REPORTS 



ON 



THE COAL REGIONS OE THE ISLAND OE FORMOSA 



BY REV. GEORGE JONES, CHAPLAIN U. S. N. 



REPORT I. 

 Chaplain Jones to Commodore Perry. 



United States Ship Macedonian 



Harbor of Kelung, Formosa, July 22, 1854. 



Sir : I have been engaged so constantly in explorations and in duties connected with procur- 

 ing coal, as to be unable to draw up a detailed account of this region and of events ; and will 

 ask your indulgence in this respect until our arrival at Hong-Kong, and will now only give a 

 general statement of what has been seen and done. 



We found both the mandarins and people disposed to be friendly, but exceedingly fearful 

 each one of the person immediately above him, and thus in constant alarm lest some unknown 

 danger to them might lurk in every piece of information Ave gained, or every scrutiny we made. 

 To this may be added a system of lying and deception, from the highest mandarin down, in a 

 degree that I never saw before, even in China. Nearly all that we have learned about the coal 

 in this region has, therefore, been by pushing and persevering investigations, in the face of 

 constant attempts of the inhabitants to mislead us or to blind us as to the facts. They have 

 otherwise thrown no obstructions in our way. When they found we would go, they let us go ; 

 when they saw they could not cheat us, they yielded courteously ; now and then we found a 

 native willing, for a good reward and a promise of secrecy, to help us and to act as guide ; and 

 so we have been able to ascertain, I think, all the facts with regard to the northeastern portion 

 of the island as respects its possessions in coal. 



The coal is quite abundant. I have been at eight distinct mines, and have explored twelve 

 drifts to their termination, in most cases getting specimens of the coal. The seams of coal are 

 in no instance that I have seen more than three feet in thickness, (never less than twenty-eight 

 inches;) but they are so easily worked that, probably without exception, it might with proper 

 mining be delivered at the mouth of the mines for a dollar and fifty cents per ton of 2,240 

 pounds. 



As to its suitableness for steamboat purposes, I fear that it burns too freely to make it rank 



among the best kinds of coal. But it is a perfectly pure coal ; it does not cake or run in the 



least degree ; it leaves scarcely any ashes ; and if too free in its combustion when alone, it will 



probably be found valuable for mixing with anthracite or others of the more intractable kinds. 



20 s 



