From the time of the expulsion of the Dutch, to the period of our operations upon the coast of China, little seems to have been known or heard of Formosa; and, owing to the jealousy of the Chinese, and other causes, no attempt seems to have been made to explore the island. The colonists are described as being generally very turbulent and given to violence, as it has become a place of refuge for all the bad characters who can manage to escape from the mainland; but it is also the home of many respectable and enterprising settlers; although, being removed from the control of the superior officers of the province, they live with less restraint, and therefore readily become bold and lawless. For the same reason, the local mandarins are cruel, rapacious, and ignorant; and their behaviour towards our unfortunate countrymen will suffice to stamp them with the character of treachery and thorough baseness. But the cultivation and prosperity of the island have increased in a rapid and remarkable manner; and it is evident that British manufactures will soon be spread among its numerous population, through their intimate connexion with Amoy. Besides furnishing immense supplies of rice, Formosa also produces great quantities of sugar, camphor, and tobacco, which are exported to Amoy. A great part of the camphor is already carried down to Singapore in the trading junks from Amoy, but probably our own trading vessels will henceforth procure supplies of it on the spot, in exchange for cotton and other manufactured articles. Unruly as the people of Formosa are, the island is, nevertheless, somewhat famous for its schools, which are said to be in a flourishing condition. Mr. Gutzlaff states, that the rich men of Fokien frequently send their sons over to obtain literary degrees at Formosa; and the Dutch, at an early period, took pains to spread Christianity among the inhabitants, who, at that time, were comparatively few in number. A few books on Christianity were translated by them into the Formosan language, and they were very successful in making converts. Since they abandoned the island, however, nearly all traces of their early labours have disappeared. The close connexion of Formosa with Amoy will probably be the means of reviving amongst the inhabitants some of the lost spirit of Christianity; for we cannot doubt that, in all parts of China, the increase of missionary labour will keep pace with the increase of commercial intercourse. The wreck of the Nerbudda transport, on her way up to join the expedition with camp-followers, in the month of September, 1841, soon after our forces left Amoy, and the loss of the brig Ann, a trading vessel, on her way down to Macao, from Chusan, in the month of March following, upon the shores of Formosa, served to attract unusual attention towards that island, and to put us in possession of some little information respecting the interior.