|
Robert Swinhoe FRS (1 September 1836, Calcutta, India – 28 October 1877, London), was an English biologist who worked as a Consul in Formosa. He discovered many Southeast Asian birds and several, such as Swinhoe's pheasant, are named after him. ==Biography== Swinhoe was born in Calcutta where his father, who came from a Northumberland family, was a lawyer. There is no clear record of the date of his arrival in England, but it is known he attended the University of London, and in 1854 joined the China consular corps. He was stationed to the remote port of Amoy, some 300 miles to the northeast of Hong Kong, in 1855. While at this port he mastered not only the Chinese language (both official Mandarin and the local Amoy dialect), but he also initiated a detailed and authoritative understanding of the ornithology of eastern China. In March, 1856, Swinhoe made an "adventurous" visit to the camphor districts of northwestern Formosa on board a lorcha, a hybrid vessel utilizing a European hull and Chinese rigging. Whether this was an official or personal visit is unknown, but he made mention of this on several occasions through the rest of his published career. While at Amoy he courted and married Christina Stronach (née Lockie), the daughter of a Scottish missionary, in 1857. In June and July 1858 Swinhoe participated in the circumnavigation of Formosa on board ''HMS Inflexible'' in search of British and American castaways. He served as translator as well in two subsequent British actions against the Chinese in North China in 1858 and 1860, the latter resulting in his book, ''The North China Campaign of 1860'' (London, 1861), his personal account of the Second Opium War. In 1860 Swinhoe was named as the first European consular representative to the island of Formosa (Taiwan under Qing rule). Delays prevented him from physically obtaining that post until 1861. On 2 July of that year Swinhoe and his assistant, George C. P. Braune, arrived at the prefectural capital, the southern city of Taiwan-fu (today's Tainan). Shoaling of the harbor at Taiwan-fu prompted him to re-establish the British consulate to the northern port of Tamsui, where the bulk of foreign trade occurred. He published several articles on his first harried days as British representative on Formosa, and as well numerous others on the rich wildlife of this isolated island. Subsequently he served as consul at Amoy, Ningpo, and Chefoo, all on the mainland of China. He at various times during his career served as 'roving consul' for the British plenipotentiary in China for Great Britain, Rutherford Alcock. His duties in this capacity required an visit to explore Hainan, as well as a journey up the Yangtze River to Chungking, in Szechuan Province, to help determine steamship navigability of that river. All the while he was stationed at those various postings, he retained the Formosan consulship, and indeed did not relinquish it until his retirement from the service of his government, in 1873. He spent his spare time in China collecting natural history specimens, and as the area had not previously been open to Westerners, many of the items he collected were new to science. As he was primarily an ornithologist, many of his new discoveries were birds, but he also found new fish, mammals and insects. He returned to England in 1862 with his collection. Many of the birds were first described in John Gould's ''Birds of Asia'' (1863).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robert Swinhoe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|