96 EAMBLES 0¥ A NATUEALIST. [Oh. VI. 



upon the firemen in removing it from the bunkers and 

 feeding the furnaces, to say nothing of the waste of stow- 

 age.* 



But the worst feature of the Ke-lung coal is that it forms a 

 large quantity of slag, or clinker, which sticks firmly to the 

 furnace bars, and becomes so heated as to fuse them. Many 

 of the fire-bars in the " Serpent " were fused in this manner 

 before the load was exhausted. 



I was informed that at no great distance from the coal 

 mines of Ke-lung there are sources of petroleum, which 

 are known to some European merchants residing there, 

 who were in treaty for the ground. The Chinese, however, 

 are very jealous in guarding any land which is supposed to 

 possess mineral riches, having an idea that gold is to be 

 found there. So anxious are the present Chinese occupiers 

 upon this point, that in any title of purchase of land there is 

 an express stipulation, that should gold be discovered upon 

 that land, the precious metal should not be considered as 

 included in the purchase,, but shall revert to the original 

 possessor of the soil. 



The rocks around Ke-lung harbour did not yield a very 

 great variety of animals, although there were some of con- 

 siderable interest. The sandy beach in some places was 

 entirely formed of minute shells of a great number of species, 

 usually more or less rubbed, but containing a considerable 

 number of tolerably perfect specimens. In the crevices of 

 the coral blocks which strewed the shores, shoals of small 

 and beautiful coral-fish abounded, some of the richest azure 

 blue (Pomacentrus), others striped and banded (Glyphito- 



* There are some interesting points of resemblance between the coal field 

 of Ke lung and that of Labuan, on the coast of Borneo, of which an account 

 will be found in Chapter X. 



