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Reprinted from The Scottish Oeographtcal Magazine for August 1896. 
 
 THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA: ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 By Rev. W. Campbell, F.R.G.S., of Tainanfu. 
 
 {With a Map.) 
 
 About twelve months ago, the island of Formosa formed the nineteenth 
 and only insular province of China ; but, soon after, it came under 
 control of its own republican government, while to-day it ranks as an 
 integral part of the Empire of Japan. Even from the geographical 
 standpoint rapid changes of this kind carry with them a good deal of 
 interest, but when one thinks of the effect throughout China and else- 
 where of those further changes which the Japanese have already 
 commenced in their newly-acquired territory, it will be felt that no 
 apology is needed for submitting the following brief remarks on this 
 important and very productive island. 
 
 Roughly speaking, it stands about a hundred miles out from the Chinese 
 mainland, the south-eastern part of the channel being occupied by the 
 small Pescadores group, which formerly made up a Ting or sub-prefecture 
 of Formosa. A careful calculation from the latest Admiralty chart 
 makes out the area of the island to be 14,982 miles, its length from north 
 to south 245 miles, and its greatest width 80 miles, the whole extent 
 being thus larger than Holland, and about one-half the size of Scotland. 
 
 It is now well known that the eastern side of Formosa is very 
 mountainous, that its long bisecting middle range attains a height of 
 nearly 13,000 feet, and that several spurs away to the north-east form 
 the steepest sea-cliffs in the world. Those lofty masses, rising some 7000 
 feet sheer from the water’s edge, and wooded to the summit, present a 
 sight which the beholder will probably never be able to forget. 
 
 The great drawback to Formosa is the want of good harbour accom- 
 modation, and the fact of its rivers and streams being navigable only to a 
 
2 
 
 THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA: 
 
 very limited extent. With the exception of the small inlets at Saw-o 
 and Black-rock Bay — which are suitable only for junks and incapable of 
 extension — the entire line of the east coast is rock-bound, shelterless, and 
 impracticable. Kelang harbour, to the north-east, no doubt possesses 
 good depth of water and is open at all tides, but it, also, is too narrow, 
 and too much exposed during the winter monsoons, to be a considerable 
 centre of trade. A somewhat similar remark applies to the north-western 
 port of Tamsui, as that is the mere estuary of an insignificant river, 
 with a shifting troublesome bar which ocean-going steamers do not 
 attempt to cross. 
 
 With all its disadvantages, the lagoon at Takow on the south-west 
 coast is likely to become the headquarters of the import and export trade 
 of Formosa. Its complete shelter, and good holding-ground in a part of 
 the world where 'coral reefs abound, are important ; while the very easy 
 process of widening the entrance, and dredging out several sandbanks 
 within, would secure an enormous extent of shipping accommodation. 
 Consul Hurst’s recently issued Eeport remarks on this subject as 
 follows : — “ A natural ‘ lagoon ’ exists at Takow, about seven miles long, 
 by an average breadth of half a mile, and divided from the sea by a 
 narrow ‘ spit ’ of coral throughout its whole length. The dredging of 
 this lagoon and its conversion into a splendid harbour would be a 
 simple and not very costly operation ; but the Government have not 
 yet been induced to take any steps in this direction, beyond ordering a 
 preliminary survey some five years ago.” It ought, however, to be 
 added here, that any lack of harbour- room in Formosa is amply provided 
 for at the Pescadores. Steamers reach the safe and spacious anchorages 
 among those islands in about four hours from the port of Anpeng, and 
 the recent victors knew well what they were about when insisting that 
 the Pescadores also should be ceded to Japan. 
 
 One other remark under this head is, that the only fresh-water lake 
 of any size in Formosa lies among the high mountain ranges some three 
 days’ journey south-east from the city of Chiang-hoa. The first European 
 visit was paid to it twenty-three years ago by the writer of these notes, 
 who named it Lake Candidius, in memory of that Dutch pastor who 
 began Protestant missionary work in the island, about 1624. Regarding 
 the river system, it should be remarked that, according to the geological 
 formation of the island, most of the streams on its western side flow 
 from the eastern mountain region across the plains, without much wind- 
 ing to the north or south, on their way to the sea. Of course the rainy 
 season brings down great volumes of water, which oftentimes rush with 
 so much force as to be quite impassable by boat or catamaran. That 
 considerable river which debouches at the market-town of Tang-kang in 
 the south has a direction more from north to south than any of the 
 others, its general course being down through several valleys near Lau- 
 long and La-ku-li, and farther on, till it flows out into the more level 
 country of the Hong-soa county. As a matter of fact, large quantities of 
 rice, sugar, camphor, rattan, charcoal and other products are brought to 
 market over the streams and rivers of Formosa by means of very long 
 bamboo rafts. These rafts draw only a few inches of water, and admit of 
 
ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 3 
 
 great loads being placed upon them. It may be added here that the 
 ■general lie of the land both to the north and south of the -western plain 
 region is such that much use may be made of the streams in Formosa for 
 purposes of irrigation ; and were more effort made for storing up water 
 near the base of the mountains, and thence distributing it over the level 
 fields of the west, the result could not fail to be a satisfactory one. 
 Several such undertakings have already proved both easy of accomplish- 
 ment and highly remunerative to the originators. 
 
