Letter from The Rev. Carstairs Douglas, Takow,Oct.7th, 1864

My dear Mr. Matheson,

Having left Amoy on the 5th, we reached this on the 6th, after a pleasant passage.

We (that is, Dr. Maxwell, and myself, with a Chinese servant, and two of the Amoy native Christians) had a free passage, through the kindness of Captain Wagner, of the Chusan, a Hamburg three-masted schooner. He is a native of Halle; his wife (who is on board) is daughter of one of the ministers of Magdeburg; and his chief officer is son of one of the Potsdam clergymen. So Dr. Maxwell and I have been brushing up our German a little as well as our Chinese.

Our kind friends have asked us to make the vessel our home while we are in South Formosa - and a pleasant home it is - so we are making it at least our head-quarters. We do not intend to make a long stay - probably only about a fortnight or three weeks.

Dr. Maxwell's object is to examine whether any of the cities or ports at the south end of the island may be suitable as the head-quarters of a mission, and I have come mainly to aid him in these investigations; while at the same time we take the opportunity of preaching the Gospel in these dark regions , and distributing Scriptures and tracts, which may be the means of planting the seed of eternal life in some hearts, to be reaped by whomsoever the Lord of the harvest may be pleased to send in his good time.

Yours, & o, Carstairs Douglas.