台北とその周辺

52. Taihoku and its Environs.

Arrival. The Central Railway Station is near the N.E. end of Omote-cho (formerly Fugo-gai Street), on the dividing line between the Jonai and Daidotei districts (see the accompanying Plan). The Manka and Daidotei stations are for freight. The statue in the main station yard commemorates Kinsuke Hasegawa, a Japanese engineer who planned the Railway System of Formosa.

Taxicabs ply for hire, and are more serviceable than the jinrikis. Fares are similar to those in Japan. Where jinrikis are employed it is wise to come to an understanding with the man before engaging his services. It is customary to charge so much for each cho (16 cho to the mile). Distances relatively are short. Motor-cars for country trips can be obtained from the hotel management.

The * Railway Hotel, in the central station, is run under the careful supervision of the Taiwan Government Railway Bureau, and is recommended. There are no others on the island as good or as comfortable. There are wide, cool halls, private baths, extensive views from the broad balconies, and all the fitments of the best of the Japan hotels. Good service and food. English spoken. Rates from 6 to 15 yen a day, American Plan. Less for 2 persons in a room, and for a long stay. Rooms only, from 3 yen and up. Breakfast, 2 yen. Tiffin, 3 yen. Dinner, yen 3.50. Luggage checks should be handed to the hotel manager.

Information Bureaus. The excellent and serviceable Japan Tourist Bureau maintains an office in the Hotel lobby, and will prove of material use to travelers in planning sight-seeing trips around the city and suburbs or to country districts.

The Drinking Water is supposed to be good, but the wise traveler will confine himself to the excellent (recommended) Clifford-Wilkinson Tansan Water, bottled at the famous Tansan Spring, near Kobe, Japan.

Steamship Offices. For the local addresses of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and the Osaka Shosen Kaisha (and other lines), consult the hotel manager or the Japan Tourist Bureau.

Banks, where travelers' cheques, letters of credit, drafts, etc., can be cashed, and Money Exchanged. The Taiwan Bank (Bank of Formosa) is the strongest and best bank on the island, Sakae-cho (formerly Hokumon-gai; see the Plan, C, 2). It issues its own notes, which circulate equally through the island with those of the Bank of Japan. Japanese silver money is also current. Branches in the chief cities of Japan.

Post and Telegraph Offices. Hokumon-cho (Pl. D, 2), near the Hokumon (or North) Gate. Travelers usually prefer to mail letters and send telegrams from the hotel or through the Japan Tourist Bureau. Stamp collectors may wish to be reminded that the postage stamps of the early Taiwan Republic are apt to be forgeries.

The Shops are inferior to those of Japan. Desirable souvenirs are the many island-made wood articles, and the Formosan hats (hato-bo), made of the fiber of the Screw Pine (Pandanus odoratissimus -- the bright orange-colored fruit of which is called breadfruit, and the heavily scented white flowers of which are the source of the keora-oil of perfumers), and from the Taika Rush (from which the fine, soft, flexible Taika mats are made). The brown hats (3 to 6 yen) are called Taiko-bo (from Taiko, the region whence they come), and the white ones (3 to 8 yen), Shiroi-boshi (white hats).

Taihoku (tie-ho'-koo), the Japanese name for the old Chinese Taipeh (ti-peh', or North Capital), the present administrative seat, Sotoku-fu, of the Governor-General (Sotoku) of the island, is a picturesque semi-Asiatic city with clean, wide streets, a good hotel, banks, museums, colleges, a race track and botanical garden, and a growing population of 200,000, one third of which are Japanese. It stands near the northwestern edge of Formosa, in lat. 25° 4' N. and long. 121° 28' E. of Greenwich, on a plain between the Tamsui River, which bounds

the city on the W. and the Keelung-gawa (which intersects it near by) on the E.

The city is divided into the districts of Jonai, or that quarter once encircled by the old wall; Manka (or Banka), the original extramural settlement at the W.; and Daidotei (die-doh-tay') at the N., where the Chinese now dwell along with the foreigners in the original Foreign Concession. The ponderous walls which inclosed the inner city were 12-15 ft. high and 9-12 ft. thick, and with the great gates that gave ingress to this fortified spot were constructed by the acting Chinese Prefect in 1879 -- from which time Jonai dates. Though the Japanese have destroyed the wall, the picturesque old gateways still stand as mute reminders of a period when heavily armed guards were needed to protect the pursy Chinese rulers from the invading head-hunters who swarmed in the near-by mts. The hotel, the administrative buildings, and most of the modern structures are in Jonai, everything outside of which is referred to as Jogai (suburbs). The district flanking the S. Gate (Na-mon) is called Na-mon cho (formerly gai-gai); the W. Gate (Sei-mon), Sei-mon cho; the N. Gate (Hokumon), Hokumon cho; and the E. Gate (To-mon), To-mon cho. The main street, Sakae-machi (or Hokumon-gai), is 50-60 ft. wide, and like many of the others has a deep cemented drain at its edge to carry off the great downpours of rain. The best streets run N. and S.; those devoted to the Chinese have arcades or cloisters to protect pedestrians from the elements. The city is embowered in flowering trees, chief among them acacias and the flaming red Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis, a flower popular with Chinese.

