158 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



no means of judging, as the drifts reached hut a short distance, about one hundred and twenty- 

 feet; the seam had the same thickness at the end as at the beginning, and the quality of the 

 coal improved the further we advanced. Doubtless the stratum extends down below the valley, 

 and far along among the hills. It requires only eight or ten feet of tunneling to reach it, and 

 the dip is a very good one for drainage and cross-headings. A railroad of six hundred feet 

 would bring the coal to the stream in the east and west valley, which is navigable for loaded 

 flatboats in full tides ; or, if thought best to carry it by railroad to Junktown, on the harbor 

 accessible for ships' boats at all tides, a railway of two and a quarter miles, along level ground, 

 would be sufficient for that. 



These drifts are about sixty feet above the bottom of the lateral valley into which they open, 

 or about seventy-five feet above the stream just alluded to. 



Across this lateral valley, and at about the same elevation above it, (at the place marked d,) 

 is another mine, which I also visited and explored. The tunnel at this place is a few yards 

 longer than at the other, and is cut through a tolerably hard rock ; but, at the distance of about 

 twenty feet, we came to the coal seam, which also has a thickness of three feet, with a strike to 

 northwest, and a dip to southwest of 15°. The roof of this seam is harder and drier than at 

 the other, and the coal is firmer and not so easily shattered. They have penetrated here to a 

 distance of two hundred feet, but there is only one drift; and although there is no ventilation, 

 we found the air to be pure — a proof of the purity of the coal. This mine, however, is little 

 used. Neither here nor at the other did we find any person at work. 



I thought, at first, that this seam must be a continuation of the other ; but the strike and dip 

 of the two lead to a different conclusion. 



We hired a canoe at the creek below to transport our coal ; the tide was at its lowest, and 

 the boatman, after poling some distance, had to get out and push his boat over the mud. 



Mr. Breese found the coal-merchant in town still unwilling to sell. 



During the day the Hip-toy sent off some lower mandarins, with his compliments to Captain 

 Abbot, and a present of a bullock and vegetables. When questioned about the coal-mine 

 along the coast, these officers still affirmed that it was on an island one hundred miles off. 



Friday, 18th. — On my bed, sick from yesterday's overexertion; the sun here dreadfully hot. 

 In the evening, accompanied Caj)tain Abbot to some islands at the mouth of the harbor, to look 

 for a stone, such as you desired me to get for the Washington Monument. Did not find any- 

 thing that would answer, the rock here being all a very soft sandstone, unfit for architectural 



purposes. A singular effect is produced at those places by the wearing action of the waves, in 

 spots where the soft yellow sandstone is interspersed with numerous round black stones, like 

 boulders. These last have resisted the action of the sea, while the sandstone has yielded to it, 

 so as to form a vast number of yellow columns, each capped by a round black head as above. 



