Banow voy Rircutaorex's reports to the Chamber do not lose la interest as they proceed. We have already alluded to his journey through Chekiang and Anhwei in one of its social aspects, and now purpose to treat of its more scientific portions. Although the district traversed by the Baron has been often passed by Europeans, and many portions of it are well known, no one with sufficient scientific attainments to give an intelligible description of its physical geography had hitherto visited it, Our knowledge of the geology of China had been for the most part confined to the valley of the Yangtsze, where thad been to some extent worked out; but our Knowledge of the orography and physical geography of the remainder of the empire was in effect nil. Our main guide, in the latter half of the 19th century, was still D' Aucille's atlas, a work compiled when orography was still in its infancy, and which oven for its day was remarkable for its want of attention in this particular, Moun-tainans districts avo marked on the maps by a series of small cones dropped on the paper at intervals, no attempt being made to mark the comection of ranges, the position of summits or their relative importance. It was therefore no wonder that the mountain system of Chiva should have seemed a puzzle to such men as Ritter and Humboldt. Working on the principle that mountains would naturally follow water-sheds, China was divided into a number of basins round which ran mountain chains of ever-changing direction, which afforded speculation to those who believed in M. Elie de Beaumont's pecu-hav theories as to the elevation of mountain ranges. Did Baron: vou Richthofen do nothing more than point out the true line of the Sinian system, he would have deserved well of science. Seen by the light which Lo has thrown on it, the matter is simplicity itself; geological explorers had Femaviod, in many plause in China, that the prevalent strike of the rocks assumed a direction ranging from W. to E, N. B. and W. 8. W. Yet the main axial, range was supposed to trond to the N. Secondary ranges, supposed to be continuations of the Hima-layman system, were supposed to intersect these, thereby forming isolated basins. With neither of these lines would the observed lines of strike agree. The study of the Tsiontaug and its tributaries, however, threw light on the real state of the case, the ranges were found to trend to the H. N. E, and the rivers to flow alternately in' valleys cotrespondiug with the strike, and through gorges out, at right angles with it, through the bounding mountain ranges, Examining n good map of China, we notice how readily the river courses in the southern provinces conform to this vale, which moreover accounts in great measure for many of their peculiarities. A notable instance will be remembered by many of our readers. The Yangtsze, after flowing through the level plains of Hupeh, arrives, not far fom Hwang. chow, at the foot of one of these ranges through it it makes its way at right the strike, its general. di-being to the S. 8. B., and expositing on the cliffs of the Cock's head and of Split hill, a fine section of.the upper portion of the series. Pasting Kiukiang it again meets the feet of the hills, bat this time flowing in the direction of their strike, along the low escarpment bounding Dare reach. The difference in aspect of the hill ranges, as seen from the different portions of the river, has strack more or less every traveller on the river. How far the westerly prolongation of this system
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.