A pleasing air of progress and prosperity characterizes it.

Daidotei (or Twatutia; lit., 'a large yard covered with bundles of rice spread to dry'), forms the North-east suburb (see the plan) and stands on the left bank of the Tamsui River about 10 M. from its mouth. Here a number of British and American merchants have offices and warerooms, and hither comes for preparation and shipment most of the tea grown on the island. The greater part of the district is covered with two-story brick houses in the Chinese style, with tile insets, iridescent porcelain ideographs, dragons, and what-not, and with arcades beneath which many women and girls sit and sort and pack the odoriferous Formosa tea (Taiwan cha) for which the island is famous. The entire district is redolent of the aromatic herbs with which much of the tea is scented. Besides the tea-firing godowns and market there is nothing to detain the traveler. The white church at the N. border is Roman Catholic.

Formosa Oolong Tea was produced in imitation of the Chinese Oolong of Fukien to satisfy the taste of the many Fukienese who migrated thence and settled in Formosa. It has a peculiarly fine flavor, and a taste quite different

from the Chinese, which is a black tea with a green-tea flavor, and which acquired its name Oolong ('black dragon') from the circumstance that a Chinese tea-grower was once struck with the delicate fragrance of the leaf from a plant where a black snake was found coiled. The annual production in Formosa is about 15 million lbs. (valued at about 5 million yen), a limit said to be maintained by the growers to prevent a lowering of the price. The Oolong is in great demand in the United States, whither about 9 million lbs. go each year. About 1½ million lbs. of Pouchong (a name which refers to the mode of packing) are also produced. Its best market is in Java, Hawaii, and countries where Chinese are found. Jasmine, tuberoses, and other flowers are mixed with the tea to impart an aromatic flavor to it -- a process popular with the Celestials. It is packed in boxes of about 25 catties (approx. 30 lbs.), and is exported chiefly through Keelung.

One of the prettiest sights of Twatutia is the gay, laughing crowd of Chinese girls who come each morning during the summer from Taihoku to work in the big tea-firing and sorting godowns. With their fresh young faces bedaubed with white paint and rouge, their sloe-black hair combed in a shining mass to one side of the head and adorned with a sprig of jasmine or a magnolia bloom, and their chubby faces and snapping black eyes radiant with provocative piquancy, they step blithely along and add a quaint and interesting note to the town. The eyes are customarily the only index of emotion, and the brows are often blackened with charred sticks or narrowed to resemble a nascent willow leaf, or the moon when first seen. The following ballad pictures them well:

Eyebrows shaped like leaves of willows / Drooping over 'autumn billows';

Almond-shaped, of liquid brightness,

Were the eyes of Yang-kuei-fei.

Many 'tottering lilies' teeter with the throng, the tiny crippled feet encased in brilliantly embroidered shoes, and the legs in light blue or lavender silk trousers. If (says an authority) a Chinese lady ever breaks through the prohibition against displaying her person, she presents her feet as the surest darts with which a lover's heart can be assailed! -- Some of these tea-sorters are as much addicted to maternity as the cigarette-makers of Seville, and not a few carry young bead-eyed Mongolians slung in wide black bands over one hip. These pig-tailed little toddlers do not always heighten one's relish for the finished tea, as the big piles of leaves ready for sorting and perfuming are oftentimes their playgrounds, and through and over them they tumble and waddle with infantile disregard for consequences. The white blossoms which the visitor will note scattered through the piles of leaves are not tea blossoms, but are jasmine flowers, orange blooms, etc., put in to impart aroma. The women earn from 10 to 15 sen a day; 5000 or more Chinese are brought over each year from Amoy to assist in the preparation of the vast crop. The finest leaves bring from ¥4 to ¥5 a lb. Choice tea is put up in attractive 1-lb. packages and sold at the hotel at ¥1 each.

