The Hawaiian gazette., 1895-10-11
Recently Acquired Island Of Formosa
a Land of Freaks.
WILD MEN OF THE MOUNTAINS.
II Japan Succeeds In CivilixiDg Her New
Subjects She VIII Accomplish . Re-
markable Feat-savages, Dwarfs and

succeed in subduing the tribes of saw
ages which inhabit the interior Of
their newly-acquired island of For
mosa. These wild people have main
tanned their independence for CEN
turtles refusing to be civilized or to
submit to the yoke of the foreign in
vader. They dwell in the Businesses
Of the mountains, and some of them
are head-hunters. Bags of a peculiar
network are manufactured by them
expressly for the purpose of carrying
such heads as may be secured Incl
dentally in their occasional warlike
forays, and one of their chiefs, when
about to be executed by the Chinese
who had captured him, said: 81 have
no fear of death. have taken ninety
four heads, and only wanted six more
to make the hundred"
These savages are of Malay stock.
They say that they did not belong
originally in Formosa, and described
their origin by pointing to the south
and showing copies of the canoes in
which their ancestors are alleged to
have arrived Their garb ranges from
nudity to gayly-colored garments OF
their own weaving, made from fibers
of tie banana and ramie plants. They
tattoo their faces and build elegant
huts of bamboo, over the doorways of
which are hung as trophies skulls OF
wild bears and apes, and sometimes
tufts of Chinamen's pigtails. It is
only in their territory, which strang-
ers rarely dare to invade, that the
camphor-bearin laurel grows. Con-
sequentIy the camphor can only be
obtained with their consent, and
money is paid to the chiefs to refrain
from destroying the distilling plants
set up in their country. NeVerthe-
less, trouble frequently arises and the
stills are constantly being destroyed.
Several European firms are ngaged
in the camphor trade, and they nego-
tiate with the savages through the
intervention of the semi civilized
Hakkas or Hillmen. They make ad-
vances to the Hillmen on condition
that the latter shall set up certain
number of stills and supply monthly
fixed amount of camphor at a price
agreed upon. The laurel is large for
est tree. 1t is felled and the trunk
and branches are cut into small pieces
with axes, the giant OF the woods be-
ing soon reduced TO a heap OF chips
The chips are subjected with water to
a crude process of distillation, the
campnor crystals deposited in the
condensiDg jars being scraped out and
packed in baskets. Incidentally to
the operation an essential oil is OBJ
tanned, which is exported under the
name of camphor oil and is used for
chemical purposes.
Fosmosa is 235 miles long and 70
miles wide, being as big as Sardinia
and Corsica rolled into one. Estimates
of the population vary from 1000, 900
to 3 000,00 because the number of
savages is unknown. The soil is
bursting with fairness, AMI nowhere is
a finer quality of tea produced. 1t is
a great pineapple country, and beau
tiful fiber is obtained from the leaves
of that plant. The eastern half of the
island is covered with juugles, in
which grows the valuable creeper
called rattan. The Spaniards took
possession of Formosa in 1926, but
were expelled by the Dutch in 1912.
In 1861 Chinese pirate chief named
Koxinga drove away the Dutch and
proclaimed himself king. Twenty
two years later the Chinese de-
throned his successor, and from then
until now the island has been a pro-
vince of the Middle Kingdom.
Formosa is part of the great archi-
pelago which includes the Philippines,
long owned by Spain. In Japan's
newly acquired island have been found
skulls and skeletons of people who be-
longed to q race of black dwarfs,
doubtless exterminated there by the
Malays. Pigmies of the same race
still inhabit the Philippines. They
were called Negritos, or Little Ne.
groes, by the early Spanish settlers.
Some of the smaller isles were en-
tirely peopled by them. They call
themselves Aetas; they are active,
very dark, woody, small-headed and
average only four feet and seven inches
in height. They are distinct from any
oth-r kno wn people. Though so tiny,
they are very muscular, using with
ease UOWc ludb bhC GtiOhSCSG hllC
man cannot string. They are won
derful runners and their senses are
astonishlngly acute. They distinguish
by their odor fruits hidden in the
thick foliage of the jungle, aud recog-
nize by smell only from what flowers
the bees have gathered honey.
These dwArfs are supposed to have
been the earliest inhabitants of the
Malay Archipelago. They invented
canoes the nautical qualities of which
have astonished English sailors.
Eventually they become widely scat
tered over the seas OF that part of the
world aud on the mainland as well.
Some tribes of them still exist in the
most inaccessible and unwbolesome
parts of India, where they are known
as "man apes" or "men OF the jun
giles" Once upon a time they were
numerous in Java, where they were
wiped out by Malays who joined to
murderous propensities a CIVILIZATION
capable of erecting the thousands OF
gigantic temples whose ruins To-Day
amaze the archaeological explorer la
that island. some anthropoiigists are
of the opidiou that the remains OF
So called fossil man recently found In
Java are actually the bones of little
negro.
Bigger and stronger people gradu-