coal and dust. The Chinese miner averages 2,000 lb. a day, while the Japanese average is double that amount. Two Chinese working together can earn 1'20 yen per day, while two Japanese working in the same way will earn 2'70 yen. At the present day when the Chinese coolies are considered to be best fitted for work in tropical countries, we Japanese may gain fresh confidence in our powers of endurance from the example of these miners. We must also remember that these men have no European machinery to help them, but do most of the work by hand. This fact is a striking evidence of the great bodily strength of our labouring classes.

COAL OIL.

Up to the present little has been done to obtain coal oil in Formosa, but to-day the prospects for the future are very bright. According to Government investigations, indications of the presence of petroleum are to be seen along a line extending from Bioritsu to Banshorio. At Shohabo and on the shores of both the Ramasen and Fukuki Rivers at Bioritsu, there is known to be oil, and, if report be true, in some places in the savage district it wells up out of the ground like a hot spring. Moreover, 150 or 160 localities are known where it spouts up out of the ground. For many years Rigyozan was considered to be a volcano, but the real fact appears to be that the flames which have been seen are not volcanic, but natural gases issuing from springs or from crevices along the sides of the mountain, spontaneously ignited, and which had perhaps set fire to the vegetation.

To Mr. John Dodd belongs the credit of having first called attention to the Formosan petroleum deposits. In 1866, seeing some Cantonese collecting oil on the savage border some twenty miles south-east of Koro, he rented the land in that locality and began collecting the oil, but the Chinese mandarins soon expelled him and beheaded the unfortunate Chinaman who owned the land for presuming to lease his ground to a foreigner.

In 1878 the Government engaged two American experts to bore for oil, but their first attempts produced only salt water. More water was encountered at a depth of 100 feet. They persevered, and, at a depth of 380 feet, struck water mixed with oil. The constant falling in of the earth made further

progress very slow, but at last after a month of toil, at a depth of 394 feet, oil was struck, the well was tubed, and pumping apparatus erected. Nearly 2,000 lb. of oil could now be obtained per day, but the Americans, greatly dissatisfied with the treatment they had received from the authorities, left the island and so the work was discontinued. Several years later, some Japanese commenced boring operations at Naisho in Shohabo, but the results have not been satisfactory. On the other hand, the experimental borings in the Bioritsu neighbourhood met with good success, producing as much as 150 gallons per day. I wonder whether this may not be the real beginning of the work of collecting petroleum in Formosa. When the hilly districts are opened up, they may, if the reports referred to above be correct, reveal rich oil stores undreamed of hitherto. One experienced engineer told me that it was really wonderful what rich oil fields existed throughout the whole island. Formosa may some day produce enough oil to supply her own needs and those of Japan, becoming one of the best oil fields in the world.

SULPHUR.

Deposits of this mineral are found throughout a large portion of the island, and the mines have already been worked to a considerable extent. The Daitone Range, the highest peak of which reaches an altitude of over 4,000 feet, is very rich. Indeed, the sulphur mines below the village of Hokuto are all at the foot of this range. Other deposits are found in the island of Kizan off the coast of Giran.

OUTPUT AND export of sulphur.

It will be noticed that sometimes the export exceeds the amount

produced. When this is the case, back stock is drawn upon.

CHAPTER XII.

LAW COURTS-PRISONS-CRIMINALS.

Witnessing a trial—A court museum-Trial of a brigand—A cumbersome system of interpretation-The brigand's courage-Functions of the Court of Appeal -A society for investigating old customs-Need for a specific legal codeLandowners and clear title-deeds-Forgery an easy matter-Japanese law for Japanese offenders-Penalties for brigandage-Judges' difficulties-Law Courts and Registration Offices—Arbitration Court a substitute for the regular courts-Flogging and fines-Taihoku Prison-Satisfactory effects of flogging-Crime amongst women-Increase of crime in the island-Summary of prison reports—Table of prison expenditure.

