“Veaving. Peking by toon on the FUN Many we distance of 80 fy the canbe evening Yarkacean yellow eatth, loosely Lal sows over. At hones lock of abit thick : “vas plas Thal hempen hawaens af 3 te! diameter pltced mata it, aod whieh extental in two Tnes for son et ont To this Tan Inawer, were atached hy x iter of smal Ihaweer® and ropes, sone 300 anitals, which srew the stone" few fot ala t ean aboot 15 fect fn ant 4 Tet mare and we paced om a wagon with ght wel aad raw great mnber of animals.” The sno hal se ie ws oe of 990 a haf courve been’ a Tong time on the way. On geting to Pow-tien at 10 pn we were refuel wtittance at foar inns on the plea that they were fall. AE { fith, they mail they had room, ul opened tho Bates, but on seing the trwveliers, atily shut the ates in our face, ying they cout tion. The Chinese selon travel after atk, dishonest people are about at late Bours, they. are | ‘naspicions of all late travellers, expecially on a dark ight, Tooceho i wl arrived at Peis "That part of Lali be-tien ier Tilt fn the banks of the river the late floods nearly all the 3 sonne substantial ah lately been erected om higher growl, ‘This the “dept for the Fanzshan anthrwsite endl and ime, for Tientain ; rome Chastang coal abun file its way’ to Tientsin “hy this wate. AU Tan-chor, be. sides the Marble Elephant and. Lion at either the fine bridge, as smentionol in De, Wilia “ North China.” there are tio Tron Lions at the Northern entrance. When last [saw them, three years since, one had a picee ott of th ack’; the Hole has ince increase ‘On th Pash sien, Ni i fu; Toth, pase Tan ‘Wangeto-haien, Ching-feng-ien, an chow at 8.30 pian, Wa ‘very poor place. “At Ching.fong-ti day, horees, cotton, and graing seemed to ooenpy the most of the market. These otherwise dull ‘places market ver dep ream, 38 var in with i ‘when we atived at Ting-chow.” Wo passat throngh yom North Was, the gateway had ly fallen down, and we saw ‘very few hothes oF lights by the way, but many fino old tose and | Aeon bth "Tr sreonl ste | the whofe plac During a Rumble through Chihli, in March 1874. al, Siv-toshsio has auffered much dling the let two yee he wa to enter the city, an many hot tas won strove.” Cros the Sinto-bo by wooden brid, uot much water in the river, and no bat during. the floods, at " ‘whith world be covered diy the wate yy being wo at wt, this place, x we arrived at Fucchéags 12th, ~arrived at Ching-ting-fu at 9 Aat, OF the innkeeper there, we inquired for the Iron Roundry ned ly Mr. Oxenbam, and wero referred te re spaltos were ana (Vin Chhing-tings heaps oad tate ite keeping at forthe Tange ad fe re tne ple, i ch ule claw to the cathedral, the latter woul be very much ont of keeping im thie dewate Sy of 40 fe dreumference,_-Dre Williamson, “hamey'an North China. volt the ida fn thin temple ; bea fame iol at Chi ie eer ule ynanty (A'D. oO 13H) Te sain “ind meouges, nearly #0 Bngloh fet in height idol ws of the Lama throne, iepectiom could soe Chat it iene cars To the ng the country in mandy and 19 ign of cultivation, We crowed the Pab-taibo by ‘aiwoonen bree 7 tho wet wus here were more than ie mile in width bat there was no gova ammount of water inthe river: this Pub-tacho is, i Shas the termor of all who live near it in the rainy sewn; the floss comie dwn it often without the lightest waming, carrying destruction in theie tain, [Arrived ab Luang Ching-haien at 830 pm. The ountry ‘here akows. some notte Bek ta, sze inate Hcen, they appent {oie about "to 8 infec ugar. etren the villages isang pacen tho felde hore seen are 2 tiles agtare. Aer Ieoving Chingting-t we bave the mountains agin Insight from Why. 130h,—passed Cho-sow; the roads in this place sere marlyan baa athe col be. Th tying to ese ‘tote cart at was ck fs, we vont towed the main rn ha dd net eee in Fecha fine one mule and then te other foundered in dhe treachoroam md which appeared. with the night fro hunt on te ures and we bat to unlooe Ue Animal and drag buck Che cart Ons of the animale franco deaplyetnbcied fn th ad that it ha to ine"pated out by the, tail ti fe got firm. footing, ‘hea ofan and hres 30008 290 ah Fr ow, poo ott growing land aid to be abut Sh per tow tn the ‘we arived hatngbaten 5 the pl feo por ad fa ce Tees many bald oF white neste Tn and out of the ey. Lith,—pawed Lang Yoen-heien, and 9 Gatholle churches bl i stig, fcmmening