232 



A^A TURE 



Jan. 7, 1886 



China, and Siam, are all granitic, with a few Pateozoic 

 slates and schists. To the eastward of the Malay penin- 

 sula a few limestone islands are seen, and they are similar 

 in character to the calcareous rocks of the mainland. 



It is perhaps needless to draw attention to the e.xtra- 

 ordinary number of these outliers. They do not show 

 well on a map, as most of them are so very small, but 

 those who travel in these regions can well understand 

 why the early Arabian voyagers called this " the sea of the 

 twelve thousand islands." Granite is the prevailing rock, 

 but I have little doubt that modern trap-rocks form some 

 of the islands. But there is no active volcano amongst 

 them. The nearest point for such phenomena is said to 

 be Formosa, but I think this doubtful. Yet, proceeding 

 north from this large island, along the chain which con- 

 nects it in an almost unbroken series through the Meiaco 

 group, Liu Kiu and Linschoten Islands, to Japan, we find 

 two active volcanoes (Naka Sima and Sawa Sima, the 

 latter 3400 feet high), which seem to point to a line of 

 disturbance, of which Formosa is a portion. 



When we come to Borneo we find ths first extensive 

 development of stratified rocks. Though outliers of 

 granite are met occasionally, it is evident that there is a 

 great change in the geology of the coast. I shall confine 

 my observations to what I saw. From Brunei northwards 

 we meet with carbonaceous rocks, brown and yellow- 

 sandstones and shales with intercalated grits and con- 

 glomerates. The dip varies : sometimes slight, or nearly 

 horizontal, showing but trifling disturbance in this part of 

 the world. It seemed to me as if these carbonaceous 

 rocks were of different ages. Those which line the Brunei 

 River are much older-looking than those of Labuan. At 

 Gaya, and again at Kudat, at the north extremity of 

 Borneo, I saw brownish-yellow sandstones with shales 

 and small seams of coal. The appearance of these beds 

 reminded me much of the Mesozoic carbonaceous I'ocks 

 of Queensland and New South Wales. At Sandakan or 

 Elopura (North-East Borneo) the present capital of the 

 North Borneo Settlement, there are high cliffs of red and 

 yellow sandstone, which look older than anything I saw 

 on the north or north-eastern coast. Over 600 feet are 

 exposed in one cliff, with no signs of any carboniferous 

 strata. 



While at Sandakan I met the Governor's private secre- 

 tary (Mr. D. D. Daly), who had just returned from a 

 journey of exploration on the Kinebetungen River. He 

 brought down many samples of good coal, besides tin 

 and gold. Amongst the collection were some limestones 

 very like the rocks I had seen in the Malay peninsula. 

 These also form detached mountains. There are fine 

 caves, I am informed, over 600 feet high, and in them are 

 found some of the best kinds of edible birds' nests. Amid 

 the fragments of limestone I recognised a Fenestella and 

 a Stenopora. If this rock is of the sime formation as 

 the limestone outliers of the whole of Malaysia, then its 

 age may be for the present considered as Palasozoic, and 

 probably between Devonian and Carboniferous. 



After visiting some islands of the Sooloo Archipelago 

 (all volcanic) I went to the Philippines. At Luzon, Min- 

 doro, and some of the larger members of the group, the 

 rocks are principally volcanic. But it would be an error 

 to regard them as exclusively so. There are some areas 

 of stratified rocks with coral and other marine fossils, 

 which are of probably Miocene and Pliocene age. In 

 Mindanao there is gold. I obtained a few fossils from the 

 Miocene beds of the latter island. They were all Fora- 

 minifera in a loose friable limestone, including Orbulina 

 univcrsa, D'Orb., Globigerina hiloba, triloba, and biil- 

 toides, D'Orb., Oistclhiria italica, D'Orb., Pn/vuiulina 

 Haueri, D'Orb., Rotlaia simplex, D'Orb., and some 

 others belonging to about twenty different genera. The 

 same species are found in Luzon, and the beds are con- 

 sidered Eocene by Kusrer (see Bohtin dc la Carta Geol. 

 del. Espaua, vol. vii ). 



