ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF TAKOW.
There is but little fun in travelling, and one does not see half there is to be seen unless one climbs; and as the Grahams were all bent on having fun and seeing as much as they could, on reaching the port of Takow, in Formosa, they ascended a very high mountain, called Monkey Mountain, because it is the home of very many monkeys, and they were rewarded by having, from its height, a capital view of the entrance to the port. To the front of the mountain were some European houses, belonging to English merchants from Amoy. The port of Takow is a very difficult one at which to anchor, and is closed for commerce during six months of the year, whilst the wind is blowing in an adverse direction; but when the wind and tide are favourable, barks pass between some rocks at the entrance to the port. It is only at the north that the water is deep enough for merchant-ships to pass by. Here Leonard saw men fishing quite differently from what he had ever seen people fish before; and as they walked in the water behind their nets, which they seemed to manage very cleverly, he wished so much that he could have been there with them.
Takow is one of the four ports in Formosa which, through treaties, have been thrown open to foreign trade, the others being those of Kelung, Tamsui, and Taiwan-fu.
THE EXTREME NORTH OF TAKOW.
Formosa, as its name implies, is a very lovely, picturesque island, and the Spaniards, who first made it known to Europeans, named it "Isla Formosa," which, in their language, means "beautiful island." Takow seemed to abound in tropical vegetation, palm-trees being very conspicuous. The gong, used everywhere in China, was much in use here also; and as in other places men carried things by balancing them across their shoulders, so also they did here. But as Mr. Graham's special object in coming to this island was to visit Poahbi, the first centre of the population of a tribe of aborigines, whom the Chinese have named Pepohoans, or strangers of the plain, he moved on thither as quickly as he could. The country through which they now passed was very beautiful, palm-trees and bamboos overshadowing the way.
FISHERMEN OF TAKOW.
Although it was the month of November, the weather was hot here, and women, wearing white calico dresses, were hard at work in the fields. Many of the women of Formosa had compressed feet, and most of the children wore charms round their necks.