A few ideas on the probable origin of the hill tribes of Formosa
J. Dodd, a British merchant and resident in northern Formosa during the 1860s and 1870s, published this ethnographic account in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1885, offering a detailed physical and material description of the aboriginal hill tribes inhabiting the mountains behind Banca (Banqiao) and extending toward Su-oh Bay. The piece is the second instalment of a two-part study, following an earlier article on the probable origin of these peoples, and it focuses on their appearance, dress, armament, and daily material culture as observed from the Chinese borderland.
Summary
Dodd’s central preoccupation in this instalment is the physical typology of the northern Formosan aborigines and what their features reveal about their racial origins. He systematically argues against any African or “negro” admixture, pointing to the lank (not curly) hair, the absence of thick lips, and the relatively high nasal bridge as disqualifying evidence (pp. 70–71). He instead proposes that the observed diversity in facial contour—ranging from Malayan to “Jewish” to European profiles—reflects a mixture of Malay, Philippine, and Polynesian blood with an original ancient stock previously established in the island (p. 72). This racial taxonomy is embedded within a broader colonial framework in which the aborigines are positioned as the “natural enemies” of the Chinese, a relationship that shapes their entire material culture, from weaponry to ornamentation.
The bulk of the article is devoted to a granular catalogue of material culture: tattooing patterns on the forehead and chin, the use of cuttle-fish bone as both ornament and a “circulating medium” of exchange, the construction and use of the lalao knife (which serves simultaneously as jungle tool, hunting weapon, eating implement, and head-hunting instrument), and the preparation and social ubiquity of tobacco (pp. 73–76). Dodd also describes the lukus coat, the habbock girdle, and the deer-skin rain coat, noting how embroidery patterns in scarlet and blue long-ells—obtained through barter with Chinese hillmen—vary by altitude and region (pp. 75–78).
Throughout, Dodd writes from the vantage point of a long-term foreign resident with intimate knowledge of the border zone, and his observations are informed by direct contact with both the aboriginal communities and the Chinese traders who mediate between them. The account is explicitly partial, covering only the northern tribes below the 24th parallel, and Dodd flags that the southern tribes, particularly those south of Mount Morrison, may present different physical characteristics yet to be documented.
Key Findings
- The northern hill tribes’ skin colour is described as a uniform intermediate hue, darker than unexposed Chinese but not approaching African negro types; Dodd explicitly rules out “negro blood” based on hair texture and lip morphology (pp. 70–71).
- Cuttle-fish bone functions as a “circulating medium” of exchange among the aborigines, used for necklaces, earrings, head ornaments, and as a barter item of considerable value (p. 73).
- The lalao knife, approximately one and a half feet in blade length, is manufactured by Chinese and acquired through barter for deer’s horns or taken from killed Chinese enemies; it serves as cutting tool, hunting weapon, eating knife, and head-hunting implement (p. 76).
- Matchlocks (pahtus) are described as “not very common in the interior,” with the majority of men armed instead with bows and arrows; the long-barrelled matchlock fires iron projectiles “almost the size of the little finger” without a wad (p. 74).
- The lukus coat is constructed from four straight pieces of native hempen cloth, embroidered from the waist downward with blue or scarlet long-ells obtained from Chinese borderers; at higher elevations (6,000–8,000 feet), clothing and customs diverge markedly (pp. 75–77).
- Tobacco grows wild in aboriginal territory and is smoked universally by men, women, and children; the natives sun-dry and hand-rub the leaves, while Chinese cultivate and export the plant in junks to the mainland (pp. 74–75).
Conclusion
Dodd’s definitive takeaway is that the northern Formosan aborigines represent a distinct physical type—neither Chinese, nor African, nor purely Malayan—but a composite population shaped by the intermingling of Malay, Philippine, and Polynesian elements with an indigenous substrate. Their material culture, from the lalao to the cuttle-fish bone currency, reflects a society in constant tension with the Chinese borderland, where every object of utility or adornment is either self-produced from forest resources or acquired through a precarious barter economy with their “would-be exterminators.”
Context
- Dodd was a British merchant and de facto consular figure resident in Banca, northern Formosa, from the 1860s onward; his observations derive from decades of direct contact with both aboriginal and Chinese communities in the border zone.
- The article was published in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, a colonial-era periodical serving British administrative and mercantile interests in the Straits Settlements and surrounding regions; the text reflects the racial taxonomic frameworks and civilisational hierarchies standard to Victorian ethnography.