FORMOSA THE BEAUTIFUL 



273 



LUMBERING OPERATIONS IN THE IIINOKI FORESTS ON MOUNT ARIZAN 



Xext to the camphor laurel, the hinoki, or sun trees, are the most valuable trees in 

 Formosa. The tallest specimens attain a height of 130 feet and are of ^uch girth as to enable 

 a dozen people to stand on the stump of a tree that has been felled. 



Although in most instances the simi- 

 larities are more striking than the differ- 

 ences in the various groups, still they are 

 sufficiently unlike to lead us to suppose 

 that they migrated to Formosa at differ- 

 ent times and perhaps from different 

 places. 



A PASSION FOR HEAD-HUNTING 



There is one trait that all the "raw" 

 savages possess in common, and that is 

 their passion for head-hunting. With 

 some of the groups the practice is closely 

 bound up with their religious and social 

 life, while with others it is more espe- 

 cially a question of prowess, and the 

 brave who can display the greatest array 

 of skulls is regarded as the greatest hero. 



The "ripe" savages have, of course, 

 abandoned the practice altogether, but 

 they still cherish a sneaking affection for 

 it, as is shown by their adherence to the 

 old dances which originated in the fes- 

 tivities over the capture of heads. 



In every savage village the open-air 

 skull museum is a matter of civic pride, 



and most chiefs have their private collec- 

 tion of skulls as well. 



At the time that the Chinese army of 

 occupation left Formosa and the Japanese 

 entered their new domain, guns were at 

 a premium. As the Chinese residents 

 were not allowed to retain fire-arms, 

 nearly all the rifles belonging to the de- 

 parting army, numbering about 20,000, 

 were sold by Chinese traders to the sav- 

 ages. It is this possession of fire-arms 

 that makes the head-hunters particularly 

 dangerous to cope with. 



THE LIVE-WIRE BARRIER 



It is so common for some Chinaman 

 living near the savage border to lose his 

 head that not much attention is paid to 

 the incident, unless his relatives band to- 

 gether to avenge the murder. But if 

 some Japanese policeman, official, or sol- 

 dier falls a victim, there is always an ex- 

 pedition to avenge his death. A village 

 is forewarned, and if the culprit is sur- 

 rendered all are spared except the guilty 

 one, who pays the death penalty. 



