Reginald Kann's 1909 Formosa, Japan's First Colony: the land and her peoples

I know you don't have enough to read, so I took a few minutes and Google-translated Reginald Kann's Formosa, de eerste kolonie van Japan: De Aarde en haar Volken, 1909, Formosa, Japan's First Colony: the land and her peoples. There doesn't seem to be much in English on him, but Kann was a war correspondent (fought in the Boer War) who covered campaigns in Cuba, Morocco, Europe, the Far East and later, WWI. In between he wrote of his travels in the area.

I have placed the text below the READ MORE line. The photos may be found at the original link.

I. Arrival at Formosa-Taïhokoe, the seat of the government. -The Chinese and Japanese neighborhoods. -The two branches of the railway and the Décauvillelijn. -The consequences of the earthquake. -The police officers and their administrative activity. -Accessional hospitals Departure to Kagi. The former Samurai as police officers. Visit to the crowds. Measures taken by the Japanese to counteract old barbaric habits.-Relations between the Atayals and the Japanese. -The tea. -The war sea Keloeng.

Travelers traveling from Europe to Formosa leave in Hong Kong the great line of Yokohama, to embark on one of the small Nippon Steamers, who perceive the service of Tamsoei. Before the conquest of the island by the Japanese in 1895, all trade was in the hands of English companies, but gradually, thanks to government subsidies, the British flag almost disappeared from the ports of Formosa. The Daijin Maroe, where I take a passage, is an excellent ship that builds a great sea and is very comfortable. After we have followed the Chinese coast with a short delay in Swatow and Amoy, we cross the road with the ever-windy water, and after three days we are traveling across Tamsoeï. Here we must anchor awaiting the moment that the flood will allow us to cross a bank where only 13 feet of water is at high water.

After several hours of a nasty wait, during which time the monsoon makes us swing, we can finally enter the river of Tamsoeï; The package boat attaches to a wooden bridge, which is laid by the pier on the bank. From Tamsoeï to the capital of the island, Taïhokoe, ancient Tajpei of Chinese people, it is only a distance of twenty kilometers to overcome the railroad train in a small hour. Following the advice of a Japanese traveler, I decided to stop halfway in the Hokoeto winter station with rich sulfur sources, where the government had set up a military hospital and public baths, and where I was assured of myself, the only European hotel on Formosa.

The so-called hotel turned out to be a single room, with a bed as a single piece of furniture; the owner was a dirty and always drunk chinese. I left the next day that little appealing place, to find Taïhokoe a less pretentious Japanese inn, which was very good and where I settled my main residence during the two months that I would wear on the island. The owner allowed me to put a chair and a table in my room, but on the condition that I wrapped the legs with thick patches of dust, not to damage the tatami, the thick braided mats, which made the floors in all Japanese houses are covered.

Taïhokoe is the seat of government; all branches of service are located there; there is also the [194] governor-general who controls the colony in the name of the emperors. He enjoys absolute independence pride some legislative provisions, which limit only the power that has been granted to him in theory. The constitution, applicable to Formosa, resembles quite that of the Soenda Islands, to which they have been followed without major changes. The main features are the governor's omnipotence, the strong centralization of the various administrative branches, and the complete absence of all representation and of all share of the board of the indigenous people; The officials, even those of the municipalities, are nominated by the Japanese without exception.

The causes that led the government to show such an absolutism are twofold: first of all, the hostility of the Chinese people, who refused to recognize the distance of the island to Japan, rebelled against her new masters and first in 1902 was brought down after seven years of struggle, and secondly, the strategic importance of Formosa, where Japan is primarily a military base, sees more than a field of exploitation or a settlement for its inhabitants as settlers. For the last reason, according to the Constitution, the Governor-General can never be a civil servant and must be chosen from the officers of high rank in the armies by land or at sea.

What the traveler sees immediately upon his arrival at Taïhokoe is the complete divorce, which exists between the Chinese natives and the Japanese. The latter inhabit the middle of the city or the actual Taïhokoe, from which they have driven the inhabitants back to the vast suburbs of Banka and Daïtotei. No greater distinction is imaginable than between those neighborhoods that are so close to each other. The part of the city where the Japanese live is the right representation of a piece of Tokyo. The well-framed, well-maintained streets are bordered by telegraph poles and low wooden houses, covered by gray pans. If you go through the old gate, which has now been restored with stones, one is immediately located in chineesch terrain, between narrow, dirty streets and a continuous, dirty, dirty and massive human mass.

However, the result has not been achieved with the good of the people, and in order to change Taïhokoe into a Japanese city, the authorities have to resort to arbitrary measures by expropriating chinese stores under the pretext of hygiene without their sole compensation was granted. In addition, this unpleasantness with regard to the native is found everywhere on the island and in relation to the most different things.

My first wish was to stay in Taïhoko for a few days in order to study the political and administrative institution, then to visit the most important provinces, and especially to some parts of the western part, which is not yet explored and where only native Native Americans live in male race and with still perfect primitive sins. But the moment I arrived at Formosa, just a terrible earthquake, which had cost hundreds of people, destroyed the Kagi district in the south of the island, and I decided to go there without any hesitation.

Kagi is cut through the main line of the railway, which cuts the largest part of Formosa in length, from Keloeng in the far north to reach Takoe, the southern port of the island. There are no more railways, beyond the line, connecting Tamsoeï with the capital. The construction of railways on Formosa is already prior to the Japanese occupation; he is primarily due to the Chinese governor Liu-Ming-Tsooan, who commended the troops of China at the time of the expedition of admiral Courbet. The Chinese authorities had completed the line Keloeng-Taïhokoe in 1895 and had begun with the continuation to the south; but the road was very badly landscaped and labored indifferently and messy, so that the Japanese, when they became master of Formosa, were forced to complete a complete renewal.

In order to continue the work that the former government began, the new decision was made to develop the railways to the principles used in the construction of the various lines in Japan, by entrusting private and private construction society. A society was established in Japan for this purpose; but the date of establishment coincided with the first attempt of Japanese immigration in the new colony, which failed completely due to the climate's unhealthy and terrifying deaths among the new arrivals that resulted from it. At that point, the state of the colony seemed desperate, and society could not gather the necessary funds.