The Taihoku Museum (Hakubutsukwan) is open daily from 9 to 4 (admission, free), and is housed in a commodious structure 10 min. walk from the hotel, in the Omote-cho (Pl. C, 2). Though small it is complete, and a visit to it is in a way like a trip through the island. A big cannon and a curious old Formosan ship stand in the yard. On the Ground Floor is a collection of segments of the splendid native trees from the Arisan forest, many of the flawless planks being 3 ft. wide. Numerous cases are devoted to specimens of native handiwork, and to objects used by the head-hunters. The models of the camphor-distillery, sugar-mills, ore-crushing mills, and salt-pits show the processes of working up the native products. The samples of paper are made from the pith of the paper-mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). On the Upper Floor is an admirable collec-

tion of island snakes, wonderful butterflies, birds, tropical moths, and jewel-like insects. Those which resort to protective mimicry for safety are the most interesting. The marine specimens are noteworthy only for the huge sea-turtles. One of the rooms is filled with boats, clothing, ornaments, knives, krises, etc., of the head-hunters, along with numerous gruesome skulls. The bead-work is singularly like that of the American Indians, particularly the wampum. The excellent collection of minerals should not be overlooked. A number of big modern buildings mark the neighborhood, which is clean and attractive.

The Botanical Garden (Byoho), in the S. suburb (Pl. C, 4), a beautiful spot well worth visiting, contains pretty lakelets, summer-houses, conservatories, wide avenues, and many specimens of the trees and flowers for which Formosa is noted. While it is particularly attractive during the dew-drenched hours of the early morning, late twilight is perhaps the best time for a visit, as night brings out the perfume of many of the rarest flowers, and adds a charm which even the tropical sun does not give. Occidentals will be interested in the splendid camphor trees; the tallow tree (Stillingia sebifera); the Thuya Formosana; the Murraya exotica (valuable for its perfume); the sacred Champak (Michelia champaka) of India; the Indian Lilac (Melia Azedarach), or the Pride of India, cultivated for its fine wood, its flowers and medicinal products; and in other bizarre and beautiful specimens. The Podocarpus nageia is grown for its valuable gum. The Liquidambar exudes a gum referred to as copal-balsam. The fine acacias are representatives of a tree widely disseminated throughout the island, and are beautiful because of their flowers. This also applies to the Allamanda (Apocynaceae), whose bright yellow blooms are seen everywhere. Flower-lovers will find much to interest them. The most popular with the Chinese is the Saffron Flower (Crocus sativus; the Korankwa of the Japanese), and the exquisitely fragrant Jasmine, much prized by the native women, who put a spray in their hair every morning, and who may be detected some distance off at night by its penetrating odor. The Chinese are also passionately fond of tuberoses (Gekkako = 'fragrance under the moonlight'), and of the omnipresent Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), with its numerous odorless bluish-pink blooms. Many of the 150 known species of hibiscus grow wild in Formosa, one of the most common being the Rose Mallow, which furnishes the okra or gumbo. Hibiscus cannabinus has been introduced from India and is used as an ornamental plant. From H. Tiliaceus the Paiwan savages obtain a fiber from which they make twine; and the astringent petals of H. Rosa-Sinensis are used by the Chinese women as a black dye for the hair and eyes. It is well to remember that the handsome leaves (green on top and maroon

underneath) of Excoecaria Bicolor exude a juice which is said to be blinding and poisonous. Near a hedge of these plants the visitor will note numerous specimens of the shy Mimosa pudica with leaves so sensitive that whole rows close up at the slightest touch. The bizarre Bougainvillaea, which travelers to British India, Mexico, and California know so well, is represented in various shades. Most conspicuous among the superb orchidaceous plants is the splendid Butterfly Orchid, so called from its resemblance to a butterfly, and prized not only for its strange beauty but for the lasting quality of the flower. -- The Taiwan Gov't maintains an Agricultural Experiment Station (Noji Shikenjo) in the outskirts of Taihoku (78 acres), and a card of admission can be obtained from the hotel manager.

The Monopoly Bureau (Pl. C, 4), where the bulk of the world's supply of camphor is refined, and where all the opium smoked on the island is elaborated, is highly interesting. A card of admission (necessary) can be obtained from the hotel manager. Visitors are welcome, and English is spoken. Fees are neither expected nor accepted. The big, factory-like buildings stand near the S. Gate (the Lycee Mon of the Chinese), 10 min. walk from the hotel (5 min. by jinriki, 10 sen). The visitor is shown the complicated processes of refining the camphor (attractive souvenir packages on sale at the hotel at 40-80 sen according to size) and of treating the crude opium. The hotel manager will plan a visit to one of the camphor stations in the Savage Territory, which has many things to interest the tourist.

