I.] FORMOSAX COAL. 13 



enjoyment, unknown to those to whom the lands of coral and of 

 coconut are a dead letter, was broken only bv the thoughts of our 

 return, and a dim \'ision of the horrors of Keelung. 



AYe returned to the realities of life on getting aboard, for we 

 discovered that the operation of coaling, which we had hoped to 

 avoid, was only half completed. The Formosan coal, which was 

 iirst discovered in 1847, is supposed to underlie a considerable 

 portion of the island, though as yet very little has been done to 

 determine the extent of the beds. The Keelung district is the 

 only locality wdiere it is at present worked, and at no gTeat distance 

 from the town there are surface outcrops at several points. It is 

 of a bituminous nature, and the quality, though good for domestic 

 and such-like purposes is not very suitable for shipping, as it 

 1 lurns too rapidly and produces much smoke, while a still further 

 objection lies in its liability to cake the furnaces. The Chmese 

 for a long time worked the mines in the most primitive fashion, 

 and many shafts were abandoned, owing to their ha^^ng become 

 flooded. But in 1876 English miners were imported, and at the 

 present time there are several engaged in the superintendence 

 of the collieries, and the output has been steadily increasing. 

 Thus the export, which in 1871 amounted to 18,671 tons only, 

 had risen in 1881 to 46,178 tons, and it has been estimated that 

 as nmch as 500 tons j;er diem could be turned out without much 

 difficulty. 



We had contemplated going overland to Tamsui if possible, 

 sendmg the yacht round to meet us at that port, and we were 

 pleased to find that the journey was feasible. Starting at 4 a.m. 

 on the morning of the 25th June we passed through the town, and 

 ascending the hills behind it, reached a bare ridge which com- 

 manded a magnificent view of the harljour and islands below us. 

 Dawn was giving place to daybreak, and the eastern sky and sea 

 were flooded with streaks of blue and rosy light. The lake-like 

 calm of the harbour was only broken here and there where a faint 

 line of rippling on its mirror-like surface showed the track of some 



