The book Taiwan and the Ocean describes how over the 200 years from the 17th to the 19th Century, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, British and Japanese adventurers came here, drawn not only by the primitive beauty of Formosa, but also to hunt for the gold which, according to the tales told by seafarers of every nation, lay beneath its soil.
《海洋台灣》一書寫著，從十七世紀到十九世紀這兩百年間，葡萄牙人、西班牙人、荷蘭人、英國人和日本人，不僅為了福爾摩莎原始之美而來探險；也為了各國海上水手傳說，台灣島暗藏著黃金，想來挖金。