21st Nov.
Me Foreign Office has published a valuable report by Mr. Hosie, of the Consular service, on the resources and trade of Formosa. Opening the pamphlet, the first thing which we notice is that the island is now divided into three prefectures, comprising no less than fourteen districts of all classes. Ywenty years ago, we remember, before it was formed into a separate province, it consisted of but a single prefecture, containing only five districts (four Asien and a ting). In those days the island was certainly under-governed, and some re-distribution was necessary but we are inclined to think that the reformers have now gone too far in the other direction. Some of the new districts are both small in area and scanty in population, incapable, we should imagine, of supporting a regular official and his staff. The state of things in them must resemble that in the smaller districts fringing the southern and western coasts of Hainan. In one of these, it used to be declared, whether truly or not we dare not say, that the magistrate, when he went into the country on business, was compelled by his poverty to travel in a bullock cart.
Mr. Hosie states that the railway between Tamsui and Kelung is virtually a failure, never having been opened for traffic along its whole length, and apparently he does not anticipate that it will ever be properly completed. But we are glad to hear that the live is being pushed on towards the south under the superintendence of a foreign engineer of ability. We always thought this latter scheme much the more sensible one of the tivo, as being more likely both to prove remunerative and to aid in the development of the resources of the island. 'I'he long flat plain on the west side of Formosa, lying between the mountains and the sea, densely populated and ill-provided with harbours, should benefit immensely by a railway running through it to the treaty ports.
Mr. Hosie gives himself some trouble to account for the peculiar vegetation of the island, which differs greatly from that on the opposite mainland. Whether the tropical plants are a relic of primeval times or were wafted northwards by the winds and currents, is more than we can venture an opinion upon. But the climate of Formosa is so much warmer than that of Fukien and Canton, that we cannot be surprised at there being a botanical difference. Not only is the summer in the island of longer duration, but, what is more important, the winter is very much milder. In the greater part of the plain the thermometer in the cold season very rarely falls below 60° Fahrenheit. Mr. Hosie supplies a table of thermometrical and rainfall observations taken at 'l'amsui, This, however, is far from affording an accurate idea of the climatic conditions prevailing over the greater part of the island. For all along the plain and coast the winter is very dry as well as warm; but the northern extremity, where 'I'amsui is situated, is exposed to the force of the north-east monsoon; not only does the thermometer range much lower, but a rainfall of five or six inches appears to be an ordinary occurrence in a single month in the winter season.
The vocabularies collected by former residents leave little doubt that the savages are at least mainly of Malay origin; but Mr. Hosie thinks that they contain an admixture of Japanese blood. He has seen savages greatly resembling Japanese. We would ask, on the other hand, is it not possible that the Japanese themselves are the result of a mingling of Malay blood with a northern Mon-! golian stock? The inhabitants the Philippine Islands are undoubted Malays; and many Europeans in China will mistake the Japanese on British sailing vessels for Manilamen, or vice versd. Yet no ove ever confuses either of them with a Chivese, "The greater part of Mr. Hosie's report is concerned with the botanical productions of the island and their cultivation or preparation for use. A great deal of very interesting information has been very skilfully collected and compiled by the author. Some of it is entirely original and new; but a good part of it unavoidably deals with matters which were pretty well known before; and a number of notes and descriptions are given which have but a very slender connection with the island. The food plants seem much the same as those grown in other parts of southern China, There appear, however, to be no less than six species or varieties of the South Sea Islander's food, the 'I'aro, some of which, we imagine, are not to be found on the mainland. We should like to have heard more of the conditions under which such northern plants as wheat and buckwheat can be successfully cultivated. The list of textile plants is extremely long, comprising, among others, thea, jute, pineapple, Manila hemp, palm (Chamerops), and hennequen. It is astonishing at the same time that there should be no cotton grown in the island, We are also surprised to find that indigo is not mentioned among the dye plants. Among these indeed are included Polygonum Chinense et Orientale, " two varieties of the indigo plant." One kind of polygonum certainly does give a blue dye in China; but it has no more connection with the indigo plant than a dandelion root has with the coffee tree. To an Englishman it might be described as a kind of " knot-weed."
The most important question for the government of Formosa is how to deal with the savage tribes. 'I'll they are tamed by force or by kindness, the resources of the island cannot be developed. We learn from the report that outbreaks are still of frequent occur-royce. Chinese settlers clear away the jungle and settle on the land. The savages retaliate by killing stragglers, and the troops are called in to punish them. Between fever and their unacquaintance with bush-fighting the soldiers generally get the worst of it. As it seems to us, any civilised government, while protecting the savages in their villages und their clearings, would refuse to acknowledge their right of ownership to the unoccupied jungle, and would support its subjects in opening up the bush and bringing into cultivation. We cannot therefore feel surprised if China employs her troops to punish the head-hunters. But regular soldiers, even from the best-of armies, often fail while fighting among the mountains or in the bush, England was taught this in early days by the North American redskins and again since then by the natives of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.