Among the Head-Hunters of Formosa

The author presents an anthropological account of indigenous hill tribes on a Pacific island, detailing practices such as head-hunting, tattooing, skull-shelf rituals, marriage tokens, and seasonal festivals while placing them within larger cultural complexes. Emphasizing sympathetic participant-observation, she explores debates over matrilineal arrangements, considers how customs function as coherent expressions of local values, and reflects on the difficulties of converting autonomous communities into settled colonial citizens. The work combines field notes, illustrations, and methodological commentary to explain the internal logic of customs rather than treating striking practices as isolated curiosities.