Hongkong and Shanghat Bani king Corporation Cash on Toan on Sorigage to Hongkon Saul Whampos Dock Compan, Lintteds Mortgage in Houskory Cash at' Debit of London' Branch aad "Agencies including, £80,001 juvestod in London fu Consols, East fedia Goverumout guaranteed tata, £85,600 on Deposit with Banks in Land: 826,695.15, Bills Receivable...
21,126.38
16,028.25 spared the above Statemeuts with the Sud Securities at the Head Office, and received from the various Agencies of the Society, and have found the sume to be correct, Tastes H. Cox, Shei arses, Auditor. Hongkong, 16th October, 1884, ROYAL ASIATIC soctErY.
A meeting of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was held on Monday evening-in the Society's Library, Upper Yuen Ming Yuen Road, Mr. E.'B, Drew, President, occupied the Chair, were also present Messrs, T. W. Kingami Birt, C.. Deighton-Braysher, E, H. Hjousbery, F. W. Styan, R. de Nully, 'T. 8. Southey (Acting Hon. Sec.) and several visitors.
The Pnestoest road a paper by E. Parker, Esq., of H.B.M's Consular vice, descriptive of a towne, villages and country which ko passed ivi
through, their products and manufactures, etc. devoting particular attention to the aboriginal races. He states that far from the journey being (as is supposed at Wén-chow) a hazardous and: difficult one, it is actually almost as short and easy to go to Foochow by way of the Alum mou tain not. The people-in the district between Lin-shih and Fat-shat though not hostile to strangers, are unsophisticated and very independent. He states Nout Sao-chi we witnessed an of this, The sound of cannon and gongs attracted our attention to the movements of certain villagers; passing through one village, wosaw an assembly of yokels going through some format act, with rough polios-outside the army of fifty, similarly warmed, and advancing rapidly in martial style,. One account was that two rival auruaines had agreed to fight out at an agreed spot some question connected with " thet?, and that the custom of the couutey was to have trial by combat? in this way, and to firat to the authorities wh emunted. Auame and sold by a that people have a while, the women and children be watching with equanimity these warlike operations, ai jars-by talked of the matter a were " daily and unportant occurrence. It was as though the village blacksmith, grocer, tailor, doctor, ete., of rival Kuglish villa; ble in thole working clothe pot hats for t sally forth to fight on the village Probably would consist jes executed by until" couple of young simpletons on each sdo would get sufficiently excited to poke each other with spears; the wounded would then be rushed upon and butchered by the enemy; the armies of both sides would run away; the bodies would be left alone, or conveyed to the ueareat te the timd ma, ture of alum he say "Pho alum is taker split with fire, not w r, and then broken with a sledge hammer) out of the bowels of @ mountain perhaps 10 miles round at the base, the top of which may be 1,0 the valley, This combed and turned up in every direction. It seems to consist of earth, grit, and yellow sandstone, interstrewn with huge boulders of ne, like plums in a pudding. 'The stone is carried to ewered kilns, and there owed for two! days and two. nights in. stacks'at ench' side of a mild "furnace of. brushwood. A long pole like a batter-ug ram is held by three men: lamps tous are placed on ud. of the pole inside the fu door, and are swung up in layers or walls on ench side by a sudden thrust and turn; After being thus heated and softened, the stones are placed ina sunken vat or hole, and sinked for afew minutes; they are thei placed in a shallow pit, and broken into small pieces, 'The. next atop them in other sunken vote, and with' water for three days and throe tights, Then this smoking lime-like muas is placed 1 a huge mud: buller (at the back of with a tiny iron pan or base' at'il bottom oF ay a boiled by the same furnace which softens the stones. Another flue-like fire raus round the mud belle alf way up, "This thick soupy decootioi then placed in other sunken stone pits, and allowed to cool, ° 'The pure alum crys: tallies about six inches thick in bowutiful stalactital form, arid adheres to the sides'; it sawn offin blocks of 50 or 100 pounds weight, and carried straight away down to Ch'ih-chi by an "army of porte The cooled water which collects int contro is used-again for sliking. Ihe grit, which sinks, is thrown outside, Phe alumi thus puritied (the factor tol about a dollar a picul at El said he boiled from 20 to 40 piculs a but never reached quite 10,000's yo also said there were 24 boiling estubl ments now working, all of the sume si this supports the independent total estimat of 200,000 piculs " your given to mo by" another man. Each establishment employs ubout 100 hands in all, and there are about 5,000 porters, of whom hulf.are Zik's 22 women, Thus about 10,000 people at lent are locally supported by the alum tends, Water for toa-making wud drinking hus to be brought from adistangs, yo imprognated with alum is the local fluid. 1 inet three Zik'a women. 'The Hunan braves at once called them Yue 7%. probably, from 108 to Hunan tribes, hey. something like the Mino-tsz women Toucs saw in' Kweichow, but wore possibly. ow account was very like that of wanton, except that the ornaments were somewhat barbaric. 'The hair was collected and twisted into' a point ut the top of the head, and the feot were nature As the three fresh and rosy Indies I met were as curious to inspect me us I was to' exami ad a good stare at each the Zk' race idl abed (it is I think said) when their wives have children; but here they join in the alum porterage business. Thuy wear-the queue, and dress us usual with Chin Lam not quite sure that Laaw any, the some faces decidedly looked barbarian, ie. not ruses, From what L was tuid of ie language, L think th must be the same race BARE of Foochow, of whom, howe have not hitherto' met: specimens.
in Chekiang call them Kou-t'oufan $4) BAG or dog-hoid barbariane,' from ome peculiarity in thole -head-dress, or jon that they "are sot dogs and human beings."
OF the. district between Funing: and Foochow he say:
Lhe most interesting feature in this part are the Sia-po gv (thw Wenchow Zile'abu) women. Hundreds of these were met carrying loads of produce on poles. They are an extremely hardy-looking races, and ull the married women wear-a most peculiar head-dress, consisting first of all of felt cap, cocked forward like a malt-factory stack, covering the twisted knot of hair at the back part of the crows, Over this is
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.