FAREWELL TO AMOY.

S.S."HAILOONG," DECEMBER 5TH, 1890.

Farewell, Amoy! In sadness I depart,
For 'mid thy rocks reposes still my heart.
My fleeting hours upon your tranquil shore
Will be remember'd till my days are o'er,
With mem'ries dear.

Farewell, sequester'd nooks and sunny scenes,
Remembrance for a moment intervenes,
And touching Then and Now with kindly rays,
Fast setting in the sky of bygone days,

Brings peace of mind.

Farewell, snug harbour, with your old-world ships, And antiquated sailors, from whose lips

Strange drowsy chaunts I've heard at morn and eve, When, hoisting sail, the junks prepared to leave

With fav'ring tide.

Farewell, half-hidden homesteads grandly graced
By Nature's fairest foliage interlaced;

Where weary eyes and hearts find happy case,
Beneath huge boulders and o'erhanging trees

Near to the sea.

Farewell, majestic highlands, where the crown
Of dying Day reclines upon a gown

Of unseen flowers, lone groves of wind-swept firs,
And quaint, time-hallowed sepulchres,

Watched o'er by Death.

Grim sentry! Keep your silent watch, until
Above the rugged crest of yonder hill,
Far eastward, in the early morning skies.
The everlasting Star of Life shall rise

To give you rest.

Great Death! My wondering mind doth often rest
Upon your silent home, and in the west
Can picture you alone, in calm survey
Of countless ages, looking far away,

Whence Life shall come.

XIX. TAMSUI AND KEELUNC.

THE

HE island of Formosa, or "Lovely Island" as the early Portuguese settlers named it, but which is known to the Chinese as "Taiwan," or "Great Bay," is one of the largest islands in the Eastern Seas, and is situated between 22° and 26° north latitude and 122° east longitude, being separated from the mainland of China, of which it is a dependency, by a channel about 130 miles in width, and its vegetation is of a most luxurious character. Nearly the whole of the mountainous and thickly-wooded eastern side of the island is inhabited by savage tribes very hostile to the Chinese, with whom they wage continual warfare.

Speaking of these aboriginal inhabitants, a writer says, "They are reported to be cannibal* in many places, and in their feasts and superstitions they seem to resemble the Malays and the inhabitants of Polynesia. Their worship is of the simple barbarous kind common among the inhabitants of the uncivilized islands in the Eastern seas, the object of adoration in their case being a post decorated with three skulls, generally those of a deer, pig, and bear, although the offerings deemed acceptable in their temples. in many places are the heads or pig-tails of the Chinese they have slain. They are much fairer and better formed than the latter, are armed with bows and arrows, or with weapons of

*The Baha tribe, which is now almost completely extinct, were notorious head-hunters and cannibals, and the heart of a Chinaman was considered quite a delicate article of food. The author has known instances within the last few years when the inland Paiwan tribe have, after battle, slain and eaten their prisoners and drank their blood.

Chinese manufacture, and are great hunters. Owing, however, to the infrequency of exploring expeditions and the difficulties and dangers of the attempt, but little is known of these tribes, and what is told must be taken with a certain degree of reservation. A large number of aborigines, originally inhabiting the western side of the island, are now settled in a half civilized state at a short distance from the coast, and are a fine featured race, who appear to agree well with the Chinese. These aborigines have possession of the whole of the plains, and are regarded as the possessors of the country, though they really occupy no more than a comparatively small portion, which is cultivated in the usual Chinese manner, and occupied by villages and towns, such as are found in the "Celestial Empire."

The port of Tamsui, or "Sweet Water", which is merely a fictitious name, its real appellation being Horbie, or "Near the Sea," is situated on the north-west of the island in latitude. 25 10' N. and longitude 210° 27' 30" E. A very dangerous sand-bar guards the entrance to the port, but light-draft vessels, from 13ft. to 14ft., can enter at high water. As you near the harbonr an old Dutch fort, of which comparatively nothing is known, and from which a subterranean passage is supposed to connect with a cave at Keelung, looms up grimly above a high hill upon which the few European residents have built their houses. This fort is leased for the British Consulate, and the British flag waves from its battlements, the old building being in a fairly good state of preservation, and the walls 10ft. in thickness. But a very musty smell pervades the interior, and bats flit about through the lofty rooms, some of which form the Consular constable's residence.

To the right of the harbour a double-peaked hill, backed by the more distant Tamsui Mountains, rises to a height of nearly 3,000ft. From the port a small river runs some fourteen miles inland, deriving its source from the Keelung gorge, near which the city of Banka is situated, and further on Taipafoo, the walled capital, where the Chinese Governor resides, and which is quite close to the city of Twatutia, celebrated for its foreign tea hongs, the Oolong, Pakmo, and Cha-jum teas coming from there.