1.] CLIMATE. 25 



phenomena off the coast of Japan, experienced no heavy weather 

 of any kind. Storms are, however, of no unfrequent occurrence 

 between June and November, and the typhoons met with in the 

 neighbourhood of the island are not less severe than those of the 

 Philippines. And, although no such tidal waves and earthquakes 

 as have on more than one occasion devastated Manila, have ever 

 been recorded, Formosa is no stranger to either phenomenon, and 

 it is probable that, taking these and other climatic eccentricities 

 into consideration, the visitor, unless he be a naturalist, will sub- 

 scribe to the opinion once expressed before the Geographical Society 

 by a distinguished traveller, that Formosa, like Ireland, is a very 

 good country to live out of. 



