oolies
and boatmen for a couple of pennies each. Money has here, as in most
Eastern countries, a larger purchasing power than it has with us of the
West. Laborers at Singapore get twelve and fifteen cents a day for work
on the wharves, and less inland; but the cost of living to these people
is proportionally insignificant. They can go into the jungle and get a
dinner of fruit at any time, and no one will interfere with them.

A visit to the Botanical Garden, located a couple of miles from the
town, afforded us much pleasure, and, as a complete collection of
tropical trees and plants, exceeded, in extent and variety, all previous
experience. Though this entire region is a garden, it has been deemed
well to gather close together all possible representatives of the trees,
fruits, and flowers, and to surround them with all the beauties of
landscape gardening. Here, nourished by abundant heat and moisture,
thrive the bread-fruit-tree, palms, dates, figs, and mangoes,
mangosteens, and creepers of infinite variety. For the first time we saw
specimens of the acacia flamboyante, a large tree with broad leaves of
delicate green, throwing out from its topmost boughs clusters of scarlet
flowers with yellow centres like military plumes. The floral display
was very beautiful, and the plants must have enjoyed the care of the
best trained skill to produce such perfection. One portion of the garden
contained large bushes of stephanotis and alamanda in full bloom, and
close by was a glorious display of the Egyptian lotus in flower. Upon a
small artificial lake was a grand flourishing plant of the Victoria
Regia, with leaves that would support a small child upon the surface of
the water. There was an extensive aviary in the grounds, with beautiful
specimens of the argus pheasant, lyre-bird, parrots of many species, and
doves with strangely gaudy plumage, as though they had barely escaped
being parrots. The little scarlet larie, a native here, chattered like a
magpie. It was certainly an unexpected pleasure to find an excellent
museum, a public library, a Protestant cathedral, a large hospital,
schools, and several benevolent institutions, as well as the fine garden
referred to, in this capital of the Malay coast. It will be remembered
that Singapore belongs to the English, having been purchased by them so
long ago as 1819 from the Sultan of Johore, Malay Peninsula; wise
forethought, showing its importance as a port of call between England