Pebin is fupplied from high, mountains in the vicinity, and, the mines
feem inexhauftible, though the coal be in general ufe.
Mines* Qf filver are abundant, but little worked, from an apprefienfion
■ of impeding the prergrefe of agriculture1; an idle fear, for filver might as
•well be exported- asteat Thegold techiefly derived from the fands ofi
certain mountains,, fituated1 in' the weftern part of the provinces- of Se-
cbuen and Yunflani toward^the'froatiers ofTibefe That pfecious metal
isfieldom ufed, except by the gilders ; the. emperor alone having fpKdl
veflels of gold: -
Tutenag; which & a native mixture of zinc and iron, feems’-te be a
peculiar product of China; and in- the province of Houquang-sbere was’
a mine which' yielded' many hundred weight in the coutlh of a few"
clhys. ; '
The copper of Yunnan, and1 other provinces; fupplies the fteal^Softi'
current through rile empire : but there isa fingular copper ofa' white*
colbur, callfed by the Chinefe whMl dfeferves parttcblaT Eiotice.
This metal muftnot be confounded1 with the tutenag, an- error not un--
frequent; It is indeed fometimes minglfed' with tutenag to rendhr it
fbfter, according to Du Haldfe; butthme is..abettm methpduh'mhtgling
it with one fifth part of filver.
The Chinefe muficaT ftone is a kind' of fdTnorous .black marble. La-
zufite is found in Yunnan, Secbuen, and ShanfU Several1 of the |$hi;-
nefe idols and fmall veflels are formed o f &e$ite, ormdufated'fteatitfes,
of a delicate white or yellow, with a greafy appearance. The motto- '
tains in the north and weft ofChina no doubt fumifti a number of other
mineralobjeffe, which may have efcaped notice, amidft the. imperfect
knowledge which Europeans have yet attained of this extCnfive empire.
Mineral waters mull be numerous in lb. wide a country; and the
Chinefe rarely negl'e£t any natural, advantagebut travellers db not"
Mineral W;
ters.
Natural Cn- fe 601 to- have, recorded any. fprmgs efpecially memorable. The natural"
aridities. curiofities of China are in. the like predicament.
CHINESE
CH IN Ë SE " IS E “A N D S;
‘Numerous ifles are mattered along the fouthern' and eaftefn coaft Islej.
6£ China, the lafgeft' being thofe. qf Taiwan-, aTfo^a]Jed *Fojrmofa,' and
that of Hainan."1 Formofa :is a r'ecent acquifidon'pi the Chinefe in the
fatter e n d of jtnfe feventeenth century, the natives ’being bv - the Chinefe -•
accountslittlebëïtef than Tajtagôÿ. ^ It ls^dtvi&d from north to. fôuth by
mountains^' arid the chief Chinefe pôfîèffipris fare in trip weftepri part.
Du HaTde has given a ftiort hiftory of Formofa, 'which may be confulted
by the curious reader, who on this occafion may perhaps, recdllë® the
fingulat forgeries o f the pretended Pfalmanazar. In 17S2 Formofa was
vifited i.by a terrible hurricane, and < the fea rofé to fuch a height, as to
pafs over . a great part of theSiftand ; but the .Chi'npfë emperot cauféd
the damages to he repaired with paternal care.7 ■
t TheTouthern part of Hainan is mountainous, but the northern more
leyehand prqduétive of rice. In the centre there.are mines of gold;
and on the fhores are fourid fmall blue fifties, which the Chinefe efteem
more than^thofe which we call gold and filver fifti ; but they only fur-
vive a few days when confined to a fmall quantity qf water.,
"The iflés of Leoo-kebd, between Formofa and Japariv|’tkffiftituté a' little
civilized kingdom tributary to China, . Tftiefe ill es, are, > faid> ta.be
thirty-fix. in number, but very inconfiderable, except the chief, which is
properly and peculiarly-called Leoo-keoo, and by tfie Chinefe accounts
is 440 lys in length, probably that ly qr Chinefe ftadium of which zg&
conftitute a degree, fo that the length will be about 125 Britifli miles,
nearly twice the extent which is afiigned'in rpcent maps, The capital,
called Kintching, is faid by Grofier to-be oh the ^. -E. fide of the ille,
while D’Anville and others place it on the S. W.* - When our author
-affirms that thefe Hies conftitute a powerful and extenfive empire, a
fmile muft be excited by the exaggeration; but the natives feem to rival
the Hindoos in chronology, as their royal dynafties are faid to have
continued for eighteen thoufand years. Thefe fifes were- difeovered by
I Grofier’s General Defcriptipn of China, Eng. Tr. i. 225. i 1'.
* This maybe a miftake of Grofier, or his Englilh tranflator, for the work is far from being .
: infallible, ' Yet upon the whole it is the belt defeription of China which has appeared, and it is . . .
•only to be wilhed that the compiler had quoted his authorities! ■
vol,- ix. the