70 
ALUM  IN  CHINA. 
water  had  percolated  into  the  mausoleum  of  Kiaking ;  having 
"been  built  too  near  to  the  mountain  side,  the  alum  cement  im- 
bibed moisture,  segregated,  and  opened  the  way  for  it  to  enter  the 
tomb.  In  those  peaceful  days  such  an  event  was  of  so  great  im- 
portance as  to  call  forth  edicts  and  rescripts,  memorials  and  re- 
ports in  succession  for  several  months.  The  son-in-law  of  the 
deceased  monarch,  to  whose  care  the  construction  of  the  edifice 
had  been  entrusted,  was  fined  and  degraded,  and  a  statesman 
from  Fohkien,  acquainted  with  the  properties  of  alum,  was  ap- 
pointed to  remove  it  a  short  distance  from  the  mountain. 
Alum  was  first  introduced  into  China  from  the  west,  and  until 
a  comparatively  recent  period  the  best  kind,  called  sometimes 
Persian,  and  at  others,  Roman  Alum,  was  brought  from  Western 
Asia.  Numerous  localities  where  an  inferior  article  is  manu- 
factured, are  mentioned  in  the  Pharmacopoeia- — viz  ;  Shan-tung, 
Shan- see,  Kiang-su,  Hu-kwang,  Sz'-cheun,  and  also  in  the  south 
western  frontier  and  in  Thibet.  That  from  Sz'cheun,  is  repre- 
sented as  having  the  property  of  converting  iron  into  copper,  or 
of  coating  iron  with  copper,  by  placing  the  former  metal  in  a 
solution  of  rice-liquor,  and  alum  the  stone  of  that  province.  The 
most  recent  editions  of  works  of  materia  medica  contain  no  refer- 
ence to  the  mines  in  this  province,  the  products  of  which  have 
surpassed  in  quality  the  foreign,  and  rendered  its  importation 
unnecessary.  From  this  and  from  other  circumstances,  it  is 
certain  that  the  works  which  we  shall  now  describe  have  not 
been  long  in  operation.  They  are  in  the  Sung-yang  hills  bor- 
dering on  Foh-kien  in  the  district  of  Ping-yang,  Wan-chau  pre- 
fecture, and  in  close  proximity  to  Peh-kwan  harbor  (27°  9'  10" 
K,  120°  32'  6"  E.) 
The  locality  has  been  visited  by  one  foreigner  only,  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  the  following  particulars.  About  two 
months  ago  he  started  from  Chi-k'i  bight  in  Lannai  harbor,  to 
which  Ningpo  boats  resort  for  this  commodity,  to  the  northward 
of  Peh-kwan.  Three  hour's  hard  walking  over  a  succession  of 
precipitous  hills  crossed  by  stone  steps  and  pathways  brought 
him  to  the  mines.  Ten  alum-making  establishments  were  in 
operation,  which,  with  the  exception  of  one  on  a  hill  opposite, 
occupied  about  a  mile  of  the  side  of  a  lofty  hill.    The  works 