 There is nothing very special to remark about the climate of Formosa. 
 From October till Mai’ch the weather is mild, often bracing, with 
 occasional showers in the north, but very few throughout the southern 
 regions. The highest temperature and the heaviest rainfall are to be 
 met with between June and September, although even then the 
 thermometer seldom registers more than ninety degrees in the shade. 
 Severe storms sometimes occur during midsummer, but those terrible 
 typhoons which start in the China sea and travel northward, usually 
 slant off at South Cape to drive with full force across the low-lying 
 Pescadores, or over the islands of Botel Tobago and Samasana to the 
 east of Formosa. There are no active volcanoes in the island, and only 
 slight earthquakes are of frequent occurrence, especially in the neighbour- 
 hood of Tamsui and Kelang. 
 
 It is safe to say that Formosa is an exceedingly rich island, because 
 the alluvial plains of the west, far stretching and well watered, offer 
 simply illimitable opportunities for raising sugar-cane, rice, sweet 
 potatoes, ground-nuts, indigo, ginger, turmeric, and suchlike. Moreover, 
 its present fruit production is sufficient to show what abundant increase 
 would follow the introduction of any kind of general and systematic 
 method of cultivation. Large beautiful pine-apples can be had almost 
 for the lifting, and probably not a more palatable and wholesome fruit 
 could be found anywhere than the Sai-le loose-skinned oranges, or those 
 juicy and delicious \iii\e pumelos from Bantan. During 1894 twenty-one 
 million pounds of tea, and over forty thousand hundredweights of 
 camphor, were shipped from Formosa. It has been ascertained that rich 
 coalfields exist, not only in the north — where they have long been 
 worked in European style — but in the A-li-kang region, twelve days’ 
 journey farther south. The petroleum wells at Toa-kho-ham, and the 
 sulphur deposits near Tamsui, could also be turned to great account ; 
 while it was owing to the recent war that negotiations were broken off 
 between the Government of Formosa and the representatives of a Chinese 
 syndicate for conceding exclusive right to work the gold mines in the 
 island. In short, the wealth of this still undeveloped country may be 
 seen on considering that, during 1893, trade to the value of four and 
 a half million pounds sterling passed through the ten or twelve European 
 houses doing business there. 
 
 Within the limits of this paper it is not possible to make anything 
 like a detailed statement regarding the history of the island. Traders 
 from the opposite mainland began to visit it about the middle of the 
 fifteenth century. On nearing it, the sight presented was a wide level 
 shore with lofty mountains rising range upon range into the interior, and 
 
4 
 
 THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA : 
 
 this suggested to them the Chinese name which it still bears, that of 
 Tai-wan or Terrace-beach. It was the same sight a hundred years later 
 which led some Portuguese adventurers to shout out, Ilha Formosa ! 
 Beautiful Isle ! another descriptive name which has now become current 
 all over the world. At this early time, the island was found thickly 
 peopled by an aboriginal race, or rather a collection of non-Mongolian 
 tribes widely differing from each other in their appearance, language, and 
 customs. Of course no strictly accurate account of those tribes can be 
 looked for in the notices of this period, and one has surely some right to 
 complain of the extent to which theorising is carried by writers like the 
 late Professor Delacouperie, who, from such meagre data, say all sorts 
 of things about the dwarfs, the black giants, and even the tailed men of 
 Formosa. 
 
 Like a great many other good things, our earliest knowledge of the 
 island comes to us from the Dutch. Wishing to share with the Spaniards 
 and Portuguese in the lucrative trade of the Far East, their East India 
 Company effected a settlement on the Pescadores in 1622, but the 
 resident and provincial Chinese authorities strongly objected to this, and 
 did not cease their opposition till the new-comers removed to the little- 
 known, but much larger, island of Formosa. Dutch rule lasted there 
 from 1624 till 1661, and during those thirty-seven years small military 
 establishments were set up, and authority exercised from Long-kiau in the 
 south up along the western sea-board, and on as far as what is now the 
 north-east county of Gi-lan. Civil affairs were administered by a Dutch 
 Governor with the members of his Council, who had all to report to 
 colonial headquarters at Batavia ; and one interesting feature of their 
 work was, that not only were efforts made for the furtherance of trade, 
 but also for bringing the natives of the island to the knowledge and 
 obedience of the Christian faith. No fewer than thirty-seven ordained 
 pastors came from the home land to engage in this latter service ; who, 
 besides attending to their more official duties, superintended the labours 
 of the Dutch schoolmasters, and reduced at least three of the aboriginal 
 dialects to a written form. 
 
 Indeed, the very success of the colony began to awaken the envy 
 and covetousness of people living under less favoured conditions. 
 China was then passing through that epoch-making crisis which resulted 
 in the overthrow of the Ming, and the usurpation of the present Manchu- 
 Tartar, dynasty ; so that the unsettled times led many of the Fokien 
 Chinese to cross the channel and try their fortune under the rule of those 
 western barbarians, of whose influence and generosity they had been 
 hearing so much. True, the Formosans were represented to be a warlike 
 race, but it was believed that sharp-witted refugees like themselves would 
 be sure to hold their own against people who were still looked upon as 
 mere savages. 
 