Camphor (Henno; shono) has been manufactured by the Japanese and Chinese for centuries, and its introduction into Formosa is due to the Hakkas. The Camphor Tree, or Camphor Laurel (Laurus camphora, a representative of the evergreen genus Cinnamomum of the laurel family; Jap. Kusu-no-ki), is the giant among foliaceous trees in Japan and Formosa, where it grows chiefly in the Savage Territory, or on its borders. Because of its great height (sometimes 130 ft.) and girth (30-40 ft.), it is called the lord of the forest. The trees which produce the best camphor grow at an elevation not exceeding 4000 ft. (practically the altitude which suits coffee best); cover an area of approximately 130 sq. M., and are said to contain enough of the drug to supply the world's requirements for 100 yrs. A big tree will yield camphor worth ¥5000 or more, while comparatively small ones are worth from ¥150 to ¥300. A medium-sized tree 12 ft. or more in circumference will yield about 50 piculs of crystallized camphor worth about ¥1500. Experiments conducted in the South of the United States show that in 10 yrs. seedlings develop into trees 30 or more ft. high and 30 in. in circumference. They mature and produce much quicker in Formosa than in Japan, where from 30 to 40 yrs. elapse before a tree is large enough to net a profitable return. The latter are not so rich in gum as the former. Trees which grow in shaded valleys in a moist, heavy soil are not as productive as those exposed constantly to the sun. The volatile oils are developed in various parts of the tree, even in the long-stemmed, quickly-warping, even-edged, leathery, brilliant, dark-green leaves.

The young branches break off easily, and after every heavy wind a large number of them are usually found on the ground. From this circumstance the tree rarely develops a symmetrical crown. But what it loses in beauty it makes up in its mighty form. Apart from the difference of foliage, and in the production of blossom and fruit, an old camphor tree resembles nothing so much as a stately oak, in its thickness of trunk, the want of symmetry in

its crown, its mighty gnarled and twisted boughs, and its rough, torn bark. The wood is fragrant, and when old is of a rich brown color, well veined, with a silky sheen. Because of its freedom from the attacks of insects, it is very desirable where termites and small red ants are a plague, and is therefore in great demand with the Chinese, who make sea-chests, cabinets, moth-proof boxes, and what-not from it. Until the advent of the Japanese the natives ruthlessly destroyed the trees without replacing them, but the present system of afforestation regulates this. Before the production of camphor became (in 1898) a gov't monopoly, 37 persons held manufacturing licenses, and in the 7000 or more crude stoves in which the drug was refined, 8½ million lbs. of gum and 2½ million lbs. of oil were produced annually and shipped abroad through Hongkong. The present output (about 8 million lbs. valued at 3 million yen) goes to Japan.

As the camphor forests lie chiefly in the territory of the head-hunters, many men lose their lives in the adventurous undertaking of securing the camphor chips for distillation. These are cut from the tree at a certain point until it falls, then the entire tree is cut up into small pieces and put in crude distilling stoves. Steam passing through a receptacle containing the chips and leaves volatilizes the camphor in the form of vapor, which is condensed into a semi-solid gum and a pale volatile oil, both of which float on the water. The oil is distilled repeatedly until most of the crystallized product is extracted, then both are sent to the gov't factory for further treatment. When the coarse crystals and oil come into the refinery, the former looking like dirty snow, and the latter like yellow spindle-oil, both are impure, the crystals being saturated with water, and the oil with various organic stuff. The crystals are shoveled into a huge iron hopper leading to a tightly closed retort under which a fierce fire burns. To hasten evaporation, air is forced in, and the camphor fumes, cooled by running water, crystallise in a big room the sight of which the traveler does not soon forget. It is oftentimes piled high with fluffy crystals as white as driven snow, which sparkle in the light and throw off an almost overpowering odor. This product is called Flower of Camphor, and is 97% pure (the 'Improved Crude' of commerce). After being pressed into hard, firm bricks, and packed in zinc-lined boxes, it is ready for shipment. Considerable camphor is sent to Europe and America in a semi-refined state, in tubs weighing 250 lbs. each. -- The visitor is asked to sign his name in a register before he leaves the building. Those who wish are conducted through the opium department.

