea. The steep promontories 

 along the coast are generally comjjosed of gneiss, while in the interior some of the loftier 

 eminences show strata of slate. The base of the island is of the two combined, upon which the 

 coral zoophite has built its structures, which by some internal convulsion have been upheaved to 

 their present height. The soil on the surface is composed of the detritus of coral and decomposed 

 vegetable and animal remains. As the streams are free of lime, it is conjectured that their 

 springs take their origin from, and their currents flow through, those strata which are below the 

 coral formation. 



■ The soil varies in accordance with the face of the country, being rich and fertile in the valleys 

 and plains, and comparatively poor upon the mountain tops and their acclivities. The climate 

 is generally favorable to culture, though droughts are said occasionally to occur, and the island 

 must suffer from the typhoons, being in the direct range of their ordinary occurrence. The 

 climate is undoubtedly highly favorable also to health, as may be inferred, not only from the 

 condition of the inhabitants but the topographical characteristics of the island. The entire 

 absence of marshes, together with the pure air constantly wafted over the land in the breezes 

 from the surrounding sea, must exempt it from all miasmatic disease. Although situated near 

 the tropics, the heat is so tempered by the sea winds and the elevation of the land, that it is 

 never excessive. 



All the land in Lew Chew is held by government and rented to large tenants, who, in their 

 turn, sub-let it to smaller ones, who are the direct cultivators of the soil. The system of 

 cultivation is rude and primitive, being performed by the hands of men and women, with 

 the occasional aid, however, of the horse and bull. A rude kind of plough, chiefly made of 

 wood but tipped with an iron point, and of the old Eoman model, is used. They have harrows, 

 hoes, sickles, and axes, but all of simple and awkward construction. They have but small 

 supplies of iron and evidently employ it with a very strict regard to economy. 



A,s rice is one of the chief products of Lew Chew and requires abundant supplies of water, a 

 very extensive system of irrigation is carried on. The ground is arranged in a series of terraces 

 which succeed each other, from the acclivities of the hills down to the bottoms of the valleys, 

 and the water of the neighboring streams is directed into them from the sides by means of 

 ditches and conduits. There are no dams, properly so called, but the irrigation is so graduated 

 by means of the terrace-like arrangement of the land that the supply of water is gradual, and 