 All this, however, was but the beginning of trouble to the thriving 
 little colony at Taiwan, for that great Chinese patriot or pirate, the 
 chieftain Koxinga, came himself to be so hardly pressed by the invading 
 Manchus that he, too, began to think of Formosa as a place of rallying, 
 not of probable possession. His first move was to send over repeated 
 
ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 5 
 
 messages from the Pescadores with the view of fixing a quarrel on the 
 Dutch ; but all pretence was set aside when he placed himself at the head 
 of an immense flotilla of war-junks, both sea-worthy and well-provisioned, 
 as well as manned by thousands of daring outlaws, who thought less of 
 the fight than of the idleness and plenty they hoped to find in this 
 newly-discovered retreat. 
 
 Meanwhile, Governor Coyett was shut up in anxious consultation 
 with his councillors at Fort Zeelandia. Frequent were the warnings and 
 earnest the appeals they had sent to Batavia ; but other influences were 
 at work among the higher officials there, so that reinforcements which 
 ought to have come never reached Formosa, thus compelling the com- 
 paratively small garrison to find shelter within the castle walls, in which 
 position both soldiers and officials were found when Koxinga appeared to 
 demand their unconditional submission. 
 
 The sturdy Hollanders held out for nine long weary months, during 
 which time they made several damaging attacks on the enemy ; who, 
 however, retaliated by perpetrating the most shocking cruelties on such 
 Dutch people as were scattered throughout the island, their very clergy- 
 men being tortured to death, either by impalement or by crucifixion. 
 Contemporary records unite in singling out the case of Eev. Antonius 
 Hambroek, who was sent by Koxinga into the castle, under a flag of 
 truce, to propose terms of surrender, and told to back these up with 
 threats of most terrible vengeance. Mr. Hambroek was forced to leave 
 his wife and two children (one of them described as a sweet and comely 
 maiden of eighteen) in the invader’s camp as pledges, which sufficiently 
 proved that any failure of his undertaking would be a most ominous 
 signal for those poor defenceless ones. And yet, this noble man was so 
 far from persuading the garrison to surrender, that he encouraged them, 
 to continue the defence by hopes of relief, assuring them that Koxinga 
 had lost some of his best ships and soldiers, and began to be weary of 
 the siege. When his speech was ended, the Council left it to his own 
 choice either to stay with them or return to the camp, where he could 
 expect nothing but instant death. He had also two daughters within 
 the Castle, who hung upon his neck, overwhelmed with grief and tears 
 to see their father decided to go where he knew he must be sacrificed by 
 the merciless foe. 
 
 But he reminded them that having left his wife and his other two 
 childi’en as hostages, death Avould be their certain fate if he returned 
 not ; so, unlocking himself from his daughters’ arms, he exhorted them 
 all to a resolute defence, and cheerily said as he left the castle gate, that 
 God might yet make use of him in bringing deliverance to his poor 
 f ellow-prisoners. 
 
 Koxinga received his answer sternly, and without further delay issued 
 an order for the massacre of all Dutch captives, and of every native who 
 persisted in the profession of Christianity ; Hambroek himself was put 
 to death by decapitation, and the before-mentioned daughter compelled to 
 become a member of his murderer’s harem. 
 
 At length, Avorn out Avith disappointment, fatigue, and famine, the 
 little garrison was compelled to surrender, all the public property falling 
 
6 
 
 THE ISLAND OF FORBIOSA : 
 
 into the hands of the enemy, and the brave but heavy-hearted defenders 
 being allowed to depart in their only remaining ship. 
 
 Strong feeling was shown by the home authorities over the loss of 
 so rich a colony ; and, therefore, on arriving in Batavia poor Coyett was 
 arrested, and a long trial afterwards ended in his being banished to the 
 desolate island of Pulo Ay. A vindication ought yet to be made of the 
 character of this noble but deeply-wronged man. As for Koxinga, he 
 died a miserable death after having been king of Formosa for little more 
 than twelve months. 
 
 Ching-keng-mai succeeded his father on the throne, and reigned for 
 about twelve years, but was often in trouble through his trading ships 
 being attacked by subjects of the now dominant Manchu ruler of China. 
 It was in the hope of fortifying himself against this enemy that royal 
 circular letters were sent out to European merchants frequenting those 
 seas, in which tempting facilities were held out if they would only come 
 and open warehouses in the neighbourhood of Taiwan. 
 
 Such an offer from Ching-keng-mai would be scarcely worth referring 
 to here, were it not that the only response to it was made from a very 
 unexpected quarter. It certainly is not generally known that during 
 the latter half of the seventeenth century, the English East India Com- 
 pany had one of their factories on Formosa for a number of years ; but 
 there can be no doubt about the matter, because the old yellow documents 
 which were courteously produced for my inspection at the India Office a 
 month ago, abundantly prove it. One of these letters is dated 1670, and 
 is addressed to the King of Tywan, its opening sentences running thus : 
 — “ Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, 
 and Ireland ; liaving most graciously licensed severall of his Merchants 
 to trade into all the habitable partes of the World, amongst whom Sir 
 Wm. Thompson, with some other Merchants, are, by the said most 
 gracious King, authorized Governors of the Merchants to trade into 
 these Eastern parts. Now for the directing and overseeing their Affaires 
 at Bantam and partes adjacent, they have ajipointed mee (Henry Dacres), 
 Agent. The said Henry Dacres, therefore, on behalf of the said Sir 
 Wm. Thompson, Governor, sends greeteing unto your most Excellent 
 Majesty ; and having seen your most gracious Letter directed to all 
 Merchants in Generali, inviting them to trade into the partes under your 
 Majestie’s Jurisdictions, has, without delay, sent this small Ship and 
 Sloope with Mr. Ellis Crispe, Cap*., to acquaint us with the Merchandize 
 desireable to bee Imported, and of Merchandize proper for us to Exporte, 
 and when wee shall bee acquainted therewith by him, and have the per- 
 mission of Friendship and Affection of your Majesty (which wee moste 
 humbly desire) wee shall requeste the said Sir Wm. Thompson’s leave to 
 solicite your Majesty ; and because we would have your Majesty know 
 that wee are Englishmen, and a distinct Nation from Hollanders (some 
 people of which Nation about ten years since were driven out of your 
 Land by his Majesty your Renowned Father), we have sent on this our 
 Shipp Cap*. Sooke, with eight other Chinamen, who have for long time 
 traded and been acquainted with us and our Nation.” There follows a 
 long table of conditions for the settlement of the factory, while subse- 
 
ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 7 
 
 quent letters report concerning the reception of the supercargo, and of a 
 very favourable commencement having been made. It would appear, 
 however, that the king’s desire to benefit himself out of this trade soon 
 gave rise to a great amount of friction, and led ultimately to the 
 following peremptory mandate from the Court of Directors to their 
 representatives at Bantam, the date of it being 28th Feb. 1682 : — “As 
 to the Trade of Tywan, we hereby expressly require you, that if you 
 have made no better earnings of it before this comes to your hands, you 
 do order our Factors to desert the Place, and bring off what they can 
 with them. To which purpose we have written a menacing Letter to 
 the King, and probably may send a Ship to be with you in March or 
 April next, to go down to Tywan to fetch off our Servants ; and after 
 that to use some forcible means for our satisfaction of the debt he owes 
 us.” The “ satisfaction ” was obtained, with interest. 
 
 At this stage it remains only to add that Koxinga’s grandson was 
 very young when he succeeded his father in the government of F ormosa, 
 and that his officers found it increasingly difficult to maintain their 
 independence alongside the growing success of the great Manchu 
 authority. Accordingly, the young Prince ended the trouble by tender- 
 ing his submission in 1683, thus bringing Formosa under direct control 
 of the Emperor at Peking. 
 
 And now begins a long period in the history of the island during 
 which it emerges only now and then in such a way as to attract the 
 notice of Western nations. On the cessation of its own monarchical 
 government, it and the Pescadores were joined on as a prefecture to the 
 opposite Province of Fokien, the insular officers — both civil and mili- 
 tary — having all to report to their departmental superiors at Foochow. 
 For administrative purposes, that portion of the western region occupied 
 by the now numerous Chinese was made up of what might be called 
 the Metropolitan County of Terrace-beach — where Tainanfu now 
 stands — the County of Phoenix-Hill or Hong-soa immediately to the 
 south of it, and Varigated-Net-Hill or Tsu-lo-san adjoining it on the 
 north. It may be remarked in passing that this Tsu-lo-san is a mere 
 Sinicised form of the old native Tilosen ; and that, on the occasion of a 
 civil outbreak there, when most of the people remained faithful to the 
 Imperial cause, the Emperor graciously changed the name to the one of 
 our present-day maps — that of Kagi or Established Righteousness. 
 
 Within the limit, then, of those three counties, the population was 
 divisible into two great classes : (1.) The Chinese themselves, by far the 
 bulk of them being immigrants or the descendants of immigrants from 
 the Chin-chew and Chang-chew regions of the Fokien Province ; (2.) Those 
 agricultural aborigines, who rendered a general allegiance to the Chinese, 
 conformed to many of their customs, and knew more or less of their lan- 
 guage, but who lived somewhat independently in small townships or 
 hamlets of their own. 
 
 There was very little intercourse between this population and the 
 unsubdued tribes who inhabited the remoter parts of the island ; certainly 
 much less than existed between those tribes and the earlier new-comers 
 from Holland. The Chinese did not dare to venture amongst them. 
 
THE ISLAND OP FORMOSA: 
 
 because long years of oppression and trickery on their part had quite 
 appropriated that western region where the native was wont to hunt and 
 to fish, and where many of his little villages nestled in comfort and 
 security ; whereas, although sometimes acting towards them in a very 
 iiigh-handed way, the Dutch had come to adjust inter-tribal quarrels, to 
 act fairly, and to prove an unspeakable blessing to the aborigines of 
 Formosa. 
 
 The Chinese-Formosan annals of this time, and for long after, contain 
 much that is very dry reading, being chiefly made up of vague topo- 
 graphical details, with an account of ofiicial appointments, clan fights, 
 rebellions, and disasters ; to which is added any number of wonderful 
 stories about the inhabitants and productions of the island. 
 
