4(5 EAMBLES OP A NATURALIST. [Oh. III. 



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. 



After three or four days' stay at Ta-kau-con, we steered 

 towards the Pescadores islands, a group between Formosa 

 and the mainland, sometimes called the Ponghou Archi- 

 pelago. This cluster consists of 21 inhabited islands 

 besides several uninhabited rocks, lying between the 

 parallels of 23" and 24° N., and are included with Formosa 

 in the Chinese province of Fo-kien. A strong breeze kept 

 us rolling tremendously as we crossed the channel, and it 

 was a matter of congratulation to have reached the outlying 

 rocks of Three Island and Round Island, and to get imder 

 the lee of Ponghou, the principal island of the group, along 

 which we coasted more quietly. This gave me, moreover, 

 an opportunity of examining the remarkable structure of the 

 neighbouring members of this group, which all presented a 

 peculiar flat and truncated appearance. This was particu- 

 larly observable in Table and Tablet Islands, both of which 

 consisted of flat tables, about 200 feet high, supported above 

 upon well marked basaltic columns, and sloping from these 

 down to the water's edge, just as is seen on the Antrim 

 coast. So also the large island of Ponghou exhibited a 

 coltimnar structure in several places, often with a sandy 

 beach at its base ; and on approaching Pong Point, the 

 south-western promontory, I observed the columns to be 

 broken off close down upon the beach, forming a causeway 

 in two places, though on a smaller scale than at the Giant's 

 Causeway. The absence of trees from all the islands gives 

 them a rather dreary aspect. We entered Ponghou harbour 