Considering that the creation of a railway would be the safest and fastest way of suppressing the uprising and restoring the population, and that exploitation would in future be a powerful leverage for the economic development of the region , the island government decided to take into account the cost of the construction. She asked and obtained the authorization to enter a loan of 30 million yen, which is about 37 million guilders, and proceeded to the plan execution, designed by the chief engineer Hasegawa. One started the big line at two points, the North and the South. Already in 1900, the line of Takoe-Taïnan could be opened in the South; The following year, the Tamsoeï-Taïhokoe branch was also opened for traffic. The work was continued without disturbance until 1904, at what time they had to be discontinued because of the expenses that necessitated the war against Russia. The road was then completed, except for a 40-mile stretch between the Sanchako and Koroton stations in the middle; Both places are now connected by a Décauvillespoor.

The railway on Formosa is similar to that in Japan; same track width, same locomotives, same waggons and also the same desperate slowdown. To make the few hundred kilometers separating Tajoku from Sanchako, more than a day, I needed to spend the night in the bad inn of the town of Bioritsoe. The following day, our train arrived early at the end of the normal line, where the transfer to the Décauville immediately followed. Travelers and goods are placed on wheels on wheels, fitted with a primitive brake, and each pushed by two inland coolies. On a jog that men slide behind the trolley, push some meters and then jump on the device, where they stay for self-resting, after which they start the operation from the beginning.

Along the slopes, that trolley, as called the small carts, is dragged by its own gravity, often with amazing speed, giving the travelers the same feeling as sitting in the Russian swings of our fairies; It is a pleasant sensation despite the material danger that has been exposed to, and it is also the day in numerous derailments, often accompanied by accidents of broken limbs and even deaths. On the other hand, as the riser rises, the journey is difficult, especially since one has to go out repeatedly and climb the slope on foot. On the flat open carriages, travelers of the ordinary type are sitting on simple, reversed wood chests and sitting on two backs. For travelers of one rank, trolleys are designed with wicker armchairs, sheltered by a sunbathing area. The coolies, which have to start these primitive and heavy vehicles, show extraordinary agility, especially when passing a three-way wooden crossroads that are already found at the beginning of the journey and which consist of cross beams that exceed 50 centimeters apart from each other; A single mistake would throw the coolie into the river, yet he would not slow down his course at all. It is no rarity that young domestic girls slide the trolleys with the same strength and agility as the men.

After two hours of a trip by a sledge at a speed that did not bother for the train, we had to switch to the railway wagons, which brought us to Kagi that same day. As in all cities of Formosa, the Japanese live in a separate neighborhood, wherever the hotel is located. I was lucky to see Professor Takagi again, the director of the health service of the colony, with whom I had contacted Taïhokoe. The official, who studied for a long time in Germany and married a European woman, came to Kagi to investigate the functioning of the support and the way in which the local authorities organized the hospitals where the victims of the earthquake were housed. Professor Takagi made the visit of these establishments easy for me. Since most of the government buildings had been destroyed or threatened to collapse, all kinds of flights had to be established. The military warehouses provided some large tents; but most infirmies consisted of a kind of bamboo shed, covered with rice straw. They were exactly the model of the field ammunition that I saw in Manchuria two years ago in the army of General Okoe.

The material layout of these hospitals and the way in which the sick were taken care of me seemed excellent. There was plenty of space and more than adequate ventilation. The nursing took place by hospital sisters and brothers of the Roodekruis, both Japanese and Dutch. That union, although recently founded on Formosa, already includes 23,000 members, who are doing the same business as elsewhere. Japanese surgeons have been sent to Kagi from all other provinces of the island, and many of them work at the medical school for Native Americans in Taïhokoe, founded four years ago by Professor Takagi and under his control. He was very curious about how his students had passed the baptism of fire, and he was pleased to note that the youthful Chinese had successfully done many difficult operations and even had amputations.

The Japanese district, where the hospitals were, had suffered relatively little since the disaster. That's because the houses are all covered with wood, while the tiles are still light and the whole building has been built so that it can tolerate a fairly strong shake around the central axis. I could convince myself that day when a heavy shock was felt in the evening, which caused the guests of the hotel to flee in the garden, but did not harm at all.

The chinese city is no more than a lot of ruins; only very few houses have resisted, and their inhabitants have not had the courage to return. The entire [196] population is bivouacing in the open air or has sought shelter in fast-paced pilots resembling the hospitals. The neighbors only go ahead with their business, and it is a strange spectacle to see all those shopkeepers who stood out in long rows in the middle of the street or on the land outside the city walls.

The total number of victims rises only in the Kagi district to more than 2000. As always in Chinese countries, women are mainly among the dead; her poorly developed feet prevented her from taking away from the houses soon. Although the city of Kagi has suffered a lot, the shocks have been much less severe than in some villages from the surrounding areas, of which various are wiped away. Near a place, located half way between the city and the sea, must have shown particularly outstanding natural phenomena, and I recommend going there. The prefect is in favor of the next day, carrying a four-carrier carrier, the only available means of transportation, and the most used for Formosa, where riding animals are scissors and where one can not occupy cars for the most part because there are few roads, and the inhabitants usually walk over the narrow dikes that enclose the rivers.

My chair was waiting for me at the entrance of the city. It was a kind of square box, very low of floor, and in which one could not sit or lay down; one had to take a downright attitude, somewhat similar to that of Cardinal de la Balue in his iron cage. As soon as the journey had started, the shocking movement, which made the coolies run, was increasing, and so the torture increased, which I could not tolerate for a long time. I soon decided to leave that uncomfortable vehicle and to take the twenty kilometers on foot that separated us from our destination. I was on this trip with a Japanese police officer. Our monotonous road continued through rice fields and sugarcane plantations, the two most important cultures in the south of Formosa. In this part of the country, which is perfectly flat, a dense population lives, and we went through many villages who had suffered more or less under the earthquake. Near most of these towns, next to the inland huts, is a better built house amidst a small garden enclosed with barbed wire on top of a high fence; A deep canal gives the house the fullest appearance of a miniature farm. These buildings serve to stay for police officers, widely distributed throughout this part of Formosa, the Chinese provinces. These officers are the main interpersonals between government and people with the inland deputies and with the councils of notables. They enjoy many privileges and the most diverse work is assigned to them. They keep the civic registers, ensure order and security, help maintain community roads, call for human resources, arrange postal services and collect taxes. They have been assigned even more important things recently, by empowering them to prosecute all cases of police offenses where fines are below 30 yen. Such an agent also takes on the task of the tribunal in cases involving disputes between natives.

