Some fairly good shooting may be had about Tamsui, but the large water-buffaloes often prove very hostile and dangerous to foreign sportsmen. These active, though uncouth looking animals. are very keen scented, and are able to discover the whereabouts of a white man at a long distance should the latter happen to be to windward of them. The following brief extract from my diary gives an account of an unsuccessful shooting expedition of mine: 66 Tamsui, April 16th, 1891.-This is indeed a very dull place, and game seems unusually scarce this season. I went out shooting yesterday. At six a.m., on sport intent, I shouldered my trusty gun and made a devious and decidedly dirty course for the 'preserves,' which lie far beyond the broad bogs (called 'paddy-fields,' out of courtesy), and which are supposed to have once been frequented by snipe and buffaloes. I saw none of the former, and placed their existence as legendary; of the latter I was not deceived, for on crossing one of those peculiarly prolific "fields," by means of a very soft and narrow ridge of genuine mud, I suddenly became aware that my presence was noticed by a solid and determined looking representative of the bovine species, who seemed very interested in my behalf. I did not drop my gun or endeavour to fire a salute with No. 6 shot, but I regarded him. I looked at him gently and wistfully. Unaccustomed perhaps to this mode of procedure, he sought to put me on a more favourable footing, and as a kind of greeting, bellowed loudly. He then inserted his head well between his forelegs, and in that obsequious attitude advanced with much dispatch towards me. Being of a retiring nature and not wishing to cultivate his acquaintance, I availed myself of my legs and found shelter in a bamboo plantation outside of which he stood in much perplexity, while I brought down a strange bird resembling a sparrow. Result of day's sport: one bird, origin doubtful; and one kingfisher, blown to pieces." About seven miles from Tamsui are some very fine sulphur springs. The sulphur is collected from these springs by the natives and made into cakes, which are exported. The chief exports are tea, camphor, and camphor-wood planks, coal, and indigo-the latter being mostly carried in native junks to Amoy. There are also some rich gold mines on the island especially in the Kapsulan Hills in North Formosa, but the Chinese authorities will not allow them to be opened out to any extent, although the ground has been prospected and several rich veins struck by experienced Australian and Californian miners, who have tried in vain to obtain permission to work them. An ancient Chinese work, entitled "Tai-wan Fu Chi," tells how the aborigines in olden times took quantities of gold from the bottoms of creeks and melted it into bars, which they concealed in long earthen jars, not knowing its value, until they found that they could exchange it for cloth and other useful commodities. It must have been a very profitable business for those who traded with them, far more so than digging for the precious metal. The journey from Tamsui to Keelung, which used to be made in narrow rapid-boats, or "dug-outs," through the gorge, but which is now reached by rail, is extremely pleasant and interesting, being diversified with beautiful sub-tropical scenery, pasture lands studded with clumps of graceful bamboos, tree ferns, dense and stately forests, and wild tree-covered mountains, with the glimpse of an ancient temple now and again. One bright May morning, with my friend, Mr. Chew Leong Ho, secretary and interpreter to the Governor of Formosa, I started on a trip by land and river to Keelung. Having packed a few necessary effects, we went down to Mr. Tan-ah Soon's jetty-Mr. Tan-ah Soon being the Tamsui ship-chandler and steam-launch owner-where one of his saffron-coloured launches called the "Soon-fa" was moored to the amputated limb of a tree, which was driven into the muddy bed of the river. This craft was loaded with a somewhat valuable deck cargo of recently picked tea, packed in long narrow bags. We embarked at eleven a.m., and after climbing over a full complement of Chinese passengers with all their goods and chattels, seated ourselves in the fore part of the boat, my friend appropriating the rail, and making a remarkably uncommon figure-head, while I spread a blanket in the ample coils of the bow-line and endeavoured to light a cigar, seemingly to the great amusement of our fellow passengers, who had grouped themselves about the floor, and were wiling the time away by smoking and searching in their garments for sandflies and other undesired insects too numerous to mention. The pilot was not aboard, but, after a quarter of an hour's suspense, an ancient-looking "Celestial," minus his front teeth, came springing and leaping down the jetty like a will-o'-the-wisp or demoralized spring-heeled Jack impelled by a typhoon. He was attired in a blue coat remarkable for its raggedness, and a rakish-looking toper conspicuous for its numerous air-holes. This was our pilot. We now untethered from the aforesaid post, and after about ten minutes steaming at full speed, passed Piatow, which we soon left on the port quarter, together with the lichen-covered and deserted residence of Messrs. Dodd and Co. Here the river deepened and widened, culminating in a narrow channel which the pilot religiously kept on the starboard bow, where the stock of an anchor, protruding above the rail, answered the purpose of a compass. This pass is very picturesque. On the south side the bluff rises abruptly to a height of 280ft., and is covered with green bamboos and flowery shrubs, while from the south hill, which is less lofty but equally verdant, an old fortification frowns solemnly down. On our way through this passage a bag of tea caught fire; this was occasioned by some Chinese gentleman distributing the ashes of his pipe rather indiscriminately. It was very fortunate that our cargo did not consist of gunpowder, or this veracious narrative would never have been penned. The accommodation aboard was very poor for first-class passengers, who unanimously agreed to sit upon the floor. Shortly after the tea-fire escapade, a rapid-boat was sighted on the port bow. It carried a valuable and comely freight of young "Celestial" ladies, who seemed very anxious that we should take them in tow, as the wind and tide were unfavourable to their bark, which the captain had wisely moored to a bamboo. As regards myself I had no objection whatever to assist these young damsels in distress; but our skipper who seemed responsible for fares, and acted in the capacity of bus-conductor informed them through fivefingered symbols that before he could do so they would have to balance with cents the extra strain on the propeller, coal bunker, and his mental faculties, occasioned by towing so large a vessel as their dug-out to a distant port. His demands did not altogether meet with their approval, so we steamed ahead, leaving with some reluctance these fair creatures, who sat looking after us so sorrowfully and helplessly, that they seemed to murmur, "What shall we do, our Palinurus gone, And left to steer through untried seas alone?" We passed on, however, and as the wind increased from the northward the pilot donned three thick coats at once, while a relative of his produced from beneath a blanket of indisputable antiquity the remnants of a large straw hat, in the crown and round the scraggy rim of which a number of questionable-looking cakes were deftly arranged to tempt the appetite of all hands aboard the good ship "Soon-fa." These dainties were profitably sold with much dispatch, and devoured with equal avidity. At three p.m. we descried a large wooden bridge right ahead. Passing under this we arrived at Twatutia shortly after one o'clock, and had some slight refreshment at the store of a Straits Chinaman named Theang Lai, who was a venerable and enthusiastic old gentleman, and a great admirer of Mr. Gladstone, whom he continually extolled, and to whom he was in the habit of perpetually drinking libations of champagne and making his visitors do likewise. I heard more about Mr. Gladstone and his affairs. that day than ever I had heard before or have heard since, or am likely to hear again. We left the hospitable old fellow dreaming, no doubt, about our beloved Prime Minister; but I must acknowledge that he was remarkably clever and entertaining and his establishment is a boon to residents and a god-send to globetrotters. I have very little to say about the important city of Twatutia beyond recording that it is full of bold and ugly red-brick buildings, and tea-boxes everywhere-even the air seems impregnated with tea, and hardly anything else can be got there. At three p.m. we strolled over to the railway station, and purchased, from a soldier in a mat-shed, for the sum of twenty-two cents, a couple of tickets which permitted us to travel as far as the rail extended, |