udent days in Scotland. Here and
there were clumps of fir trees that reminded him of Canada, but on the
whole the scene was new and wonderful to his Western eyes.

They were now on the first level of the rice-fields. The farms were
tiny things, none larger than eight or ten acres. They were divided into
queer-shaped little irrigated fields, separated not by fences, but by
little low walls of mud. Every farm was under water now, and here and
there, wading through his little flooded fields, went the farmer with
his plough, drawn by a useful water-buffalo,--the latter apparently quite
happy at being allowed to splash about in the mud.

These rice-farms soon became a familiar sight to the newcomer. He liked
to see them at all times--when each field was a pretty blue or green
lake, later when the water was choked with the fresh green growth, or in
harvest days, when the farmers stripped the fields of their grain.
Just now they were at their prettiest. Row above row, they went up the
mountainside, like a great glass stairs, each row reflecting the green
hills and the bamboo groves above. And from each terrace to the one
below, the water tumbled in pretty little cascades that sparkled in the
sunlight and filled the air with music. For travelers there were only
narrow paths between farms, and often only the ridge of the dykes
between field and field. As they made their way between the tiny fields,
walking along the narrow dykes, and listening to the splashing sound of
the water, Mackay understood what Dr. Dickson meant, when he remarked
that only a flying horse could be of use on such Formosan cross-country
journeys.

Soon the pathway changed once more to the broader public highway. Here
there was much traffic, and many travelers carried in sedan-chairs
passed them. And many times by the roadside Mackay saw something that
reminded him forcibly of why he had come to Formosa--a heathen shrine.
The whole countryside seemed dotted with them. And as he watched the
worshipers coming and going, and heard the disdainful words from the
priests cast at the hated foreigners, he realized that he was face to
face with an awful opposing force. It was the great stone of heathenism
he had come to break, and the question was, would he be as successful as
he had been long ago in the Canadian pasture-field?

The travelers ate their dinner by the roadside under the shade of some
fir trees that made Mackay feel at home. They were soon up and off