Thus, it is seen that the administrative regulations indeed give the police officers almost unlimited power over the residents in the places where they are stationed. During my stay at Formosa I have been able to experience their authority with the greatest arbitrariness and also with cruel cruelty. The Japanese agents are almost all recruited from the class of the former military samurai, who even in Japan has always shown full contempt for the other classes, especially for the farmers. So, of course, they are giving an even greater contempt for chinese natives. In addition, in the long-standing struggle against the insurgent rebels and robbers, who had lasted four years ago, commanded the police the oppression of the insurgency, and in the course of that battle they had hated habits feeling their influence. The only feeling that the population has for her is therefore fear without any sympathy. There have been laws of draconian severity against those who attacked the police, and they had to do so in areas where the agents were located outside, to ensure their safety. Who attacks an agent is sentenced to death, and accomplice is punished as severely as the crime.

If the Formosa police officers are strict for the population, they are extremely hospitable to the strangers; I was unable to pass one of their posts without rest, smoke a cigarette and drink the traditional cup of green tea. That repeated silence did not delay our journey, and we first arrived in the middle of the day in the village of our destination. I saw that one had greatly exaggerated the consequences of the disaster. The famous gap that had to arise [198] and where I had already talked to Taïhokoe turned out to be no more than a trumpet of a centimeter depth that I would not have noticed if, to show her not the grass had pushed on it, which grew on both sides.

The wells and wells of pre-shock were all dehydrated, and small geysers of boiling water had formed in other places; one of them had lifted the bottom of a broken blade in a house and filled the space with sand and steam. A little further I planted trees, the trunks of which were split into two, and both of which were now separated by an interspace of several centimeters.

We spent an hour walking around the village, and after a sober breakfast beneath the tent, which replaced the police station, we crossed the road to Kagi again. In one of the hamlets we went through, the population had gathered around some agents, and these divided what was sent to help after the enrollment opened in Japan and on the island for the benefit of the needy and a nice sum had brought up. The gifts were mainly from the natives; the agents charged themselves with the collection and accomplished that work with the few considerations they were just used to, so I was assured. To get enrollment, they go around with their people and beat the richest of them for a certain sum who have to deposit them if they do not want to expose themselves to a mass of annoying measures that put the omnipotence of the police against them work. Formosa will collect the so-called voluntary contributions.

After a last night in Kagi, which was annoyed by alarm rumors about renewed eruptions, I returned to the capital to make me ready for a trip to the land of the natives.

In the Middle Ages they were the only inhabitants of Formosa, and their tribes lived to the west coast. The Chinese landslide, which began in Chinese circles in the 15th century, first brought Chinese in the seaports to China and gradually gained land inland. The inflow, delayed by the establishment of Formosa at Dutch offices and Spanish merchants, was a major acceleration when the island was added to the celestial empire at the end of the 17th century. The new arrivals gradually pushed the original population back to the East, and at the expense of continuing struggle, they managed to divert her completely at the time of conquest by Japan in the mountain country of that part of the island.

All attempts, made work to master this difficult area, had failed; The presence of the autohtonic population is more at risk, as the forests of camphor trees, which make Formosa's most profitable industry, are in its immediate vicinity.

The Chinese authorities, which levied a tax on the equipment, which were used in the preparation of camphor, had set up a guard to protect workers, which, however, had little effect. The Japanese immediately raise their taxes after the arrival and also the waiting corps; but a few years later, the government of the colony retained the monopoly of camphor sales, in turn, it was involved in the safety of the workers and was prompted to take measures to protect them from hostilities of the natives.

During the first period, when all surveillance was lifted, the Japanese tried to reconcile the wilds by studying their customs and habits, and meeting their needs, by a politically similar to that which the Americans compared to follow the Redskins from the Far West.

The officials responsible for the mission estimate the number of native inhabitants at about one hundred thousand, divided among a large number of tribes. They grouped the tribes into seven groups according to their language and their habits, namely the Paisans, the Puyamas, the Amisians, the Tsos, the Tsalis, the Vonums and the Atayals. The four former are harmless. The Vonums and the Tsalis, though often struggling in the various tribes, never touch the yellow population. The Atayals, on the other hand, who occupy only half of all the native country in the North, continue to attack, attack, and attack against the Chinese inhabitants.

The characteristic trait in the Atayals is the headquarters, which company they surrender with as much passion as their constituents of the Philippines and the Soenda Islands. As soon as an enemy has fallen into battle, he is beheaded; boil the skull for a long time, to take away the fleshy parts, and then to make him bleach in the sun, he is placed on a hillside at the entrance of the village. The head of the tribe is chosen from the warriors who have had the greatest share of enrichment of the macabre collection. No young man may hope to come to a marriage or get a seat in the council if at least one of those trophies can not be written on his debit. When two Atayals have twist and fail to resolve their struggle, they leave the village at the same time, and the first one who returns with a chopped head gets the same in the quaestry.

When the Japanese took possession of Formosa in 1895, as a result of the war between their country and China, they made courteous attempts to reconcile and get their neighbors to keep calm in their mountains without to hinder their Chinese neighbors. The southern groups have remained faithful to the agreements they have concluded with the new rulers of the island; but the Atayals did not appear to be able to relinquish their barbaric habits. So, the Japanese have taken on the task of putting them under control. [199]

They first sent out to them numerous military expeditions, which always failed. The wilds offered little resistance at the start of the journey, so the soldiers so deeper landed, and then, when the enemy was in a very difficult area, they lured him into ambushes and decimated the troops. Very few Nippon soldiers have been able to reach their starting point, and after repeated attempts, sometimes involving whole battalions to the last man, the Japanese decided to change tactics and adopt a defensive attitude. For this purpose, they have raised a cordon of block houses, defended by inland police under Japanese officers and officers. These fortified houses, built of stone, are situated in the places from which the site can be overlooked, uneven distances, but not more than a kilometer away, so that they can return to each other in case of an attack. The framing of strengths has reduced the incidents of the Atayals very significantly, and the number of murders practiced by them decreases with each year. However, in 1905 it was still a number of 493.

