PREVIOUS AUTHORS. 43 



onwards, are to be found disconnected references to the geology 

 of the country and its mineral industry. The above list comprises 

 all those who have any claim to expert knowledge or who have 

 written specially on these subjects. Other writers whose works 

 may be consulted for geographical details and for general infor- 

 mation include Francis Gamier, Doudart de Lagree, Prince Henry 

 of Orleans, Captain Gill Ney, Elias Colquhoun, Barber, Bourne, 

 Anderson, Margary, Jack, De Valserre, Amundsen, Macartney, 

 Little, Morrison. Lytton, Francois, Hosie, Ryder, Young, Lord 

 Konaldshay, Rose, Pichon, Bonin, Vaulxerre, Grillieres and others. 



CHINESE MINING METHODS. 



Mining and metallurgy in China must not be regarded from the 



standpoint adopted when considering the same 

 (^^^LS^ ° n artfi elsewhere. Separated in their long isolation 



from the rest of the world the Chinese have had 

 to work out for themselves methods of winning and concentrating 

 ores, of smelting them and of refining the metals so produced. In 

 doing so they have developed a complicated indigenous form of 

 mining administration. Modern native methods in China are those 

 of the ancestral Chinese. At the same time as a race they are skil- 

 ful prospectors, capable miners and resourceful metallurgists but 

 they are limited by their ignorance of effective means of contending 

 with the natural difficulties which constantly beset the miner. 

 They also lack a knowledge of underground surveying and of the 

 principl es of ore deposition. 



All uncommon natural phenomena are believed by the Chinese 



to be the work of spirits, or " nats " as they 

 o^^t^™™ ° f ™«W be called in Burma. Temples built in 



their honour and for their worship adorn 

 prominent mountain peaks ; shrines are erected close to hot springs 

 or caves, or even built on the outcrops of lodes. At Bawdwin in 

 Burma, the remains of large Chinese temples are still to be seen 

 clo£e to the outcrop of the Chinaman ore body. The miners 

 themselves believe that metallic ores are the work of the spirits, 

 and each mine usually has its own spiritual patrons. Incense 

 is kept burning at the entrances to levels and shafts and the first 

 two or three sets of timber are usually pasted over with texts and 

 incantations while sacrifices are performed at the appointed intervals, 



d2 



