FORMOSA THE BEAUTIFUL 



275 



A MILITARY GARRISON ON THE BORDER OF THE SAVAGE DISTRICT: FORMOSA 



These temporary structures serve as the headquarters of the commanding officer during an 



expedition against the savages. 



feet in length and from 200 to 400 pounds 

 in weight. 



DIFFICULT TO STUDY THE SAVAGES 



It is through a study of some newly- 

 conquered tribe that we come to know 

 the characteristics of the Formosan 

 savage. 



Even though the ardent student of 

 anthropology cared to risk his life among 

 the "raw" savages, permission to enter 

 the danger zone could not be obtained 

 from the Japanese authorities. In fact, 

 the Japanese are so careful in this respect 

 that even when foreigners want to visit a 

 village of "ripe" savages they must al- 

 ways be accompanied by a police escort. 



It is not my purpose here to write a 

 descriptive history of the savage tribes 

 on this island, having no first-hand 

 knowledge on the subject, but I wish to 

 relate the story of a trip I took to Kam- 

 panzan, a little savage village in the north 

 of the island, and of an interesting en- 

 counter with Kim Soan, a savage, which 

 throws some new sidelights on the life 



of his tribe, the Atayals of North For- 

 mosa. 



We started out by train to Toyen, a 

 two hours' ride, on a beautiful day last 

 autumn. It was the time of the second 

 rice harvest, and in the paddy-fields were 

 scattered little groups of laborers in their 

 broad palm-leaf hats, some reaping the 

 grain with sickles, others threshing, and 

 still others plowing the fields for the new 

 seedlings. 



Sunny blue skies overhead and the 

 soft browns of the ripened grain, inter- 

 spersed with vivid green patches of the 

 young seedlings, formed the color scheme 

 of the picture before us, and the frame 

 was the encircling mountains. 



WESTERN INVENTIONS BECOME ORIENTAL 

 COMMONPLACES 



Very picturesque were the portable 

 tubs with their canvas awnings, looking 

 for all the world like sails, in the wake 

 of which followed the threshers with 

 their bundles of grain, which they rapped 

 smartly against the corrugated board 



