Their women wear their hair in loose braids wound around their heads in turban fashion. Their dress is shabby. Tattooing is universally practised amongst them. The women make a fine cloth from hemp, into which they weave colored threads, and produce ornamental effects. Wars are common, not only with the Chinese, but between native tribes, and the heads of the slain are always preserved as trophies.
Many tribes show a considerable amount of skill in the arts of civilization.
There are some very important towns on the island. Kelung is in the north, near the mines. Howeie has over one hundred thousand inhabitants. Mengka is farther up the river, and boasts of over forty thousand inhabitants. Teukchasu, a walled town in the Tam-sui district, contains a population of fifty thousand.