atone the ek of ELA eh could apparent wa 0b 00 “At the ‘Tong way to wal farrived at Shu Tetweot Lyng tion tot 90 far ailva fow and far betwee ‘hsion and Shimn-tisf, eal as father noth, il iorable distance ho Tine of the main rsa vos ho rule ‘uly Geld stream of water 1 ate width for sottedistaoe, On enter eof the northern halt ‘teat and vegetal cocupying fll u Ove walls fn the southem portion of the ety were shops of & food or thin Tate clas Tn the suburhy south of the city walls were the {good many of them of $o1MEs ped Shen, Tah a ari 13 worsen, ‘Pachen-tien and arti vod inthe evening’ at Han-tan-sien, “On uss Through Sburho-hsien, we hardly saw 100 peo bat the win "wag oily and tng, wal overcast, and air full of dust. After leavin fle we emo upon a bleak white randy den fextending for ame distance instead of trees, we bad feito aay ested ot ft ‘pace,--aguin aud and then a Tow ewannp for a short Istawees Hanctanhsien appears to Te a very poor place, tong and uarow, many vacant epacce and Frned buildings within the wall th arid at Matow at 8 ping port ofthe caving Wreedtuck, westwards over tough pebbly roads for tome 60 fy and arrived inthe evening at Ping Chhngeehien, atthe foot of the his, in the south. ‘wat comer of the. province of in some of Ue oll mapa ite marked as being in. Honan, "The Aistance between Peking and. Pongchang in a straight Hine woul not be more than 240 miles, but {ir our igang course we made it 1100 i, or 360 rite; weteevel tas a the rate of 1291, oF 38 niles a day. ‘The ground is apparently slightly undulating the whe way, int some places the soll was rich “and bearing fine etops-or rather the promise of tham—in other places the, soll was poor fnd ‘of «sandy nature, Water by the road side for the animals was abundant the whole way. ‘he wal nthe” fells waa monet, At anany of them were employe wel whesls “aden age size, and apparently Ahockats driven hy. an animal. ‘At other wells were soon two, or sometimes three, ‘winches over one well, for irigating the fclds in a: ‘many different directions, “The roads, even at this dry season, were extremely Dad, und sunk in most places several feet below the level of the adjoining felis, to which they act as ‘addrain in wet weather. In few places is there fraffic on the old main rou, which at one time had evidently been a fine and beautiful one, with rovrs of trees om both si "The pat at 6yihe ae ot the? cd, rout at aiferent orl SZ the ct oppererust hax worn away, ul some: fines we. ware compelled 40 make a considerate our eroming. the cultivated “eld to. exape the wor ra Tho main od aad tris pomille hy every one who needs to travel in [rection hy acwhveled vehicle; in many parte Srere lange pols of sagnant) water ont, in other forever: nn of ansg” water wih row over thy ay we had Tne : the 15,00 qo,00b ‘ve. thought this far too high an Teimate, Sti, the ety” ts undoubtedly, an import. int egy nnd mist ‘one day'be oeeupied by Protestant Miisnarien” “We pamed through Ching-ting fa from South to North fn 35 mninites in Aintance may be between 9 anid 0° faa, would thus be 30 to 94 1 in Merrit is longest from Nosth to South, T Uhink it can exteed 10 tenths of the space i eeupied by houses, neither was there any and 6 the walls, as is usually the ease, but {natant wea large poole green ad tag c waste an deaolate-ike place. “The Cathe im ty Bao Ben lt sng De, Wl Tignson's vist as he ays: “These buildings ar the old Hing Kung, an’ Imperial eval. which, it is said, the eens ena ee a Cee tenn go fess poet reheat ea Sa ptiah iin eS area ee sear te a stat in et eee rn Fe ee a sa he eae eee Sheeting The eee tee ee Rectonaiy Whe ier ees Gs hoger frp ns ee Gans a be bs nt rer ers area Seperate, Teas mama COE OS er ee ea ee eee ‘Ching-ting-fa, but the numerous carts and see eae ae eerie Between Tauanching-hsien aid. Ching ting fa. we dra bronze imager larger than if stting exons [edd line ower: was ahaa esi, ftefeatare and every pat of i nelyand_ sbarph fut, as itt had jusi lft the mould. A temple fo" doubt at one. time "covered. it hal, but iow, at te ‘comer ef cram fad Seren dha wer tore tape “Gnother city, et ia dieeppeintng” in. both "its dnawasd and. Snward appearance is ‘ag.chow s the natives, when’ asked fn saying the walls were44 vin ciroumforencey. but. we passed tad the west end of tin 15" minute, ahd thereat warn irl ta ext + appeare to be taneh longer, from to West, Br: Williamson says of it «Within the Swale theres litle tov attract ;- most. of the “fa “pce ete clo, Ge oy sy quarters boing “in the centre of the city.” Me" Out lla to iment ig lace * fame for the evealve> If the ety of is tally “41.0 in crit, T have’ 10‘ouch want was discernible, and many. amart active ‘Young men Were agen amongat th “Althogh “Kwei” or ny uring the wholejourey, yetthe word was: in ty hearing in an angey'tone, nor, so far ax I could fee, accompanied by an angry look. Every one seemed Friendly enough, end answered with apparent willing- ness any question pat to them, “The whole country from Peking tothe south-westof the province in well adapted for Railways tunnel is required, and the cuttings and embank- rents, reyuired would bo “on the smallest posible teale. The only work at all of a heavy nature would berthe bridges over thestreams ; an all, except in the rainyscason, of | ATiffcalty would be experienced it mal patches of sand in some places would need removal | frxl more solid embankments put in their place, but | tome of thve patches of ami re more’ apparent than real, pethaps ; as at Ching-ting-fa, whero we sawnothingbutsand, Mr Oxenham remarksthat “ont ide the south wall was stretched a large grass plain Sintoache by the plough.” "he Moodn of the last ‘tro years have no doubt greatly altered the appear ance of the country along the course. of the rivers, fand this alteration is unfortunately all for the worse in the western parts of the country. ‘The eondition of the people, outwardly, seemed eet they were well and warmly cloth even the im exoept a few professionals, had good an comforable clothing on We heard. occasionally of robberies having taken’ place, A few days before ‘we reached one of the. towns, a hand of armed men had sicked several villages in the vicinity, their excuse being want of food, their grounds having been. spoiled by the floods of ‘the last two years.” Tra vellers from Shansi, when bringing money. with them to any extent, have an arined guard ith hem: these armel! men are. sid fo reve & certain. ‘percentage on. the amount carried, ‘and guarantee the whole amount in eave of loss The ‘aris carrying Government treasare have invariably ‘mounted and armed cor accompanying them, We saw also ‘occasionally a single traveller with an armed escort of eoldiers. At Ting-chow, one man om reba, about sunset, had two men with ‘pears running before him and one on either si with mosketin hand, They had ato ‘but on a short distance, as we sav the soldiers resting few miles further na, without the rider. Ting-chow would seem to be somewhat noted for ite bberion, as we aw five heads, in cages, hanging fk place —the oly Heals we aon the jourey Soldiers are atationed at abort distances apart, on the main-road. All the way we travelled, flags may bbe seen flying all over the country, far removed from ‘any station, " We found these men civil wherever we ‘saw them, they answered our questions readily tothe Dest of their Knowledge, and occasionally invited us ‘to drink tea with them } their foreign fire arms were ‘kept in good order, and but few of the old brown roskels were sens When tavalling le a night ionally challenged by’ them, to show Jed 20 late, as stich a proceed iasliset mubapa, emong_ the Ohinae ay. ral in numbers, starting generally very early in Moming, taking two hour for Ye int seal, and etn, posible; to the in inthe aflamoon sme. Sen ea eet dar a Rai Gattis ing ie ee he Seid 2a tino oa? pe ea ied Bie seater nhs ae from the tee | fore sunset,——atthis season of the year about | and principally anthracite, the northern part of the province being supplied from the Fangshan district, the central pert from Ping-ding-chow (Shansi), the souther part fom Wa-ytan-to (Honan), but to all ‘our enquiries respecting. ironstone, the ‘invariable reply was, “There is no ironstone in Chibli, all oa iron comes from Shans.” “At Matow we fist saw bituminous coal. At this place it as stored when brought from the mines around Prngshang, walt ing forthe opening of the river, to be conveyed to Tieutsin, where it is in demand for steamer’ use, he ct wore, therein abundance, the net wan ive of ice, aul there was appatently plenty of water, the buats were ala there ht order av in conser? able numbers 5 sill nothing was this inactivity wasy