Among other valuable suggestions, Dr. Marett has called my attention to the fact that the word “caribou” (sometimes spelt carabao) is used in this book to describe an animal other than the American reindeer. It is quite true that no dictionary would define “caribou” as meaning the hideous, almost hairless, beast of the bovine species used in certain parts of Indonesia for ploughing the rice-paddies, and whose favourite recreation--when not harnessed to the plough--is to lie, or to stand, buried to its neck in muddy water; yet this beast is so called both in the Philippines and in Formosa; that is, by English and Americans resident in these islands. By the Japanese the animal is called _sui-gyu_; by the Chinese _shui-niu_ (as nearly as the sound can be imitated in English spelling); the characters being the same in both languages, but the pronunciation different. In connection with the pronunciation and the English spelling of Chinese and Japanese words, the spelling is of course phonetic. This applies to the names of places, as well as to other words. As regards Formosan place names, the difficulty of adequate transliteration is aggravated by the fact that the Chinese-Formosans and the Japanese, while using the same written characters, pronounce the names quite differently. In spelling the names of places, I have followed that system usually adopted in English books. There can, however, be no hard and fast rules for Sino-Japanese spelling; therefore the Japanese gentleman to whom I am indebted for the map who has spelled Keelung with a single “e,” is quite “within his rights” from the point of view of transliteration. J. B. M. M. CONTENTS PREFACE pp. 9-14 INTRODUCTION pp. 15-18 PART I _DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND AND ITS INHABITANTS_ CHAPTER I IMPRESSIONS FROM A DISTANCE Scepticism regarding the Existence of a Matriarchate--Glimpse of Formosa from a Steamer’s Deck in passing--Hearsay in Japan concerning the Island Colony--Opportunity of going to Formosa as a Government Official pp. 27-35 CHAPTER II IMPRESSIONS AT FIRST-HAND The Voyage from Kobe to Keelung--The History of Formosa as recounted by a Chinese-Formosan--A Visit to a Chinese-Formosan Home--The Scenery of Formosa--Experience with Japanese Officialdom in Formosa pp. 36-68 CHAPTER III PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THE ABORIGINES A New Year Visit to the East Coast Tribes--Received by the Taiyal as a Reincarnation of one of the seventeenth-century Dutch “Fathers.” pp. 69-85 CHAPTER IV THE PRESENT POPULATION OF FORMOSA Hakkas and other Chinese-Formosans, Japanese, Aborigines pp. 86-92 PART II _MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ABORIGINAL TRIBES_ CHAPTER V RACIAL STOCK