The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-12
A CHAMBER OF HORRORS.
WEIRD EXPERIENCE OF A TRAv-
ELER IN FORMOSA.
He AwOI1e TO Find Himself Surround
ed by Grinning skulls.

my mind one of the strangest and most
exciting experiences of my life"
II was a well-known naval officer who
made this remark. He was sitting al
his club in Washington after a hard DAYS
work waiting orders" and had Just
laid down a paper which announced that
Japan had demanded the island Of For
mosa as a part of the Chinese indemnity.
''Of course. 1t is wen known he added.
that the island Of Formosa is the most
important of the chain Of islands stretch
ing south from, Japan parallel with the
coast Of China, and that its ownership
by Japan is extremely important in her
command of the Chinese coast
well, FOrmOsa is as big as Massachu-
sets, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and
has about as many people. The natives
are a warlike sort of people always fight
ing with the Chinese or among themselves.
and caring more for silver and copper
bracelets and jewelry than Tor any con
siderable amount of clothing. Yet they
wear some clothes and live in fairly com.
Portable houses, some made of bamboo
some of stone. But they have some very
peculiar customs, as you will see by my
story.
'It was a good many years ago that
I took notion to pay visit to the in
.sel to which ] was attached was on the
Asiatic station, and il suddenly occurred
to me that an old college friend of mine
had been sent year or so earlier to For
mosa to represent an importing house in
san Francisco in buying camphor and
tea and indigo on the island. So l asked
permission to visit him and readily OBJ
1ained il, with the additional promise
that the vessel would stop at one of the
ports of the island for me q few days
later. So / took a little merchant vessel
ma
ing at Tamsui, a city of nearly 100000 peo-
PIE.
found on arriving at my friends quarters
that he had gone to some interior port to
make purchases of camphOr gum, which is
made more largely in FOrmOSa. than In anv
other part of the world 1t was suggested
that / would find him at the town men,
toned, and on consulting the map | found
that it seemed TO be pretty near to the
port at which the vessel was to call for
me. So ! concluded to follow him, and Sc
curing saddle OK and guide set out for
the interior. You see, they have no horses
in Formosa outside of a few in the cities
aud the oxen are trained to the saddle.
1t was quite late on the second day
when we reached the little native village
on the mountain side where my friend was
supposed to be located. To my intense dis
satisfaction j learned. through my guides
inquiries. that he had gone some distance
into the forest to a camp of camphor
makers, and that nobody knew when he
would return. 1t was then dark and of
Possibility
ing him further that night at least. So I
suggested to the guide that we arrange
for a place where we could pass the night
and that we would consider the question
of further advance next morning. It
did not take long to find out that the vii
lage was made Up almost entirely of ma
tiVes, with occasionally some PspO-boans,
as was seen by the group of people who
soon surrounded us, anxious to see the
strange sight of a white foreigner in mill
tary costume.
Finally, after a good deal of jabbering
with the natives, my guide informed me
that he had arranged that we should pass
the night at the residence of one of the
leading men of the town, who had been a
sort of chief of the tribe, and had a large
house on the hill, just outside the village
We We're duly escorted there, and n sup
per served, which tasted very good after
the long days ride over the mountains
whatever its constituents. 1t was served
by women, whose hands and arms were
hideous with tattootng, ard whose teeth
We're stained red from the use of the
bette nut. After smoking a couple of pipes
and rejecting what a fool 1 was to leave
the vessel and plunge into this unknown
country among these strange people,
concluded it was about time to retire, and
SO indicated 10 my guide. l observed that
his announcement OF that fact seemed to
raise some question in the mind of my
host, who was a burly fellow, with big
pieces OF ornamental bamboo stuck
through his ears and numerous battle
sears across his cOuntcnance. After a
good deal of talk, in which my uniform
and my military rank seemed to be ques-
tion of interest, l was escorted in a very
ceremonious way to my sleeping apart
ment.
1T was a low circular structure, discon-
nected from the main building, and had
quite an air of eXClusiveness, so that l
imagined I was being given the very best
that the establishment afforded l was too
tired, however, and too much out of hui
NOR to make much inquiry, and took it
for granted that / was being paid these
hlgh honors because OF my uniform and
the prospect of a fat fee in the morning.
The little suffering light which mine
host carried as he escorted me to the
bedroom was merely strip OF bamboo
dipped in a cup of oil. 1t made scarcely
light enough to find our way. He placed
It on little table beside the bed, and,
bowling profoundly and showing his red
teeth, disappeared. l had examined the
interior of a number of native houses
during the day. and found them extreme
as the light did not illuminate a space
more than a couple of feet distant from
II, made no effort to examine my sur
roundings but loosening my clothes,
asleep.
How long slept 1 do not know ]
was awakened by what seemed to me the
Sound OF a cannon. / could scarcely un-
Qerstand for the moment where l was,
LOT the sound was so familiar on ship
board that / at first supposed myself in
my own quarters on the vessel. 1 soon
remembered my location, however, and
lay there for a few minutes, wondering
wat II was tnat neard. undlly con-
Guided, however, that l had dreamed it,
and was about resuming my slumbers
When 1t seemed to me that the room was
growing lighter. A dim, reddish sort of
4ght seemed to pervade the apartment
rubbed my eyes to see whether it were a
condition of the nerves, but found that it
remained Moreover, l saw that l could
Qlscern my hands as 1 passed them be-
lore my eyes. I had eXtinguished the
smoking taper with which l had been
tremendously escorted to bed, not desr-
of or ~ ont IA DON fl
with the smoke
=, AS lay there wondering what it meant,
We room seemed to grow brighter, until I
could seem to see my clothing and the bed
upon which l was lying. Pretty soon il
sTehed 10 me that could see objects at a
snort distance from me, and as 1 gazed l
.aought could begin to see the outlines of
,,ne room 1t was circular, with rather
low and irregular ceiling, as I thought,
NE bed apparently occupying the middle
2l me room. and the walls appearing to
ae about eight or ten feet distant. AS /
glanced dreamily about me, wondering
II morning had come so soon, my eye
Taught sight of something very sugges-
a a Cglnt nraf Esax ra1Ir s,-f