 A valuable monograph has come down to us from one of the Jesuit 
 Fathers, who spent some time in Formosa during the first half of last 
 century. De Mailla writes in a sober and very interesting way about 
 what he saw, and cordially testifies to the traces of Christianity which 
 survived from the period of the Dutch occupation. On this subject he 
 says : — “ Before leaving Amoy, we had been informed that there were 
 Christians in Formosa. Accordingly, we made inquiries, and certainly 
 there are none among the Chinese ; but there are traces as if Christianity 
 had been known among the aboriginals from the time when the Dutch 
 were in possession. We met several who were able to speak the Dutch 
 language, who read Dutch books, and who, in writing, used Roman 
 letters. We even found among them fragments of our five books 
 (probably the Pentateuch) in Dutch. Those natives worship no idols 
 as the Chinese do, and have a horror of anything approaching to such an 
 act; and yet they perform no religious rites, nor recite any prayers. 
 We spoke to several who acknowledged a God, Creator of heaven and 
 earth — a God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They told 
 us that the first man was called Adam, and the first woman Eve ; that 
 these, having disobeyed God, had drawn forth the divine anger upon 
 themselves and all their posterity, and that it ivas necessary to have 
 recourse to baptism to efiface this stain ; of which rite, too, the very 
 formula is remembered to this day.” 
 
 Coming down to more recent times, we find that certain events which 
 took place in Formosa during 1842 attracted the notice of many 
 Europeans at home and abroad. The first Anglo-Chinese war had just 
 been closed by the Treaty of Nanking, when two British ships were 
 driven, by stress of weather, on to the north-west coast of the island, the 
 wretched persons who came ashore being brought to await instructions 
 irom the lociil Chinese officials. After consultation, those civil and 
 military underlings concluded that the opportunity was a very favourable 
 one for enriching themselves and obtaining substantial promotion in their 
 respective services. They commenced proceedings with a wholesale 
 plundering of the two ships, and by inflicting as heavy fines as possible 
 uu any private individuals who had been found looting on their own 
 behalf. Those miserable sailors and passengers who escaped the dangers 
 of the sea were then marched down the island to Tainanfu, were most 
 scandalously treated during four months of imprisonment there, and were 
 
ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 9 
 
 at last led out beyond the Great North Gate of the city, where they 
 suffered decapitation to the number of one hundred and ninety-seven. 
 
 The report sent up to Peking quite ignored the cessation of the war 
 with Britain, represented that two of the enemy’s battleships had 
 attempted to land troops on Formosa, but that during a severe engage- 
 ment the Imperialists proved equal to the occasion, attacking and 
 vanquishing the foreign barbarians with great loss of life. Trophies of 
 war were also forwarded in the shape of articles which had been stolen 
 from the two ships, while marks of the Imperial favour were besought 
 for those who had conspicuously distinguished themselves in securing this 
 most glorious victory. 
 
 Of course, there was a terrible outburst of feeling amongst Europeans 
 in China when the real facts of the case came to light. Some would 
 have at once proceeded to overthrow the dynasty, and few dissented from 
 the proposal that the services of the still present squadron should be 
 made use of ; but wiser counsels prevailed in the end, for in the face of 
 a profound expression of regret from Peking, the condign punishment of 
 many Formosan officials, and the peace which had only recently been 
 proclaimed, it was felt that this question was one we could not well take 
 out from the region of diplomatic treatment. 
 
 An incident of much greater fatefulness to the island took place 
 during the autumn of 1860. Once again there is war between Great 
 Britain and China, and this time hostilities are terminated by the pro- 
 visions of the Treaty of Tientsin. It is in accordance with Articles 8 
 and 11 of this Treaty that two ports in Formosa are declared open to 
 foreign trade, and British subjects professing or teaching the Christian 
 religion are free to go anywhere beyond, if supplied with passports 
 counter-stamped by the local officials. 
 
 The result was that Consular offices were speedily opened at Takow 
 and Tamsui, sub-offices being also provided at Tainanfu and Kelang. 
 Before long, too, European warehouses and bungalows were established 
 there, with accommodation for the European officers who were to 
 administer the Customs Service. To meet the religious wants of the 
 people, a Dominican Mission had already been at work for a few years, 
 but in 1865 the English Presbyterian Mission broke ground at Tainanfu, 
 to be followed seven years later by the only other Protestant Mission in 
 the island, that at Tamsui from the Canadian Presbyterian Church. 
 
 These various concessions furnish conclusive evidence of the progress 
 which had been made since the time when only a part of western Formosa 
 was included in the Chinese Empire. The very fact that they were 
 possible in a land then so much overrun by savages, shows that the 
 Chinese population must have steadily increased, and is a testimony to 
 their possession of at least some qualities which cannot be undervalued. 
 No doubt instances did occur where the aborigines adapted themselves 
 to the new order of things ; but, generally speaking, how was it possible 
 that such tribes could increase and thrive in daily touch with a shrewd, 
 industrious, and plodding race like the Chinese 1 
 
 What threatened to be a very serious interruption to the later pro- 
 sperity of Formosa took place towards the close of 1874. About two 
 
10 
 
 THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA: 
 
 years previous to that, a boat, from the Loochooan part of Japan, was 
 wrecked on the east side of the island, and its crew murdered by the 
 Bau-tan savages there. Soon after, the Japanese authorities presented a 
 claim for compensation against the Government of China, but it was met 
 in a very evasive way, and the interchange of several plainly-worded 
 despatches was followed up with a curt intimation from China, that she 
 refused to be held responsible for the action of savages inhabiting an 
 extra-territorial region like the east of Formosa. 
 
 The response called forth was a sufficiently startling one; for the 
 people of Japan itself were ignorant regarding the destination of a certain 
 warlike expedition which left their countiy under sealed orders about 
 this time. In a word, Japan accepted the ultimatum from Peking, caused 
 the mysterious expedition to be landed on South Formosa, and very soon 
 succeeded in chastising those whose cruel treatment of shipwrecked people 
 had become a byword. 
 
