are clean to a certain extent, but have no idea of what I should call comfort; but of course opinions differ. A Dutchman does not like the food in Java being called Dutch, and perhaps it is a mixture of Malay and Dutch. I met a young Dutch lady the other day who had been at school in England, and she thought English feeding horrible, and preferred this; but school fare is hardly a fair criterion. I do not think I have mentioned that the Malay and Javanese always carry a large knife stuck in their belt; the handle is richly ornamented, sometimes carved wood, others who can afford it have them mounted with silver, and the great swells, princes, &c., have the handles covered with jewels; it is called a "kriss." There is a Chinaman on board travelling first-class; he is the first one I have seen as a cabin passenger; he is a merchant from Singapore, and has never been in China, but he dresses in the same way, and has the usual pigtail. Their dress after all is perhaps the most sensible for the Tropics -a loose white jacket or smock and wide loose trousers; and the better class of them out of China always appear neat and clean. They are called the Merchants of the East, and wherever they go they appear to thrive. In the Chinese shops you can generally buy things at half the price you can elsewhere. Java does not appear to be rich in fruits, and we have not had much variety. I have become very fond of bananas, of which there are as many varieties as there are of apples in England, but I have not tasted any equal to the pineapple ones that grow in Panama. Javanese music is a little less noisy than the Chinese tomtoms, and it is not so universal. If in China there were twenty Chinese on board a steamer, they would all have music. In Java they generally have gongs of various sizes elevated on wooden frames in rows of from eight to twelve, and the performers play on them with one or two drumsticks. They have also large gongs and instruments made of bamboo, besides various squeaking string ones. I should think there must have been between thirty and forty performers at Solo the other day, AUG. THE BANCA STRAITS. 69 and fifty or sixty singers. The combination of sounds was, as Mr. K― would say, hearty if not musical. Wednesday, 27th.-Are now pas ing through the Banca Straits, and can distinctly see Sumatra on one hand, and the Island of Banca (celebrated for its tin mines) on the other. They (the Straits) are about 120 miles long, and dangerous, in so far as the water is shallow, and there are very strong currents. On thinking over what I have seen of Java the absence of flowers is remarkable. Nowhere in the Tropics have I seen flowers equal to those in Japan, or even equal to those in England -at any rate not such fields of them as you see in the Old Country in the meadows in Spring, and nothing equal to the masses of the crimson poppy and numerous other flowers. In Java there certainly are some lovely orchids and other rare plants, but the beauty of the vegetation of the Tropics consists in the universal green that clothes the forest and the plain, caused I suppose by the great moisture. After all, travel where you will, with the exception perhaps of Japan, I have never seen any country equal in beauty to England (say in May), with the hedges of hawthorn, honeysuckle, wild roses, the blossom of the fruit trees, and the meadows carpeted with buttercups, daisies, vetches, &c. But where the Tropics beat the more temperate climes is in the magnificent leaves of the various trees and shrubs, and above all in the splendid tree ferns, which Wallace considers more perfectly beautiful than anything else in Tropical nature—and so they are; but New Zealand is decidedly the finest country that I have seen for the latter. Thursday, 28th.-Reached Singapore at seven p.m., after a good run. It is 700 miles from Cheribon, and we came in sixty-two hours. The heat in the middle of the day was worthy of the Red Sea; however, it became cooler in the afternoon. I took a trap on landing, and drove straight to Captain C who has a charming house, with fine view of town and harbour. He appeared delighted to see me, and was quite pleased to have in his house one of the L family. He has vivid recollec tions of a dinner he had at a Club in London, and of a lunch at Birkenhead. He particularly remembers a certain infant that was brought in and displayed to the admiring sisterhood, who all went down on their knees before it. My cabman as usual wanted double his fare, and I was just going to give him something extra, when out rushed the Captain, using language that only a skipper can, and wound up by saying in a loud voice "For I am a Liverpool man." This last threat at the cabby completely non-plussed him, as being a Kling I do not suppose he understood a word of it. However, it ended in his getting a dollar. one Friday, 29th.-Busy all morning buying various things; amongst others buttons, for the Madras fellows who are the Dobies wash the clothes in a most dreadful manner; fancies that your carpets are being beaten, but it is only your unfortunate clothes being violently dashed against a board, in consequence the buttons are smashed, and your shirts, &c., have large gaps made in them. Curiously enough I met B here, who I saw in Australia; had a long talk with C, who I was at Harrow with and travelled with in America; he has been making a tour of the world, but we all diverge in different directions. Talking over our Yankee trip, of course Miss Ccropped up; she is still unmarried, "pining away." I must say that I have still a hankering in that direction, and "her bright smile haunts me still." Captain C took me a long drive yesterday all round the neighbourhood; but now I must stop as it is time to think of dressing, and besides some freshly-gathered mangosteens, the queen of fruits, have just come in. Seven a.m.-so adieu. Saturday, 30th.-Captain C- very kindly gave me permission to ask C up here to lunch, as there is such a perfect all-round view. We then drove to the Botanical Gardens. In the evening there were four ladies and their husbands to dinner. Singapore lies low; but there are numerous hills about, and on them gentlemen build their houses. The island is covered with jungle, with the feathery palm sticking up-in fact, from this house as far as one can see, except the side where the town lies, a sombre green covers universal nature; it does not appear to be much cultivated, and I fancy that vegetables come from the mainland. Singapore owes its importance to-first of all, being a free port, and ships and schooners come here from all parts to unload their cargoes in preference to going to Java, so the protective policy of the Dutch has done some good; then it is a great coaling place for steamers en route to China and Japanin fact it is a second Gibraltar without the fortifications; but there are so many islands all around, and the passage so narrow and water so shallow, that a few torpedoes and small gunboats would be efficient protection. There is a regiment here and a few artillery men, and a fort overlooking the town; but I should think that it must only be for keeping the natives in awe-for, as the town lies directly underneath, if they were to attempt to fire out to sea it would bring the fire of an attacking squadron on the city. The population is chiefly composed of Chinamen; but there are Malays, Klings, Madrasees, Bengalees, Jews, Turks, Armenians, and Europeans-in fact a greater conglomeration of nationalities it would be hardly possible to see. Madras women with slender figures, large black eyes, with armlets, anklets, and rings in their noses; the short compact Malay, with the inevitable sarong; the stolid-faced China woman, &c., &c. The Chinese are the chief in wealth-next to the Europeans; there are some of them very rich merchants-in fact Singapore is a paradise to them, and as there is no tax on their immigration as in Java, the cry is "still they come;" however, all accounts of Singapore are and must be so much the same, that as you all seem to have read DeBeauvoir there is nothing more to say. Sunday, 31st.-Went to church twice; I really feel as if I |