WESTERN CHINA 199 



is made into bracelets, rings, and other ornaments, and sold 

 at a very low price. 



Asbestos in small quantities is found in the prefecture of 

 Kuichou, and also in the Chiench'ang Valley, but the supply 

 is apparently insignificant. Tin has not yet been discovered 

 in Szechuan, and I never heard of any precious stones being 

 found there either. However, the country bounding the 

 Liu-sha River from a little south of Chingchi Hsien to Fulin 

 certainly looks as if it might contain the latter. 



From the foregoing brief and scrappy resume it will be 

 evident to those interested that before any accurate and 

 comprehensive account of the mineral and metalliferous 

 wealth of this region can be written a mineralogical survey 

 must be undertaken by competent persons. It may be that 

 the wild mountain fastnesses of the west contain mineral 

 wealth of great value, yet the probability is to the contrary. 

 That the south-western corner of the province is rich in metalli- 

 ferous lodes is as far as our present knowledge goes. All the 

 more accessible and populous parts of Szechuan are well supplied 

 with coal, iron, and lime of good quality. The Red Basin 

 is extraordinarily rich in brine deposits, and salt, which is a 

 Government monopoly, is the only mineral at present exported 

 from Szechuan. 



The most fascinating subject connected with the mineral 

 deposits of Szechuan is that of the famous " Fire- wells " of 

 Tzu-liu-ching, the gas from which is employed locally in salt 

 evaporation. There is good reason to believe that this gas 

 emanates from petroleum beds which have not as yet been 

 reached. The late Baron Richthofen estimated the coal- 

 bearing ground in Szechuan to exceed in size the total area 

 of every other province of China, though, at the same time, he 

 pointed out that the bulk was too deeply buried to be ever 

 of practical value. Possibly the untapped mineral-oil deposits 

 of Tzu-liu-ching wUl some day become available and exceed in 

 value that of all other mineral deposits found in the vast 

 province of Szechuan. 



