Chap. II. through the great eft Part of the EAST-INDI ES. 793 
confider as Part of the Blood and the Receptacle of the 
Souls of Beafts. They will not feed upon the Flefh of 
tame Beads, but are great Lovers of all forts of Wild- 
Fowl and Venifon. Their Cedars are fo. big here that they 
make Malts of them for Ships. The Complexion of the 
Natives is inclining to brown ; and for the reft, they are Jufty 
and ftrong-limb’d, hardy, and patient to undergo any La- 
bour, as well as the Injury of the Seafons, never changing 
their Cloaths either Winter or Summer, and very mode- 
rate in their Diet. The Japonefe are diftinguifhed into live 
feveral Ranks ; the firft is that of the Prince, Lords, and 
chief Officers, both Civil and Military ; the fecond of the 
Clergy ; the third of the Gentlemen and Merchants ; the 
fourth of Tradefmen and Seamen ; and the fifth of La- 
bourers. Once in five Years the Emperor of Japan has 
an Interview with the Dairo at Meaco , which is very re- 
markable for its Magnificence, and the great Prefents made 
to the Dairo, an ample Account of which being to be 
found in the Dutch Relation of the Director of the faid 
Company in Japan , we will pafs by the Particulars of it 
here, our Intention being only to give the Reader a fhort 
Relation of what we have received from very good Hands, 
and leaving the reft to be compleated by thofe who have 
fince had the Opportunity of taking a View in Perfon of 
that Country. 
1 6. After the Banifliment of the Japonefe out of China , 
the Chinefe , to avoid the Penalties infiidled on fuch as 
fhould trade with them, made Ufe of the Ifle of < Tayo- 
vang y whither they carried their Commodities,, in order 
to continue their Commerce with thole of Japan. The 
Dutch being excluded from the Commerce of China , fol- 
lowed their Foot-fteps, and, in 1632, fettled themfelves 
in the faid Iiland, as the moft convenient Place in all the 
Indies for carrying on Trade both with China and Japan , 
there being a free Paffage here all the Year, without be- 
ing obliged to ftay for the Monfons, which, in moft other 
Places, laft for fix Months. The Dutch , I fay, being fen- 
fible of this Conveniency, built immediately a Stone-Fort 
of four Baftions on the Downs, within half a League of 
the great Hie of Formofa , which is divided from this Ifle 
by a Channel only, which, though not very deep, yet af- 
fords a fafe Harbour for Ships againft any Winds. 
For the better Defence of the Entrance of this Channel, 
the Dutch have built a ftrong Redoubt called Zealand. 
The Ifle of Formofa itfelf is about thirty-two Leagues di- 
ftant from the River of Chinch eu, and the Chinefe Ifland 
called Quemoy , extending from S. W. to the N. E. in 
Compafs an hundred and thirty Leagues. It is full of Vil- 
lages and Inhabitants, which are not governed by any An- 
gle Perfon, but fuch as they choofe themfelves for their 
Magiftrates. It has many Rivers full of the belt Fifti ; 
their Forefts are well flocked with Wild-Fowl and Veni- 
fon, and their Meadows with Cattle, befides Deer, Wild- 
Goats, Hares and Rabbits. Their Forefts produce a kind 
of Horfes, with Hams like a Deer, called Olavang in their 
Language, the Flefh of which is a great Dainty ; as alfo 
another Creature, not unlike our Bears, but of a very large 
Size, the Skin of which is much efteemed in thofe Parts. 
Their Grounds are very fertile, but lie negledled, which 
makes Fruit very fcarce, and, what they have, not very 
grateful to the Palate. It produces alfo fome Ginger and 
Cinnamon, and, as the Chinefe relate, Gold and Silver; 
but the Dutch have hitherto found none of thefe Mines 
worth looking after. The Places in which the Dutch have 
their Settlements are, for the moft part, along the Sea- 
fide. 
Its Inhabitants appear like Savages, being of a more than 
ordinary Size, black and hairy all over their Bodies, but in 
their Converfation obliging, honeft, and good-natured ; 
their Women are not fo ftrong and big, but inclining to 
Fatnefs, and yet not ill ffiaped. They wear a fort of Gar- 
ment round the Middle ; but when they bathe themfelves 
(which they commonly do twice a-day in warm Water) 
they, as well as the Men, ftrip themfelves ftark naked, 
and make no great Account whether they are. feen by one 
•another or not ; for the reft, they are very conftant Friends, 
and religioufly obferve the Agreements that they make 
with Strangers, Treachery being a Thing abominated 
among them. They neither want Ingenuity or Memory. 
