El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-06-25
NEW WAR On JAPAN'S HANDS
ONE YEAR TO WIPE OUT THE SAVAGES OF FOR
MOSA'S INTERIOR.
Over 700 Tribes to Be Killed Off or Civilized in That
Period Savage Head Hunters, They Are Interior
ing With the Camphor Business Wild People
Who Have Never Been Subdued Up
to Date.

In all their religious ceremOn1als
! When a dispute arises between indi-
| viduals. decision is awarded to one
! who first secures a head A lad Is
not recognized as adult until he ha:
taken a head But it must be the head
| of a Japanese or a Chinaman THEN
customary method is to lie in wait in
the jungle, near a frequented path
several of them together, in the hope
! of obtaining the much coveted trophy
Territory Also Has Gold.
! Thus civilized existence anywhere
near TO the savage border is beset with
/ no little peril. At the same time the
| land of the Atayal is particularly
| tempting by reason Of its richness in
forest products, especially camphor. 1t
also contains much gold 1t should be
/ added that the Atayal tattoo their faces
very deliberately, and build elegant
! huts of bamboo, over the doorways of
| which are hung, as trophies, the skulls
! of wild boars and apes, and sometimes
I those of japanese and Chinamen-the
latter with pigtails still picturesquely
attached.
Bags for Carrying Human Heads.
They make bags of peculiar net
work expressly TO carry human heads.
One chief when captured and about to
be executed, said: Il have no fear of
death I have taken 81 heads and
wanted only six more to make the
hundred"
History tells that the Spaniards took
possession of Formosa in the year 1926.
They were expelled by the Dutch in
1912 Nineteen years later a Chinese
pirate chief named Koxinga drove out
the Dutch and proclaimed himself king
of the island; but in 1852 the Chinese
dethroned his successor, and Formosa
remained a province of the Middle
kingdom up to the war between China
and Japan, as a result of which it
passed into the possession of the mika-
dos empire.
Really Part of the Philippines.
A glance at the map will show that
Formosa is really the nOrthernmOst
island OF group which we call the
Philippines, being situated only a short
distance to the north of Luzon. It's
wild people are undoubtedly of Malay
origin But its earliest inhabitants
were black dwarfs, belonging to the
same as the pigmy negritos who still
survive in small numbers in LuzOn-
Many of their skeletons have been
found in the mountainous interior, and
it is reasona BILE TO suppose that they
were exterminated by the savages who
now occupy their territory.
AS already stated, these savages have
never been subdued. From an ethno-
logical point Of view, they are more
than ordinarily interesting. Their garb
ranges from nudity to gay colored gar
ments Of their own weaving, made from
the fibers of banana and ramie. The
women are kindly treated, and have
equal rights with the men. But, If a
wife loses her husband after the birth
of a child she is not allowed to marry
again, the idea being that her business
thereafter is to attend to the upbring-
ing of her offspring. Twins are bad
omen. and among some of the tribes
it has been customary to tie them to
a tree and permit them to perish.
Natives Highly Superstitious.
Sickness is supposed to be a pun
ishment inflicted by the spirit of the
dead Dreams afford medium
through which the spirits of the dead
communicate with the living. The
Atayal and Paiwan groups believe the
virgin forests to be the abode of the
spirits of their ancestors. and. on this
account, trees within certain designated
areas are never disturbed. Old men
and women have supernatural powers
of the kind usually attributed to witch
es. and for this reason they perform
the religious rites for the tribe.
Spirits of dead persons other than
ancestors are dangerous and possibly
malevolent. The Atayal consider that
the ghosts of their forbears will not
be satisfied unless a human head IS
part of the offering made at ceremon-
ials. Likewise, in the case of a dispute
between two persons. the spirits of his
ancestors will guide and protect the
one whose cause is just. so that he
may obtain the first head, and there
by win.
The soil of Formosa is exceedingly
rich and nowhere is a finer quality of
tea produced. The eastern half of the
island is covered with jungle. in which
grows the valuable creeper known as
rattan But the most precious vege-
table product is camphOr, which is the
resin of tree that grows to huge
size, sometimes attaining a diameter
of II feet
Camphor Trees Destroyed.
The only way to get the camphor n
to chop the tree into chips, which are