Sketches from Formosa.

IOO SKETCHES FROM FORMOSA
merits of the case, that he could plainly see the condition
I was in, half naked and having nothing to eat. I told
him further that I was quite within Treaty right in
claiming his protection, and that I would now leave and
have matters fully reported to his superiors in the South.
This little turn produced an immediate result ; for,
soon after, I was asked into a side room where a small
tubful of well-cooked rice and fourteen boiled eggs were
placed
before me. A new Chinese blanket was also
procured, and I was sent away the two days' journey to
Taiwan-fu under an escort of six armed soldiers.
Three of the brethren from Peh-tsui-khe reached the
capital before me, and spread the report that, from a
distance, they had actually seen me stabbed to death
under the Chinese blanket I threw away in the effort to
escape. As my only colleague with his wife were in the
to Takow
county on my arrival, I continued my journey
for conference with Mr. Ritchie as to how we should act
in the circumstances. The Consul has already called the
attention of the higher officials to what has taken place,
and we hope that something may soon be done to bring
order out of all this confusion.
A recent messenger from Peh-tsui-khe informed us
that the Ka-gi Magistrate, accompanied by about two
hundred soldiers, visited the scene of the outrage, but
returned again without going in the direction of
Tiam-a-khau. This messenger also stated that Gaw-
chi-ko had sent men to beat gongs throughout the region,
and summon his retainers, who are now assembled in
great force. Meanwhile, our hearts are sore within us to
think of our poor defenceless brethren. They are afraid
to return to their village, and are spending their time in
hiding-places among
the mountains. I have suffered
myself a good deal from severe scratches and the night
exposure. My watch, clothes, and everything I had with