9 6 Mr . Saunders’s Account of the 
fulphur, and the metal obtained by the very fimple ope- 
ration of fufion alone. Mod: lead contains a portion of 
filver, and fome in the proportion to make it an object to 
work the lead ore for the fake of the filver. Cinnabar, 
containing a large proportion of quickfilver, is found 
in Thibet, and might be advantageoufly employed for the 
purpofe of extrading this metal. The procefs is fimple, by 
diftillation ; but to carry it on in the great would require 
more fuel than the country can well fupply. I have feen ores 
and loofe ftones containing copper, and have not a doubt of 
its being to be found in great abundance in the country. Iron 
is more frequently to be met with in Boutan than Thibet; 
and, was it more common, the difficulty of procuring proper 
fuel for fmelting the lefs valuable ores, muft prove an infu- 
perable objedion to the working them. The dung of animals 
is the only fubflitute they have for fire-wood, and with that 
alone they will never be able to excite a degree of heat fuffi- 
ciently intenfe for fuch purpofes. Thus fituated, the mo ft 
valuable difeovery for them would be that of a coal mine* 
In fome parts of China bordering on Thibet, coal is found 
and ufed as fuel. 
Tincal, the nature and produdion of which we have only 
hitherto been able to guefs at, is now well known, and Thi- 
bet, from whence we are fupplied, contains it in inexhauftible 
quantities. It is a foffil brought to market in the ftate it is 
dug out of the lake, and afterwards refined into Borax by 
ourfelves. Rock fait is likewife found in great abundance in 
Thibet. 
The lake, from whence tincal and rock fait are colleded, is 
about fifteen days journey from Tiffoolumboo, and to the 
northward of it. It is encompaffed on all fides by rocky hills, 
without 
