g boats, with only a faint flare from expiring
torches to light the way, and starts the cringing coolies, with true
politeness to the "foreign devils," but manifest wonder at their
eccentric customs. Chinese womanhood, painted, bedizened, and tottering
on the pink and gold hoofs which cause a sickening shudder to the
Western spectator, indicates the barrier of prejudice to be surmounted
before China can mould national ideals into harmony with modern
progress.

The vicinity of Penang to the Equatorial junction of the maritime
world, widens local interests by the development of the Malay
Peninsula, partly governed through the instrumentality of native
Sultans under English guidance, but the abiding charm of the island
lies beyond the radius of the thriving port. Nature still reigns
supreme in this jewel of the Equator, where the amber swathes of Indian
laburnum, the golden-hearted whiteness of luscious frangipanni blossom,
and the red fire of the flamboyant tree, light up the endless aisles of
swaying palms, where temple-flower and tuberose mingle their fragrance
with the breath of clove and cinnamon, interpreting the imagery of the
Eastern monarch's bridal song, and luring each lover of Earth's
manifold beauty to "go down into her garden of spices and gather
lilies."

EPILOGUE.

The infinite variety of interests connected with the vast Malay
Archipelago, mainly dominated by European authority, can only be
inadequately mentioned in the simple record of a half-year's wandering
through scenes which stamp their unfading beauty indelibly on mind and
memory. Virgin fields of discovery still invite scientific exploration,
and the green sepulchre of Equatorial vegetation retains innumerable
secrets of Art and architecture. The geological mysteries of these
volcanic shores offer a host of unsolved problems, the surpassing
magnificence of flower and foliage makes every island a botanical
Paradise, and the varieties of race and language which moulded and
coloured the destinies of the Equatorial world, supply historian and
philologist with opportunities of unlimited research. The dim
chronicles of a distant past, inscribed in vague characters with faint
traces of the earliest Malay wanderers, link their shadowy pages with
historic records of falling dynasties and warring creeds, preceding
the eventful period of colonial enterprise, initiated by the wild
campaigns in quest of the precious spices. Although the Malay voyage