法軍首級與熟番

(Left: a Fusilier Marin attached to the French flagship Le Bayard.)

In all wars, uncivilized and even atrocious acts unfortunately do occur. The incidence of the severed heads of the French fusiliers marins took place on Oct 8, 1884, and which was recorded thus:
一八八四年十月八日，法軍攻擊滬尾失敗後，發生把斬獲法人的首級高懸於竹竿上示眾的事情。林呈蓉主編的〈述報法兵侵臺紀事殘輯．淡水戰事詳述〉《臺北縣史料彙編．淡水篇》（宜蘭﹕佛光人文社會學院編譯出版中心，2001 年出版），頁324-325對這件事的引述如次﹕

"有人在林中見有法兵數名，潛匿期[其]間；即執而殺之以領賞。……是日，奏凱回營，時近黃昏，故敵軍死者未暇檢點。有喜事者，將法兵首級懸於馬[媽]祖廟前樹間，以示得意；而法船則懸白旗以示哀。我軍兵勇於獻俘後，各持所獲賞銀，欣欣相謂曰「此法人首級也」！相視而笑。……土勇於奏凱之後，將法人之屍，或肢解之，或臠分之；或飲其血，或啜其腦。且有破法屍之腹，出肝腑以示人者。旁觀不覺齒為之冷、身為之慄，而彼乃怡怡自得，恬不知怪。蓋土勇多是熟番，當其未歸教之先，與生番無異；食生飲血，視為固然，故不以為異也。聞英國駐是處領事見土勇所為，似屬殘忍過甚，不覺動其惻隱之心，特照會孫軍門，請嚴禁土勇戕屍；未悉孫軍門如何辦理也。以上皆友人信息，言之鑿鑿；故泚筆錄之，以當露布之傳。"
{Note: This is apparently a second-hand account, the writer however claimed highly credible sources. A partial translation here:
"Some [Qing soldiers] spotted a few French hiding in the bushes [note: most likely those who fell into the sea during retreat back to the warships]. The latter were captured and killed [for their heads]... On the day of the victory, the Qing soldiers had returned to their camps. Since it was near dusk, there was no time to identify and count the enemy dead. Some about-to-receive-the-award soldiers hung the heads on a tree outside the Ma-Zu temple for all to see. The French fleet on the other hand flew white flags in mourning. The soldiers were quite happy after finally receiving their rewards, and smiled at one another, exclaiming that "these are for the enemy heads!"...
The Aboriginal warriors then proceeded to mutilate the bodies..."}

孫開華提督 heeding the pleas from the British Consul Alexander Frater did put a stop to this barbarism and allowed a proper Christian burial of the [17] heads [in the 淡水外僑墓園Danshui Foreigners' Cemetery]. This is probably also the first ever known record of the participation of Aboriginal warriors (i.e., the 熟番 mentioned in the Chinese report) in the Sino-French war. The "onlookers" were absolutely disgusted, shocked, and even frightened by the gruesome display of such 生番 behavior.

At that time, the official price put on a French head was 50 silver taels (i.e., 兩, worth about 350 Francs). Some hapless non-combatant French did lose theirs during the occupation of Keelung - often lured into traps when purchasing local foodstuff. It was a logistic nightmare for the French in this protracted war - shortage of everything particularly fresh food. Dealing with local vendors was often risky but necessary. Also in Keelung, three Taiwanese women were summarily executed for allegedly springing another type of trap for the same purpose. The locals sometimes robbed French graves and stole the heads for rewards. It was quite a chaotic scene, not to mention the total destruction of Keelung itself. Common household items, idols of deities, books, broken furniture strewn about and littered the streets all over town.

The situation improved somewhat in early 1885 when supply ships began to arrive and the French started re-building parts of Keelung.