Directory_and_Chronicle_1921 — Page 623

TAMSUI AND KEELUNG

The port of Tamsui lies in lat. 25 deg. 10 min. N., and long. 101 deg. 26 min. E. on the north-western side of the fertile island of Formosa. The harbour, like all others in Formosa, has a troublesome bar, which greatly retards the growth of the port. The town, called Hobé, is situated on the north side of the river, about two miles from the bar In October, 1884, the French ships under Admiral Courbet bombarded Tam- sui, but were unable to take the place. The Japanese took possession on the 7th June,

1895.

The port of Keelung lies to the north-east of Tamsui, in latitude 25 deg. 6 min. N. and longitude 121 deg. 47 min. E. It is situated on the shores of a bay between the capes of Foki and Peton, some twenty miles apart, amidst bold and striking scenery, backed by a range of mountains. It was once a Spanish Settlement, but was subsequently captured and held by the Dutch until they in turn gave place to the Chinese under Koxinga, formerly a pirate chief, who caused himself to be proclaimed King of Formosa. Though a mere village, it has long carried on a considerable native trade with Amoy, Chin-chew, and Foochow. Keelung was opened to foreign trade at the same time as the other Formosan ports. The limits of the port are defined to be within a straight line drawn from Image Point to Bush Island. On the 5th August, 1884, the port was bom- barded by the French under Admiral Léspes, when the forts above the town were reduced to ruins, and the place captured. It was then garrisoned by the French, .who held it until after the Treaty of Peace had been signed at Tientsin in June,

1885. The place was occupied by the Japanese on the 3rd June, 1895.

The trade returns for 1919 show that the value of the trade of these two ports amounted to Yen 172,633,753, of which Yen 113,942,455 was with Japan-exports representing Yen 75,987,259, and imports Yen 96,646,494.

At Keelung harbour improvements have, for the time being, been completed, but further ones are contemplated by which the accommodation for shipping will be largely increased. The steamer anchorage in this harbour has a uniform depth of at least 30 feet, and the harbour has been widened to 480 feet in its narrowest part. There is a slipway at Keelung for vessels of 400 tons. During 1900 a lighthouse was completed on Pak-sa Point, a low headland on the west coast, some 20 miles south-west of Tamsui, and one has been erected on Agincourt Island. There is a stone quay in connection. with the railway alongside of which steamers of the 6,000 tons class can now be berthed. The depth of water alongside of same is 28-30 feet. The Government is continuing to extend the harbour, and when completed it will be possible to accom- modate at the quay about 10 steamers each of 10,000 tons capacity, and admit 6 steamers below this tonnage at the buoys.

The railway line between Tamsui and Daitotei (Twatutia) was opened on August, 25th, 1901, and has been of great benefit to the people of the district. The actual cost of construction was insignificant, the line having been laid upon a practically level sur- face for nearly the whole of its route. Keelung is the northern terminus of the trans- Formosan Government Railway; the total length of this line to Takow and Ako, on the south-west coast, is 275 miles. The capital, called by the Chinese Taipeh, is now, under the Japanese nomenclature, called Taihoku. Twatutia will be found in the Japanese postal guide as Daitotei. It is here, on the outskirts of Taihoku, and on the Tamsui River which flows past Daitotei, that the foreign merchants have their residential and business quarters. At the mouth of the Tamsui River lies the town of Hobé, in Japanese Kobi, hut now most usually called Tamsui to avoid confusion with Kobe in Japan proper.