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disappeared, they gradually began to introduce the low floors which we see in Japan to-day. It is most regrettable that the same system was adopted by Japanese builders in Formosa. With such low floors, ventilation is impossible; the miasmatic vapours arising from the ground penetrate the mats and carry the germs of malaria and other diseases through the house. It is to be hoped the Japanese settlers in the island will see the wisdom of returning to the ancient and more hygienic custom of our Malay ancestors.

FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS.

People say that the Chinese are like Jews in their love for money, but in my opinion the resemblance does not stop there. They also treat their relatives and those bearing the same family name with a large amount of respect; and again, the Chinese, as well as the Jews, make the family the unit in their social system.

From old times the Formosan Chinese have rigidly observed the rule, that the descendants of the same progenitor should all live together and follow the same occupation. In some cases this has been the custom for many generations, so that families, each consisting of fifty or even a hundred members, are occasionally met with.

In such a case the house will have many rooms, so that each branch of the family may eat and sleep by themselves and business relationships be more easily kept distinct. On visiting such a house one sees, after entering the gate, a regular succession of rooms on either side. These are allotted to the children according to their ages. In one room will live with their attendants five or six who are most nearly related. Thus this room may be said to correspond to one of our Japanese houses.

Moreover, their views in regard to ancestral worship give rise to one custom which strikes a stranger as being very curious. According to Chinese law, a man is allowed to have only one wife, and Formosan custom says the same, but in certain cases an exception is made. For instance, a married man may, by mutual agreement, take as a concubine the wife of a childless man occupying the same house, and thus raise

up children to the woman's lawful husband, in order that a son may be born who shall perform the ancestral worship after his parents' death. Now, although the first is the lawful wife and the second is regarded as a concubine, still we may say that the man has really two wives.

FORMOSA NOT AN ELDORADO.

Many Japanese who go to Formosa go there with their minds full of wild dreams and plans for becoming suddenly rich; but sooner or later they have a rude awakening, and either appeal to their countrymen for help, or leave by stealth at the first opportunity. After reaching Japan, they, in ninetynine cases out of a hundred, spread false reports about the island. I hope, therefore, that the Government will establish a sub-office in Tokyo, and take up the same work as is attended to by the Labour Reporting Bureaux in England; issue monthly reports as to the class of labourers required in the different districts, and be in fact a kind of high-class registry office.

In this way Formosa would escape being overrun by undesirables as at present, and would also secure from Japan the valuable services of many suitable persons who are longing to better themselves, but cannot do so in the homeland. Thus both countries would be benefited-Formosa would obtain the help she requires, and Japan's young sons would seize gladly the opportunity of so materially improving their prospects.

This thought came to me while travelling through the island, and since my return I have increasingly seen the need there is for some such provision.

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