The government intends to gradually shift that guard line more landwardly, in order to reduce the area of ​​the Atayals, which in turn must disappear or merge with the peaceful inhabitants. These operations necessitate the maintenance of a mobile corps, which comes with the permanent garrisons, which are located in the log houses, and in case of emergency, the army supplies to the police mountain guns and mitrailleuses.

I wanted to add to the mobile corps, to accompany it for a while, or at least I wanted to visit one of the cordon posts and then the places where camphor is being prepared and who are in the vicinity of the posts . I am referring to a formal refusal of the government, and after many attempts, I could only get permission, lead me to one of five posts, where barter trade is driven and located at different points of the border. There the Atayals sell the produce of their country and buy powders, beat knives and buy glass beads. One called me Kutsjakoe's market, only twenty miles away from the capital.

Early in the morning, I left with my guide in a jinriksja to the village of Sjinten, which is located halfway There was offered me a carrier, which I thanked kindly for, and we continued our way on foot. The country is very mountainous in this region and is crossed by numerous rivers, which must be crossed by piers or in simple boats. All hills are covered with tea plantations, because tea is grown extensively in the provinces of the north of Formosa.

Kochoe-Chakoe is a chineese village with dirty and lush streets, which we returned with pleasure to pass along the river Tamsoeï, which is just outside the border. On the banks of the river, above the village is the electrical plant, which provides light to Taïhokoe. It has also been thought of to increase the strength of the cordon with the electricity. An iron wire hidden in the bushes runs past the block houses over a length of several kilometers. A strong flow is made, so that whenever a head sniper wants to go over the line, he stops that barrier and gets a load in the body, leaving him in place or at least losing all wishes, for even further to penetrate. Unfortunately, a certain number of Japanese or domestic police officers, who did not know the correct location of the thread, have themselves become the victim, and there has already been the removal of this dangerous defense.

At the power plant, we joined a dozen men from the border guard. Although they are part of a special corps, entirely separated from the police corps in chinese territory, they wear the same uniform as the ordinary agents, but besides a saber they are armed with a murmuring weather. As soon as we got on our way again, the leader took a completely unnecessary fight. two men walked forward while flankers walked through the bushes on either side of the road. We continued the path along the river about a mile far to a wooden bridge; On the opposite shore stood a small sheltered hut in which there were about twenty wilds waiting for our arrival.

Like all the inhabitants of the mountains, the Atayals are big and forsch and strong of set. The men pull out two front teeth in the upper jaw and wear three horizontal tattooed stripes on the forehead; The women add two other stripes, which go from the ears to the mouth corner into a three-centimeter wide circle, consisting of narrow lines crossing each other diagonally. The costume of both sexes consists of a clothes without sleeves of animal skin or of a fiber fabric, reaching to the knees; The men also cover the head with fur bushes or hats of all kinds, braided by plant fibers. I offered to the game a bottle of alcohol; It was rice brandy, which she likes very much. They never drink alone; two of them stand next to each other and approach their lips with the same side of the dish or cup, after which they drink in that awkward position without spilling a drop. The Japanese interpreter who lived with me had lived near the border for a long time and spoke excellent the Atayal language; He told me some notable things about their use.

The Atayals live in bamboo huts with very low roofs, which just emerge just above the ground and excavate the ground to a depth of two meters. The depots of foodstuffs, on the other hand, are built on poles to keep the crops from rats and other knitting animals, which are very common in the area. A special hut is always intended for meetings of the [200] council of the tribe. There the warriors meet before they take out their hunting and war expeditions.

Those businesses determine the activity of the Atayals, who have a very great contempt for labor and leave the women in charge of the cultivation of barley and fats, which are the main foods of all, and also of the rameh, the fiber, of which the Clothes are made. The religion of these peoples is nothing but a service of the ancestors, who are offered cakes and honey at every full moon; all tribes possess a magician who has to take away the sick and who by prayers and wizards must prevent the presence of evil spirits.

While the Atayals invaded me alive, I was also an object of curiosity for them. Never had they seen a white man; they asked the interpreter how far the land was removed from where I came from, and they were told that they had to walk two years to get there. The head turned to me and said, "You gave us gifts, we thank you for that, we will keep the memory for you for two years too."

Our way back led along another route, always along hills, planted with tea gardens.

The trade in tea, which is today the most important exporting item of the island, does not date yet and does not climb much higher than in the middle of the last century. They were strange merchants, who were hit by the good status of the products of some shrubs acclimated by the Chinese on the island, large sums of advance to farmers from the surrounding areas of Taïhokoe and committed to buy the whole harvest. The trials gave outstanding results since the first years of production, and soon afterwards, all the native residents followed those who participated in the trials. Sales prices were so high, especially at the beginning, that farmers were able to harvest the harvests of rice, sugar and indigo that were almost ripe, to sacrifice the precious bushes without delay. With the rapid expansion of culture, the capacity deteriorated, and significant amounts of tea did not find buyers; Then the new culture was dropped again with the same rush that one had first caught her, and later she resumed her for the second time. All of these fluctuations have had a backlog of product sales and have made it one of the most speculative sectors, which, even though he has made many merchants rich, has even worsened.

Nevertheless, the export of tea has continually increased until the moment of occupation by Japan. Then the products were offended with a double taxation of manufacturing and export, which put them in an unfavorable position against products from more favored foreign countries. The trade has remained stationary since then.

The tea obtained from Formosa is of two kinds; the "oolong" or natural tea, which is exported to the United States and whose price is now the highest of all the same products throughout the world, and the "pussy boy", perfumed with jasmine or gardenia, and only by Chinese used.

