Lai Afong

“ The nuts of the Areca palm are called betel-nuts because they are chewed with betel leaves and lime. Aside from this fact they might be called beetle nuts because of their striking resemblance to a pigeram beetle. They are plentiful in south Formosa where the disgusting habit of chewing the nuts is universal among the people. A handful of these nuts wrapped in a betel leaf with a little slacked lime is the first offering of friendly greeting that a lady makes to her gentleman caller. The effect of the practice is to utterly destroy the teeth before middle age is attained. ”

“ This tribe have long since ceased hostilities against the Chinese by whom many of their women have been taken as wives.—They fish and hunt a little and grow some tobacco, sweet potatoes and millet, but men and women spend most of their time in smoking, and drinking samshoo, and they are fast falling into decay. The "Chinese are bad" ("tapparoo 'm ho") and "we are all savages together" is the constant burden of their song when they meet a foreigner.- They have a peculiar practice of knocking out the eye teeth of their children, in order, it is said, to assist their wind in running. ”