flat one, whence the grand old trees of Tai-wan may be seen crowding away into the background, as if they shrunk from rooting themselves in unhallowed earth. Hardly a shrub reUeves the monotony of this gloomy place of death; and yet with what a fearful interest it must have been gazed on by that band of Europeans, i6o in number, who were led out there to execution one morning in August 1842! The mob of the city followed behind them with yells of exultation, but before the terrible massacre had closed, their savage laughter was changed into panic terror, for the sky became overcast and a dire storm burst upon the scene. The water-courses were filled with impet- uous torrents that flooded the land, sweeping trees, houses and produce before its swollen streams, while the cries of perishing people were drowned in the fierce tumult of the tempest. Thus, say the thoughtful and superstitious natives, God wiped out the bloody stain from the ground. It is alleged that about 2,000 persons perished on that eventful day. A tragic history attaches to Tai-wan-fu, apart both from the incident which I have just related, and the storming of Anping fort, more recently still — an event too full of details to permit description here.
In olden times the city was the scene of the fierce struggle which ended in the expulsion of the Dutch from Formosa in 1 66 1, after a nearly twelve months' siege. Koksinga, who drove the doughty Hollanders from this beautiful island, must have been a bold adventurer. He was a sort of Chinese sea-king, levying black-mail from all the surrounding islands. China now- a-days needs just such an admiral to command her new steam fleet. With resources so great at his command, he might have taught the ambitious inhabitants of the small kingdom of Japan that their safest policy is to keep their troops at home. When I took my rambles through the sylvan lanes of Tai-wan-fu, no feature