I stayed for a few days in the capital, which I soon left, to take a much bigger trip than the first one. I wanted to make a trip around the whole island on one of the freight boats of society Osaka Sjosen Kaïsja, which is subsidized by the government.

The starting point for this service is Keloeng, a port that had been occupied by our troops for many months now and has now become the main military site on Formosa. All the surrounding mountains are full of guns and forts. Major works have been undertaken to change the Keloeng Bay into a spacious harbor; but the largest part of the bay is very shallow, and a considerable area must be expelled. That part of the job cost no less than two million yen. Also, cadres were laid, served by a sprig of the Taïhokoe railway.

The harbor is not yet sheltered from the north winds, which blow almost uninterrupted in winter. To shelter it, one would have to build a giant breakwater, which would close the entrance to the port, leaving only a 3000 meter canal left.

We needed a full night to complete the 25 miles, which Keloeng of Swao separated our first place of construction. Swan is with Keloeng one of the natural harbors, which owns the island; It is a spacious, deep and pretty well sheltered harbor except in the direction of the southeast. This point is the designated export port for the province of Giran and the rich plain of Kapsoelan; Although the region is highly fertile, trade is insufficient to make good the expenses that necessitate the maintenance of a large port. Nowadays loading with boats is taking place. But it has been thought, at least for the transport of goods and the replacement of military posts, to establish a Décauvillespoor, which connects the port with the capital of the district and walks at the foot of the mountains, where there are still Atayals tribes.

I have again submitted the request to visit one of the block houses of the police corps, but the permission was not provided to me, first for the short duration of my stay, and therefore because I pictured the trip as dangerous, as the headers often did stray rides in those areas. However, I was allowed to go to Décauville with a point from which one of the police stations could be seen one kilometer away.

Again, I received a refusal when I wanted to penetrate further. It was clear that no danger could threaten us in the short run, that we had to move from my point of view to the post. Peaceful farmers worked on their fields in the valley. In despair, I suddenly made a decision and started climbing the slope without paying attention to the cries and the pleasures of my guides. One minute later I went to the river with my clothes, dropped out and reached the blockhouse. How big was not my surprise when I met two women at the threshold, Japanese ladies, inspectors of the post who had seen me and offered me tea to refresh me after the cold bath that I had right taken. So it was dared to challenge an old soldier who had experienced three war campaigns to refuse access there, where souls lived in all the tranquility! To find out, please state to what extent all Japanese officials, whatever their rank, are distrusting the most arrogant strangers and getting out of it, to hide as much as possible.

And the more I got to see the blockhouse, the less I could explain why one was so secretly involved. It was a simple stone house, still long and equipped with sturdy gates. The only precautionary measure taken in the construction was that the top floor had some small windows, which the defenders could occupy as viewing holes and as openings to shoot the attackers. My visit lasted only shortly, and an hour later I was on board our package boat Taïto Naroe.

The ship was quiet next to Karenko, the second mooring place. That point is located at the northern end of an elongated valley, which separates a coastal chain from the backbone of Formosa, the mountain that passes through the length. The valley is formed by the course of two rivers flowing in opposite directions and parallel to the sea. This country, although of course [202] is fertile, is almost uninhabited; The population consists of a few native tribes belonging to the Amici group and from a small core of settlers of Chinese origin, from the West of Formosa, shortly before the conquest by Japan.

As this region is completely isolated from the rest of the island, it forms a country apart. The Japanese government had initially intended to develop it by directing it to its officials, but soon realized that it would require an expense far beyond the limits of its budget for the island would go over. It is therefore decided that the exploitation of the wealth of the region should be given to a society, a chartered company, whose privilege reminds that of English societies in Africa, especially those of Rhodesia. The promoter and main shareholder of that society is a certain Kada, who won an equally fast-won fortune by deliveries to the Japanese army during the Russian-Japanese war.

However, it appears that the Company's financial condition is not too brilliant, as the first cost of preparation and installation has already devoured most of the capital.

The biggest difficulties that Kada society will face is the result of the lack of community resources with the interior and, in particular, the impossibility of getting a port where one can enter and where the goods are produced without danger will be able to board. Along the entire east coast, from Karenko to Taïto, the extreme points of the concession, a very dangerous sandbasket poses the biggest objection to the transhipment of goods, just like on the coast of Guinea. The Japanese can not build a harbor head like Kotonoe or Grand Bassam because the sea is too deep, even just a few meters from the beach. Agriculture also does not seem to be able to develop because it is always threatened with a loss of income from embarkation. Only the discovery of gold-like layers as in the vicinity of Keloeng has occurred, would be able to ensure the success of the company.

Nevertheless, something has begun, namely to exploit the camphor trees in the immediate vicinity of Karenko. They are in fairly large quantities, and Formosa has delivered the name of the camp Island.

In the richest forests of Formosa, the camphor trees are far apart from other types of wood, sometimes at distances of 300 and 400 meters. The division of the camphor trees makes the task of the laborers very difficult and necessitates them moving their tools from one point to the other, as the area of ​​the place where they have set up their boilers is exhausted soon. Two other objections help to complicate manufacturing, the climate's unhealthy and, above all, the continuing danger that brings close proximity to the torches, which are not far away from all forests, where camphor trees are presently present. Thousands of workers were killed by the Atayals, and an American traveler has said without too much exaggeration that the camphor on Formosa can only be obtained against an equal weight of human blood.

The way in which the substance is extracted is the following, followed by both the Japanese and the natives. The worker, with a basket and an ax, saves the branch of a mature tree that he transfers to the place where the stove is located. This consists of a stone fireplace, above which a metal dish is placed full of water. Over there is a conical wooden closet, intended to receive the twigs and provided from a lattice underneath. From the upper part of the chest is a bamboo cooker that is in communion with another wooden box, the radiator, which is again communited by another tube with a box, divided by partitions into different compartments. The latter is the crystallization box.

A well-maintained wood fire burns in the hearth and constantly keeps the water in the metal bowl, which is constantly being renewed. The steam of the water, which rises, passes through the grate and through the twigs where it is saturated with camphor vapor, it undergoes a first cooling in the radiator and condenses against the walls of the crystals of the crystallization crate of small crystals, which are white and resemble salt. The amount of camphor thus obtained differs very much according to the quality of the wood that has supplied the twigs and the skill set by the workman when he held his fire on the desired strength; On average, you should count on 4 to 5 kilos per day, that is, two or three percent crystals in relation to the weight of the spikes used.

