The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-05-12

prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington, ID. CO
One Of the most important Of the
"slices Of China taken by outside ma
tiOns, but one which there has been no
mention Of restoring. is the island
which the world knows as FOrmosa,
but which the japanese, since they
gained possession OF il through the
ChinO-Japanese war, have named Tai
wan.
"Ihla FOrmosa"-Beautiful Isle-the
early Portuguese vOyagers called it;
and never was a more appropriate
name given to an isle of the sea.
If you care to confirm this in one Of
several pleasant ways, sail along the
west coast of FOrmOsn in n TEX pal, or
bamboo raft, on q clear day, and
you will witness a pageant of noun
tain scenery that will haunt the mem
DRY for many Il day.
Beyond the fertile plain, with its
emerald paddy-felds and it's pictur-
esque little villages dotted here and
there on the banks Of ~meandering
streams, foothills with unending varia-
tons of contour silhouette their tree
fringed SUBMITS against the raier
screen of more distant mountains. OF
these, sometimes five and sometimes
even six parallel ranges are visible at
once, each Il separate ribbon of color,
shading from the deepest sapphire TO
the palest azure and extending in an
unbroken chain of beauty from north
to south.
On the east Of the island you can
see the highest coastal cliffs known, at
some places rising abruptly to an ele-
walton of about 5000 feet. and afford
ing an i~mpregnable wall of defense to
the wild aboriginal tribes living in the
mountains back of them.
All Kinds of Vegetation.
Fcrmosan scenery is unusual in its
diversity of vegetation within such
narrow contineS-the greatest length
of the island from north to south is
about 264 miles and SO miles is it's
greatest width.
From the palms and tropical fruit
trees Of the western plain il is only a
short step to the slopes of the lower
mountains, with their exuberant
jungles of various grOwths-the beard
ed banyans, the graceful tree ferns,
which in sheltered hooks attain the
height of palms, and the ubiquitous
bamboo grass.
Here, among mOsS-Strung trees, is
found growing the beautiful butterfly
orchid, while in exposed spaces, nes-
Ting among the rocks, rOse-Qink azaleas
faunt their gay blooms. a little high
er are p%lateauS covered with camphOr
laurel. the largest tracts OF these valu-
able trees in the world, while still
higher grow the forests OF cOniferous
trees-the giant benihi, similar to the
redwoods of California, the largest
trees in the East and the second
largest in the world; the valuable
pine cedar and spruce Of the New
England states; and higher yet the
craggy peaks Of the talleSt mountains,
but sparsely covered with vegetation
of any sort, where eagles build their
nests, and which for the greater part
of the year lie beneath a mantle OF
snow.
The usual approach to the island is
the port of Kelung, in the extreme
north. Almost any time one arrives
In Kelung the rain will be found COM
ing down in sheets, obscuring the hill.
crested harbOr.
Board Il train for TaihOku, the CAPT.
tai city, which on most maps still
bears its old Chinese name Of Taipeh,
and in about ten minutes you will pass
through a long tunnel. under a noun
tain ridge on the other side of which
you will in all probability find the
landscape flooded with sunshine. Rain
seems as out Of place in this new
world as stars in the broad daylight.
Here and there the train passes the
low, mud, matched dwelling of some
Chinese hOmesteader with a pool Of
water by way of front yard, where
huge ~slate-colored buffalOes take their
MONDAY siesta.
Taihoku Is a Fine City.
The distance Of 20 miles to TaihOku
is covered in n little more than an
hour, and there the traveller is sure to
be amazed at the westerniZed appear
ance of the city-the broad streets, the
beautiful parks, and the imposing pub
lie buildings. Only the g%ateways Of
the old wall, which surrounded the
ancient Chinese city, remain, looking
as out Of place in their ~rejuvenated
setting as the Egyptian obelisk in Cen
trail pgrk. Even Daitotei, the Chinese
,cc.'.r cs TMiloku is unGaturally