4 A. 8. Bickmore—Journey through China. 
a conical hill of limestone, whose whole interior has been washed — 
away, forming a much grander cave than the one we had pre- 
viously visited in one of the “‘Seven Stars.” 
the mountains in these regions are composed of fine, 
hard siliceous grits, which in some places are compact and flinty, 
becoming true quartzite or quartz rock, and in others are soft 
as sandstone; and besides these, of slates that are interstratified — 
with these grits and are sometimes soft clay slates, and at 
others as hard as shales. Half a mile below the village of 
‘Kok-hau, on the left bank of the Sikiang, just before I reached 
the boundary of the province of Kwangsi, I found these grits 
and slates resting immediately on granite. Two miles below 
Kok-hau rises “ Ornamental Monumental” Rock. It belongs 
to the lower part of this series of grits and slates, but is com- 
posed of a coarse conglomerate, and perhaps represents the 
conglomerates that are found neargranite, in other parts of the 
empire. * sa Yar : 
Crossing the river from Cock’s Comb Rock, we came to& 
small village, and anchored for the night astern of a small 
gunboat. On consulting my chart I found these words writ- 
ten around the next bend, about half a mile up the stream,— 
“a favorite resort for robbers!’ But 1 believed we must be 
safe with a gunboat so near, and taking care that my revolver 
was in prime order, and that a heavy sword was within my 
and groaning of some women on the bank, who were lamenting 
the decease of a friend 
° 
robbers had that time mistaken the; This is but @ 
fair example of ‘the noises and alarms thet « es 
