68 
FORMOSANS- 
the form of a cylinder, made of palm leaves, and ornamented with 
several crowns placed one above another, on the top of which they 
fix plumes composed of the feathers of a cock or pheasant. 
The marriage ceremonies of the Formosans approach near to the 
simple laws of nature. They neither purchase, as in China, the 
women whom they espouse, nor does interest preside over their 
unions. Fathers and mothers are scarcely ever consulted. If a 
young man has a mind to marry, and has fixed his affection on a 
young girl, he appears for several days fol-k)wing near the place 
where she lives, with a musical instrument in his hand. If the young 
woman is satisfied with the figure of her gallant, she comes forth and 
joins him ; they then agree, and settle the marriage contract. After 
this they give notice to their parents, who prepare a wedding dinner, 
which is always given in the house where the young woman resides, 
and where the bridegroom remains, without returning again to his 
father. The young man afterwards considers the house of his father- 
in-law as his own. He becomes the support of it, and has no 
farther connexion with that of his father ; like married women in 
Europe, who generally quit their paternal home to live with their 
husbands. These islanders are therefore seldom anxious for male 
children ; they prefer daughters, because they procure them sons-in- 
law, who become the supports of their old age. 
Although the Formosans are entirely subjected to the Chinese, 
they still preserve some remains of their ancient government. Each 
village chooses three or four old men from among those who have the 
greatest reputation for probity. By this choice they become rulers 
and judges of the rest. They have the power of finally determining 
all differences ; and if any should refuse to abide by their judgment, 
he would be immediately banished from the village, without hopes of 
ever being able to re-enter it, and none of the inhabitants would after- 
wards receive him. 
The natives pay in grain the tribute imposed upon them by the 
Chinese. To regulate every thing that concerns the laying on and 
collecting of this impost, government has established a Chinese in 
every village, who is obliged to learn the language, and act as inter- 
preter to the mandarins. These interpreters are most cruel extor- 
tioners to the miserable people, whom they ought rather to protect; 
they are such insatiable leeches, that they can scarcely ever be satis- 
fied. This daily and domestic tyranny has caused the desertion of 
three villages in the southern part of the island, where formerly there 
were twelve. The inhabitants of these villages revolted, expelled 
their interpreters, lefused to pay tribute any longer to the Chinese, 
and united themselves to the independent nations in the eastern part 
of the island. 
It was in the island of Formosa, that John Struys affirms to have 
seen wdth his own eyes a man who had a tail more than a foot in 
length f covered with red hairy and greatly resemhling that of an ox ! 
This man with a tail said, that his deformity, if it was one, proceeded 
from the climate, and that all those of the southern part of the island 
were born with tails like his. But John Struys is the only author 
who attests the existence of this extraordinary race of men, no other 
