MEMOIRS 



OF 



THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA 



The Mines 'and Mineral Resources of Yunnan, 

 with short accounts of its agricultural 

 products and trade. by j. coggin brown, 

 O.B.E., M.I.M.E., Assistant Superintendent, Geological 

 Survey of India. 



PART 1. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Yunnan is the most south-westerly of the provinces of China. 

 It has an area of about 150,000 square miles and a population of 

 approximately 11 millions, of whom roughly one-third are Chinese. 

 " In the plains the population is mainly Chinese, but not entirely 

 so, for in the cold plateaus of the north-west are found Tibetans, 

 while many of the low-lying plains of the south are inhabited by 

 Shans. Moreover in the centre of the province some of the plains 

 are peopled by Ming-chias, while an admixture of Lolos is occasion- 

 ally found. In the hills things are different. Here, as in the plains, 

 one also finds the Chinese, and there is no large tract of country 

 without Chinese villages in it. But living among them and forming 

 the bulk of the hill population are numerous other tribes, each 

 with its own language and its own customs. In the north-west 

 corner are Tibetans, and the Semi-Tibetan Mo-so tribe. On the 

 Burmese border are Kachins and Palaungs ; also in the west of 

 the province, but extending further into the interior, are the Li-sos ; 

 everywhere throughout Yunnan are the Lo-los, a fine race and 

 more numerous than any other hill tribe. Equally widely distri- 