 Hereupon, however, China entirely changed front, and made loud 
 complaints of what was described as sending military forces into the 
 territory of a friendly Power. All right, said the Japanese, the forces 
 will be at once withdrawn when China acknowledges her responsibility, 
 and meets the expenses of sending them to Formosa; which concessions 
 were ultimately obtained only through mediation of Sir Thomas Wade, 
 the British Minister at Peking. The incident must have cost China 
 millions of monej^, for everywhere along the coast preparations were 
 made as if war with Japan was all but certain. 
 
 One outcome of these proceedings was the desire shown by the 
 Chinese Government to adopt measures for a more thorough develop- 
 ment and defence of the island of Formosa than had ever been contem- 
 plated ; and, accordingly, instructions were issued to Tang Tih-chiang, 
 Governor of the Fokien Province, an officer who was known to be as just 
 and capable as he was free from the superstition and hide-bound con- 
 servatism of his class. 
 
 No wonder, then, that under this administration, and especially 
 during His Excellency’s repeated visits to Formosa, a great amount of 
 progress was made, and many more reforms decided upon. For example, 
 roads were opened across the island, several of the aboriginal tribes 
 subdued or pacified, coal-mining undertaken, telegraphs and railways 
 introduced, and Formosa raised to the rank of a separate province of the 
 Empii’e. Indeed, had his life been prolonged and Imperial help been 
 forthcoming, there is some likelihood that this island might still have 
 remained a rich Chinese possession, and a strong defence against any 
 hostile foreign fleet. 
 
 The next occasion on which Formosa emerged from obscurity was 
 during the Franco-Chinese war, twelve years ago. Many stirring events 
 took place then, including the bombardment of Kelang and Tamsui, with 
 that strict blockade which French men-of-war kept over the island for a 
 period of nearly six months. A very outstanding figure all through the 
 struggle was Liu Ming-Chuan, who directed the operations against the 
 French, and who afterwards became the first Chinese Governor of 
 Formosa. 
 
ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 11 
 
 Whatever effect this war had elsewhere, it left China with one more 
 opportunity for acting in a generous and enlightened way while legislating 
 for Formosa. And it cannot be denied that the Governor’s forward 
 policy did receive a certain amount of encouragement ; but the man was 
 evidently far in advance of those puissant old reactionaries who control 
 everything at Peking. They ought to have abundantly backed up their 
 really capable representative, and who knows but Formosa might have 
 been acknowledging his authority to-day 1 
 
 It was under Liu Ming-Chuan in 1885 that that fresh and all-inclusive 
 division of territory took place which still holds good. According to 
 this scheme, the whole of Formosa and the Pescadores are made up of 
 four prefectures ; these, again, being subdivided into eleven counties or 
 districts and five sub-prefectures, two of the latter including all the 
 eastern side of the island, and one of them the whole of the Pescadores 
 group. Their native names are as follows : — 
 
 1 . The northern prefecture of Tai-pak, made up of the three counties 
 of Sin-tek, Tam-sui, and Gi-lan ; with the sub-prefecture of Ke-lang. 
 
 2. The middle-western prefecture of Tai-WAN, made up of the four 
 counties of Hun-lim, Tai-wan, Chiang-hoa, and Biau-lek ; with the more 
 eastern sub-prefecture of Paw-li. 
 
 3. The south-western prefecture of Tai-nan, made up of the four 
 counties of Heng-chun, Hong-soa, An-peng, and Ka-gi ; with the sub- 
 prefecture of Phe-aw (the Pescadores). 
 
 4. The eastern prefecture of Tai-tang, made up of the two sub- 
 prefectures of Pi-lam and Hoe-leng-Kang, with headquarters at the middle- 
 eastern centre called Tsui-boe. 
 
 If it be objected that this distribution must have embraced a large 
 extent of country occupied by independent non-Chinese tribes, the reply 
 is that Liu Ming-Chuan did everything in his power to make it a reality 
 and not a mere name ; for his efforts were unceasing to bring those head- 
 hunting savages within the restraint and protection of the common law. 
 Nor was he satisfied with simply issuing orders for the accomplishment 
 of this ; for, on at least one occasion, the writer of these notes was an 
 eye-witness of the Governor’s self-denial and pluck in directing operations 
 against savages whose ceaseless midnight attacks had depopulated one 
 of the inland valleys. At that time the Governor had for months been 
 living this life of hardship, and next year the Peking Gazette was able to 
 report that 478 villages, containing an aggregate population of 88,000 
 aborigines, had already given in their allegiance. It should be added 
 that by far the majority of these made voluntary submission, severe 
 measures being resorted to when all other expedients had failed ; for the 
 Governor was determined that, no matter what might be done or left 
 undone during his term of office, the hurtful and most scandalous practice 
 of head-hunting should be completely stamped out. 
 
 Another matter which had much attention given to it under this 
 administration was that of providing Formosa with railways. The pro- 
 posal was to have one main line all down the west side of the island, 
 adding on branches as they came to be called for, and there was 
 no interruption till all the surveying part of the work had been 
 
12 
 
 THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA: 
 
 finished. Eaising of the necessary capital caused some delay, but rail- 
 ways in Formosa are now an accomplished fact. 
 
