remarkable still, no Chinamen. To those readers who may not have
visited that part of the world of which I write, it should be explained
that Singapore is almost entirely populated by Chinese, and in the
native states they materially outnumber the Malays, so that the eye is
accustomed to see Chinese everywhere and regard them as the real
inhabitants of the country. Their absence in a Malay town strikes anyone
coming from the Peninsula as strange. Cf course there _are_ Chinese in
Batavia, and many of them, as X. soon learnt, but they do not pervade
the whole place as is the case in the English colonies over the way.

Reaching the hotel X. was relieved to find that Usoof and Abu had
discarded their boots, and were picking their way delicately across the
mud of the courtyard. Also they had been provided with an excellent
curry. Then he prepared to get ready for his own lunch, and next to
bathe. In order to do this it was necessary to run the gauntlet of many
eyes, as the bathroom was some distance off, and, to reach it, the
entire length of the verandah must be passed. On to this verandah opened
the doors of bedrooms, the occupant of each sitting in his long chair in
front--exactly, as Abu remarked, like vendors holding stalls in a
market. The long chairs were of the luxurious kind, with short seats and
long movable arms, and on which latter the occupants extended their
naked feet. This of course refers to the men. Ladies also sat there, in
what X. subsequently learnt was not altogether considered _deshabille_,
namely, the sarong and kabaya of the country. The first-named garment,
it may be explained for the benefit of readers in the West, is a
close-fitting petticoat such as the natives wear, and the latter a white
linen jacket. It required some courage to take that first walk along
this verandah, but things seldom continue to seem strange, unless other
people look as if they thought them so, and as these reclining rows of
visitors lay back doing nothing, not even reading, with an air of
unconcern, it was not difficult for X. to assume one too. However, he
could not but believe that he helped to fill in that vacant blank in
which the sitters sank, as he passed along, himself clad in wondrous
garments made of gaudy silks woven by the skilled natives of the
Peninsula, while Usoof and Abu followed, bringing the towels and soap.
Nor did he entirely deceive himself, since he was subsequently informed
by Usoof that the "boy" of