— i8 — 



The exports of camphor and camphor oil from Formosa were: 

 in 1889 1902 1904 1905 



Value: Yen 



Camphor 1 935 001 3718549 3°579 2 3 2683523 



Camphor oil 1075858 921536 1235684 1 156454 



According to a report from the German Consul in Twatutia 1 ), the 

 camphor production in Formosa has now for some years been growing 

 smaller. In the districts in which it was possible to work with com- 

 parative safety under the protection of the frontier guards, all the 

 trees have fairly well been felled. For this reason the chain of posts 

 has to be pushed forward, in order not to let the production fall too 

 low, as the trees stand already in the Savage district, or at least on 

 its frontiers. This also explains the serious mistake made by the 

 Japanese Government in calculating the purchases, as it obtained 

 instead of the calculated quantity of about 5,7 million kin (1 kin 

 = 601 g), over 1 million kin less. According to the Custom's statistics, 

 there were exported in the year 1905 from Formosa, 2923117 km 

 camphor and 2579782 kin camphor oil, the oil exclusively to Japan, 

 and of the camphor over 75 °/ abroad. 



According to the same report, the high expectations based on the 

 production of camphor from the leaves, have up to the present not 

 yet been realised; the experiments cannot, however, as yet be con- 

 sidered as concluded, as it is generally accepted that the trees must 

 be 4 to 5 years old 2 ) before the leaves can be utilised for the produc- 

 tion of camphor oil. 



In the course of the last few years the Japanese Government has 

 planted out more than a million young camphor trees, and it now 

 supplies the young trees free, and the land free of rent if it is Gov- 

 ernment land, and even makes a present of it to the planter if the 

 plantations thrive. Unfortunately, about 70 °/ of all the trees planted 

 out are generally lost, as the Chinese are in the habit of burning off 

 the dry grass, which easily gives rise to tremendous conflagrations. 



From a newspaper article which deals once more with the doings 

 of the notorious head-hunters, we see what difficulties beset the Japanese 

 civilisation in wild Formosa, and how the labourers in the camphor- 

 districts carry on their difficult trade at the risk of their own lives. 

 In the autumn of last year a sanguinary battle was fought between 

 savages and a body of 200 camphor labourers working in 3 batches 

 in the district of Foroku; of the 200 men only one returned to tell 

 the tale of disaster. Recently the Japanese have sent a punitive 

 expedition, which between December 30 and January 3 rased the 



') Deutsches Handclsarchiv 11)07, January number, part II., p. 35. 

 2 ) Comp. Report October 1906, 20. 