Kamfer has at all times been one of the main articles of export on Formosa, as well as when the preparation was free and when it was the object of a government monopoly. Although camphor trees are found in various other countries of the Far East, they are found only on Formosa and on the southern islands of the Japanese archipelago, in order to make the operation profitable. The attachment of this new colony to the Japanese empire has left the latter out of reach of all foreign competition as a producer of camphor at least for the moment. A few years before the annexation, Europe discovered the stabilizing properties of this substance in relation to the explosives, of which nitrocellulose is the basis. For this reason, the camphor is also used for the composition of the celluloid, whose use has so rapidly expanded and that the value of the camphor has not increased little. Those circumstances led the Japanese [203] government to restore the monarchy of camphor preparation, regulated by a law, of which I would like to convey the most important provisions here.

The government shares licenses to a certain number of Japanese nationals licensing, which allows them to chop and distill camphor, but they are obliged to sell their entire proceeds to the monopoly's agents against a fasting price, which is determined in advance each year. The government also regulates the total amount of camphor that may be brought to the man each year. The purpose of the measure is to moderate production in order to maintain the very high prices currently paid by foreign refiners and also to protect the forests from excessive eradication.

The operations, from the preparation of the camphor to the export of the island to the outside, are the following. The manufacturers bring their products to one of the different offices located in the forest area; An agent receives them there, weighs them and classifies them to the capacity. Thereafter, he submits to the producers a certificate that guides the goods to the warehouses of the government in Taïhokoe, where, in exchange for the certificate, the manufacturer receives a check on the Formosa Bank, so that he can collect the amount without further formalities.

There is a factory in the capital where the crystals are refined and compressed by the hydraulic press to six kilograms. Only part of the camphor is treated accordingly; The rest is wrapped in rough stands in hermetically sealed wooden boxes and provided with the official stamp.

The government does not itself go over to the sale of the camphor, but contributes to a society to which it has granted a concession. It undertakes to purchase a minimum quantity of 30,000 and a maximum quantity of 50,000 pikols (a pikol is 62¾ kilograms) and to ensure the transportation and sale in the main markets of Europe and America. The concessionary is forbidden to change the camphor in any way, after they have been delivered to him or even to open the cases. The government may attach a portion of the proceeds to the needs of the Japanese empire, but only if the society receiving the concession is already in possession of the agreed minimums. The concession is renewed every three years and is always awarded after the tender to the bidder who offers the lowest price to sell the camphor. She has always been awarded to the English house Samuel, Samuel and Co.

The camphor monopoly has given great satisfaction to the government since the day that it gained control not only of the production of Formosa but also of Japan, and thus it has become protected for all external competition. The Monopoly Bureau managed to progressively increase the price of camphor, which now produces 96 to 200 yen of pikol by keeping production within limits. Those figures, including the highest ones ever made, form a big contrast with those of seven and eight piasters, the price per picol in 1875.

Since the establishment of the monopoly, annual production has not been far from the average figure of 38,000 pikols. Consumers are in the order of their importance, Germany, the United States, Great Britain, France, Japan and British India. In this latter country the camphor serves for the preparation of the incense, which the natives occupy in their religious ceremonies.

The sale of camphor is now the main source of revenue on Formosa's budget, and the government is therefore careful about all dangers that could threaten this industry. One has to think in the beginning to replace the used trees and to keep it full every year, so that the monopoly agency has put millions of young plants on a variety of occasions; but since the estimates of the botanists are necessary for twenty or thirty years, before a camphor tree reaches a sufficient size that it can be exploited, it must take many years to ensure the yield of the trees so planted. The botanists who made the process had to choose the places for planting a bit, because it proved extremely difficult to account for the elements that work best on the development of the trees. In exactly the same conditions of soil and radiation by the sun, the camphor trees sometimes yield very uneven yields.

However, if circumstances make the task of Japanese planters difficult, they appear to favor Formosa so that they are out of reach of the island, because it is unlikely that the other countries that have tasted the same Insecurity has felt as Japan will undertake very important plantations. Attempts have been made at Ceylon, in the Canary Islands, in Indo-China, in Texas, in Algiers and even in Italy and South of France; The results have been discouraging everywhere.

A more direct danger threatens the camphor industry, [204] namely the discovery of substances, which are obtained chemically and possess the same characteristics as the natural camphor. Up to now, only crystals have been obtained whose production price is higher than that of the natural camphor, but at some other time it can change, and the camphor is always threatened with a fate, analogous to that of the indigo.

The government of Formosa, with the greatest attention and not without fear, followed the experiences of this kind obtained in most of the European countries, and mainly in Germany because, without the high income they draw from the camphor, she could hardly make the budget close.

The camphor industry is subject to the supervision of the monopoly agency, a special division of the administration, directly under the Governor General. This office has the task of supervising the exploitation of all state monopolies, so on camphor, opium and salt, where recently the tobacco has been added and the weights and weights.

The opium monopoly ensures less income than the camphor in the treasury of the island, but they are still important enough. The strict measures taken by the Japanese government against the opium smokers in Japan are known, dating from the time now about sixty years ago when the country was opened for foreign trade. It was then feared that the unhealthy juice was brought into the country and that it would have an equally pervasive effect on the Nippon population than on China. The import, sale and use of opium were strictly prohibited, and very severe punishments were issued against the offenders. One went so far from prohibiting the import of the pipes and lamps that use the opium shavers.

When the Japanese took control of Formosa, their first plan was to apply the same rules to their new colony; but abolition of the opium would be equivalent to a death sentence for the aged smokers who dragged the poison, can only be turned away slowly. Also, by means of a formal ban, all the natives who used the heapsap would have been alienated, and thus the highest classes of local society, those who would like to join themselves and keep on Formosa. The Japanese drivers gave a willing ear on those considerations and determined to control the use and, as far as possible, to limit the use. They put the monopoly in their service and were therefore able to exercise the best supervision as the government charged itself with the import and retail sales and delivered only a limited amount of opium to the same person and then only on presentation of a medical certificate that the buyer really needed a shift.

