CHINA AND JAPAN. 47 



at the time of his visit, liad been in a state of chronic disorder since 1848 ; 

 indeed, the number of unburied corpses made the country extremely un- 

 liealthful. Realgar and orpiment are exported from Kwei-Chau, and many 

 other metallic ores are said to exist there. The neighboring province of 

 Yuii-Nan is the auriferous district of China. According to d'Achiardi, fine 

 natural crystals of cinnabar have reached Europe from Yun-Nan. 



Thibet. — Thibet lies close to Yun-Nan and is often mentioned as a locality 

 in which cinnabar occurs. I have not met with a citation of authority for 

 this statement and do not know the exact locality. 



corea. — Mr. Pumpelly (loc. cit.) ascertained from Chinese records that 

 Corea contained cinnabar deposits. Mr. Ernest Oppert^ states that the 

 province of Hoang-Hai contains deposits of quicksilver, tin, and lead. The 

 geology of Corea has very recently been investigated by Dr. C. Gottsche.^ 

 He found the province of Hwang-Haido (equivalent to Hoang-Hai) princi- 

 pall}^ occupied by crystalline schists, through which older and younger 

 eruptive rocks have burst. He notes the presence of hot springs in this 

 province. Other portions of Corea, under similar geological conditions, are 

 auriferous. 



Japan. — At Sliizu, iu the neighborhood of Sendai, province of Rikuzen, 

 very thin veins of cinnabar occur in a whitish volcanic rock.^ It would be 

 interesting to know whether this is a rhyolite or a solfatarically decomposed 

 eruptive rock of a more basic type. A quicksilver mine has been worked 

 near Ainoura, on the peninsula of Hirado, in Matsura Kori of Nagasaki 

 Ken. The former superintendent, ^Ir. Gower, reports that the exploitation 

 was stopped in consequence of a discouraging accident to the reducing 

 plant. The ore consists in part of impregnations in sandstone and in part 

 fills small fissures and seams. The country rock belongs to the Coal 

 Measures.* 



British India. — It is Said that quicksilver mines formerly existed in Cey- 

 lon, near Colombo, and that the Dutch exported quicksilver from them to 

 Europe.* In the Andaman Islands, also, it is said, quicksilver used to 



' Voyages to Corea, 1880, p. 171. 



'^Sitzungsbeiichte der Berliner Akademie, vol. 36, 1886. 



■^ J. G. H. Godfrey: Quart. .Jour. Geol. Soc. Loudon, vol. 34, 1878, p. 55,5. 



<H. S. Muuroe: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 5, 1876-'77, p. 290. 



'' J. F. Dickson : Encyc, Biit., 9th edition, article Ceylon, 



