ALTHOUGH Formosa is easily accessible, and has been in the possession of the Japanese for more than seven years, it lies somewhat off the beaten track of tourists, and attracts little attention from the outside world. It is, however, the scene of that Power's first efforts at colonisation; and possibly a short account of what I saw and heard, during a short tour in the island last year, of the work that is being carried out by the Japanese may be of interest at the present time.

The island is about 235 miles long and 75 miles wide at its broadest part. A high axial range runs from north to south through the eastern half of the island, rising to a height of 12,850 feet at a peak called Mount Morrison about the centre of the island, and visible in clear weather from the China coast, some 100 miles to the west. To the east the hills fall off abruptly to the Pacific Ocean, terminating in cliffs as high as 5000 feet. To the west a broad expanse of fertile plain extends from the foot of the mountains to the waters of the Formosa channel.

The mountain districts are inhabited by a race of savages whose origin has never been satisfactorily determined. Some have a distinct resemblance to the Malay type, while others look as if they were of north

ern origin, and had migrated, at early times, from Japan or the Loochoo Islands. Philology, moreover, gives no clue as to their origin, for few words can be found in their various dialects connected, in any way, with the languages spoken in the Loochoo Islands or the Malay Peninsula. They are grouped into tribes, which in early times were generally at war with one another; and the wide differences in the languages spoken to this day show that intertribal intercourse must at all times have been infrequent. These savages of the hills are very antagonistic to the advances of civilisation. Like the Dyaks of Borneo, many of them are determined head-hunters; and this unpleasant practice, possessing as it does a partly religious significance, serves to foster that warlike spirit against which the rulers of the plains have hitherto so unsuccessfully contended. Their dress varies with the season. In hot weather it is scant, while in winter they wear cloth of their own weaving, made of two kinds of material, prepared from rhea and banana fibre, and ornamented with a red pattern, the red threads being picked out from the lastings of foreign blankets. As a race they are very moral and upright, and can always be relied upon to fulfil any pledges

they have given. Their hostility is chiefly directed against their would-be rulers; and they have been known to welcome with hospitality the visits of foreigners to their villages, and to provide for them the best sport that could be obtained. But with the prospector they will hold no intercourse, regarding him as the precursor of evils which would in the end reduce them to the level of common coolies under a foreign yoke. It certainly speaks well for their virility that to-day, after more than three hundred years of foreign occupation, they still control a large portion of the island, and are in a position successfully to resist the advances of a people so determined and well organised as the Japanese.

The population of the lower foothills and the plains comprises Pephowans, otherwise known as civilised savages, Hakkas, immigrants from the province of Kwang Tung in South China, and Hoklos from the province of Fokien, and Japanese. The civilised savages cannot as a rule be distinguished from the Chinese, whose national dress and coiffure they have adopted, though some few still bear the tattoo lines down the forehead, which are a distinctive feature of the savage tribesmen. The Hakkas are a hardy race, and live on the borders of the sav

age territory. They supply most of the workers for the camphor industry, and are the chief victims of the headhunters. The Hoklos comprise the large majority of the

the

Chinese population in island. They have a distinct and less manly type of countenance than the Hakkas; the women bind their feet, while in their general life and customs, and above all in the dirt and squalor of their surroundings, they differ little from the Chinese on the mainland.

Formosa has been occupied successively by Portuguese, Dutch, Spaniards, Chinese, French, and Japanese. The Portuguese, who were the pioneers of European trade in the East, founded in 1590 a settlement at Keelung, and gave to the island its present name of "Ihla Formosa (Beautiful Isle). The Dutch landed in 1624, and remained in possession until driven out by the Chinese in 1655. During their occupation the island flourished and trade increased. They succeeded, as no Powers have ever done, in establishing friendly relations with the savages: they built many forts, one of which at Tamsui serves to-day for the offices of the British Consulate at that port. The prosperity of the island also attracted the Spaniards who established themselves at Keelung in 1627. For some years they were allowed to remain undisturbed, but in 1642, after the garrison had been much reduced, they were expelled by the Dutch. The Dutch themselves were the next to suffer from a reduction of their fighting forces. In 1661, several of their ships having been withdrawn for the purpose of an attack on Macao, they were defeated by the Chinese pirate

chief Koxinga, who, calling upon their forces at Tamsui to surrender, said, "This island was the dominion of my father, and shall descend to none other but myself. Foreigners must go." Koxinga then proclaimed himself king, but he died in the following year. He was succeeded by his brother, a weak man, who, after intriguing with the Dutch, was finally dethroned by the Chinese in 1683.