Then a strange phenomenon occurred. The new monopoly promptly yielded the best results in a financial perspective, just in a moment when the government was in no small financial difficulties. From then on, the diligence of the officials decreased for the reduction of use as a result of a surplus. There was an eye on the abuses; one stopped asking for the medical certificate, which was replaced by a simple statement from the buyer. The number of licenses increased rapidly, and soon there was no question of eradicating the fatal habit. A factory was built in Taïhokoe for refining opium; It even went on to experiment with the acclimatization and culture of the opium poppy, to provide the costly substance with less cost. The number of licenses increases year by year, and the benefits gained by the monopoly agency are growing to an equal extent. However, it must be acknowledged that the ban on the Japanese living in the colony remains as strict as in Japan itself, and that the offenders are immediately punished with imprisonment.

This extraordinary deduction led us to a very end of Karenko, where the Taïto Maroe remained only a few afternoon.

Our next location was Pinan, the southern port of the valley, which is the concession of the Kada society and capital of the largest but also the least populated district of Formosa. I was received by the prefect, an ancient Samurai of the Ancien Régime, who had banned all too bad thoughts of this lost corner if they had been sentenced to a punishment. He also filled himself with excessive care for my safety and forbade me, a trip to the woods surrounding the small town.

In return, the man suggested that I visit the immediate vicinity of one of the Japanese schools built for the benefit of the natives of the country. The people belong to the Puyuma group and are considered to be the most civilized of the island. They are soft of sin; yet all those who came across me were fired to defend themselves against the attacks of certain tribes living in the mountains, who sometimes surrender to the crowds at the expense of the peaceful inhabitants of the plain. Even the school students, many of whom were not ten years old, go to school with their book in one and a big knife in the other hand.

The Japanese teacher led me around in his interior, of which he was the driver with a number of native helpers. Most children, who are very intelligent and lively, spoke fluent Japanese and some wrote after three years of school education already very well. It is remarkable that it is easier for the children of the real natives to attend education rather than those of the Chinese breeders. Also, the teacher hoped, soon, to expand his program and to be able to educate school in Japan in a short period of time.

When I returned to the office of the prefect, I found it terribly upset by the head of the district; He advised me not to lose time, but to return immediately, because the bank, which we had passed without difficulty, became more dangerous from minute to minute under the influence of a strong sea wind. The passage of this troublesome obstacle takes place in large boats with high crests, similar to the Boats on the coast of Upper Guinea, but instead of being pushed by twenty pastors, they have two Chinese rowers here as a single force of force. whose effort often remains fruitless.

That was the case with us, when, with great effort, we had triumphed the three consecutive rolls, our men failed to resist the power of the current, who drove us to land and threatened to throw us across the sandbank and to do beaches. The swelling of the waves did not diminish, and our sailors, who were weakened by opium, already squeezed less and less. Fortunately, those who remained ashore and who became aware of our critical condition, sent a second boat to our assistance; Two rowers were placed in the boat with fresh forces, and thanks to this support we were able to reach the package boat again.

This moving embarkation made us appreciate the tranquil waters we met the next day at Kwaliang, where we arrived, after dying around Garambi cape, the southern tip of Formosa, where the Japanese set up a lighthouse of the first size. The landing takes place here by bamboo rafts, which are so bad that they are completely underwater; The passengers take place in a bin, leaving them dry, but they are very stuffy.

Kwaliang is the port of the town of Kosovo, the capital of the southern district, with which it is connected by a Décauvillespoor of general to Formosa in use. I was received in Kosovo by the prefect, an official, very different from that of the previous day, and as modern as his colleague was conservative. Yet, instead of the so-called European and almost inedible breakfast, I was given to Taïto, a tasty Japanese meal, especially a dish called Sashimi, consisting of raw fish, richly poured with a delicious sauce of lentils and ginger and other ingredients tasted very tasty.

The province of Kosovo is despite its name, which refers to "eternal spring", the least fertile of Formosa; Drought occurs frequently; and the rice only produces a few crops a year. The prefect has sought to enhance the prosperity of the inhabitants, especially by supporting livestock farming. A model vault, created for this purpose, has produced promising results; The first sheep are bred, which one has ever seen on the island.

After a sumptuous day spent in the garden of the prefect, in the midst of a wealth of orchids, we once again hit the road to the north to anchor in front of Takoe next morning. This port, given its name at a point of construction where all natural or artificial protection is lacking, is the main place of export for the southern regions of Formosa, and almost exclusively exports sugar. In the vast plain, extending to Kagi, the sugar cane is so close that it forms an uninterrupted sea of ​​straw. On the slopes of the hills, the farmers grow the necessary rice, which they need for food on square pieces, which are staggered above each other.

To Takoe I left for the moment the Taïto Maroe, to take the railway to Taïnan. I used my first day to visit Hosan, a small prefecture, surrounded by some Chinese homes, where I found Professor Takagi. He came to investigate a strange epidemic on the spot [207], which had affected the garrison, which also seemed to be a lot of fun on Marsh and Beri Beri. That disease had been located in Hosan until that time. since she is almost always dead, she had already decimated a battalion infantry. The professor appeared to be responsible for the abuse of pineapples, which are very beautiful and inexpensive and which use the soldiers in large quantities. In Takoe back, I took the train on that day and found me a few hours after my departure in Kyosjito, about halfway Taïnan, at which station I went out to see the sugar factory, founded by a society a few years ago with government support .

The sugar has been most strongly supported by all agricultural products, because Japan, which is a major consumer of that article, failed to grow the reed itself despite the repeated attempts at acclimatization, while the beetroots did not succeed , so that one should turn abroad, and would like to involve Formosa in raw materials. Government's attempts are focused on improving the way in which cultivation is based and on more efficient preparation, both of which are very primitive and cause major loss.

A special agency has been set up for this purpose, where plans are being made and measures to be taken which can blossom the sugar industry. From the islands of Hawaii, one has introduced the best types of varieties, then from Europe and America the newest crushers, much better than the stone mills, with which the natives work. Premiums and advances are provided to farmers, if they want to follow the modern process, and finally, the creation of the Kyosjito model factory should serve as an example for the producers and should prompt them to build such factories from their own resources.

