QUATERNARY. 201 
natives are seen on the streets. The deep grooves made by the ropes in 
the stone curbing testify to their constant and long-established use. They 
are shallow, are supplied by percolation in the uppermost strata, including 
the surface waters of the streets and houses, and are liable to go dry. 
On the site of the American legation two wells have been sunk in 
the course of operations for building. The first proved inadequate. The 
second, 100 yards from the first, was sunk 32 feet, at which level water 
poured in in such amount that the work had to be stopped. The bottom is 
reported by Mr. S. H. Nealy, the architect in charge, as being a quicksand 
which had a tendency to flow to the southeast. This well has not been 
lowered by any draft thus far made upon it. 
Wells, which are artesian in the sense that they reach flows beneath 
the surface waters, have been sunk by the Japanese in Peking with marked 
success. Regarding these the following facts have been ascertained: 
A well in the Presbyterian Mission Compound is fitted with a windmill 
and is reported to yield a satisfactory supply. 
A well in the Belgian Legation grounds is said by the Belgian Minister 
to be 60 meters (195 feet) deep, and to give excellent, soft water. 
Regarding a well in the Methodist Mission Compound, Dr. I. T. Head- 
land furnished the following facts: It is 210 feet deep, about 2.5 inches in 
diameter, and is supplied with a reservoir set in the ground which is 15 feet 
deep and 3 feet in diameter. The well was sunk by churning with bamboo 
poles shod with iron, without the aid of machinery. Yellow clay was 
added with water to prevent the sand from caving, but there was some 
trouble from that source. The bore is lined with bamboo, the joints being 
secured together with tin. The reservoir is built of cedar staves, and the 
bamboo tube is packed around with cork to make a tight joint where it 
passes through the bottom of the reservoir. The bottom of the well is in 
black sand. ‘The water is soft and the supply has been entirely adequate 
for the demand of eight American families and about five hundred Chinese. 
It has hitherto been drawn by hand, but a pump and elevated tank are 
being installed. The well cost $1,200 in silver, or something less than 
$600 gold. It was finished in the spring of 1902 and its life is estimated at 
twenty years at least. 
From the evidence of these three wells, which are somewhat widely 
spaced, it may be inferred that there is beneath a considerable part of 
Peking, at a depth of about 200 feet, a stratum of sand which is water- 
bearing. As the water does not rise above the surface, it is not confined 
in an artesian basin, or it comes from a source not notably higher than 
Peking. Asit is unlike the surface water in the city, it is probably separated 
from the latter by an impervious stratum of clayey loam, and, being soft, it 
probably enters the ground in one of the sandy zones north of Peking, 