Opium (ahen; afuyo) is the inspissated juice of Papaver somniferum, a poppy cultivated from early antiquity for the sake of this product. Opium-smoking (called by the Japanese ahen-en, or ahen-tabako) is the favorite vice of the Chinese, who call the plant afuyung, a transliteration of the Arabic name Afyun. It was brought from Arabia in the 9th cent. Other names are 'great smoke,' 'black commodity,' 'black earth,' and 'foreign medicine' -- by which term it is known in the tariff. The Japanese call the tincture ahen-chinki, but they are forbidden to smoke it. The chief active principle of opium (which is a powerful narcotic poison) is morphia, but it also contains about 16 other alkaloids, some of which have similar properties. The raw materials are imported from India, Persia, Turkey, and China. The Indian product resembles black-currant jam; the Persian is like reddish-brown incense-sticks. The process of crushing it, then steaming it in huge vats, and adding wine and other relishes to impart a piquant taste, is interesting. The rooms are filled with the disagreeable odor of burning medicine. None of the 300 or more employees smoke. The finished product is packed in 1-lb. tins in 3 grades; the best quality retailing for about ¥21, the 2d at ¥17, and the 3d at ¥13. The Bureau pays out about 5 million yen a year for materials and for expenses, and nets about 1 million yen -- a considerable item of the island revenue.

There are upward of 100,000 smokers in Formosa, each of whom uses about 37 grains a day, for which 6 sen are paid. The death-rate among them is high. The first efforts of the Japanese to stamp out the evil by prohibiting the importation of opium (a ruling strictly enforced in Japan) failed utterly, and it was soon discovered that no amount of punishment would stop devotees from smoking it or smugglers from importing it. To drive the best Chinese from the island was at variance with the colonial policy of the conquerors, who were forced to capitulate to necessity. While it is regarded

as impossible to lessen materially the number of confirmed smokers, the monopoly (established in 1897) aims to restrict the consumption, and, by educating the children, ultimately to stamp out the evil. The principle of limiting the supply to smokers is adhered to. Each must have a special license, and any one who imports, sells, gives, or exchanges opium without the consent of the authorities risks 5 yrs. in prison and a 5000 yen fine. Despite its disastrous aftermath, the Chinese believe in the medicinal qualities of the drug, and they blow smoke in the faces of new-born children to make them utter the first cry. Smokers are in misery until they procure opium, and if thwarted will become frantic and commit excesses. Formerly keepers of opium-dens offered the drug free to young men to induce them to acquire the habit, and about seven per cent of the populace court an early death by its use.

The Taipeh Prison (Pl. D, 4) 10 min. walk to the left (E.) of the Monopoly Bureau, is interesting chiefly for the Salesroom wherein are displayed many articles made by the prisoners. The inlaid wood trays, soft mats and chair-cushions made from Taiko fiber, Formosan hats and other articles make pretty and desirable souvenirs.

Maruyama Park (Pl. E, 1), 2 M. N.E. of the hotel, with its greatly revered shrine (Taiwan-Jinja), is one of the prettiest spots in the environs. The highroad is good (delightful walk in the early morning) and frequent trains on the Tamsui Line stop at the Maruyama Station. From this we cross the track and bear to the left. The temple at the base of the hill, overlooking the station and a big lotus-pond, is the property of the Rinzai-shu, a branch of the Zen sect of Buddhists. On the crest of the first hill beyond the bridge over the Keelung River is a handsome bronze shaft on a gray granite pedestal, with 4 bronze tablets 3 ft. sq. let into its sides, and depicting in a spirited manner certain episodes in the Japanese campaign on the island. The pretty view from the summit is surpassed by the one at the shrine farther on. The fine avenue which leads up to this is flanked by junipers, acacias, and other flowering trees, and (near the foot of the steps) by big machine-guns, stone lanterns, Dogs of Fo, and a handsome big bronze torii. The copper-roofed Shinto shrines stand on rising terraces reached by 60 stone steps, and are dedicated to His Imperial Highness Prince Kitashirakawa, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army at the time of the occupation, who died of fever at Tainan, Oct. 28, 1895, aged 49 yrs. The view from the terrace over the broad plain is magnificent. The city spreads away at the left, and many picturesque junks float languidly on the smooth waters of the Keelung and Tamsui Rivers winding gracefully round the foot of the hill.

An Excursion to a Village of Reclaimed Savages can be made by conferring with the hotel manager and obtaining a permit from the police. The nearest village to Taihoku is (about 5 M.) Urai. By motor car or by rly. to (4 M.) Shinken, and motor the rest of the way. The country is picturesque. One passes a hot spring and a big waterfall.