One of the most interesting portions of the Philippines 

 is the Calamianes group, a small cluster of islands a short 

 distance south and west of Mindoro. Here we find re- 

 peated the main geological features of the Malayan 

 peninsula, with the addition of recent volcanic emana- 

 tions. To the east of Busuanga (the largest of the group) 

 is the Island of Coron, which presents to the sea a mag- 

 nificent rampart of limestone cliffs and pinnacles from 

 600 to 1500 feet high. The aspect is grandly picturesque, 

 but the character of the formation is unmistakably similar 

 to the isolated limestone mountains in the Malayan 

 Peninsula. The rocks are bluish-gray, with apparently a 

 perpendicular stratification, with patches of brilliant 

 colours, including red, yellow, pink, dark and light green, 

 &c. The cliffs descend precipitously into about forty 

 fathoms of water, but at the tidal line they are undermined 

 by the action of the waves in a very cleanly-cut line. 

 Ciccasionally one may see the natives (Visayas) lowering 

 each other over these dizzy heights to gather the edible 

 birds' nests which here also abound, and form the only 

 valuable export from the islands. The outline of the 

 island is magnificently rugged and irregular, weathered 

 into needles and pinnacles of the most fantastic shape, in 

 the recesses of which there is much pale green grass and 

 patches of darker jungle. Caves are of course numerous. 

 It was the birds'-nesting harvest at the time of my visit 

 in March last. 



The Island of Malagou, to the westward is similar to 

 Culion, but it possesses the additional feature of a second 

 line excavated by the waves about ten feet above the 

 actual level. This seems to be the result of upheaval. 

 Besides Malagou there are many small limestone islets, 

 or mere pinnacles of grotesque shape. The seas are thus 

 rendered peculiarly dangerous. The only port worthy ot 

 the name is Port Culion, with a town which is a mere 

 cluster of Malay huts of bamboo and palm-leaves. The 

 rocks are Pakuozoic schists and quartzites. Thus we 

 have a repetition of the formations as they occur in the 

 Malayan Peninsula. 



At Palawan and Mindanao the same formations are 

 stated to occur. Of Mindanao there can be no doubt, 

 but of Palawan little is known, and I have only seen the 

 coast at a distance. 



There is a continuance of the same geological features 

 in South China, at least from those portions of the coast 

 which I have seen between Macao and Swatow. _ At 

 Hong Kong we have granite, ancient trap-rocks, felsites, 

 and detached outliers of limestone exactly like the Pateo- 

 zoic deposits all through the Eastern .Archipelago. From 

 the Canton River the same rocks have been seen by me 

 together with well-marked Palaeozoic fossils of carboni- 

 ferous type {Spiri/er especially). 



I have never succeeded in getting away from the alluvial 

 deposits of the great rivers of Cochin China. Just now 

 the time could not be more unfavourable for any kind of 

 exploration, but I believe the French are not neglecting 

 the geology of the country. 



Coal is extensively distributed in all the northern por- 

 tions of the countries I have been describing. It is found 

 in South China abundantly, Formosa, Tonquin, the 

 Philippines, Japan, and Borneo, and I believe I have seen 

 indications of a carbonaceous deposit in the Malay 

 Peninsula. 



Of the coals in South China little more is known than 

 that they are abundant and of good quality. From the 

 fossils I have seen they are probably of Palasozoic age. 

 The Formosa coals are so bad that they have ceased to 

 be worked or at least offered in the Hong Kong market. 

 I know nothing of their age nor of the quality and age of 

 the coals of Tonquin. The coals of the Philippines 

 belong most probably to the Borneo older series. They 

 I are found on the south of Luzon and south of Zebu sin;e 

 1S27. More recently they have been found in the 

 province of Albay (south-east of Manilla) and in Panay. 



