Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/648

634 traverses the province in a north-easterly direction to the sea, there are no large rivers in Shan-tuny. The most considerable are the Wei, which flows into the Gulf of Pih-cldh-ii ; the Ytk, which empties itself into a lake lying to the east of the Grand Canal; and the Ta-ivan, which rises at the southern foot of the Yih Mountains and terminates its course in the Grand Canal. There are several lakes in the province, notably the Ile-shang lloo and the Nan- shany Hoo, both of which border on the Grand Canal in the south-west. Large quantities of foreign and southern goods are consumed in the populous districts surrounding these lakes, the waters of which afford means of export for the cotton, silk, coal, grain, &c., which are produced in the fertile tracts lying in their neighbourhood. Speaking generally the province is not a fertile one. Not being a loess region, the mountains are unproductive, and yield only brushwood and grass, while the plain to the north is so impregnated with salt that it is almost valueless, especially near the sea, for agricultural purposes. The valleys between the mountains and the plain to the south west are, however, extremely rich and fertile. The chief wealth of Shan-tuny consists in its minerals, the principal of which is coal. There are four large coal-fields and several smaller ones now being worked in the province, the most considerable of which lies in the valley of the Laou- foo River in the centre of the province. The coal and coke from this district are conveyed by road to the city of Le-tsing on the Yellow River, a distance of about 75 miles, from whence they are exported in all directions. Another large field lies on the plain a little to the south of Yth-chow Foo in the south. A third field is in the district of Wei Heen to the north ; and a fourth in the neighbourhood of Yih Heen in the south-west. Iron ore, ironstone, gold, galena, lead, and copper are also found in considerable quantities in many parts of the province. The principal agricultural products are wheat, millet, Indian corn, pulse, rice, arrowroot, and many varieties of fruits and vegetables. The castor-oil plant is common, and the wax tree grows plentifully in the neighbourhood of Lai- yang in the east, giving rise to a considerable trade in the wax producsd by means of the wax insects. Unlike those of their kind in Sze-chuen, the wax insects of Shan-tung breed and become productive in the same districts. They are placed upon the trees in the spring, and at the close of the summer they void a peculiar substance which when melted forms wax. In the autumn they are taken off the trees, and are preserved within doors until the following spring. Shan-tung abounds in good harbours, the most noteworthy of which are Chefoo and Wei-hai-wci on the north, and Shih-taou, Kin-kea-kow, and Cliing-taou on the south of the promontory. As being the native province of both Confucius and Mencius, Shan-tung has acquired an undying fame in the Chinese world of literature. Che foo, the Treaty Port of Shan-tung, is situated on the north eastern coast of the province. The value of the foreign trade from this port amounted in 1874 to 2,597,060, 1,882,144 of which represented the imports, and 714,916 the exports. The province of Shan-se is bounded on the N. by Mon golia, on the E. by Chih-li, on the S. by Ho-nan, and on the W. by Shen-se. It occupies an area of 53,268 square miles, and contains besides its capital, Tae-yuen Foo, eight prefectural cities. The population is returned as being 14,004,210. The configuration of Shan-se is note worthy, forming, from its southern frontier to as far north as Nintj-woo Foo an area of about 30,000 square miles a plateau elevated from 5000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea, the whole of which is one vast coal-field. The northern and western limits of the plateau are bounded by high mountain ranges trending south-west and north east. Down the central line of the province from north to south lies a curious series of deep depressions, all of which are ancient lake basins. But though forming a series it is plain that these lakes were not formerly connected with each other, some being separated from those next adjoining by high ridges, and being drained by different rivers and in different directions. Shan-se is one of the most remark able coal and iron regions in the world, and Baron von Richthofen gives it as his opinion that the world, at the present rate of consumption of coal, could be supplied for thousands of years from Shan-se alone. The neighbourhood of Tse-chmo Foo in the south of the province abounds in both coal and iron, and has probably, partly by reason of its situation being within reach of the populous plain of Hivai-king Foo, of the Yellow River, of Taou-koiv Chin and Seiv-u oo Heen (the shipping places for Tien-tsin and the Grand Canal), and of Ho-nan Foo, furnished more iron to the Chinese than any other region of a similar extent in the empire. The iron is of great purity and is easily fusible, while the necessary means for manufacturing it, such as all sorts of clay and sand for crucibles, moulds, &c., and a very superior anthracite coal, lie ready to hand. The coal is of two kinds, bituminous and anthracite, and the line of demarcation between the two is formed by the hills which are the continuation of the Ho-shan range, the fields of bituminous coal being on the west of these hills, and those of anthracite on the east. In the neighbourhood of Ping- ting Chow the extent of the coal-field is incalculable ; and speaking of the whole plateau, Baron von Richthofen says, &quot; These extraordinary conditions, for which I know no parallel on the globe, will eventually give rise to some curious features in mining. It may be predicted that, if a railway should ever be built from the plain to this region and there is no other means of ever bringing to their due account its mineral resources branches of it will be con structed within the body of one or other of these beds of anthracite, which are among the thickest and most valuable known anywhere, and continue for miles underneath the hills west of the present coal-belt of Ping-ting Choiv. Such a tunnel would allow of putting the produce of the various coal-beds immediately on railroad carts destined for distant places.&quot; Salt is produced in the prefecture of Ping-yang in the south of the province, both from a salt lake and from the alluvial soil in the neighbourhood of the Fun River. In agricultural products the province is poor, and as the means of transport at present existing are rude and in sufficient, all kinds of food command unusually high prices. Meat is a rare luxury, and salt fish, the usual substitute for meat, is consumed only by the Avealthier classes. As a rule the people are poor, and in the moun tainous districts are subject to famine and starvation. The only waggon road leading into and through Shan-se is the great highway from Peking to Se-gan Foo, which enters Shan-se west of Ching-ting Foo, and leaves the province at the Tung-kivan at the great bend of the Yellow River. The province of Ho-nan is bounded on the N. partly by the Yellow River (which it crosses to the west of Ho-nan Foo, forming an arm northwards between the provinces of Shan-se and Chih-li), on the W. by Shen-se, on the S. by Hoo-pih, and on the E. by Gan-hwuy. It occupies an area of 65,404 square miles, and contains nine pre fectural cities. Its capital is Ho-nan Foo. The prefecture of Hwae-king, north of the Yellow River, consists of a fertile plain, &quot;rendered park-like by numerous plantations of trees and shrubs, among which thick bosquets of bamboo contrast with the gloomy groves of cypress.&quot; All kinds of cereals grow luxuriantly, and the general productiveness of the district is indicated by the extreme denseness of the population. The most noticeable feature in that portion 