• Nijmb, 53. 
being very docile in any thing they apply themfelves to. 
Though their Grounds be very fertile, and able to produce 
much more than they do, they are contented to live up- 
on their finall Quantity of Rice, which is raifed by the 
Induftry of their Wives, who, inftead of Ploughs, culti* 
vate and dig the Ground with Spades, tranfplant and cut 
the Rice ; and after having dried as much of it every 
Night in the Chimney-Corner as will fuffice the Family 
the next Day, beat it early in the Morning in a Mortar ; 
the Mens Minds being wholly taken up with hunting, ef- 
pecially till they are forty Years of Age, before which 
Time they feldom mind any thing relating to Agri- 
culture. 
They fow alfo three; forts of Fruits, called by them 
Ptingh , 'uach , and Taraun , not unlike Millet; and a cer- 
tain fort of Pulfe, refembiing our French-bean ; fome 
Roots they have likewife, which might ferve them inftead 
of Bread, if they were not furniffied fufficiently in that 
refpect with Rice. Befides this, they have Ginger, Cin- 
namon, Sugar-canes, Bananas, Lemons, and a great Store 
of Areca, not to mention feveral forts of Fruits and Pulfe, 
not known in Europe. Inftead of Cocoa-Wine, of which 
they are deftitute, they make a certain Mixture of Rice, 
which, being foaked in warm Water, they beat it in a 
Mortar till reduced to a Pafte ; this they mix with Rice- 
meal chewed inftead of Leaven ; and having put it into an 
earthen Veffel, fill it up with Water, which, after it has 
fermented and flood two Months, affords a very pleafant 
Liquor, which is ftronger or weaker, according as it is 
kept, and the older the fweeter it is, and may be kept 
good thirty or thirty-five Years. When they go abroad a 
hunting, they make ufe of Snares, filial 1 Pikes, Bows, and 
Arrows ; their Nets they fpread in the open Fields, or 
crofs the Highways, and then drive the Wild-Beafts into 
them. 
Sometimes the Inhabitants of feveral Villages make a 
Hunting-Match, and dividing themfelves into divers Par- 
ties, armed with Half-pikes and Lances, fend their Dogs 
into the Woods; by which means having forced the Wild- 
Beafts into the Fields, they encompafs them on all Sides, 
fometimes for a whole League, and fo with their Pikes 
kill all thofe that come within the Ring. Thefe Lances, or 
rather Darts, are of Cane, fix or feven Foot long, with fe- 
veral Hooks, which, being fattened into the Flefh of the 
Beafts, are not to pulled out ; but as the Iron is not well 
faftened to the Wood, but that with the running of the 
Beafts through the Bufhes it comes off, a Cord is tied to 
both, and a little Bell to the Iron,fo that the Lance annoys 
the Beaft, and the Bell difcovers its Paffage wherever it 
runs. By this Means they catch vaft Numbers of Deer, 
the Skins of which they exchange with the Chinefe for 
their Commodities, they feldom reserving any thing for 
their own Ufe but the Umbies and the Entrails, which 
they fait and eat half corrupted, being not cleanfed of the 
Filth before they were faked. 
When one Village happens to be at War with another, 
they firft declare it openly againft one another, which 
being the Signal to be upon their Guard, they don’t attack 
by open Force, but dividing themfelves into fmall Troops, 
perhaps of twenty-five or thirty Men, lie in Ambufli near 
the Village they intend to attack till Night, when they fet 
upon the Huts, which lie difperfed in the open Country, 
till perhaps they can light upon an aged Man : They kill 
him, cut off his Plead, Hands .and Feet ; nay, if they 
have Time enough, cut the whole Body into fmall Pieces, 
that every one. of them may take home a Piece of it along 
with him, as a Mark of his Bravery ; but if the next Vil n 
lage happens to take the Alarm, they are glad to be con- 
tented with the Head alone, or perhaps a good Lock of 
the Hair, whjch they carry home in Triumph, as an un- 
doubted Sign of theirVi&ory ; when they intend to make a 
very bold Attack, they enter the Village by Night, force open 
a Houfe, kill all they meet with, and fo betake themfelves 
to their Heels, for fear of being purfued. When they en- 
gage in the open Field, their chief Aim is to draw one an- 
other into an Ambufli ; but the Death of one Man com- 
monly decides the Quarrel, that Side which lias loft him 
retiring immediately. 1 heir Arms are Pikes, but without 
Hooks ; their Bucklers are fo large, that they flicker their 
9 Qfl whole 
