2^0 
Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology . 
mising locality, they resolved to establish a colony there. Soon 
after a Dutch vessel, bound on a Japanese voyage, was wrecked 
on the shore. The Dutch contrived to get permission from the 
Japanese to select as big a morsel of land as they could cover 
with an ordinary cow-hide. The permission being gained, they 
cleverly cut the hide up into thin strips, and enclosed a site of 
several acres on what was then an island close off the mouth of 
the river. On this they built a fort (a.d. 1634), called the 
Castel Zelandia, which stands to this day. The Japanese got 
disgusted, and deserted the island, whereupon the Dutch built 
another fort higher up on the north bank of the river. This 
fort also stands; but the river has dwindled into a small shallow 
stream, the island has become united with the land, and the 
fortress, some way from the banks, is at present in the heart of 
the large straggling city of Taiwanfoo, enclosed by its walls, 
marking well the changes that so short a lapse of time has 
wrought in the configuration of this constantly rising coast. 
The struggle for mastery continued hot and strong between the 
Tartars and the natives of Fokien, when a merchant, well 
known by the name of Koksinga, who had risen from small 
means and amassed a fortune by trade, equipped a fleet of 
vessels, and sailed against the Tartar navy. In the first several 
battles he was victorious; but being at last worsted, he deter¬ 
mined to leave the cause of his royal master, and seek to esta¬ 
blish a kingdom for himself. Numbers of Chinese had ere this 
emigrated to the Dutch portion of Formosa, which had become 
a flourishing colony and place of call for Netherlands ships 
trading between Java and Japan. The Dutch had also before 
this time established themselves in various other parts of For¬ 
mosa, and had introduced missionaries into the island with a 
view to convert and civilize the aboriginal tribes, whom they 
found peaceful and docile. They had built a fort on the Tamsuy 
river, which is also still standing; and they had expelled a small 
settlement of Spaniards and Spanish priests, who had built a 
small fort and located themselves at Keling, on the north 
coast, as they considered the whole island virtually their own. 
In the 17th year of Shun-che (a.d. 1661) Koksinga sailed for 
Formosa. He first visited the Pescadores, and wrested those 
