868 COAL 



under the superintendence of the chief engineer, yielded 17'27 per cent, of ash, 1-5 

 per cent, of clinker, an average volume of smoke, and a strong durable flame. The 

 probable cost of the coal delivered would be four dollars the ton on the spot ; freight 

 to Hakodate would bo three dollars the ton, and to Yokohama or Nagasaki six dollars 

 the ton. 



Coal-fidd near the Port of Hiogo. Sir Harry S. Parkes communicates (1867) to 

 the Foreign Office particulars of ' another coal-field in the immediate vicinity of the 

 port of Hiogo,' from Mr. Frederick W. Button, Chief Engineer of H.M.S. ' Serpent.' 



The coal is of tertiary formation, and it crops out in a number of places on the 

 sides of a low range of hills, about six miles to the westward of Hiogo. These beds 

 have been occasionally worked by the natives. In February 1867, 30 men were em- 

 ployed, and up to May they had obtained more than 170 tons of coal. Mr. Sutton 

 says, ' the best coal brought out in my presence was quite equal to TaJcasima (Nagasaki) 

 coal. It is not of exactly the same description, but more of an anthracite kind.' 



There is no evidence of the value of this coal, and evidently the statement of the 

 coal being of the tertiary age and of ' anthracite kind ' wants consistency. 



At a meeting of the Geological Society of London, April 14, 1869, a paper was read 

 ' On the Coal-mines at Kaianoma, in the island of Yezo,' by F. 0. Adams, Esq., Hon. 

 Secretary of Legation in Japan : communicated by the Secretary of State for Foreign 

 Affairs. 



The writer states that the works at Kaianoma have made considerable progress 

 since they were reported upon by Mr. Mitford last year. There are four seams of 

 coal, each about seven feet thick, from 50 to 100 feet apart. A tunnel has been 

 driven through one of the seams for a distance of between 150 and 250 feet, and at 

 an elevation of 430 feet above the sea. From this the coal obtained is carried down 

 to the shore on the backs of men, mules, and ponies. The writer adds, that there is 

 abundance of coal ' of the cannel description." 



At the end of 1870, according to the 'Nagasaki Gazette,' the coal from Takasima, 

 which has long been known to be a good coal, was ordered to be used by all steamers 

 in the Japanese waters. The export of coal from Nagasaki has not increased of late, 

 but this is referable to the want of ships to take it away. 1,174 tons have been 

 shipped for, and several vessels were engaged in taking coal to China. 



The Netherlands Trading Company are using the utmost energy in their efforts to 

 develope this coal. These mines are managed by an English mining engineer, 

 Mr. Frederick Potter. A large quantity of machinery, tools, &c. have been sent out 

 from England, and a large steamer has been purchased for the entire use of the 

 collieries. 



The following information has recently (1874) been received from the colliery of 

 Takasima : ' Our coal fossils here are oolitic. We have none of the coal-measure 

 flora, but great stumps of trees, which the Japanese call " matzii" the name for Scotch 

 fir, and which are no doubt coniferous woods. These hard stumps of trees give us 

 great trouble in our working, it being impossible to cut through them with the pick. 

 Only the islands are coal-measures, the main land being clay-slate with syenite ridges ; 

 and above the clay-slate, greenstone of the same age probably as the slate. We are 

 now (December 1873) getting 350 tons a day, but are very short of men.' 



BOBNEO. In the province of Labuan, on the north-west coast, there is abundance of 

 coal of good quality. The seam is generally 9 feet in thickness. The coal found here 

 burns fast, and emits a bright flame ; it soon acquires a red heat, and continues in 

 that state until it smoulders into a white ash, like that of wood ; there is not much 

 smoke from it. For several years past the coal -mines of Moara have ceased to be 

 worked. 



CHINA. There appears to be much good coal in China. It is procured from a 

 mine on the river Yang-tse-kiang, about 400 miles from its mouth ; of the other coal- 

 producing districts we know little. 



Consul Braune in his report to Sir F. Bruce, says, writing from Tamsuy, January 

 21, 1864 : 'It is to the coal-mines of Kelung that we must look to the future pros- 

 perity of this place as a port of trade ; a dep6t has been already established there by 

 a large firm to supply their own steamer, running on the coast.' 



In 1863 there were exported from the port of Tamsuy, in British vessels, 10,801 

 piculs of 133 Ibs. avoirdupois ; in foreign vessels, 1,259,152 cotties of Ij lb. avoir- 

 dupois ; also from the port of Tien-tsin, 180 tons, value 1,800 taels, of 6s. tyd. each. 



Mr. Consul Mongan's report for 1 864 on the trade of Tien-tsin, says : ' I allude 

 to coal, extensive mines of which exist in the mountains to the north and west of 

 Peking. It costs about 16s. per ton at the pit's mouth, and more than double this 

 amount per ton is paid for transport to the coast ; but the mines are worked in the 

 rudest way, and the little coal which finds its way from the western range of Tien- 

 tsin is conveyed on mules and camels from the mountains to Tang-chow ou the Peiho, 



