Geological researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan, during the years 1862-1865.

iv PREFACE.
near the great N. E. bend of the Hwang Ho, returning to Peking by a route south
of the plateau and within the Great Wall; and finally, part of the journey homeward,
from China across the plateau and the Gobi desert to Siberia.
With the exception of the itinerary in Yesso, which was made while in the service of the Japanese Government, and the description of the coal basin west of
Peking, which was examined at the request of the Chinese Government, all the
material was collected on journeys made at my expense.
Ignorance of the Chinese and Mongolian languages, the difficulty of making
observations in western China, owing to the hostility of the people at the time, the
intense cold of the winter journey across the plateau into Siberia, and the fact that
the enterprise was a private one, will, it is hoped, serve as excuses for asking the
indulgence of the reader in view of the incompleteness of the work.
I have attempted throughout to keep the generalizations separate from the record
of observations and other data on which they rest.
I have followed, generally, the orthography of Dr. S. W. Williams for Chinese
proper names, and that of Klaproth for Mongolian names, where these could be
found on his great map of Central Asia, but in many instances they are written from
the pronunciation of the Tartar guides. In giving Japanese and Aino names I have
followed very closely the Japanese spelling.
For assistance in preparing the present work I am indebted to Dr. J. S. Newberry
for undertaking the description of the fossil plants, and to Mr. Arthur Mead Edwards
for the examination of infusorial earths, etc., under the microscope, and to Prof. G.
J. Brush and Mr. James A. Macdonald for analyses of coals.
A considerable amount of valuable material consisting mainly of Paleozoic, Tertiary, and Post-tertiary shells, and of rocks, has not yet been worked up.
I would return thanks to Prof. J. D. Whitney both for many valuable hints, and
for the use of his excellent library.
I am deeply indebted to Dr. W. Lockhart, Mr. C. Murray, and Dr. S. W.
Williams, and Rev. Mr. Edkins, of Peking, for valuable assistance in making researches in Chinese geographical literature.
The diagrams in the text, and the plates, I. to VIII., at thoe end, are executed in
copper relief engraving by Messrs. E. R. Jewett & Co. of Buffalo; plate IX. is cut
in wood by Mr. C. Murry, of New York.
R. P.
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 1866.