ter IV., I anticipated no difficulty in supplying him with the “ proof-
sheets” of our volume quite in time for one—to whom the subjects
developed in it are so familiar—to write the few pages of synopsis
desirable for its “ Prefatory Remarks.”
Under this expectation, the “ proof-sheets” have been punctually
forwarded hence to Mobile by our Publishers; and I took for granted
that, by the 15th February, at furthest, Dr. H o t t ’s second manuscript
would have reached me here for the press. Unfortunately, we have
all “ reckoned without our host.” From the latter part of December
until, I may say, this moment^ the wintry Condition of the roads has
been such as to compel my colleague to write me, almost at the last
moment, that, having received but few of the “ proof-sheets,” and
these in no connected series, he must abandon the hope of editing
our “Prefatory Remarks.”
My individual chagrin at this contre-temps is so great that I will not
attempt to offer any substitute for Dr. S o t t ’s frustrated intentions.-
At a more propitious time, and through some other vehicle, I hope
that my colleague may publish his own commentary upon “ Indigenous
Races of the Earth,’’—which owes far more to his personal
science and propulsion than appears on its face. In consequence,
my part reduces itself to the editorship of three additional ' contributions,—
to three paragraphs about Egyptian ethnography—and to
succinct observations concerning my own Chapters V. and VI.
The gratifying communications now presented afford much scientific
novelty and food for the reader’s reflections. I append each in
its order of date.
“ N a v y Y a r d , P h i l a d e l p h i a , Jan. 20th, 1A>7.
“ M e s s r s . N o t t & G -lid d o h ,
“Dear Sirs:—Your communication in regard to the hairy race
who inhabit the Kurile Islands, and the red men of Formosa, has
been received.
“ I take pleasure in forwarding you two ‘heads ’ of the former, as
drawn by Mr. A. E. Hartman, the able artist of the United States
Surveying Steamer ‘John Hancock,’ and only regret that I am
unable to furnish you with similar sketches of the latter, our opportunities
of examining them having been very limited. I take the following
extracts in regard to these slightly known races from a narrative
of our Cruise which I have now in press
11 THE RED MEN OF THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA.
“ I will say nothing more about Formosa for the present. We left its shores about as
wise as we were upon our arrival, and it was not until our second visit that we picked up
what little information now exists upon the files of the Expedition in regard to it. Upon
.eaving Keilung (the,port of the island of Formosa), for Hong-Kong, we kept along the
east coast of the island, in the vain search for a reported harbor. There was nothing to. be
seen but, an iron-bound .coast with range'after range of lofty mountains lifting themselves
above the heavy surf that broke along the entire beach. One day we thought we had discovered
i f w e saw ahead the .smoke of distant villages rising back of a bight in the coast
which looked very much like a harbor; but, upon approaching it, we found ourselves mistaken,
We, however, lowered a boat and attempted to land, but the surf was breaking so
furiously that it would have been madness to have entered it. Besides, the beach was
crowded by naked and excited savages; who it was generally reported were cannibals, and
into whose company we should consequently have preferred being thrown with reliable arms
in our hands. The two convicts, .whom the captain had' taken in the boat to interpret in
case of his being able to land, became so frightened- at the savage appearance of those
reported man-eaters,1 that-they went on their'knees to him, protesting, through the steward,
that the inlanders had eaten many of their countrymen, and that if he went any nearer they
would do the same by him and the boat’s crew. Finding it impossible to pass the surf, the
boat returned onboard, and we squared away for Hong-Kong.” * * * * “ And now, before
I turn to my journal for a few pages in regard to our experience while coasting around
this island,-let me enlighten the reader as much as possible in regard to it from other
sources. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says,—
“ ‘ The Dutch at.an early period established a settlement on this island.
‘“ In 1625, the viceroy of the Philippine Islands sent an expedition against Formosa,
with a view of expelling the Dutch. It was unsuccessful,?«.-. . About the middle of the
seventeenth century, it afforded a retreat to twenty or thirty thousand Chinese from the
fury of ¡the.Tartar conquest.,. . . In 1653, a,conspiracy of the Chinese against the Dutch
was discovered and suppressed; and, soon after this, Coxinga, the governor of the maritime
Chinese province of Tehichiang, applied for permission to retire to the island, which was
refused by the Dutch governor; on which he fitted out an expedition, consisting of six hundred
vessels, and made himself master of the town of Formosa and the adjacent country
The .Dutch were then allowed to embark and leave the island.!. . , Coxinga afterward engaged
in a war.with the Chinese and Dutoh, in which he was defeated and slain; But they
were unable to take possession of the island, which was bravely defended by the posterity
of Coxinga; and it was not till the year 1683 that the island was voluntarily surrendered
by the reigning ■ prince, far-the Emperor of China. . . . In 1805, through the weakness of
the Chinese government, the Ladrone pirates had acquired possession of a great part of the
southwest coast»’
“ The Eucyclopaedia Americana says,—
‘“ .The island is about two hundred and forty miles in length from north to south, and
sixty from east to west in its broadest part, but greatly contracted at each extremity.
That part of the island which the Chinese possess presents extensive and fertile plains,
watered by a great number of rivulets that fall from the eastern mountains. Its air is
pure and wholesome, and the earth produces in abundance corn, rice, and most other kinds
of grain. Most of the India fruits are found here, — such as oranges, bananas, pineapples,
guavas, cocoanuts,—and part of those of Europe, particularly peaches, apricots, figs, grapes,
chestnuts, pomegranates, watermelons, Sec . Tobacco, sugar, pepper, camphor, and cinnamon,
are also commbn,. The capital of Formosa is Taiouan, — a name which the Chinese
give to the whole island.’
“ In addition to the foregoing extracts from standard authority, we have a most marvellous
account of this island from the pen of Mauritius Augustus, Count de Benyowsky, a
Polish refugee from Siberian exile, who visited its east coast, in 1790, in a small armed vessel
containing about one hundred men. The account by this nobleman is interesting in the
extreme but unfortunately he is guilty of one gross and palpable falsehood, which necessarily
throws a shade of distrust on his entire narrative.-- He speaks ‘ of anchoring in several