20 ANNIVEESAET ADBBESS. 



Witness the United States, and British possessions in North 

 America ; witness India, ■witness Tasmania, New Zealand, New 

 South "Wales, and Queensland, iii which Colonies, if anywhere in 

 Australia, coal is abundantly distributed in proportion to their 

 extent, though not everywhere of the same geological epoch. 



All the other Colonies come to us for some of their supplies, 

 and even India, that does not want them, for she has enough for, 

 herself and us too ; and China and Japan, where coal abounds 

 come also. The coal fields in China have an area of, at least, 

 400,000 square miles. 



(2.) This seems only a natural process, for, on looking over the 

 tables of a very old friend of my younger days (Mr. E. C. Taylor, 

 who emigrated to, and died in the United States in 1850, having 

 made himself a great name in that country), I find it stated 

 (Statistics of Coal, p. 240) that from 1801 to 1853, the United 

 States imported uo less than 2,995,047 tons of British, Colonial, 

 and other foreign coal, which gives an average of 57.597 annual 

 importations of tons at 2,240 lbs. to the ton ; and of this, from 

 British Parliamentary returns, from 1831 to 1846, the imports 

 from Great Britain amounted to 687,930 tons. The British 

 exportation is on the increase. 



As illustrating the above remarks, let us see first, what is the 

 calculated extent of the American and Indian coal-fields. I take 

 the last estimates by Professor Hitchcock, in his Eeturns to the 

 United States Government. He says there are eight distinct 

 areas : — 



1. New England basin : area, 750 square miles ; maximum 

 thickness of coal seams, 23 feet. 



2. Pennsylvania: 434 square miles; average thickness of from 

 twenty to twenty-five seams, 70 feet. 



3. Apalachian basin : 63,475 square miles, all of Ijituminous 

 coal. 



4. Michigan basin : 6,700 square miles ; thickness of seams 

 up to 11 feet. 



5. Illinois basin: 51,700 square miles; ten to thirteen 

 seams, 31 to 35 feet aggregate tliickness. 



