470 
VARIETIES. 
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 
on  Materia  Medica  contain  no  reference  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  will  not  describe,  have  not  been  long  in 
operation.  There  are  in  the  Sung-yang  hills,  bordering  on  Foh-Kein,  in 
the  district  of  Ping-yang,  Wau-chau  prefecture,  and  in  close  proximity  to 
Peh-kwan  harbour  (27°  9'  10"  N.,  130°  32'  6"  E.) 
The  locality  has  been  visited  by  one  foreigner  only,  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  most  of  the  following  particulars.  About  two  months  ago  he  start- 
ed from  Chih-ki,  bight  in  Lannai  harbor  to  which  Ningpo  boats  resort  for 
this  commodity  to  the  northward  of  Peh-kwan.  Three  hours'  hard  walking 
over  a  succession  of  precipitous  hiHs  crossed  by  stone  steps  and  pathways, 
brought  him  to  the  mines.  Ten  alum-making  establishments  were  in  ope- 
ration, which,  with  the  exception  of  one  on  a  hill  opposite,  occupied  about 
a  mile  of  the  side  of  a  lofty  hill.  They  were  adjacent  to  the  quarries, 
from  which  the  alum  stone  seemed  to  crop  out  of  decomposed  rock  of  the 
same  lithological  character.  The  /stones  were  thrown  into  a  fire  of  brush- 
wood, where  they  burnt  with  a  slight  lambent  flame,  and  as  they  cracked, 
the  fragments  were  taken  out,  broken  into  small  pieces,  and  macerated  in 
vats.  Subsequently  the  disintegrated  mineral  was  thrown  with  water  into 
a  vessel  having  an  iron  bottom,  and  sides  of  wood,  and  boiled  for  a  short 
time.  The  lixivium  was  then  poured  into  large  reservoirs,  where  it  crys- 
tallized into  a  solid  mass.  Blocks  of  alum  weighing  about  fifty  catties  each 
were  hewn  out  of  the  reservoir,  and  carried  in  this  state  in  bamboo 
frames,  one  on  each  end  of  a  porter's  pole  to  the  place  of  shipment,  where 
it  is  broken  into  fragments.  When  not  designed  for  immediate  exportation, 
the  blocks  are  stored  away  for  drying.  On  reaching  the  depot,  the  alum 
is  found  charged  with  a  double  quantity  of  moisture,  the  porters  being 
obliged  to  deliver  a  certain  weight,  they  slip  their  burdens  in  the  mountain 
streams  which  they  pass  in  their  journey.  Judging  from  the  number  of 
laborers  engaged  in  transporting  the  mineral  on  the  day  of  our  informant's 
visit,  the  quantity  brought  from  the  works  could  not  be  less  than  eighteen 
tons.  The  quantity  consumed  by  the  dyers  of  Ningpo  prefecture  alone,  being 
nearly  22  tons  per  annum,  is  corroborative  of  this  estimate.  The  supply  is 
literally  inexhaustible.  Five  dollars  and  a  quarter  a  ton  at  the  landing, 
would  afford  the  manufacturer  a  fair  profit.  It  often  fetches  much  more, 
as  there  has  been  an  increasing  demand  for  the  article,  owing  to  the  great- 
er facilities  afforded  for  exportation  from  Ningpo  in  foreign  vessels. 
The  Wan-chau  alum  is  equal  to  the  best  Roman, — a  roseate  tint  in  some 
specimens,  indicate  the  presence  of  minute  quantities  of  iron. 
"We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  precise  geological  position  of  the 
rock  from  which  this  alum  is  procured  ;  some  circumstances  seem  to  indi- 
cate it  to  be  a  new  mineral.    It  is  stated  that  no  potash  nor  any  other  ma 
