492 Reviews. | Oct., 
made of the pith of the rice-paper plant of Amoy manufacture ; and 
as they walked painfully along with the hobbling gait peculiar to 
their hoof-like feet, their figures swaying to and fro, and their 
arms more or less outstretched to balance themselves, they had, to 
us, a most grotesque appearance—but in Chinese eyes the acme of 
grace and loveliness, which they figuratively liken to the waving 
of willows agitated by the breeze.”* 
Amongst the less-known tribes visited were certain natives of 
the Island of Formosa. ‘These people are called by themselves 
Kibalan, and are, I believe, known by the Chinese as the tame 
aborigines, in contradistinction to the raw savages who dwell on 
the mountains, and on the east coast more particularly. These 
latter are at deadly enmity with the Chinese, while the Kibalans 
live in close proximity, though isolated from them.” Both sexes 
are said to be friendly and good-natured, not given to cheating or 
stealing, nor treacherous like other Orientals. During the occupa- 
tion of the island by the Dutch, the Kibalans were raised from a 
state of barbarism, educated, and instructed in the Christian religion. 
“ The aborigines of Formosa are reputed still to have a traditional 
reverence and regard for white men ; and it is much to be regretted 
that so firm and benignant a rule as the Dutch seem here to have 
inaugurated should have been cut short by an overpowering attack 
of the neighbouring half-civilized Chinese.”{ This portion of the 
volume is extremely interesting, and its value, as the result of dili- 
gent observation, is confirmed by the publication, in an appendix, 
of a vocabulary of words used by the natives of Sau-o Bay, east 
coast of Formosa. 
In turning to details more especially connected with natural 
science, the materials are so ample, and are set forth in so attrac- 
tive a style, that we can only say the work has again and again 
set us longing to explore for ourselves. As a specimen, we quote 
the description of a portion of the Fiery Cross coral reef, so called 
from the circumstance of the ship ‘Fiery Cross’ having been 
wrecked thereon. 
“Taking a boat, with a couple of rowers, I left the ship and 
steered in search of the shallowest portions of the coral-strewn sea. 
A short row brought us upon a two-fathom patch, over which I 
allowed the boat to drift slowly; and leaning over the side and 
looking down into the mirror-like sea, I could admire at leisure 
the wonderful sight, undistorted as it was by the slightest ripple. 
Glorious masses of living coral strewed the bottom: immense glo- 
bular madrepores—vast overhanging mushroom-shaped expansions, 
complicated ramifications of interweaving branches, mingled with 
smaller and more delicate species—round, finger-shaped, horn-like, 
* P45, + P. 107. t P. 36. 
