72 COGGIN BROWN : MINES & MINERAIi RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



of seams or workings. The mines which Leclere described were 

 abandoned but active exploitation was being carried on at Mo-so-ho 

 four miles further east. On both banks of the Yangtze below Ma- 

 ch'ang for several miles there was a well-marked coal horizon. 

 Most of the northern workings seemed to be abandoned, but mining 

 was being prosecuted on the south bank of the river. The coal 

 from this neighbourhood is the best I ever saw in Yunnan and it 

 yields a coke of very good appearance. 



Coal in the Hui-li Chou District. 



Hui-li Chou (lat. 2G° 39': long. 102° 15') is in the province of 

 Ssu-ch'uan, but it is advisable to mention the occurrence of coal 

 in the district. It is worked at several places between the city 

 and the Yunnan frontier. 



Between the villages of Ta-chiao and Chich-tien-po, a few miles 

 south of Hui-li Chou, soft yellowish sandstones, marls and shales 

 interbedded with coarse grits, contain thin coal-seams. 



In the vicinity of Ho-kou, 30 miles south-south-west of Hui-li 

 Chou, I saw heaps of powdery coal outside some of the houses and 

 was informed that it came from the hills to the west. 



Near Lu-shui-ho, 10 miles south of Ho-kou, a powdery coal is 

 mixed with clay and formed into cakes for burning in stoves. 



These coals are probably of Mesozoic age, but they axe crushed 

 and of very poor quality. 



Leclere mentions the existence of good coal to the south of 

 Hui-li Chou, and it is also known to occur between the same city 

 and Tung-ch'uan Fu (lat. 20° 24' : long. 103° 10'). The coals 

 reported from various localities between Tung-ch'uan Fu and the 

 Yangtze are perhaps of Carboniferous age. Regarding them Joubert 

 has written (G., Vol. II, p. 165) : — 



" Between Tung-ch'uan and Sui Fu occurrences of coal and 

 anthracite are very abundant, every day we passed them on our 

 ourney. Mines are so numerous that we only cite the principal 

 ones : Chao-tong, Chin-yuan, Ma-tsao-ku, Pu-erh-tou, Ta-kuam etc. 

 The Ke-lu mine, on the bank of the Lao-ya-tan river, tliree li below 

 Teai-hiang-kuan. furnishes a coal of excellent quality. These coals 

 are generally dry. The coal from the red sandstones and shales 

 is of superior quality to that found near the Devonian limestone ; 

 with the former coke can be made ; the latter crumbles to powder 



