that he has not described above one-eighth part of the whole number which exists.
Out ol the 108 species so described, it was found that 61 only were common to
Celebes and Java. A people who have derived from the sea or river a main portion
oi their sustenance from their first existence, may well be expected to have acquired
some skill in the capture of fish, and fishing is indeed the art in which the greater
number of them excel the most. Fish are caught by them by hook and line—by a
great variety of nets—by weirs and traps—by spearing and by stupefying those of
rivers by narcotic juices. Notwithstanding their long experience, the Chinese excel
them even m their own waters, and are the constructors and owners of all the weirs
on a large scale which are so frequent on the banks in the neighbourhood of
European settlements, and in which are caught the greatest quantity and best quality
Tte.takmg of the mother-of-pearl oyster, the pearl-oyster in a few places,—of
the holothurion or tnpang, and of the shell tortoise, forms valuable branches of the
Malayan fisheries.
FLORIS, called also Ende and Mangarai, is an island of the third magnitude in
the Malayan Archipelago, and forming one of the long volcanic chain, which may be
said to constitute the southern barrier of the Archipelago. I t lies between south
latitude 7 and 9 , and east longitudes 120° and 123°. Its form is long and narrow
its length extending to 200 geographical miles, with a breadth running from 42 to
60 miles. Its area has been computed at 4035 geographical square miles. Like all
the other islands of the same chain, the formation is volcanic, and it has several peaks
two of which are active volcanoes, one of them 7000 feet high. The natives state
that the country produces copper, but neither gold nor iron in sufficient quantity to
be worked. The mountains, which are forest-clad, yield abundance of sapan-wood,
called m the language of the country usu, and a yellow dye wood, the kayu-kuning of
the Malays. The aboriginal inhabitants are a frizzle-headed people, with features
intermediate between the Papuan and Malay race, yet apparently not an intermixture
of these, but a distinct race. Their manners are simple and inoffensive. They dwell
m houses built on the ground, and not elevated on posts like those of the Malays
They cultivate mountain rice, maiz, and roots, and some of the best cotton of the
Archipelago exported to be^manufactured in Celebes. Floris produces none of the larger
wild animals, but the hog in great plenty. The domesticated animals are the buffalo
ox, goat, dog, duck, and common fowl. The inhabitants are divided into many distinct
nations, speaking different languages, of which I received from the Bugis merchants
settled among them the mames of six, and vocabularies of two. The principal places
of trade are Mangarai, on the northern, and Endd, on the southern coast, the last being
the most considerable place, the town or village of the same name containing about
200 houses, and its territory about 5000 inhabitants. Close to it is an active volcano 1500
feet high. At both are settled some Bugis and Malays, the former trading to Batavia
and Singapore m vessels of considerable size, and in smaller ones to Sumba or Sandalwood
Island. At a place called Pota, on the northern coast, the Dutch have a fort
and small post, the chief object of which is protection against piracy. Towards the
south-eastern end of the island the Portuguese have a small settlement on a bay, in
front of which are the islands of Solor and Adinara. This is named Larantuka, and
here they have converted a few of the natives to Christianity. The origin of two of
the names of this island is obvious enough, and the most current is most probably
a Portuguese word—the plural of flor, a flower, the same name which the Portuguese
have given to one of the Azores.
FORMOSA. The Ih a formosa of the Portuguese, called Tai-wan by the Chinese
a word signifying as I am informed by my very acute friend Mr. H. Parkes her
Majesty s Consul at Amoy, “ The Terraced Harbour,” and applied by them to the
port and chief town, and thence to the whole island. Near to and inhabited as far
as its aboriginal people are concerned, by the same race as the Philippines’it has
some claim to be considered as part of them. I t lies between north latitudes 21° 58'
and 25 15', and east longitudes 120° and 122°. I t is of an oval form, its length
being from north to south, its western side fronting the main land of China The
strait which lies between, called after the island, is in its narrowest part 80 miles
broad, and m its widest 150. The total area of Formosa has been estimated at
square miles, so that it is by about one-fifth part larger than the classic island
ot bicily. Its situation is in the very heart of the region of typhoons, and it is
moreover, amenable to severe earthquakes.
