CHINA, MONGOLIA, AND JAPAN. 15 



Opening slightly, it burns without caking and without falling to pieces, and leaving 

 a very little gray ash. 



I found by dry assay, using the exceedingly imperfect means at my command 

 in Peking, the following residts :^ — 



Sp.gr 1-31 



Parts of lead reduced from oxide by one part of coal . . 31.50 



Corresponding value in units of boat ..... 7245.00'' 



Percentage of ash ........ 4.00 



There are several seams parallel to this one both above and below it, one of 

 which is six or seven feet thick, and only thirty feet above it. The dip of the beds 

 is about 45°. 



So defective is the Chinese system of mining, that the proprietor of this mine 

 could not undertake to furnish from it more than eight hundred and fifty tons 

 yearly. The selling price, at the mouth of the mine, is $2 00 per ton of 2,000 

 pounds. 



In the Fushun mine, apparently on the same seam, the coal reaches a thicloiess 

 of thirty-five feet, though it averages much less. 



Hsingshun Mine. — This is on one of a series of seams, that crop out in a valley 

 about five li N. W. of Chaitang, and which I take to be younger than that of the 

 Futau. The horizon of these seams is well characterized, in the Chaitang district, 

 by the occurrence among them of beds of a peculiar quartzose conglomerate breccia, 

 called by the natives horsetooth stone (from the appearance of pieces of chert it 

 contains). This rock forms the floor of the seam in which lies the Hsingshun mine, 

 while the roof is sandstone, and between these the seam dips at first 50°, changing 

 gradually to 90°. "Within a limited space the thickness of the coal varies from 

 three to eight feet. 



The coal is without lustre, and has an irregular flaky structure. It ignites 

 quickly, burning with a long flame, cakes readily and leaves a red ash. 



Sp.gr 1-28 



Parts of lead reduced by one part of coal .... 31.40 



Units of beat 1222.00 



Percentage of ash ........ 3.00 



The miners burn it in small heaps to a very light and porous coke. 



Tatsau Mine. — About five miles S. W. of Chaitang is the Tatsau, or " great seam" 

 of anthracite. It consists of two seams separated by about eight feet of sandstone, 

 the upper one being from twenty-three to thirty-five feet thick, and the lower from 

 seven to eighteen feet. The roof is formed by the same peculiar conglomerate 

 breccia that characterizes the Hsingshun beds, the floor being sandstone, and dipping 

 about 45° to N. W. 



About six-tenths of the produce is anthracite of a superior quality, coming out in 



* See Appendix No. 2. 



" Without the correction of + 



