2009年3月5日 星期四

Illustrated London News

(The re-built Presbyterian Church in 新店, ca 1885)

中法之戰前夕,有些從艋舺(今萬華)來的民間人仕,淡水鎮史稱之為市井之徒,不分青紅皂白的反外.把馬偕博士辛苦建立的一些教堂付之一炬.包括上圖的教堂前身在內.馬偕家人只好避難香港.馬偕本人留在淡水,並參加救治傷兵(在"偕醫館"內,原址尚存,為觀光景點之一).

紐約時報1885年1月2日版有登署名GL MacKay自香港的投書,陳述因臺灣港口被封鎖,無法回淡水,但知道教會情況不佳,心急如焚.大約是漁人碼頭戰爭結束,馬偕博士立即赴香港與家人團聚.但滯留香港一小段時間後才終於返臺.

當時的"圖說倫敦新聞"報導了法國人攻擊臺灣:

The French attack on Formosa [1884:340; October 11, 1884]

The French squadron commanded by Admiral Courbet last week again attacked Kelung, the Chinese town and port on the north coast of the island of Formosa, which was bombarded, on Aug. 5, by a part of the naval force under Rear-Admiral L'espès. The Chinese forts, of which there are four, two on the east side of the bay, and two on the west side, the former armed with eight Krupp guns, were on the first occasion silenced by the fire of the French ship, but a small landing party was repulsed in an attempt to capture these forts. In the second attack, on Wednesday week [sic], the western forts were taken after some fighting, four or five of the French being killed, and about a dozen wounded. Kelung is a place of little commercial importance, but has some trade with the opposite coast of China, about Foochow. There are coal-mines at a short distance from the town, which are worked by the Chinese, but the coal is unsuitable for steamers. Sulphur also is found in a neighbouring valley. Not far south-west of Kelung is the port of Tamsui, which the French have now occupied. Its harbour is better than the others at the northern extremity of the island, and it has a larger export trade of rice, tea, hemp and jute, and grass-cloth fibre, sent to the nearest Chinese ports. There is an old Dutch fort on the hill, long since deserted.

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