This isle was called UTOPIA, That every thing they did-" them there”— They thought it wisdom that a man The creed they taught was "Each should love As much as they could spare. But this was in Utopia, Where all was bright and clear; Now don't you think they did-" them there" Exactly like "these here"? They thought it was a cruel thing To chase the timid hare, And catching fishes with a hook They voted was not fair; Their dogs they did not muzzle, and They never skinned their cats; Their women all wore bonnets, And their men, of course, wore hats. But this was in Utopia, Where the climate was severe; Now don't you think they did-" them there" Exactly like "these here"? They had a court and courtiers too, There always to be seen; They did not take to cock-fighting, Nor libelling their queen; And all the Acts of Parliament, Of which they've left a trace, They passed to serve the people, not But this was in Utopia, As does by More appear Now don't you think they did-" them there" Exactly like "these here"? Tis said they'd wondrous appetites, But they were never spoiled By over-seasoned dishes, so They ate both roast and boiled; The wine they drank was really wine, Where wine was never dear;— They had their harmless pleasures, too, They loved a country-dance: 'Twas done with due decorum, Nothing vulgar dare intrude, But this was in Utopia, When Christmas-time drew near;- The books they had were very few, And those they had were never paid Sound judgment and discretion there And, there, no one set up newspapers Where intellect was clear; They also were persuaded if They neither sinned nor lied, There was a vast and endless joy To live for when they died; To church they always went, Doubted what it meant. But this was in Utopia The land of love and fear; Now don't you think they did-"them there"Exactly like "these here"? FORMOSA. THE BEAUTIFUL BUT NEGLECTED ISLAND. Formosa and its Aborigines-A Dutch Colony before the Chinese took possession of it-Character of the Island-Mountains and Volcanoes-Rivers and Towns-Climate and Produce-Domestic and Wild Animals-Mineral Wealth-Native Tribes-Their Habits and Manners-Hostility of the Chinese to the Natives-Peace and Prosperity to be restored by European Protection -Advantages of a Settlement on the Coast of Formosa. FORMOSA-"the beautiful island"-would, by its situation, extent, natural features, and resources, constitute, in the hands of any civilised power, a kind of citadel, from whence to overawe lawless populations, control commerce, abate piracy, and disseminate knowledge throughout the lands and seas of China Proper. Tay-wan, as the Chinese call it, is to the Chinese and Japanese Seas what Malta is to the Mediterranean. Hainan is a commanding point, in as far as southern Shin-wah or China and Tun-kwin or Tonquin are concerned; but Formosa, as the prolongation of Borneo and the Philippine Islands to Japan, is in a far more commanding position. Formosa is not, strictly speaking, a Chinese island. The Chinese only settled there in 1662, two hundred and six years ago. The island, it is true, was known to the Chinese and Japanese at an early period, but they did not settle on it, nor subject it to their sway. The island appears to be first noticed in the Chinese official documents between 1278 and 1368, under the name of Tung-fan, or the country of the eastern foreigners or barbarians. The word fan has indeed the same acceptation among the Chinese as the word barbarus among the Greeks and Romans, and signifies simply stranger or foreigner. Under the Mings (in the fifteenth century) it is designated by the name of Ki-lung, no doubt because relations had been established at that epoch with the place of that name in the north of the island. When the Dutch appeared in these seas following the track of the Portuguese and Spaniards, they found no Chinese settlement either on the Pescadore Islands or on Taywan. They erected fortifications on the former, and in 1624 they built the fortress of Zelandia, at the entrance of the harbour of Tay-wan-fu, or "Formosa City." They built also a small fortress at the harbour of Kay-lung-shai, supposed to be the same as the modern Ta-ka-u. The protection which was thus offered to emigrants induced a large number of families from the adjacent Chinese province of Fu-kian to settle in the island, and the colony rose rapidly in importance. Meanwhile China was laid waste by the wars, which terminated in the overthrow of the Ming dynasty, and the establishment of the Manchus on the throne. The adherents of the former dynasty maintained their footing longest in the eastern and southern provinces, but being pressed by their enemies, they abandoned the mainland and continued the war on the sea. One of their chiefs, Tshin-tshin-kun, called by the Europeans Koxinga, sailed to the Pescadores, and occupied them. Hence he proceeded to Tay-wan, and finding only a very weak garrison in the Dutch fortress, he took it after a siege of four months, in 1662. Thus it was that