18G7.] COLLIXGWOOD — EASTERN COAL-FIELDS. 99 



with those seen at the back of the harbour, which dip on an average 

 about 16° or 17° to the south-east. Indeed the whole country round 

 Kelung is of red sandstone ; and the weather-worn outcrops produce 

 the undulating country, in the depressions of which the coal 

 appears to have been deposited. By degrees we entered a bhnd 

 valley, or cul-de-sac ; and descending from the path into a ditch I 

 stood at the entrance of the workings, which consisted of two small 

 caverns at right angles to one another, hewn directly into the coal- 

 seam, which at its outcrop was 2| feet thick. It rested upon a thin 

 bed of stiff whitish clay, and was covered by a bank 40 or 50 feet 

 high, composed of rubbly clay. The working was nearly level, and 

 the roof so low that one could only get along by bending nearly 

 double. 



These mines appear to be worked in a very primitive manner. Wo 

 shafts are sunk, nor is any machinery employed; but the coolies 

 pick the coal, and convey it out of the working in small baskets. 

 It is placed in boats, and conveyed to the harbour, where it is de- 

 posited in the coal-stores. These stores have no covering, nor any 

 protection from the weather, and the coal is apt to deteriorate if 

 kept there long. The mines are exclusively worked by the Chinese 

 authorities, and by Chinese coolies. 



The position of this coal-bed proves that it is of comparatively 

 recent formation. It lies apparently over the sandstone. I may 

 also mention that about the middle of this portion of the island, near 

 the town of Sikkow, I observed a thin seam of indifferent coal, crop- 

 ping out in the river's bank, over which was a bed of stiff clay, 

 abounding in large oyster-sheUs, seven or eight inches long, of a 

 species (probably the recent Ostrea Canadensis) which I have seen 

 brought to Canton in vast numbers for the purposes of lime-making. 

 The Kelung coal is of very light weight, it burns very rapidlj^, 

 and it gives out a very great heat, so much so that it readily sets 

 the funnel on fire. It is extremely dirty ; and the combustion is so 

 imperfect that a vast number of blacks, of a soft and soiling charac- 

 ter, fall aU over the ship. The flues also rapidly get very foul, re- 

 quiring frequent attention and cleansing. It leaves no less than 50 

 per cent, of ash ; so that although it appears so cheap, it is not really 

 more so than other coal, which has more substance and less waste. 

 There are some interesting points of resemblance between the 

 coal-field at Kelung and that which is being worked by English 

 enterprise, and in a much more business-like manner, at the British 

 island of Labuan, off the west coast of Borneo, which I have since 

 visited. The Labuan coal-field is situated in a dense jungle, from 

 which it crops out so conspicuously, not far from the sea, that 

 there is no wonder that it attracted attention. The coal- district is 

 composed for the most part of a soft yellow sandstone, which dips 

 33° north by east; and the coal exists in several seams, of wMch the 

 lowest is 11 feet 4 inches thick, though the quality of this seam is 

 by no means the best. The coal-roof is a stiff blue clay (not fire- 

 clay) ; and alternating with the seams are beds of shale. The 

 highest (No. 1) seam is 4 feet 6 inches in thickness ; No. 2 is 2 feet 



VOL. XXIV. PART I. I 



