32 COGGIN BROWN : MINES & MINERAL RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



sufficient for his purposes, when lie returns to France with his 

 valuable stock. 



Another important product of the country is orpiment which 

 figures in the returns every year. In 1910 over 500 tons were 

 exported but since then there has been a decrease. In 1913 only 

 269 tons were sent out. The exact location of the orpiment mines 

 had been a jealously guarded secret for a number of years but I 

 succeeded in visiting them and making an inspection. The subject 

 is treated at length in the second section of this report and all that 

 need be said here is that there is no fear of the trade in this mineral 

 becoming extinct through exhaustion of the deposits. 



Felt carpets continue to be sent into Burma through Teng- 

 yiieh in increasing numbers. In 1913 about 25,000 were exported 

 of a value of £2,884. 



Exports of lesser note include hem)) twine, rain hats of split 

 bamboo, walnuts, iron pans, brass bells, cow and buffalo horns 

 and Chinese medicines. To those desirous of studying the returns 

 of these and similar small articles the China tables are recommended 

 rather than the Burma ones, in which a stereotyped classification 

 conceals many of them in columns headed " Other Sorts ' on " All 

 other articles of merchandise. 3 ' 



Turning now to the import trade, we find that the most valu- 

 able article entering China through Teng-yiieh 



tra r dt S * ya0hS imP ° rfc is cotton - The climate of the high uplands 



of Yunnan is too cold for the successful culti- 

 vation of the cotton plant, and as the Chinese wear cotton garments 

 almost entirely, they are dependent upon the outside world for 

 the supply of materials to make them. Attempts have been made 

 to cultivate cotton in the Mekong valley and in the warmer parts 

 of the Chinese Shan States, but it is very unlikely that indigenous 

 cotton will ever interfere much with the imported article, which 

 as far as Teng-yiieh is concerned is principally Indian cotton yarn. 

 In 1913 nearly 5 millions of pounds of yarn, worth £234,000, passed 

 through the Customs House. Large quantities of manufactured 

 textile goods also go in, such as grey, white, British and Indian 

 shirtings ; American, Indian and English drills ; T Cloths and plain 

 cotton Italians. Smaller amounts of velvets and velveteens, 

 woollens, woollen and cotton mixtures, towels, chintzes, prints, 

 Spanish stripes, blankets and various forms ol cheap ornamental 

 cloths. 



