COAL 869 



and thence down the river in boats to this port. From the mines in the northern range, 

 there is water communication of an indifferent kind to Tien-tsin, but the quality of 

 their coal is much inferior to that which comes from the western mountains. 



At the meeting of the British Association at Bradford (1873) Baron von Kichthofon 

 read a paper ' On the Distribution of Coal in China.' The Baron has devoted several 

 years to the investigation of the geology, products, and resources of the interior pro- 

 yinces of China, and has traversed the whole country, with the exception of the south- 

 western portions. He stated, as the result of his researches, that China exhibits the 

 great peculiarity of containing no geological formation later than the Triassic ; all the 

 great secondary deposits, from the lias to the chalk, and all the Tertiary series being 

 absent. It, has, therefore, been dry land throughout the whole period of these later 

 formations ; and to this peculiarity are owing the stupendous results of sub-aerial 

 denudation which it furnishes ; among which are the deep narrow gorges which its 

 rivers have eroded nearly up to their sources, the rarity of cataracts and rapids, and 

 the removal of rocks overlying the great coal-beds. The coal strata belonged to 

 various geological epochs, from the Silurian upwards ; but by far the greater portion 

 belonged to the same formation as the coal of Europe and North America, viz., the 

 Carboniferous. The coal-beds were deposited around mountains of metamorphic and 

 primary rocks which then constituted the land, and have lain horizontally, with little 

 disturbance, ever since that remote epoch. The deep ravines worn by the rivers cut 

 through these coal-bearing strata, and lay them bare on the precipitous sides ; so that 

 the coal is easily accessible on the banks of the great streams. The author proceeded 

 to describe the extent of the coal in each province, beginning with Southern Manchuria 

 and terminating with Honan. In Manchuria the coal is confined to valleys in the 

 hilly parts, and is not readily accessible to foreign commerce ; it is accompanied, 

 however, by an abundance of rich iron ore, which at some future date may be worked 

 with immense advantage to the country. Coal exists further west all along the Great 

 Wall ; and there are beds 95 feet thick near Peking, in which city it is the fuel in 

 universal use ; but it is an error to suppose, as some have done, that the high hills 

 round Peking consist of coal-measures ; coal is found only in limited valleys at a 

 great elevation. The coal of Shantung, although not situated near good harbours, is 

 the most accessible of all Chinese coal from the sea. It exists also in the other maritime 

 provinces, but in districts offering much fewer facilities. The greatest of all the coal 

 districts is in the west and north-west ; at the southern foot of the great mountain 

 range (the eastern continuation of the Kuen-Lun), which here stretches across Western 

 China. In Sze-chuen coal occupies an area of 100,000 square miles. At the centre 

 of this vast basin the coal is bad and inaccessible, but round its borders it is of 

 excellent quality, and near means of communication by water, although too distant 

 from the sea to be available to foreigners. The whole surface of Northern China is 

 covered by rich yellow earth, or loess, to a depth often of 1,000 and 2,000 feet, which 

 overlies all the coal-fields. The great plain of China is bordered on the west by a 

 vast limestone wall, 2,000 to 3,000 feet high, on the top of which extends a plateau 

 of coal in a state of excellent preservation, owing to its capping of hard limestone 

 which has resisted denudation. There are here 30,000 square miles of coal-bearing 

 ground of the very best quality, in which the coal-beds lie perfectly horizontal, 30 

 feet thick, for a length of 200 miles. They extend westward into Shensi and Kansu, 

 and are reported by all travellers to continue beyond the frontier of China far into 

 Mongolia. Coal costs here, at the pit-mouth, Id. per ton, and the wages of miners 

 are 6d. per day. The Baron believed that the readiest way of getting at this vast 

 coal-field from Europe was by a railway from Hi and Kulja, in Kussian territory, to 

 the north-western corner of Kansu. 



SOUTH AFBICAN COAL-FIELD. For the following account we are indebted to the 

 Geographical Eeport on the Stormberg coal-field, made by Mr. E. J. Dunn, to the 

 Governor of Cape Town: 



' In proceeding northward from Port Elizabeth to Dassyklip on Bushman's Eiver the 

 beds crossed appear to be of secondary age (Sunday River Beds) covered by tertiary and 

 post-tertiary deposits, comprising calcareous beds, bods of red clay, and beds of clay 

 conglomerate. At Dassyklip hard sandstone and quartz rock crop out. This series 

 is passed at a distance of six miles north of Graham's Town. Between Katberg and 

 Winchelsea beds of shale occur, and extensive dykes of dolerite traverse the country : 

 most of the surrounding hills have a capping of igneous rock. These series of beds 

 continue as far as the Stormberg Mountains and from the base of that range 4,900 

 feet above the sea level. Above this, and forming the coal-measures, are the sand- 

 stones, shales, &c. of which the Stormberg Eange consists. The coal-measures are 

 composed of beds of sandstone, usually very thick, brown, grey, or white, in colour, 

 frequently showing no traces of lamination through many feet in thickness. 



' Sheets and dykes of igneous rock are of frequent occurrence over the whole area 