A range of high mountains runs through the island from north to south, the summits
of which are clad in perpetual snow, from which it is concluded that they cannot be
less than 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. An undulating plain, extending from
the foot of the range to the sea, forms the western side of the island, leaving a large
portion of the eastern a mountain mass. What its geological formation is has not
been ascertained but that a portion is volcanic is certain from the existence of craters
yielding a large supply of sulphur, which is one of the staple exports of the island.
The population of Formosa is of two descriptions, an aboriginal and a Chinese, the
first for the most part confined to the fastnesses of the mountains, and the last
occupying the extensive plain already nanied. The aboriginal inhabitants are of the
same race as the fairer people of the Philippines—that is, of the Malay race—but
whether divided into different tribes, speaking one language, or having many tongues,
has not been ascertained. The Dutch, during their short occupation of the island,
obtained a vocabulary of a Formosan language, which, on examination, is found to
contain a few words of Malay and of Philippine languages, implying the probability
that the first came through the medium of the last. The natives of Formosa are
evidently in a very rude state, never having obtained that degree of civilisation
which even the principal nations of the Philippines had reached when discovered by
Europeans. A few of them have been tamed by the Chinese, and reduced by them
to a kind of predial servitude. The Chinese settlers are for the most part emigrants
from the province of Fokien, the inhabitants of which are known to be the most
industrious, ingenious, and enterprising of the empire. I t is remarkable that Formosa,
although its existence must have been sufficiently known to the Chinese from an
early period, was never colonised by them until they were driven to take shelter in
it by the invasion of the Manchoo Tartars at the beginning of the seventeenth
century. The Spaniards appear early to have formed a small settlement on the
island, and when the Dutch in 1624 began their establishment, they found a colony
of Chinese Baid to amount to 200,000. The present Chinese population is said to
number two millions and a half. This, however, must be a great exaggeration, for
supposing them to occupy one half the area of the island, and it is not likely that
they occupy so much, the number would give 375 to the square mile, which would
amount to the density of an old country, and not of a colony yielding the products
of the earth cheaply, as Formosa is known to do.
The Dutch, after occupying a large part of Formosa for 34 years, were expelled
from it in 1662 by a powerful Chinese pirate who had infested and invaded it. This
catastrophe was the result of sheer incapacity and neglect, and it is remarkable that
it should have happened at a time when their energy and enterprise were at their
greatest height. Considering its temperate climate and its favourable geographical
position, it is certain that Formosa might, under happier auspices, have become a
great and prosperous European colony.
The soil of the plains and mountain slopes of Formosa is described as being of
eminent fertility, and it may fairly be concluded from the height and magnitude of
its mountains that this fertility is promoted by an abundant irrigation. The chief
products of its agriculture are rice, wheat, pulsé, millet, and sugar-cane. Its chief
exports are rice, sugar, camphor, timber, bay-salt, and sulphur. Formosa forms part
of the province of Fokien, the dense population Of which is said to draw a large part
of its supplies of food from it.
FOW. This is the name of an islet on the south-western coast of the island of
Gebi in the Molucca Sea, and which forms with it a fine and secure harbour. Fow
itself, is deeply penetrated by an inlet of the sea, which makes it to consist of two
peninsulas, the isthmus between them consisting of land from 350 to 400 feet high.
This inlet is a cone with a very narrow entrance, but which widens after entering’
has a depth of from 5 to 10 fathoms, and although a small, is a safe harbour, easily
made defensible.
FUNERALS. The funerals of the Malays, Javanese, and other nations converted
to Islamism, are in conformity to the usages of the Mahommedans. The body within
twenty-four hours after death, in a shroud, without coffin, is buried; and the word
which expresses this simple ceremony literally signifies to place in the earth, and is
the same which means to plant or put seed in the ground. At the bottom of the
grave on one side there is a lateral excavation to receive the body. A simple mound
marks the grave without monumental stone or tomb, except in the case of kings
and reputed saints, the tombs of the latter being considered holy under the Arabic
name of kramat, or sacred. The cemeteries of the Javanese are usually on small hills
fr r n r a short distance from the villages, and lying in a grove of the
Sámboja tree (Plumería acutifolia) are exceedingly picturesque.