WESTERN CHINA 197 



Bawang there is much gold, but it is jealously guarded from 

 Chinese hands. This small State comprises a narrow strip of 

 country on both sides of the upper reaches of the Tung River, 

 thereabouts known as the Tachin Ho (Great Gold River). 

 From time immemorial this and the surrounding regions have 

 been famous for their precious metals. 



The aggregate of gold won from these various places 

 must be very great. Practically all has been obtained by 

 placer or pocket mining, and the metalliferous lodes appear 

 never to have been found in situ. Possibly these exist in regions 

 more remote and nearer the sources of the Tachin, Yalung, 

 and Dre Rivers. Certain it is that the nearer the head-waters 

 are approached the richer in gold become the sands and shingle- 

 beds of these great streams. The gold is melted and made 

 into small bars weighing 10 or 12 Chinese ounces. A surplus 

 is exported down river either in the form of bars or converted 

 into gold-leaf. The trade in gold is in the hands of Shensi 

 men, as is also the trade in silver. These Shensi men are 

 also largely concerned in the cash shops, native banks, and 

 banking. 



Silver-ores occur throughout the Chino-Thibetan border- 

 land from Sungpan in the north to the borders of Yunnan in 

 the south, but though mines are, or have been, worked in 

 many places the region is really poor in silver. The provincial 

 mint at Chengtu is mainly supplied by imports from down river. 

 A certain amount of silver also enters the province from 

 Kweichou. 



Copper-ores are much more abundant than silver, and occur 

 from Peng Hsien southward to Yunnan. In the south-west 

 corner of the province, especially in the department of Huili 

 Chou, copper mining and smelting are considerable industries. 

 The mines are worked by private companies holding licences 

 which compel them to sell the metal at a fixed price to persons 

 duly authorized by the Government. Both the Provincial 

 and Imperial Governments appear to have a controlling hand 

 in this industry, and the companies frequently complain that 

 they cannot work the mines with anything like commensurate 

 profit. Enormous quantities of copper are used in Szcchuan 

 for a variety of purposes apart from that of minting cash 



