Sketches from Formosa.

ANOTHER JOURNEY TO THE NORTH 103
knowledge of the Sek-hwan language, and this might be
turned to good account even among some of the savage
tribes. He had a favourable report to give me of the
work at Hwan-a-chan.
We put up for the second night at Giam-cheng, a
little village about twenty minutes' walk from the place
where our Peh-tsui-khe chapel stood. As we passed
through Tiam-a-khau on the way to it, my presence there
caused no little commotion. I suppose it was thought
that our visit had some reference to the late outrage, and
that a number of the ill-favoured persons around us
would soon be brought to justice. Giam-cheng will
henceforth be the centre of our work in that region. The
largest group of worshippers is now to be found there ;
and a chapel amongst them would now, in some respects,
be even more convenient than the one at Peh-tsui-khe.
Poor people ! they are certainly having much to try
them at present, and one cannot be too thankful for the
patient and forgiving spirit they have shown. Our
preacher has not yet returned to his post, nor is there any
place to meet in for worship since the chapel was burned
down. Indeed, so constant were the hostile rumours
after the second attack that, for weeks, many of the
converts absented themselves from their houses, and
kept under concealment in the woods and glens further
east. We had another pleasant meeting on the morning
of our departure from Giam-cheng. It was held among
the ashes of the chapel buildings at Peh-tsui-khe, and,
like Bethel of old, the place was then made sacred to us.
We arrived in the city of Ka-gi on the 13th, and a few
hours later I received an official communication from the
County Magistrate about the recent disturbances at
Peh-tsui-khe. It stated that four men of the Gaw clan
were now in prison, that the native converts had received
an indemnity of one hundred dollars, that two Public