da?"

He whirled round joyfully. It was Dr. E. J. Eitel, a missionary from
England. He had been told that the young Canadian would arrive on the
America and was there to welcome him.

Although the Canadian Presbyterian Church had as yet sent out no
missionaries to a foreign land, the Presbyterian Church of England had
many scattered over China. They were all hoping that the new recruit
would join them, and invited him to visit different mission stations,
and see where he would like to settle.

So he remained that night in Hongkong, as Dr. Eitel's guest, and the
next morning he took a steamer for Canton. Here he was met on the
pier by an old fellow student of Princeton University, and the two old
college friends had a grand reunion. He returned to Hongkong shortly,
and next visited Swatow. As they sailed into the harbor, he noticed two
Englishmen rowing out toward them in a sampan. (*) No sooner had the ship's
ladder been lowered, than the two sprang out of their boat and clambered
quickly on deck. To Mackay's amazement, one of them called out, "Is
Mackay of Canada on board?"

* A Chinese boat from twelve to fifteen feet long, covered
with a house.

"Mackay of Canada," sprang forward delighted, and found his two new
friends to be Mr. Hobson of the Chinese imperial customs, and Dr.
Thompson of the English Presbyterian mission in Swatow.

The missionaries here gave the stranger a warm welcome. At every place
he had visited there had awaited him a cordial invitation to stay and
work. And now at Swatow he was urged to settle down and help them. There
was plenty to be done, and they would be delighted to have his help.

But for some reason, Mackay scarcely knew why himself, he wanted to see
another place.

Away off the southeastern coast of China lies a large island called
Formosa. It is separated from the mainland by a body of water called
the Formosa Channel. This is in some places eighty miles wide, in others
almost two hundred. Mackay had often heard of Formosa even before coming
to China, and knew it was famed for its beauty.

Even its name shows this. Long, long years before, some navigators from
Portugal sailed to this beautiful island. They had stood on the deck
of their ship as they approached it, and were amazed at its loveliness.
They saw lofty green mountains piercing the clouds. They saw silvery
cascades tumbling down their sides, flashing in the sunlight, and,
below, terraced plains sloping