 The general terminus of the two lines, which have been working 
 during the past five or six years, is in the town of Twa-tiu-tia, a short 
 distance up the Tamsui river. One of the lines crosses the country for 
 about twenty miles over to Kelang, while the other comes down the 
 island for forty-four miles to the county town of Sin-tek. Of course, it is 
 beyond all question that the completion of this work would be a very 
 great boon to every one. 
 
 And now, it is quite time to say a few words about still more recent 
 and more sweeping changes than any that have been yet referred to. 
 I happened myself to be travelling through Japan when that culminating 
 point in the war was reached — the fall of Port Arthur. The appearance 
 of the lounging, well-fed Chinese prisoners who were then at Osaka was 
 noticeable, and those regiments of tight little fellows who were in march- 
 ing order for the field of action seemed fit for anything. There could be 
 no doubt as to what was coming, for every one believed that the proud, 
 unwieldy, and traditional foe of the country would soon be suing for 
 peace at any price. 
 
 At that time it was surely an insult to Japan, and the very height 
 of folly, for the Chinese to take the initiative in this direction by sending 
 over Mr. Detring, a foreigner in their employ, to try and arrange matters 
 with the Eh-laiu, or dwarf slaves, as the Japanese are often called in 
 China. The officials at Hyogo wouldn’t speak to him, but simply gave 
 orders that he should be shadowed by policemen till he left the place. 
 Nor was the next commission much more successful. It was made up of 
 several high-class mandarins — including the Governor of Formosa — 
 but no proper credentials had been given them, and negotiations were 
 not even entered upon. The third attempt was made by the mighty Li 
 Hung-Chang himself, whose full powers at once led to the Treaty of 
 Shimonoseki, according to which peace was restored by China consent- 
 ing to pay a war indemnity of thirty-five million pounds sterling, and 
 ceding to Japan the southern half of the Liau-tung jieninsula, with the 
 island of Formosa and all its dependencies. 
 
 There is reason to think that the proposal to occupy Liau-tung was a 
 piece of mere diplomacy on the jiart of the Japanese; because, so far as 
 natural resources are concerned, the place is useless, while huge warlike 
 establishments would have been necessary to retain it. It was otherwise 
 with Formosa, for that is a country rich in coal and agriculture, one 
 which completes the line of islands reaching up so easily through Majico- 
 sima and the Loochoos to Japan itself ; and one, especially, whose occupa- 
 tion had long been a cherished aim of the subjects of the Mikado. 
 Wishing, therefore, to make sure of the island, an additional demand was 
 made, about which discussion was certain to take place; and so Japan 
 gave up the Liau-tung peninsula on the European Powers guaranteeing 
 an additional seven and a half million pounds of indemnity, no objection 
 at all being made to the cession of Formosa. The whole transaction may 
 become more intelligible to us on remembering that the Oriental mind is 
 very fond of Avorking in curves, its method of obtaining any desired 
 object being to say a great deal about something else. 
 
ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 13 
 
 The Treaty of Sliimonoseki was signed on 17th April of last year, but 
 three weeks previous to that the Pescadores had already been bom- 
 barded and taken possession of, and it is at this point the Japanese were 
 much blamed for their long delay in carrying out those clauses of it which 
 refer to Formosa. Chinese rule in the island quite ceased on its being 
 formally handed over to the Japanese at the end of May, but it was 
 months after that before anything was seen of the new authority 
 throughout the region south of Chiang-hoa, and it is easy to understand 
 how this position of things should have given rise to an amount of law- 
 lessness which brought suffering and death to many a home. 
 
 No doubt local order of a kind was maintained through the establish- 
 ment of a short-lived republic in the walled city of Tainanfu, the 
 capital of the island ; where, it may be added, the English Presby- 
 terian Mission has its headquarters, the few missionaries being the only 
 Europeans resident there. This effort at self-government was chiefly due 
 to thousands of soldiers belonging to the Black Flag division of the 
 Chinese army, who had been sent over here during the earlier stages of 
 the war. They conferred with some of the leading citizens, and both agreed 
 that the Brigadier-General Liu Yung-fu should be proclaimed president 
 of a republic, and that all should unite in doing whatever they could to 
 thwart and drive away the invaders of their land. 
 
 As might have been expected, however, the whole movement igno- 
 miniously collapsed when the Japanese army halted within a day’s 
 march of the city to prepare for the attack. Many of the Black Flags 
 ran off to the hill region, while Liu Yung-fu saved himself by escaping in 
 the disguise of a woman carrying a baby. 
 
 After this, the four great gates were closed, and an ominous silence 
 brooded over the city, people going about carefully as if walking on the 
 thin crust of a volcano. There seemed no way to avert the approaching 
 doom, for the Japanese soldiers were irritated at having to fight every 
 inch of their way over this newly ceded territory, and every one knew 
 that terrible reprisals would be made in the place where the Black Flags 
 had entrenched themselves. 
 
 It was on the Saturday afternoon of the President’s flight, that a 
 deputation of leading inhabitants sought out the missionaries and pleaded 
 with them, for God’s sake, to go and bring the Japanese into the city in 
 peace. The undertaking was anything but free from risk, because it was 
 difficult to ascertain how far this request indicated the general wish of 
 the people, and native Christians in different parts of the island had been 
 cruelly murdered on a charge of being in collusion with the Japanese. 
 However, another and even more influential deputation came forward to 
 say that they would put their request in writing, so that any one might 
 see where the responsibility lay, and that this service was being rendered 
 by the missionaries at the people’s own urgent desire. 
 
