Sketches from Formosa.

NARROW ESCAPE AT PEH-TSUI-KHE 97
walls. The native preacher and his wife had possession
of the one little end room, and myself of the other, the
middle apartment doing service as a dining-room and
place for receiving visitors. The building was a mere
dilapidated hut, and stood about twenty feet from the
temporary chapel, which was made of the same materials
and in similar style. There were few other houses in the
immediate neighbourhood, as the people live very much
scattered over this quiet and hilly part of the country.
It must have been well after midnight when I was
suddenly startled on hearing people rushing through the
fence which surrounds our chapel ground, and by the
bright glare of many lights moving rapidly
round the
house. I jumped up, to find that my bedroom was already
on fire ; and, on looking out through the bamboo bars
which served as a window, I could see a crowd of ferociouslooking
ruffians setting fire to the chapel, and to the roof
of our own house. One could take in the position at a
glance. It was Gaw-chi-ko's men out on one of their
terrible raids. They seemed like demons as, with
blackened faces and long knives in their hands, they
darted about under the bright glare of the burning chapel.
I called out for assistance, but did not know then that the
preacher, with several brethren who were sleeping in an
adjoining hut, had made their escape on hearing the
distant barking of dogs.
Supposing that they would hardly dare to attack a
foreigner, I attempted to get out by the door of the
mid-room, but was immediately driven back by the
spears which were levelled at me, and which, for a
moment, I warded off with the Chinese blanket held over
arm. I shouted out that the British Consul would
my
have them punished if they persisted, but the only
response was a fresh brandishing of the knives and spears,
which again struck frequently into the little blanket.
7