File:A MOUNTAIN PASS IN THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.jpg

English: John Thomson: THE island of Formosa stretches between 26° and 23° north latitude. It is about 250 miles long, and has an average breadth of 60 miles. A high mountain range bisects the island from north to south, and its peaks may be descried from the mainland when the weather is clear. The place is claimed by the Chinese, and is included as a dependency in the government of Fukien, off which province it lies. The central range of mountains, together with the lower ranges to the west, the spurs thrown off to the east, and a great portion of the eastern coast, are still inhabited by aboriginal and independent tribes. These, in configuration, colour, and language, resemble Malays of a superior type. Akin to them are the Pe-po-hoans, who dwell on the low hill lands and plateaux to the west of the central mountain chain. These Pe-po-hoan tribes are partially civilized, supporting themselves by agriculture, and being to some extent subject to the Chinese yoke. Outside of these districts, and occupying the fertile plains on the west, Chinese planters from the Fukien province are to be found : and intermingled with them are the Hak-kas, a hardy, industrious, and adventurous race, who emigrated from the north of the empire. The Hak-ka Chinese hold lands nearest to the savage hunting-grounds. They also make alliances with the mountain tribes, and carry on trade of barter, exchanging Chinese wares for camphor-wood, horns, hides, ratan, etc.

The present population of Formosa is probably 3,000,000. The island is growing rapidly in commercial importance in consequence of the remarkable fertility of its soil. The cultivation of tea has recently been introduced in the northern districts of the island, and is now carried on there with considerable success ; camphor, coal, and timber of many valuable kinds are plentiful, and enormous quantities of sugar and rice are exported to the mainland from the south. The great mineral wealth of the island is rather a matter of conjecture, as the central mountain ranges remain practically unexplored.

The Chinese claim to have found Formosa towards the beginning of the fifteenth century. 1 Probably the enter- prising discoverer descried it from the mainland about that time. The island, however, did not become of much note until it was handed over, in 16 14, to the Dutch, and they thereupon built fort Zelandia on an islet off the present capital Taiwanfu. This fort was intended to protect an inner harbour, but this has now totally disappeared, and an arid plain, uniting the islet to the mainland, is all that at present remains of the harbour. In 1661 , Koksmga, that celebrated Chinese rover or sea-king, having brought his fleet past the fort into the inner harbour, succeeded ultimately in dislodging the Dutch, took possession of the island, and proclaimed himself king of Taiwan (Formosa). The island was afterwards surrendered to the imperial government by Koksinga's successor, and it is only within the past few years, since the opening of the treaty ports, that its real wealth and resources have become known.

The view of the mountain-pass, taken near La-ko-li, on one of the lower spurs of the central mountains, is intended to convey an idea of the grandeur of the scenery which is to be found in the interior of this " Isla Formosa."