that the farmers about t er down the sve, hal damm i up for the purpose of irrigating their lands, and as the eee Tle lay Suto for that purpose, they’ refused to allow the river to be opened until the rains came. ‘Thus the coals which hat been accumulating at Matow daring the winter might have to lie there for rome months after the river was free of ice, unless the rains come earlier than usual ; and when the rains do come they, with thesun's aid, rapidiy spol in agreat measure the coals, which are insufficiently protested from the elements, and so these eoals—really good eoals—reach the market herein a. state which does not enable the owner of them to realise thier full value as they come from the mines. On reaching Prung-cung, which stands ina plateau suroupded on thre ces by the mountaine ‘ve were surprised to see the numerous and ext potterin at work there, ‘The kustin, for the produc. Bon of water kongs, basins, &y is found in the ersten abundanoe fn che imtaotiate neighbourhood Ander two or hres fect of a hint of Youn mines ate first met with. clow to the town, and fxtend for miles on three sides of iy producing fot anthracite and bituminous eons bu prinlpally iam The tae genoa bt ae count of the wath, they are ot of Yery grat depth. Weliad several of the natives of Pangelang as travelling companions for two. days ere we reached theplace;eybssured us ironstone was quite wnknow, at Ping chang, The innkeeper and others at Pung théang fold us the same tale) "There is no ioe Stonein Chin” This knew tobe smitake, having, te Chingatii, wet uf Peking, boon on the wp of {mountain woe 600 0700 feet hgh, where ther ee irizumenge nus of slid iroustobe without a clier aimistare; how far the aid tae extended fot known, as it has not been neovere, Tron one inthe Chingeshui dstrit ia there aid to ex: tend to abt i Ya ah fom ery foreign authority, At onetime a missionary now a ccs in Feking hat there wa rnnon fo distance from Fung chung. However, nothing ST ehis could Be eared fom the natives ofthe tows, fand dntit, of our way tot. Leaving the town campy ith af he nok, an nl ut lad a8 our guide, we proceeded towards the coal mines,-maiing enquiry of all we met a td Srowone od wera la evar by meting told men, a. mandarin, without a Axed place ol Atodo, who hed resided “for some tine in Shans, ‘who knew ironatone when. he saw. i He fold ue there was ironstone in tning, and was tis to show ieto ue We mae or milee it sare tee omen pce but shore distance, Bertie] sie 19 same road,z f ed oa: AE So Lets for the mani facture of the highest kinds of iron and. sted, and {Tho moumtaine ware ti, goat stance from ‘coal mine, and we had only asoonded a few | Seehea Nar Gettoowtoe inna ‘on tho top of which the Iimestone--in w! fronstone’ lies’ ombedod-—vas boing burned for Time, and quarried for building purposes On Agsoouding, on the Bastorn sido of thet in largo. mastos._all iting the moantdina to il we came to & highor ‘apparently some 2000 foot in height, rowed over this ‘range towns ihe ‘North-west, Anding frondjafle’ in, large’ massed! at short intervals, for fully half the distance | up. the mountain, and “from this point up | to tho very sunmivef the mountain, the ironstone in smaller pieces was seen, On looking from the aster side of the summit of this mountain, T counted about 40 villages to the south, the east, and the north. Tn crossing over to, the western site of ‘the mouniatn, the villages seen in. the Prung-ch‘ung valley and westwant of it, were also numerous, Dut, | too indistinet for ufo dunt,” From the summit of is range, we could see coal mines extending for miles on three sides: of us, while both coal and ironstone are known to exist at even greater distances, although close at hand. Here, also, we had a view of the extensive potteties at Pungéeltang ; and, no doubt, had the great value of the ironstone in'the ‘mountains been known to the inhabitants of the istrict, we should have seen added to the potteries and cot mining, that of iron mining and manufac ttre on a scale equal to that of the other industries, On descending the mountain onthe western aide, the fronstone was seen all. the way down, but seldom in Iange masses, as on the eastern side, ‘This was not the only range of iron mountai here. Some 8 Ui tothe westward, mountains of ito stone, equally large and rich ab the one we were ‘on, aretobe seen tothenorth,for some30li, Coal, iron, mereury, and other minerals aro said to. exist while from the south, some 30 fi, specimens of fine ironstone were brought to me by'my own servant, and it was reported to him that ironstone was to be found still farther south, ‘The ironstone—in the blue limestone formation—is at Phng-ch‘ung found in the mountain abutting on the Great Plain. ‘The quantity of iron, lime, and coal may be said to be inexhaustible ; while the analysis to_be. aid i anu to be ‘Bich ute th 5 whe the terial worked up into ships has been all of a fore ‘extraction, and raking up has far exevcded, it is believed, the pre it which ships of forvign build. cotld have been laid down in China, True, the Chinete have gained, in part, the knowledge of construction, but. th EM, or nearly al, "On the other as Working their own coal and iron in & sient nr, they: may make. them highly produetive remunemative from the very’ frst, ‘und iusteud of spending money, a large revenue from theit sl ‘would acerue to the Government, ‘Their sbips, in ntead of being built of wood, an axticle now “much Toa used.in-shipbuilding, would. be built of irom, ‘nc ton of their own production. ‘The very snall cost of production could take the Chinese aw exporting, Inga of an importing uation, of Use valuable minerals, An experimental and model farm on. scientific principles, i also much needed in the province, Cot- ton, and of an iinproved quality, we might then not only see grown fn the provinee, but worked into loth by means of sawn cand rn, ad the as, eommeree, and agriculture go hand. in’ hand in pro where now the art afe almost tnknown, Ad meree and agecnfture azeon the tat nied In the room of the ruined temples, the abject pissy and aos abolished worship)’ we might ‘ope to see temples. and. priesta for’ the worship of the Most High, spring up all over the land, No one, I imagine, can travel any distance in the injerior of China, bit who must be. struck by such thoughts as these, and if he has any regard for the nw of the people of the land, must devoutly sto ace these changes forthe butter accom plished, On comparing notes with some of the Chinese travellers from Wy-kuen-fu, they said. the coal, Doth bituminous and anthracite, was better in the Wy-kuen-fit than at Prung-ch'tng, but. that there ‘was about 100 1 of land earriage ere it reached the er. About ironstone, they give the stereotyped answer : There is no iton thete..‘The river above ‘Wy-kuen-fa is only navigable for about 50 fi at at prices which “no foreign nation could compete with, labour being so cheap in Ching. Pig iron right “here be produced at less than one-fourth ‘the price it sells for at present in China, while the quality would be equal to the best imported ; the ironstone being the red oxide of fron, or red hematite, and of excellent quality. ‘The lime is pure, the coals are also pure and contain a large percentage of Trent Peng ch acon en, at ,everythingthat could ie dened iy the Ohtani a te ‘manufacture of iron of all kinds, and of steel, whether ef pgl fo the ional fr merchant shipy s—for iron elads—for guns—engines for more seperation, oF anything lsc that could be cell ag? A ie i fs panions, eae F ‘um ex with their good i Bs HE: Wy-kuen-fu the water was only 12 feetwide—2amall Pitan tps each otbes=the- boats prorent— ‘being unable to carry more. than 100 piculs. Our own carter had been. at Wy-kuen-fu with goods some hres months before aid eeraborated the ax count of the travellers with regard to the navigation of the river above Wy-kuen-fu.. He said there were rocks in the bed of theriver, which the boatmen were afraid to pass. 1t may bo remembered that Mr, Oxenham spoke of the river at Wy-knon-fu as being of considerable sizo, with wathor 12 fect in depth at the place, and Baron Richtofen gives a glowing account. of how far the river was navigable, and how cheaply. coals could bo carried by means of it. Experience, howover, has taught us that the amall rivers in the north of China are not to be ralied upon for the pospotos of navigation, One season they food, and the boatman having no. land is afraid to move, Another season, and we tho streams almost dry, with not sufficient water to float the boats, or if float, carrying 60 sm cargo that it does not pay; while in winter, nearly 4 | are all frozon up for 5 and. der ibe Zs