There was one exceedingly interesting fact to be noted; in the search both for the metals and the coal the seekers were guided by old Chinese workings. Shafts had been sunk along the lines of several veins, and the ores extracted to the depth of 80 or 100 fect. A poor seam of coal (they missed the good one) had been worked to over 150 feet deep! This took place apparently towards the close of the last dynasty, say 300 years ago, and various tools of those times were picked up in the old workings.
One was pleased to remark that the attitude of the people in this back country was unmistakably peaceful, which would indicate that the Germans there have not only been energetic and enterprising, but also judicious and tactful in their treatment of the natives.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.