one or two species,
such as the delicious mangosteen, which are found indigenous in no other
region.

The stranger, upon landing at Singapore, is hardly prepared to find such
excellent modern institutions as exist here. Among them are an
attractive museum, a public library, a Protestant cathedral, a hospital,
public schools, and a fine botanical garden. The island belongs to the
English government, having been purchased by it so long ago as 1819,
from the Sultan of Johore,--wise forethought, showing its importance as
a port of call between England and India.

A two days' sail through waters which seem at night like a sea of
phosphorescence, every ripple producing flashes of light, will take us
to the island of Penang, the most northerly port of the Straits. It
resembles Singapore in its people, vegetation, and climate, enjoying one
long, unvarying summer. While the birds and butterflies are in perfect
harmony with the loveliness of nature, while the flowers are glorious in
beauty and in fragrance, man alone seems out of place in this region.
Indolent, dirty, unclad, he does nothing to improve such wealth of
possibilities as nature spreads broadcast only in equatorial islands. He
does little for himself, nothing for others, while the sensuous life he
leads poisons his nature, so that virtue and vice have no relative
meaning for him. We speak now of the masses, the common people. Noble
exceptions always exist. In size Penang is a little smaller than
Singapore. Its wooded hills of vivid greenness rise above the town and
surrounding sea in graceful undulations, growing more and more lofty as
they recede inland, until they culminate in three mountain peaks. Penang
is separated from the mainland by a narrow belt of sea not more than
three miles wide, giving it a position of great commercial importance.

The areca-palm, known as the Penang-tree, is the source of the
betel-nut, which is chewed by the natives as a stimulant; and as it
abounds on the island, it has given it the name it bears. The town
covers about a square mile, through which runs one broad, main street,
intersected by lesser thoroughfares at right angles. A drive about the
place gives us an idea that it is a thrifty town, but not nearly so
populous as Singapore. It is also observable that the Chinese element
predominates here. The main street is lined by shops kept by them. The
front of the dwellings being open, gives the passer-by a full view of
all that ma