OF all the Government offices I saw during my tour in Formosa, the law courts impressed me the most favourably. On the morning of 11th June I presented myself at nine o'clock at the Taihoku local court and was allowed to witness the proceedings. My seat on the left of the judge was a little inconvenient for watching the judge's face, but it was the best place from which to watch the faces of the prisoners and their accusers. The prosecutor announced that the two Formosans on trial had been arrested for stealing boots and other articles from a house in Bumbu Street, Taihoku. A Japanese who sat on the judge's left, then translated what the public prosecutor had said into Formosan. The two defendants tried to clear themselves by accusing each other, and all their statements were interpreted for the judge's information. This was done again and again. The defendants said: "We were beaten in the police office, and so had no alternative but to say what we did at the preliminary examination, but we are both quite innocent". At this the judge smiled, and said: "You were overheard discussing what plea you should put in, and what you have just said agrees exactly with what you then said. You are sentenced to receive thirty blows apiece." They were then led away.

Through the kindness of the judge and public procurator I was shown through the storehouse where the instruments taken from criminals are preserved, and saw old brigands' swords, javelins red with rust, and spears six or seven feet long. Seeing these terrible weapons, I could not help thinking what suffering they had inflicted on many of our brave soldiers. What struck me most, however, was that so many shelves were filled with pipes and other smoking apparatus, which had been taken from unlicensed opium smokers.

At ten o'clock I left the local court, and went over to the Court of Appeal, where I met the presiding judge, Mr. S. Suzuki, and asked to be allowed to witness the proceedings. This permission he kindly gave, and a seat was provided for me on the left of the consulting judge. That day a Formosan was being tried for robbery and murder. He and his two sons had joined the brigands, and had plundered and killed or wounded many inoffensive people. The younger son had been killed in a punitive expedition, but the elder escaped, and concealed himself among the law-abiding people. In their search for him, the police came across the father living under a false name, and at once arrested him. When the procurator announced his crime, a Japanese who sat on the judge's left translated the charge into Mandarin. This was further translated into Formosan by a native, who sat just below the Japanese interpreter. When the prisoner had anything to say, the same course was followed for the judge's benefit. When I read in Chinese history that in a certain case nine translations had been required, I began to realize what a vast country China was; and now that with my own eyes I saw the judge and the defendant sitting only one foot apart, yet speaking to each other through two interpreters, I was impressed with the greatness of our empire.

It seemed to me that the employment of two interpreters must render it more difficult to reach a right conclusion, waste a large amount of time, and make the people feel the distance between the judge and themselves, and I wondered why the Court of Appeal did not, like the local court, dispense with the Mandarin interpreter. I asked the authorities about this, but the explanation they gave me only increased my wonder. They said: "If the judge, who is the representative of our

August Emperor, should speak directly to the native interpreter, whom the people have hitherto despised and looked down upon, it would impair his authority, and that is not the way to teach these people to respect the law. Thus the same cumbersome course as was followed during the Chinese occupation is still adhered to, simply because the natives are of opinion that a judge disgraces himself by speaking directly to the native interpreter." In my opinion, however, this system is a weak point in our Formosan administration, for it not only involves a large amount of useless work, but the use of Mandarin in the law courts, and the respect thus shown to that language, is apt to mislead the natives, causing them to cherish a hope of Chinese intervention to the detriment of our authority.

To return to the prisoner at the bar. He showed by his voice how earnestly he was pleading, and his face in his excitement grew redder, making him look as though he were partially intoxicated, yet no one would have thought that he was at all aware that his life would probably be ended in a few days. I spoke of this to the judge, and he told me that the natives are as a rule very courageous, bearing up well even when they find themselves in a critical position. I should much like to know what it is that gives them such courage.

The Court of Appeal in Formosa reviews the decisions arrived at in the lower courts, just as in Japan, but here in Formosa as no appeal is allowed from its decisions, it really unites in itself the functions of both the Appeal and Supreme Courts. At one time there was a Court of Third Instance, but experience showed that two were sufficient. The laws enforced in these courts are founded largely upon those existing in Japan, or upon self-evident legal principles; further, as the customs and manners of the island are so different, it is considered necessary to draft laws taking into account not only these customs and manners, but also the new condition of things.

A committee for the investigation of old customs has been formed in the Governor-General's office, including many learned men, and having as president a distinguished jurist of the Kyoto University. This committee is now busily engaged on the subject, so that it will not be long before a satisfactory canon of law is arrived at.