250 M. Kovanko’s General View of the Environs of Pekin. 
It would appear that the conglomerate is more recent than. 
the diorite, and that it would be better to class it in the coal- 
formation, considering it as an equivalent to the old red sand- 
stone of England. 
The diorite cropping out at the base of the mountain Lao- 
Goxa-Shan to the west of Van-Pin-Koon, as well as the con- 
glomerate which overlies it, has a dip nearly vertical, This 
peculiar inclination might be attributed to some more recent 
revolution which these rocks have undergone, occasioned ap- 
parently by the dioritic porphyry which rises from beneath 
the diorite, but which, however, does not form any consider- 
able masses. 
Vertical seams of coal lie in some places between the dio- 
rite and the conglomerate, having the latter for the roof and 
the former for the floor. 
Slate-clay, which has the properties of a pai el slate, 
from the great quantity of bitumen it contains, forms a bor- 
der to the coal-on the side of the roof. 
The border on the side of the floor, although equally com- 
posed of slate-clay, contains less bitumen, and has not so much 
lustre as the former. This coal very much resembles an- 
thracite, because it is shining, of compact texture, difficult to 
ignite, does not flame in burning, or give out any smoke. 
Its substance is entirely homogeneous, and every thing re- 
specting it leads to the belief that there had been a great de- 
velopment of heat at the period of its formation. 
The beds of conglomerate occupy, in some localities, nearly 
a horizontal position. In this case the coal included between 
the conglomerate and the diorite, occurs in beds of more 
importance, as, for example, at Daor-Yao to the east of Van- 
Pin-Koon, where the seam of coal is 1} archine in thick- 
ness. 
That which is worked at Daor-Yao is brittle, and breaks 
easily into small fragments of the size of a pea. The black- 
smiths, and those who work in copper, consider it preferable 
to any other coal for their use, on account of the intense heat 
it gives out. 
The conglomerate does not form thick masses. In its up- 
