The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-23
TILE ISLAND or FORMOSA.


|
orally kills or cures him, and if the former his
death is celebrated by general spree. AT
twenty a man is provided with WIFE but
until the age of forty he must not visit her
| openly. He may do so steathily however, and
| if he doesn't like her he can get divorce in ten
minutes. A man often marries four or five times
| a year. No children born before the mother has
reached thirty-seven are in any case permitted
to live"
This paragraph read strangely to me- and
wondered what genius is now furnishing alleged
information concerning remote corners of the
earth. began to fear that some geographical
joker like unto the statistical phenomenon who
fourished a few years ago on q Chicago paper
the Times, l think-had secured a newspaper
connection. The Times man one day, in mo-
ment of evil leisure, constructed a series of para
graphs out of his own head after this fashion:
Celery was first known in Turkey, in 1851"
Fried eggs were unknown in England prior to
| the reign of James l." etc. Growing bolder he
added from time to time to this misinformation,
much of which now finds place in our most APP
proved family almanacs, side by side with the
soberest truths.
The Formosan hoaxer has a celebrated proto-
type. In 1904 a small, middle-sized, well-shaped
man of fair complexion, giving the name of
George Psalmanazer, who called himself a con-
verified savage but who still retained his prefer
ence forhis old diet of roots and meat, came
to England. Thatwas in Queen Anne's reign, and
he soon became all the rage He claimed to have
been born in the Island of Formosa and of a
noble native family This island, as all the
world knows is situated off the coast of China,
and not remote from Japan He claimed that at
an early age he was placed by his father under
the tuition of learned man who passed for
Japanese, then on visit to the island, from
whom he acquired not only the ordinary instruc-
ton of a Formosan youth in the national creed
and literature. but a thorough knowledge of
Latin. He gave out that, in company with his
teacher, he had escaped from the island, melted
thereto by desire to see Europe, and had ae-
complshed his wish after many startling ad-
ventures by land and sea.
The English wits and philosophers were
curious respecting the manners and customs of
the far-away Formosans-ther language and
religion--upon which subjects Psalmanazar af
forded ample information. He wrote book in
Latin, IAN Historical and Geographical Descrip-
ton of Formosa, and the History and Reasons of
his Conversion to Christianity with his Objec-
tons against it in Defense of Paganism, and their
Answers" This book was translated into English,
and the first edition was sold in a wonderfully
short time In the preface be charged the Dutch
historians and other writer's upon Formosa with
gross ignorance OF glaring falsehood, and says it
| is the object of his work to expose these
things He epitomizes the annals of the
kingdom for $50 years to show how, alter
the long reign of the native dynasty one Merya-
|
usurped the throne of Japan and subsequently
that of Formosa. He recounted the historical
foundation of the polytheism of the island under
which he wrote his book. "a sacrifice of boys
hearts to the number of $4,000 per annum is the
leading rite" Plans of the temples and their
affairs given in illustration and there are de-
seTiptions of the great religious festivals, and
ceremonies observed at the births, marriages
and deaths of the natives.
| He accounted for his fair skin by narPating
that the upper classes so owing to their prac-
tiee of living during the hot either in cav
ems or in dense groves which exclude the sun,
with water. He told that the higher classes,
| Notwithstanding the tropical climate, which he
seemed to overlook in his narrative) dressed in
the skins Of the tiger, leopard and bear.
lie said the inlanders are won't to beat live
serpents with rods until they become very
angry, and when thew are in this furious passion
all the venom that was in the body ascends to
the head, which being then cut off there remains
| no more poison III the DOUV, which may, there
| fore, be safely eaten" He describes their diet
''They first smoke pipe of tobacco, then drink
tea and afterwards cut off the head of a viper
and suck the blood out of the body Flesh of
reptiles and animals. he said, is usually
eaten raw. The Formosans according
to this veracious chronieler, 'are not
habitually eannibals. but they eat the bodies of
their enemies taken in war, and also all malefac
tors legally executed. The flesh of the latter is
four times dearer than other rare and delicious
food. Under special circumstances, the For
| mosan husband whose wife has offended him.
may soothe his injured feelings by eating her"
| Formosa, written $50 years ago, ought to
make the feeble lmitator of to-day hang his head
in shame.
Psalmanazar said the Formosans lived to be
100 and 100 years old, the longevity being due
to the national practice of sucking warm vipers'
! blood III the morning In the second edition of
his work, he was called upon to deal with twenty
five objections advanced by critics, but he evaded
every difficulty His statement that $4,000
| boys hearts were annually sacrificed he
| explained, objection being made that
such practice would soon depopulate the island
that he ''only referred to this number as legally
required by the priests, but bribery, prompted
by parental affection, no doubt tended greatly to
| diminish it.
After puzzling hundreds of learned heads and
| defying the critics. he finally made confession
! that his history ''all most of it Matched
| IN my own brain, without regard to truth or
| honesty" While never divuging his real name
| pareatage or place of birth, he confessed that
tout of Europe / wasnot born, nor educated, nor
| ever travelled"
He received his early training under the Jes-
| uits in the south of France, to whom he was in
debted for his proficiency in Latin, and the ac-
| Quaintance he displayed with current questions
| of theological polemies. Rreferring Il vagabond
! life in France and Germany to any settled oceu-
patton but finding itdiiicultto subsist he assumed
the disguise of Japanese convert for the pur-
pose of exciting sympathy. Failing in this at
| tempt he adopted the role of heather fugitive,
and invented the outlines of his imposture which
! he subsequently used in his account of Formosa
| Having been pressed into the service of the
Elector of Cologne, and accompanying his regi-
| ment to Sluys, he there fell in with an English
| chaplain named Innes who undertook to convert
him to Christianity. The chaplain discovered
and taxed him with his imposture, but instead
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