That the tribes living in the interior of the island should have lost the art of navigation is not surprising, as on the east side of the mountain range--within which section the present “savage territory” lies--there are no navigable rivers, and in the mountains is only one lake, the beautiful _Jitsugetsutan_ (“Sun and Moon Lake”), so-called by the Japanese.[100] On this lake those members of the Taiyal and Tsuou tribes who live near it paddle in their dug-out canoes. These dug-outs, however, are of the most primitive type, with open ends, obviously unfitted for seafaring. Even a storm on the lake sends the canoes hurriedly paddling to shore. But the Ami and the Yami, and also the Paiwan and Piyuma, have not the excuse that applies to the tribes of the interior. Before these tribes lies the open sea, over which their ancestors navigated. That they should have lost the art of building and of navigating seaworthy craft is strange; as strange as is the fact that many of the tribes have lost the art of successful pottery-making, which according to tradition--and also judging from the few ancient specimens preserved among the Tsarisen--their ancestors seem to have possessed.
Whether the losing of these arts implies that the tribes since they have been in Formosa have not had material as suitable for making either seaworthy boats or uncrumbling pottery as they had in the land whence they came, or whether it implies that they are an “ageing” people, a people who have lost their “grip on life,” and have no longer either inventive ability or mechanical skill, is a question which I shall not attempt to answer. It is one which presents an interesting field for speculation and also for further investigation.
[99] “In the early Cyprian tombs clay models of chariots have been found; these are modelled with solid wheels; sometimes spokes are painted on the clay; other models are almost certainly intended to represent vehicles with block wheels....
“Prof. Tylor figures an ox-waggon carved on the Antonine column. It appears to have solid wheels, and the square end of the axle proves that it and its drum wheels turned round together.... Tylor also says that ancient Roman farm-carts were made with wheels built up of several pieces of wood nailed together.” (Haddon, _Study of Man_.)