1926

FORMOSA
This island, one of the largest in Asia, is situated between latitude 22 and 26-
degrees N., ana longitude 120 and 122 degrees E., and is separated from the coast
of Fukien, China, by a channel about one hundred miles in width. It is a prolongation
of the Japanese and Loochoo Archipelagoes, and in 1895 was incorporated in the Jap¬
anese Empire. Its name Formosa, signifying “ beautiful island,” was conferred by
the Portuguese, the first Europeans to visit it, but it was called Taiwan (Great
Bay) by the Chinese, to whom it belonged from 1661 to 1894. It is said that the
Japanese endeavoured to form a colony in the island in 1620, but large numbers of
Chinese were settled there prior to that date. The Dutch arrived in 1634, and founded
several settlements, and traces of their occupation are still to be found in the island,
but they were compelled in 1661 to retire by the Chinese pirate chief Koxinga, who
then assumed the sovereignty of western Formosa. His grandson and successor,
however, was induced, twenty-two years later, to resign the crown to the Emperor
of China. By the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which terminated the war between China
and Japan in 1895, the island was ceded to Japan as one of the conditions of peace, and
on the 1st June, 1895, the formal surrender was made, the ceremony taking place on
board ship outside Keelung. The resident Chinese officials, however, declared a,
republic, and offered resistance, and it was not until the end of October that the
opposing forces were completely overcome, the last stand being made in the south by
Liu Yung-fu, the Black Flag General, of Tonkin notoriety. Takow was bombarded;
and captured on 15th October, and Anping was peacefully occupied on the 21st of
the same month, Liu Yung-fu having taken refuge in flight.
Formosa is about 260 miles in length, and from 60 to 70 miles broad in the widest
part. It is intersected from north to south by a range of mountains, which forms a
kind of backbone to the island, the loftiest peak of which, Mount Morrison (Niitakayama),
is 13,880 feet high. On the western side of this range the slope is more gradual
than on the eastern side, and broken by fertile valleys which lose themselves in the
large undulating plain on which the Chinese are settled. The high land east of the
dividing chain is peopled by an aboriginal race who acknowledged no allegiance to
the Chinese Government and made frequent raids upon the outlying Chinese settle¬
ments, but as the island is being steadily opened up conditions are improving, and
doubtless in course of time they will become emerged in the general population,
although naturally a savage and warlike people, allied to the Malays and Polynesians,
who lived principally by the chase.
The population of Formosa in estimated to be as followsNatives (Chinese),
3,371,358; Japanese (excluding military), 164,266; Foreigners (mostly Chinese), 24,466;
Savages, 95,149—total, 3,655,239. In addition to the foregoing, there are tribes of
aborigines, described in the returns as “savages,” living within the administrative
districts and under Government control aggregating approximately 48,000. A fresh
census was taken in the autumn of 1925, but too late for the inclusion of the
figures in this year’s (1926) report.
The revenue, which down to 1904 averaged about Yen 20,000,000 annually, has since
steadily increased, the figure for 1923-24 being Yen 130.500,000, and for 1922-23 Yen
111,097,561. The value of the exports to foreign countries in 1924 was Yen 42,575,953,
and the imports from abroad totalled Yen 46,424,036, the previous year’s returns being
Yen 29,152,437, and Yen 39,207,867 respectively. The trade with Japan for the same
period was Exports, Yen 211,098,223, and Imports, Y7en 86,573,972, as compaied with
Yon 169,442,365, and Yen 70,921,625 in 1923.
The products of Formosa are numerous, vegetation being everywhere most
luxuriant, testifying to the richness of the soil. Tea, camphor, rice, sugar and
bananas are largely cultivated, the three latter being extensively shipped to Japan.
The fauna includes bears, monkeys, deer, wild boar, badgers, martens, the scaly
ant-eater, and other smaller animals. Birds are not very numerous, and snakes
not as common as might be expected where vegetation is so abundant. As regards
minerals there are at present only two gold mines running (viz., those at Kinkosaki
and Zuiho in the vicinity of Keelung). The total mineral products of the island
during 1924, according to investigations made by the Mining Bureau are given as
approximately Gold Yen 672,000, Silver Yen 2-2,783, Copper and Copper ores Yen
589,000, Coal Yen 9,373,000, Petroleum Yen 200,000, Sulphur Yen 34,000.