Page:The journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London. Volume 34, 1864. (IA s572id13663720).pdf/216

Rh space of some two acres in extent. The hills which formed the mine are covered with coarse grass, and are of the same formation— clay, sandstone, and limestone; the latter being often speckled with fragments of lignite. In some of the hills on the Banca alluvial plain, the sides of which were denuded, the limestone showed itself in large disconnected blocks, in parallel lines, partaking the curve of the hill-top, in the same manner as is exhibited by Whaleback and the few other hills that dot the large alluvial plain on which Taiwanfoo is situated, and which form the greater part of the Chinese territory on the south-west. The working of these mines is forbidden by the Chinese Government; and so rigid is the order, that the mandarins are obliged to send to Foochow for the sulphur required for manufacture of ammunition. And yet so lax is the vigilance, when blinded by bribery, that we found the spot alive with workmen. The arrival of Europeans had opened an extraordinary demand for it, to export at large profits to Hong-Kong; and the smaller authorities themselves, more or less interested in trade, soon found some means of relaxing their vigilance in the export of the contraband. Straw sheds of the miners were scattered about the ground iu [sic] various directions; but the immediate neighbourhood of the mines presented a dead, dreary, Stygian look and sulphurous stench. White, grey, and black were the prevailing colours of the spot, relieved here and there by the red tinge of a stratum of clay and the bright yellow of sulphur crystals; while from all parts of the ground steam was emitted, throwing a haze over the scene, and conveying the overpowering smell of sulphur for miles around.

In some spots steam was rushing out with violence from between the bleached limestone blocks, and forming on the overhanging stones long pendent crystals of clear sulphur, looking like petrified moss of a bright yellow colour. In other places, where pits had been dug, and got filled with water, the violence of the steam produced bubbling of the water, with loud noise, making it leap in continuous fountain-jets, 2 feet or more in height. From the hills above, streams of fresh water ran down into the mines. About half a mile lower down the hills we passed another patch of bleached sulphur-marked stones. The course of a mountain-torrent ran close by this spot. The stream was of fresh water; but lower down, about 200 feet above the plain, it passed over a flat, sandy spot, where sulphurous steam again burst out in all directions, and the water there had become almost of a boiling heat, and strongly tainted; from this it continued a broad, clear stream down the remainder of the declivity, and across the plains to the river; but the water was noisome and undrinkable, though down its banks on either side trickled several streams of sweet fresh water. The sulphur is deposited about the stones in this stream in ochreous and