出身自英國傳教士家庭、家族成員多與東亞有深厚淵源的蜜莉森．麥格麗琪，於1895年以家眷身分隨擔任英國領事的姐夫先後派駐淡水與溫州兩地，停留將近四年。她將旅程中各地見聞，以第一人稱寫成題名In Varying Scenes and Climes, 1895-1899（在變幻的景色與風土中）的未出版書稿。本文討論其三個面向：一是作者家族在東亞的網絡關係；二是作者親歷1895年臺灣巨變的經驗所代表的歷史意義；三是對作者身分及書寫作品特質的定位與比較。本書稿除了展現作者生命中的重要篇章外，其於臺灣割日的歷史關鍵時刻停留淡水長達半年的見聞，以「外人」、「女性」及「旅遊文學作家」的立場對經歷日軍接收、統治開始及臺灣民主國激情劇碼的臺灣留下見證，尤其對淡水肅殺局勢的描寫，突顯當時草木皆兵的氣氛與日英外交的緊繃關係，為傳統士子及官府紀錄之外，觀察1895年臺灣另一不同面貌的珍貴紀錄。

In 1895, the year of the Sino-Japanese War, Millicent Mary McClatchie (1867-1954) accompanied her sister’s family on a trip from England to China, residing there for four years, including a six-month stay in Tamsui 淡水, Taiwan, between September 1895 and March 1896. She left a record of her travels entitled In Varying Scenes and Climes, 1895-1899, which remains unpublished and is kept at the Hong Kong Public Record Office. This paper discusses three aspects of McClatchie’s observations of Taiwan during this critical period in its history. Firstly, the McClatchie family’s relationship to the far eastern Western expatriate network; secondly, the historical significance of McClatchie’s personal experience of the great changes in Taiwan as recorded in her travel writing; thirdly, the author’s identity as an unmarried woman, foreigner, and observer and the special characteristics of her writing.