The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-15 00:00:00

~` ~..

Sir HARRY PARKES noticed the original o( kcupa-
tion of Formosa by the Dutch and Japanes( ), and
stated that though the, sland is so large that i t uow
forms one of the 54 divisions of the Chinest ) em-
cpciraes,t,anitdwisesonnoly ab t
taken
nt 9posssemssiiioens
cdfibstyantto a h
hefrcnr
intesee
until within the last 200 years. He mention( Id the
difficulty of trading with the island, owing to its
want and to the savage character of
s
harbours,ve tribes, and even of the C hinese
ni e oc f f
th e nat
themselves. There is, he said, a small tribe, not
amounting to 300, who occupy the south-east point
of the island, zknd make it a practice to cut off the
head of every ono who falls into their hands. By
that tribe and by the Chinese nearly the w hole of
the crews of the two English ships were wrecked
on the island were murdered. He took a
favourable view of the probable extent of tb e seams
of coal than Mr. Swinhoe, and stated that though
there is no trade with Formosa carried on olirectly
with this country, there is nevertheless a con sid or-
able indirect trade through Hong Kong.
After some observations from the chairman, a
second paper, describing a journey from Nezaret h
to Bozrah-Moab and Damascus, by Mr. Eaton, we s
read, and the meeting acjourned to the 11th o I
January.

NEWS P'PFR
4°ll-iior
qt‘„
ti
oh-4e. nti*
Royal Geographical boe.et
.••••
At the meeting of this society yesterday eve g n s
—Lord Strangford in the chair—a paper was read,
communicated by Mr. Swinhoe, on Formosa, which
island was opened to British commerce by the late
Lord Elgin, Mr. Swinhoe was appointed vice-con-
sul of Formosa, and visited different parts of the
coast to ascertain which port would be best adapted
for trade. In his communication he stated some of
the results of his investigations in the character of
the island and its inhabitants. A ridge of moun-
t aLuous hills extends north and south nearly through
its contre, those port `(ins of the country being in-
habite,4 by native tribe principahy of Malay origin,
the low or country on tr c west and north being in
seamsn tohfeconaolr,twh
hoict
hthies
Pit..,°lsaEneds'tT,e4rao,farteheezCtehnile::'.
highly bituminous; so much so indeed as not to be
fitted for combustion in the fcrnaces of steamships,
but when mixed with Welch coal is very sui7ab!o
for the purpose. This coal Mr. Swinhoe considers
be of the character of lignite, ttnd as the seams
occur in tertiary strata, he does n. at ainl: the, they
can be very deep. At present they tare worked near
the surface, and to a small extent. The rocks are
aa;nanie, and not far distant from tthe coal there is
a sulphur hill, in the vicinity of which there are hot
springs and other indications of volcanic action.
The summit of the highest of
.these hi.lls is covered
with coral, indicating that the whole range has been
elevated from the sea. The country, -, o far as Mr.
Swinhoe had an opportunity of observing, is very
fertile, and on the east side of the island it is well
cultivated by the natives. Mr. Swinhoe particular': r
called the attention of the society to the want o f
accurate maps of the coast, the absence of whit h
renders-the navigation very
dangerous.
Admiral COLLINSON, who said he consider( al
Formosa a child of his own, as he had survey ad
the coast sixteen years ago when little or notbi eg
was known of it, described the general character
of the island, and mentioned that on the east coest
the equatorial Galf stream is stronger than at any
other part of the globe. It carried his stip in one
day 95 miles against the wind, and on another day
upwards of 100 miles. On the west sid o of the
island there is a strong current in the ,apposite
direction.