 The sun was just setting when all the needful preparations were 
 made, but not an hour was to be lost, and therefore, taking the stamped 
 document with them, my two colleagues went out from the Great South 
 Gate on their errand of mercy. Nineteen unarmed Chinamen accom- 
 panied them, but they plodded along in silence. The stars were shining 
 
u 
 
 THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA : 
 
 brightly, and stillness reigned everywhere, till the party was suddenly 
 stopped by the ping of a rifle, and the loud challenge of a Japanese 
 sentry. Signals were made, but they were immediately surrounded and led 
 to the presence of the General, who consulted with his oSicers, and after- 
 wards told them of the acceptance of their invitation, and that the army 
 would begin to move before daybreak, having Mr. Barclay with the nine- 
 teen Chinamen in front, and Mr. Ferguson with several officers proceeding 
 somewhat in the rear. It was also plainly stated that, on the slightest 
 show of treachery or resistance, the soldiers would open fire, and the 
 whole city be burned to the ground. 
 
 The time occupied by that long march back again was, indeed, an 
 anxious one ; and as the missionaries drew near, and saw the city closed, 
 their hearts sank within them lest some fatal interruption had taken 
 place. That sound, too, seemed something more than the mere barking 
 of dogs. Could it be possible that the roughs of the city had broken out 
 at last, and were now engaged in their fiendish work 1 They looked 
 behind, and saw only a wall of loaded rifles ; in front, but there was no 
 hopeful sign ; and the strain was becoming almost insupportable, when 
 the great gates were swung wide open. Hundreds of gentry were seen 
 bowing themselves to the ground, and in a minute more the flag of the 
 Rising Sun was waving over the city. 
 
 It would be out of place to say much at present about the future of 
 Formosa under the altered condition of things, and only a few re- 
 marks are necessary on changes which have already taken place, and 
 others which are almost sure to follow. Among the former may be 
 noted — (1) that the Mandarinate has now left the island, bag and 
 baggage. Now, it is no part of our duty to speak evil of dignities, 
 or of anybody else, but twenty-five years’ observation leads to the con- 
 clusion that there are tremendous difficulties in the way of regarding 
 Chinese officialdom with anything like feelings of confidence and respect. 
 No doubt some members of the class are capable (from the native point 
 of view), unselfish, diligent, and really helpful to the people. Generally 
 speaking, however, this countless host, from the viceroy down to the 
 lowest ya??ien-runner, goes on the fundamentally pernicious principle that 
 the country was made for the miandarins, and not mandarins for the 
 country. (2) The influence of the so-called literary class is now gone for 
 ever in Formosa. These are the gentry who swear by Confucius and all 
 his opinions. They are held in high esteem, the ol ttoWol looking upon 
 them as dungeons of learning, and as very fortunate in being able to 
 make potsful of money at teaching and in every low kind of pettifogging. 
 About seventy per cent, of their learning is a mere fraud, and consists in 
 the power of memorising the classics and keeping close to the traditional 
 comments which have been made upon them. Their anti-foreign tenden- 
 cies are well known, and it would be difficult to find anywhere a prouder 
 or more narrow-minded and impracticable body of men. (3) The Japanese 
 authorities in Formosa issued a proclamation last February forbidding the 
 importation of opium, except for medicinal purposes. This action has not 
 attracted much attention, although it is a very significant one. The first 
 Chinese anti-opium edict appeared in 1729, having also been directed 
 
ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 15 
 
 against the use of the drug in Formosa, and ever since the island has had 
 an evil reputation in this respect. The importation during 1893 (the 
 last year unaffected by the war) was 5680 cwts., valued at £419,839. But 
 everything is to be changed now, for the Japanese say that the whole 
 thing must be stopped, and a clean sweep made of the opium. The pro- 
 clamation is very suggestive reading after the voluminous report of our 
 own late Royal Commission on this subject. 
 
 But it is unnecessary to make further enumeration of changes already 
 accomplished in Formosa, and as for those which are still to come, one 
 may forecast a little by considering, on the one hand, what Japan itself 
 now is ; and, on the other, the expressed determination of its rulers that 
 Formosa, body, soul, and spirit, must be made a part of their empire. 
 Connecting these two things, then, it goes for the saying that, before 
 long, good roads will be all over the island, that the railway will be 
 carried down from north to south, harbours opened, and a proper currency 
 introduced, with parliamentary representation, upright officials, skilled 
 native doctors, newspapers, and cessation of work every seventh day in 
 all Government offices. Of course, too, there will be things to vex the 
 soul of the European mercbant and the ardent Christian missionary, 
 but patience must be exercised, and great things still be expected from such 
 a people as the Japanese have proved themselves to be. The movements 
 of population under the new order of things will be interesting, and 
 be likely to appear in (a) the departure of many Chinese from Formosa : 
 (b) steady increase in the number of Japanese immigrants; and (c) in 
 the result of civilising influences brought to bear on all the non-Chinese- 
 speaking tribes. These and other matters make up a problem of first- 
 class importance, and one cannot but accompany Japan with gentle wishes 
 through this critical, yet very hopeful, period of her history. 
 
 Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty 
 at the Edinburgh University Press 
 
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