T1 
White Copppcr of Clmia. 
opinion that it is procured by the reduction of an ore, containing 
thp ingredients of which it is composed. In a letter I received 
from Dr Howison, he mentions, that Dr Dinwiddie, who ac- 
companied Lord Macartney to China, shewed him, when at 
Calcutta, several specimens of the ore from which he was told 
the white copper was procured, and which he obtained at Pekin. 
The basin in the possession of Dr Howison cost in China about 
one-fourth of its weight in silver ; and the exportation of utensils 
of this alloy is prohibited. These circumstances also render pro- 
bable the opinion, that the white copper is obtained by the reduc- 
tion of a metallic ore, for in China labour is cheap, and the metals 
composing it are said to be found in great abundance. 
Art. XI. — Account of a Map qf‘ the Tar out Shan Territory. 
By Francis Hamilton, M. D. F. R. S. Lond. & Edin. and 
F. A. S. L. & E. Communicated by the Author. 
This Map (See Plate III.) I procured at Ava from the same 
slave who gave me the General Map published in No. IV. of this 
Journal. In the account given of that map (p. 269-), I have 
mentioned some circumstances respecting this territory ; and, in 
particular, that this country, by the Mranmas called Tarout 
Shan, or Siam of the Chinese, is the Chiva of the Modern Uni- 
versal History^ (vol . vii. p. 452) . Since I wrote that account, I have 
observed, tl:^at this country is mentioned in the Edinburgh Ga- 
zetteer by the name Laktho. It is true, that Laktho is there 
said to be situate between Tunquin Laos and the North of 
China, an error so palpable that it is surprising how it could 
escape the compiler ; for if situate between Tunquin and 
Laos, it must have the south of China as its northern bounda- 
ry, as the slave represents in this map. 
No hint is given in the Edinburgh Gazetteer from what 
sources the compiler derived his information concerning Lak- 
tho ; but the state of the country, when the authors which he 
follows wrote, (probably some of the earlj^ Portugese), would 
appear to liave been much worse than was represented to me at 
Ava ; for in the Gazetteer it is stated, that the population is 
