1849.] Notice of a Chinese Geographical work. 145 



" Tung nan yang ki,* or An account of the South-East Ocean. All 

 the oceans of the south-east begin at Thai wdnf and lie to the south 

 [of that island] . 



Thai wan is situated on the magnetic rhumbs shin sin.X From Ki 

 lung shan, on the north, to Ma khi on the south, it is two thousand eight 

 hundred li§ in length. It lies opposite to Fu chiu fu t Ileng chiufu y 

 Chcen chiufu,\\ and Cheang chiu fu. It is separated from the island of 

 Phdng it* by a navigation of four kcng,f and from Hea man by a navi- 

 gation of eleven keng. Its western side is a marshy wilderness ; its 

 eastern is bounded by the ocean. This part is inhabited by the vassals 

 Tin yu, named the " aborigines of Phing pu." 



The hills are very lofty, and are inhabited by people whose numerous 

 races it were difficult to count. They catch deer and eat them. Yams 

 and roots J constitute their staple food. They have no reckoning of 

 years. When the grain is ripe, they prepare a wine from it and regale 

 themselves : and that is their year. By nature they are fond of murder ; 

 and they preserve the skulls of men as something precious. They 

 tattoo their bodies, and blacken their teeth. Their races are various. 

 In the morning when they hear the birds sing, they proceed upon their 

 business as the omen§ is lucky or otherwise. The men and the women 

 couple illicitly, and that is their marriage. || 



•*ffe*MB 



t Th&i Wan is the Chinese name of Formosa. It has generally been applied 

 by European writers to the port only. 



X Jl)C ^tt* s ^ n s?w > corresponding with S. E. (sin) and E. 30° S. 

 {shin) on our compass. 



§ Li: Stadium Sinicum, continens trecentos et sexaginta passus. Be Guignes. 



|| These are provinces of Fo kien. 



* A group of islands lying off the coast of Formosa, called "Pescadores" by the 

 Spaniards, and " Visschers Eilanden" by the Dutch. Valentyn describes them 

 minutely. The largest he calls Phek no ; no doubt a corruption of Phdng u.— 

 (BescJiryv. van Taywan — p. 37). 



f Keng is, in time, the 10th part of the day of 24 hours ; in measure, 60 li of 

 navigation, as our author himself informs us a litle further on. 



X Shce u. I am doubtful what esculents these may be; most probably yams» 



§ Pi, properly a method of inferring omens by burning tortoise-shell, but here 

 it means an omen in general. 



|| This passage is differently rendered by M 5 Klaproth ;— " Les hommcs et 



V 



