200 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 



raising locality, they resolved to establish a colony there. Soon 

 after a Dutch vessel, bound on a Japanese voyage, was wrecked 

 on the shore. The Dutch contrived to get permission from the 

 Japanese to select as big a morsel of land as they could cover 

 with an ordinary cow-hide. The permission being gained, they 

 cleverly cut the hide up into thin strips, and enclosed a site of 

 several acres on what was then an island close off the mouth of 

 the river. On this they built a fort (a.d. 1634), called the 

 Castel Zelandia, which stands to this day. The Japanese got 

 disgusted, and deserted the island, whereupon the Dutch built 

 another fort higher up on the north bank of the river. This 

 fort also stands ; but the river has dwindled into a small shallow 

 stream, the island has become united with the land, and the 

 fortress, some way from the banks, is at present in the heart of 

 the large straggling city of Taiwanfoo, enclosed by its walls, 

 marking well the changes that so short a lapse of time has 

 wrought in the configuration of this constantly rising coast. 

 The struggle for mastery continued hot and strong between the 

 Tartars and the natives of Fokien, when a merchant, well 

 known by the name of Koksinga, who had risen from small 

 means and amassed a fortune by trade, equipped a fleet of 

 vessels, and sailed against the Tartar navy. In the first several 

 battles he was victorious ; but being at last worsted, he deter- 

 mined to leave the cause of his royal master, and seek to esta- 

 blish a kingdom for himself. Numbers of Chinese had ere this 

 emigrated to the Dutch portion of Formosa, which had become 

 a flourishing colony and place of call for Netherlands ships 

 trading between Java and Jajjau. The Dutch had also before 

 this time established themselves in various other parts of For- 

 mosa, and had introduced missionaries into the island with a 

 view to convert and civilize the aboriginal tribes, whom they 

 found peaceful and docile. They had built a fort on the Tamsuy 

 river, which is also still standing ; and they had expelled a small 

 settlement of Spaniards and Spanish priests, who had built a 

 small fort and located themselves at Keling, on the north 

 coast, as they considered the whole island virtually their own. 

 In the 17th year of Shun-che (a.d. 1661) Koksinga sailed for 

 Formosa. He first visited the Pescadores, and wrested those 



