Sketches from Formosa.

FAR AFIELD NORTHWARD 53
Mr. Mackay's third and only other place of worship is
in a village called Sin-kang, where Brother Dzoe is now
rendering good service. That village is not to be mistaken
for an old Dutch township of the same name in the county
of Taiwan. It stands at the head of a fertile valley
three days south of Tamsui and eighteen miles north from
Lai-sia. Its inhabitants are Sek-hwan, who came first
to know something of the Gospel through
their fellow-
aborigines at our southern stations. They have just
completed the erection of a neat little chapel, and things
look as if the work would rapidly extend inland from this
promising centre.
Meanwhile, I was beginning to feel a little uneasy about
my long absence. Having had eight days' pleasant
intercourse with Mr. Mackay, and having seen the initial
stage of a most hopeful movement, I wished to be off and
into the midst of that work which was awaiting me at our
own stations in the Chiang-hoa county. He agreed to
accompany me as far as Sin-kang, and we made an early
start on the first Tuesday of April. Till about noon, our
way lay over a high table-land, where the richness of the
soil and the sparseness of the population were the more
noticeable features. A score of farmers from any country
district of Ireland or Scotland settled there would soon
bring the agricultural wealth of the place to light.
We halted for the night at Tiong-lek, a market-town
about twenty miles south from Gaw-khaw-khi, and only
some three or four from the western coastline. The
landlord of the inn gave us the use of what he called his
best bedroom, which turned out to be rather a poor affair,
with damp earthen floor, no glass in the windows, and not
by any means free from the usual entomological accompaniments.
After resting, we came out and strolled to the
end of the main street, where a party of villagers met us
and listened so attentively to our remarks that we