Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/458

 446 CHINA ed with tallow and contain an oil much used for the lamp, while the tallow is made into candles. The varnish tree resembles the ash ; it exudes an essential oil which is poisonous to the touch. From a species of sycamore, paper is manufactured. Ginseng is found in the northwest, and is extravagantly esteemed, be- ing administered as a universal panacea. Ber- ries (currants, strawberries, raspberries, goose- berries) are seldom found. Wild animals gen- erally have long since disappeared from the more densely settled provinces. There are elephants, rhinoceroses, tapirs, wild boars, bears, tigers, leopards, and panthers, in the south ; monkeys of a very large species (the gibbon) in the southwest; musk deer, wolves, lynxes, boars, gazelles, antelopes, in the west; squirrels, ant- eaters, sables, badgers, the jerboa, martens, por- cupines, hedgehogs, marmots, weasels, in va- rious parts of the country. Domestic animals are not kept so generally as in Europe or Ameri- ca, the Chinese disliking meat and dairy pro- ducts for food, except pork. The hog and dog are the most common domestic animals. Horned cattle are kept only for draught ; some of these are of a small black breed. The gray buffalo is also used. The horses are also small ; jackasses and mules are preferred to them. Large-tailed sheep are imported from Mongolia, and are reared everywhere, but not to a great extent in the south. The goat is common in the northern provinces. The camel is used as a pack animal in the northernmost portion of the empire, but is rarely seen south of Peking. It is employed in war, and trained to carry small swivels on its back. The gold, the silver, Reeves's, and the medallion pheasants are indi- genous to China. There are found, besides, the peacock, pelican, albatross, parrot, spoonbill, crane, heron, stork, curlew, cormorant, thrush, red-billed magpie, swan, grebe, geese, ducks, quails, and snipe. Crocodiles are not known in China, but small lizards and serpents abound. The common frog is caught in great numbers for food, as are tortoises and turtles. Be- sides all kinds of fish known in northern America, such as sturgeon, mullet, carp, trout, perch, pike, and eel, there are a great many peculiar to China, as the bynni carp (polyne- mus tetradactylus), the tsang-yu or pomfret (stromateus argenteu*), and the sho-kia-yeu (tetrodori). The goldfish (brought to Europe in 1611) is also a native of China. The fins of sharks and rays are eaten by the Chi- nese; they, in fact, eat nearly every living thing found in the water. The artificial rear- ing of fish, as also the artificial hatching of eggs, has been practised among the Chinese from time immemorial. Oysters of a good quality are common on the coast. Of insects, the silk- worm, the wax insect, and the honey bee are the most important and useful. The white ant is found at Canton. The white wax insect furnishes the whole nation with that article, which it deposits upon a tree called the peh- lah shu. This great empire, so abundantly favored in the character of its soil, its temper- ate climate, and its physical configuration, is fortunate also in the extent and value of its mineral resources. The apathetic Chinaman has not even dreamed of the wealth which lies hidden under the .hills and mountains of his native land, and the people of western states are only beginning to learn how desirable it is that this vast country shall open her fields of subterranean treasures to the enterprise of the world. So far as is now known, the northwest of China, as has been mentioned, is the leading mineral region of the empire. Of one of the provinces of this district Baron Richt- hofen says : " Shansi is one of the most re- markable coal and iron regions in the world. Some of the details which I shall give will make it patent that the world at the present rate of consumption of coal could be supplied for thousands of years from Shansi alone. Prof. Dana, in comparing the proportions of coal lands to the whole area in different coun- tries, says that the state of Pennsylvania leads the world, its area of 46,000 sq. m. embracing 20,000 of coal land. It is very probable that on closer examination the province of Shansi in China, with an area of about 35,000 sq. m., will take the palm from Pennsylvania by a considerably more favorable proportion. But this is not all the advantage on the side of the China coal field ; another is found in the ease and cheapness with which coal can be extract- ed on a large scale." It appears from his state- ments that iron ores are found near the coal in this province, and that the deposits are very extensive and the quality excellent. Williams and Pumpelly mention other valuable deposits in Shansi. Those of salt are remarkable, while copper, quicksilver, and silver are also noticed. It is probable that the mineral region extends across Shansi into the eastern part of Kansuh and southerly into Hunan. The abb6 Hue speaks of coal in eastern Kansuh. The Chi- nese works consulted by Pumpelly confirm the abbe's statements, and show that coal is found so far west as Ion. 104 E., and south to lat. 84. The northern part of Hunan appears to possess extensive deposits of iron, and that metal is mentioned in the Chinese accounts as occurring in Shensi. A variety of precious stones are found in Shansi. The S. W. region of China is probably only less well favored with mineral deposits. Gold is found in the bed of the Yangtse. Copper, lead, silver, zinc, and tin have been extensively worked. De Carne says that before the present troubles Yunnan annually forwarded to the imperial treasury crude copper to the value of 1,000,000 francs, and that in peaceful times 1,200 men are employ- ed in drawing off water from the argentiferous lead mines at Sinkaitseu. He considers Yun- nan more richly endowed with mineral wealth than any other province. Coal is found in dif- ferent parts of the southeast, but is mined large- ly only in southern Hunan and east of the Po- yang lake in Kiangsi. The conditions under