This company has been proposed to Japan more like a home-country job than a trading company. The capital of a million yen has been largely enrolled by the imperial family and by the main representatives of the Japanese aristocracy. Notwithstanding a substantial grant from the treasury of the island and all kinds of preferential tariffs allowed on the railway, the results so far have not responded to the cherished expectations. The small domestic manufacturers, who were threatened by the new competition, succeeded in disregarding the owners of sugar cane fields, sending their products to Kyosjito's factory, and, for example, the yield of animal production is far below the lack of raw materials retained its own capacity.

At the moment, the police have been taken in order to break their opposition to the farmers by their usual way of working, which foresees future prospects for the company. Nevertheless, it is not doubtful that the sugar agency has hit the road of reforms too quickly because various factories, which are not so well equipped with modern facilities and can not have as much capital as the Kyosjito society, have their work must stop, which does not act as an advertisement for the newer way of manufacturing, which one wishes to spread in the colony.

That evening I came to Taïnan. The city, which is the oldest and most richest of Formosa, has nothing strange. She has the most chinese character; one waits in one of the ports of Foekiën or Kwantoeng. I saw the house where Prince Kitashirakawa died, the commander of the Japanese army corps, conquered the island, than the temple founded in honor of the Chinese chief Koxinga, who conquered the Dutch from Formosa in the 17th century, and finally the old fort, which served as a residence for the Dutch governor and is now used as a military hospital.

I found the Taïto Maroe in Anping, a mile away from the city, where the ships should anchored in the open sea as well as to Takoe. The following day we anchored on the reed of Makoeng in the archipelago of the Pescadores. These islands have a strategic value of the first rank because they lie across the road in the street and block the great route leading from South to North China and to Japan; On the other hand, they can serve as the focal point and base for a Japanese fleet, which conducted an offensive move to the South of the Chinese Sea.

The archipelago of the Pescadores was conquered and annexed by France in 1885 under admiral Courbet, who died of the cholera shortly after the distant distance of the islands of the heavenly empire.

These different circumstances helped me to find my presence at Makoeng less desirable by the authorities. Instead of letting me go alongside, accompanied by no-one other than my interpreter, like in all previous places, where the boat was set up, I was followed by various crew officers, with whom, as soon as I had a shore a certain number of officials added and most members of the local police. The impressive procession became bigger at every stage, as the inhabitants shook under the spectators, people who certainly never had seen such a great power development for the surveillance of a single person. I had to take all sorts of steps to get permission to photograph the monument, founded by our sailors in memory of the admiral and his companions who slipped into large numbers.

Although I stayed for less than an hour during our stay at Makoeng's reed, I found a cooler reception than before before I returned to the capital. One found excellent reasons, to refuse everything, what I asked for; I repeatedly appealed to the promise made by the authorities that I had to travel at the borders of the Atayals country and to follow the operations of an important expedition sent to them in the south [208] of the island. I went so far, to call on the governor himself and telegraphed to him in Tokyo, where he spent his yearly retirement time, all my attempts remained fruitless. Against such a systematically hostile attitude, I found myself obliged to shorten my stay and say goodbye to Formosa. The Japanese people are the gloomiest in the world.

Despite the repulsive attitude of the authorities, thanks to the excursions made by me in several provinces, during the two months I spent on the island, I also thanked the kindness of some individuals and a small number of officials who more manageable than others, to obtain valuable information about the work of the Japanese on Formosa and about the present state of the colony. Let me summarize briefly here.

What is particularly important is politics, compared to the natives. It is known that the Japanese have presented themselves in recent years as the champions for the right in the East, the liberators of their racial brothers and that they have created an anti-Western movement in various European colonies. One had to expect that, in a country inhabited by Chinese people, they would set up a paternal regime and carry a very goodwill and gentle rule. However, that has not been the case at all, and it is surprising to see how arbitrarily the natives are treated by the police whose authority is exercised without supervision. It is also surprising that the population of all share has been devoid of public affairs.

Those various causes of dissatisfaction, with many more to be added, mainly the height of taxes, explain the dislike of the natives of their new masters and forget them, what great blessings for them arose from Japanese domination. Through well-defined health measures, the epidemics of all kinds have been reduced in multiplicity and severity. And the current security, which is widely enjoyed in the country, constitutes a strong contradiction with the anarchy ruled at all times in the history of the island.

The state of peace and peace has created unprecedented solidarity for agricultural and trade companies; The cultivated area has increased, the cultures are the object of more care and take advantage of the import of new machines. The famine, which occurred so often, has now disappeared; Not only does Formosa ask for a supplement from the rice that is needed for the population, but it has in turn become a country of export of that useful article. The richest products, sugar, camphor and tea, shed bigger benefits than once, especially the last two. And finally, the mineral resources of the island, coal, gold, petroleum, sulfur, all are exploited and with good results.

The development of Formosa's resources has had the first result, that trade is moving rapidly. But there, as elsewhere, the attitude of the government gives rise to criticism, because in fixing the export duty rate, only the importance of Japan is often considered to be the disadvantage of the colony. The trade mark with the mother country, which was zero at the time of occupation, has gradually reached that of trade abroad, and this trade has remained stationary.

Economic prosperity has suffered in the last three years as a result of the last war. The payment of the grant to the colony, which continued until 1910, suddenly ceased last year. In all branches of government, no more is given than absolutely necessary. Public works, even those relating to the defense, have been temporarily abandoned.

Everywhere you meet the same stagnation due to money need.

If one passes from the material quaesties to the moral, then an even more supreme governance system takes place. It has been seen that the natives enjoy no freedom at all. As far as public education and the education of the young genus of the Chinese are concerned, the same phenomena occur. They teach some native skills to the native children, which means that they can become good helpers and workers later, but one expects to develop secondary or higher education that could breed concepts of emancipation or rebellion.

Thus, the Japanese on the island remain fully the ruling and influential class, which the others hold in a state of subordination, more strongly than in the native of any colony in the Far East.
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