Directory_and_Chronicle_1914 — Page 746

FORMOSA

This island, one of the largest in Asia, is situated between latitude 22 and 26 degrees N., and longitude 120 and 122 degrees E., and is separated from the coast of Fukien, China, by a channel about one hundred miles in width. It is a prolongation of the Japanese and Loochoo Archipelagoes, and in 1895 was incorporated in the Jap- anese empire. Its name Formosa, signifying "beautiful island," was conferred by the Portuguese, the first Europeans to visit it, but it was called Taiwan (Great Bay) by the Chinese, to whom it belonged from 1661 to 1894. It is said that the Japanese endeavoured to form a colony in the island in 1620, but large numbers of Chinese were settled there prior to that date. The Dutch arrived in 1634, and founded several settlements, and traces of their occupation are still to be found in the island, but they were compelled in 1661 to retire by the Chinese pirate chief Koxinga, who then assumed the sovereignty of western Formosa. His grandson and successor, however, was induced, twenty-two years later, to resign the crown to the Emperor of China. By the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which terminated the war between China and Japan in 1895, the island was ceded to Japan as one of the conditions of peace, and on the 1st June, 1895, the formal surrender was made, the ceremony taking place on board ship outside Keelung. The resident Chinese officials, however, declared & republic, and offered resistance, and it was not until the end of October that the opposing forces were completely overcome, the last stand being made in the south by Liu Yung-fu, the Black Flag General, of Tonkin notoriety. Takow was bombarded and captured on 15th October, and Anping was peacefully occupied on the 21st of the same month, Liu Yung-fu having taken refuge in flight.

Formosa is about 260 miles in length, and from 60 to 70 miles broad in the widest part. It is intersected from north to south by a range of mountains, which forms a kind of backbone to the island, the loftiest peak of which, Mount Morrison (Niitakayama,) is 13,880 feet high. On the western side of this range the slope is more gradual than on the eastern side, and broken by fertile valleys which lose themselves in the large undulating plain on which the Chinese are settled. The whole of the territory east of the dividing chain is peopled by an aboriginal race who acknowledged no allegiance to the Chinese Government and made frequent raids upon the outlying Chinese settlements, and they have proved troublesome also to the Japanese, notwith- standing that the latter spare no effort to establish amicable relations with them. They are a savage and warlike people, allied to the Malays and Polynesians, and live principally by the chase.

The total population of Formosa at end of 1912 is given as 3,581,379, excluding 9 tribes of aborigines, described in the returns as savages, aggregating approximately 121,959 persons in 683 villages. The census returns at end of 1912 give the number of Japanese in the island as 120,764 exclusive of military. The revenue down to 1904 averaged about Yen 20,000,000 a year, but in 1911-12 it was estimated at Yen 57,839,846, and for 1912-13 at 45,325,508. The value of the exports to foreign countries in 1912 was Yen 14,960,228, and the imports from foreign countries amounted to Yen 19,307,126. The trade with Japan in 1912 was returned as exports Yen 47,736,306, imports Yen 43,320,573. Eleven years ago the respective figures were Yen 3,650,475 and Yen 8,011,826. The productions of Formosa are numerous, vegetation being everywhere most luxuriant, testifying to the richness of the soil. Tea and camphor are largely cultivated and exported, and a considerable industry in sugar is also growing up. Rice is likewise largely cultivated, and these two articles are extensively shipped to Japan. The fauna includes bears, monkeys, deer, wild boar, badgers, martens the scaly ant-eater, and other smaller animals. Birds are not very numerous, and snakes not so common as might be expected where vegetation is so abundant. It is believed that the mineral wealth of the island is very considerable. The gold mining industry is advancing rapidly. In 1912 gold bullion amounting to a value of Yen 2,136,660 was exported to Japan, out of 51,520 ounces obtained, representing a total of about Yen 2,136,635 gold. At present there are three gold mines in the vicinity of