Sketches from Formosa.

196
SKETCHES FROM FORMOSA
on more serious matters, the linguistic aid of an old
Chinese-speaking villager was found to be most helpful.
The proceedings of the first half-hour were somewhat
interesting, and conducted with an amount of ceremony
I was scarcely prepared for ; one influential tribesman
after another rising to assure us of their friendship and
hospitality. The clear musical ring of their language
was very pleasing, and immediately suggested a re-
semblance between it and the language spoken by our
Sek-hwan brethren in the North ; although the remark
was afterwards made that people from the two regions
engaged in speaking could not make themselves
intelligible
to each other.
I tried to get through my part of the ceremony by
making
a statement in Chinese to the effect that all
present were children of the one Great Father ; that I
had often heard of their beautiful country, and now
appeared amongst them as a true friend ;
that the land
I came from was very far from this, but some of the
people there thought of them, and prayed that they
might obtain the help and blessing of Him away up in
the skies above us ; that it was God our Father who
dwelt in those glorious heavens ;
that He wished us all
to become His children and so on.
The elder of the two sisters was now understood to say
that I was very welcome ; that there were few things
in their poor land to attract me, but that they would do
everything they
could to make me comfortable. I then
again endeavoured to convey to those willing listeners
a few of the simpler truths of the Bible, and felt much
encouragement in doing so from the close attention which
was paid, and the hearty expressions of approval which
greeted every statement from our useful interpreter.
At length, a few of our presents were produced, in-
cluding about twelve yards of highly-coloured cotton