the Dutch lost the island, after being in possession of it for thirty-eight years, and that the Chinese gained a footing which they have never since abandoned. The new King of Formosa favoured the settling of his countrymen, and thus the island became the seat of a great Chinese colony. He was also favourable to the English, who had during his reign a commercial establishment on the island, from which they carried on an active commerce with Amoy. The province of Fu-kian, which continued its opposition to the victorious Manchus longer than any other part of China, had been compelled to submit to their sway; and as Tshin-tshin-kun had died, and the throne was occupied by a minor, a Chinese fleet took possession of the Pescadores. This was in 1682. They were preparing a descent on Formosa, the following year, when the council which governed the island in the name of the young prince thought it most prudent to surrender. The Chinese have not, however, up to the present day, subjected all the country. The Aborigines still occupy by far the larger portion of the island. Formosa extends from south by west to north by east, about two hundred and forty miles. In width it varies much. From its most southern point, where it is only about four miles wide, it increases gradually, so that at 23 deg. north lat. it is sixty miles wide, and at 24 deg. north lat. nearly one hundred miles. Its northern portion decreases in width, but very slowly, for near its northern end it is still sixty miles wide. A rough calculation gives the surface an extent of about fourteen thousand square miles, which is about half the area of Ireland, and three thousand square miles more than that of Sicily. Or Sardinia and Corsica united, would convey an approximate idea of its superficial extent. A chain of mountains having several peaks, which rise to a considerable altitude, and which are covered with snow nearly the whole year round, runs from one end of the island to the other, dividing it into two distinct regions; the one to the north-west being in part Chinese, that to the south-east belonging solely to the Aborigines. The declivities of these mountains, called Ta-shan or "Great Mountain" by the Chinese, are, with the exception of the crests of the more elevated portions, covered with fine trees and pasture grounds, and thus the island, when seen from the sea, presents so pleasant an appearance that it was called Formosa or Hermosa by the first Europeans, who advanced thus far into the Chinese Seas. De Humboldt estimated the elevation of the chain from its being covered a great portion of the year with snow at twelve thousand feet; and observation has since proved the correctness of his estimate. For a long time the most elevated point was supposed to be the Mu-kan-shan, or "wooded mountain" of the Chinese, known to English navigators as Mount Morrison, and which rises to an altitude of ten thousand eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, in the central part of the chain. Its summit is generally enveloped in clouds. But a group of peaks further to the north, described also as Mount Morrison by Messrs. Guérin and Bernard, have been since ascertained to attain an elevation of thirteen thousand English feet. This group is known to the Chinese as the Shan-sha-u-shan, and it is described as a lofty and inaccessible mountain to the north-east of Shan-wa-hian, the chief city of the Chinese. It is, says M. Vivier de Saint Martin, called Changwa in the maps of the English, "whose orthography disfigures all foreign names." This is to a great extent true in regard to Oriental names; but the French, by their partiality for a superabundance of vowels, err far more than the English, who themselves never blunder so egregiously as when copying from the French, which they are very prone to do. M. de Saint Martin calls the city in question, for example, Tchang-houa-hian; and yet in the map, which accompanies the Memoir of Messrs. Guérin and Bernard the former French consul at Formosa-the name of the city is written Sang-oua. Now, the French oua is uniformly rendered wa in English orthography, as Ouadi, a valley or river, "Wadi" or "Wady." The name of the place is, therefore, Sanwa or Shan-wa, in its simplest expression. The Formosa Mountains have never been visited by Europeans, owing to the bad reputation given by the Chinese to the natives, but Klaproth has reproduced a number of names of particular mountains from Chinese manuscripts in his "Description of the Island of Formosa," published in 1823. It is certain from these notices that the chain is in part volcanic. One peak to the north is particularly distinguished as the Hu-shan, or "Mountain of Fire." With the confusion of facts and errors, so common to translations from the Chinese, the Hu-shan is described as covered with stone (mountains are generally of stone), between which springs (rivulets) flow, the waters of which constantly emit flames. Bulletin de la Société de Géographie; Juin, 1868. |