Note 21 — Chapter II
Reading edition
During the days of the Chinese over-lordship of the island there were several British consulates in Formosa; one in Takao, the southern port of the island, and one in Anping, the harbour on the west coast, as well as the one in Keelung. Since Formosa has been a part of the Japanese Empire, however, British trade with the island has steadily declined. No encouragement—in fact, every discouragement—is given it by the present masters of the island; hence there are no longer consulates at either Takao or Anping, and the great houses formerly occupied by the consuls, which were centres of both social and business activity in the British colonies at Takao and Anping, respectively, are now falling into decay, occupied only by bats, snakes, and homeless Chinese-Formosan beggars.