For more than two hundred years Formosa now remained a portion of the Chinese Empire. In 1884, during the war with France, certain of the northern ports were occupied by the French troops, to be handed back on the conclusion of peace in June 1885. The island did not thrive under Chinese rule. Under an energetic governor indications of prosperity would appear to produce, however, very occasional and no lasting effect. In their dealings with the savages the Chinese were singularly unsuccessful, and, the more valuable of the camphor forests being under savage control, this estrangement of the savage population led to further difficulties, and retarded the development of that most important industry. Between the European traders and Chinese there was continual friction. The mandarins as usual objected to any progressive policy which did not largely benefit themselves. They oppressed the people with arbitrary exactions, and, when the poverty of the mass drove many to rob and plunder, they were unable to protect the lawabiding.

VOL. CLXXVI.-NO. MLXVI.

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Formosa was ceded to Japan by China in 1895 under the terms of the treaty of Shimoniseki; but notwithstanding its formal cession by the Chinese Government under treaty agreement, the occupation of the island was for a time stoutly opposed. The officials knew that, under Japanese rule, their livelihood would be gone; but they saw in further, though probably futile, resistance an opportunity for self-enrichment. Encouraged, doubtless, by those in authority Peking, they established fresh Government, under the title of the Formosa Republic. On the 23rd of May 1895 an official declaration of independence was widely published, and ex-Governor Tang appointed himself President. The responsibility for this revolutionary movement was thrown upon the people, it being represented that everything was being done with their knowledge and consent. In reality, however, they were kept in complete ignorance throughout, and the prime movers were a select band of prominent and unscrupulous officials. The first duty of the new republic was to strengthen the island's defences and consolidate the forces at their disposal. A Mr Waters, whose career had been somewhat varied, was appointed artillery instructor at a salary of £30 a-month. His qualifications for the post had been gained in the various occupations of miner, barman, and prize-fighter; but in times of real necessity natural ability rises superior to special train

L

ing or experience, and before long this Mr Waters, once a champion pugilist in some American State, was appointed Minister of War to the Republic of Formosa. For a short time preparations were very active, and the Government were confident of success. Raw levies were enlisted and drilled, while -largely with the assistance of Viceroy Chang Chih Tungconsiderable quantities of arms and ammunition were obtained from the mainland of China. But this outward show was only a thin veneer to cover the dishonesty of everybody occupying official positions. The story is told of one foreign contractor who, anxious to obtain an order to supply Maxim guns, was compelled to reduce his tender to a price at which it would have been impossible to carry out the order with a reasonable profit. The guns were therefore supplied deficient in certain parts, which the authorities were informed could be easily purchased on the mainland, or could even be manufactured locally. There is no necessity to trace the shortlived fortunes of the republic. Its decline was, if anything, more rapid than its ascendancy. The officials levied taxes, which they misappropriated with the usual Chinese ingenuity, but from the outset they were unable to offer any resistance to the trained forces of Japan. The port of Keelung, an important strategic point in the north of the island, was captured-somewhat in the same manner as Wei Hai Wei a few months earlier by a turning movement overland. From

there the advance to the capital of Taipeh was virtually unopposed, and, once this city was occupied, the work of subjugation was one of steady progress, checked by occasional outbreaks of plunder and brigandage.

As so frequently happens with a newly acquired possession, the task of civil and political reconstruction is more arduous and anxious than that entailed in the prosecution of a successful war. This case was no exception. The Japanese found little or no machinery to carry on the work of civil government. The treasury was depleted, the records were in a state of hopeless confusion, titles to land were entirely undefined, and there was no survey on which to identify existing plots. The railways were of little use. Rolling stock and engines were in a most dilapidated condition, and the permanent way, which at the outset had been very badly laid, was in a state of absolute disrepair. There was no attempt at sanitation, and the filth and squalor of the towns were appalling. The people, moreover, had, during long years, grown accustomed to this casual state of affairs, and they were ill-suited for the system and order that their new rulers were determined to introduce. At first sight it might seem that Japan's task was one of hopeless difficulty. She had no experience in colonisation, and the state of her finances did not warrant any large additional and—at any rate for the time being-unproductive outlay. She had