There Is A
Perpetual Battle Between Man And The Jungle, And The Latter, In Fact,
Is Only Brought To Bay Within A Short Distance Of Singapore.
I had scarcely finished breakfast at the hotel, a shady, straggling
building, much infested by ants, when Mr. Cecil
Smith, the Colonial
Secretary, and his wife called, full of kind thoughts and plans of
furtherance; and a little later a resident, to whom I had not even a
letter of introduction, took me and my luggage to his bungalow. All the
European houses seem to have very deep verandas, large, lofty rooms,
punkahs everywhere, windows without glass, brick floors, and jalousies
and "tatties" (blinds made of grass or finely-split bamboo) to keep out
the light and the flies. This equatorial heat is neither as exhausting
or depressing as the damp summer heat of Japan, though one does long
"to take off one's flesh and sit in one's bones."
I wonder how this unexpected and hastily planned expedition into the
Malay States will turn out? It is so unlikely that the different
arrangements will fit in. It seemed an event in the dim future; but
yesterday my host sent up a "chit" from his office to say that a
Chinese steamer is to sail for Malacca in a day or two, and would I
like to go? I was only allowed five minutes for decision, but I have no
difficulty in making up my mind when an escape from civilization is
possible. So I wrote back that if I could get my money and letters of
introduction in time I would go, and returned to dine at Mr. Cecil
Smith's, where a delightfully cultured and intellectual atmosphere made
civilization more than tolerable. The needed letters were written,
various hints for my guidance were thrown out, and I drove back at
half-past ten under heavens which were one blaze of stars amidst a dust
of nebulae, like the inlaid gold spots amidst a dust of gold on old
Japanese lacquer, and through a moist, warm atmosphere laden with the
heavy fragrance of innumerable night-blossoming flowers.
Singapore, as the capital of the Straits Settlements and the residence
of the Governor, has a garrison, defensive works, ships of war hanging
about, and a great deal of military as well as commercial importance,
and "the roll of the British drum" is a reassuring sound in the midst
of the unquiet Chinese population. The Governor is assisted by
lieutenant-governors at Malacca and Pinang, and his actual rule extends
to the three "protected" States of the Malay Peninsula - Sungei Ujong,
Selangor, and Perak - the affairs of which are administered by British
Residents, who are more or less responsible to him.
If I fail in making you realize Singapore it is partly because I do not
care to go into much detail about so well known a city, and partly
because my own notions of it are mainly of overpowering greenery, a
kaleidoscopic arrangement of colors, Chinese predominance, and
abounding hospitality. I almost fail to realize that it is an island;
one of many; all, like itself, covered with vegetation down to the
water's edge; about twenty-seven miles long by fourteen broad, with the
city at its southern end. It is only seventy miles from the equator,
but it is neither unhealthy nor overpoweringly hot! It is low and
undulating, its highest point, Bukit Timor, or the Hill of Tin, being
only five hundred and twenty feet high. The greatest curse here used to
be tigers, which carried off about three hundred people yearly. They
were supposed to have been extirpated, but they have reappeared,
swimming across from the mainland State of Johore it is conjectured;
and as various lonely Chinese laborers have been victimized, there is
something of a "scare," in the papers at least. Turtles are so abundant
that turtle-soup is anything but a luxury, and turtle flesh is
ordinarily sold in the meat shops.
Rain is officially said to fall on two hundred days of the year, but
popularly every day! The rainfall is only eighty-seven inches,
however, and the glorious vegetation owes its redundancy to the
dampness of the climate. Of course Singapore has no seasons. The
variety is only in the intensity of the heat, the mercury being
tolerably steady between 80 degrees and 84 degrees, the extreme range
of temperature being from 71 degrees to 92 degrees. People sleep on
Malay mats spread over their mattresses for coolness, some dispense
with upper sheets, and others are fanned all night by punkahs. The soft
and tepid land and sea breezes mitigate the heat to a slight extent,
but I should soon long for a blustering north-easter to break in upon
the oppressive and vapor-bath stillness.
As Singapore is a military station, and ships of war hang about
constantly, there is a great deal of fluctuating society, and the
officials of the Straits Settlements Government are numerous enough to
form a large society of their own. Then there is the merchant class,
English, German, French, and American; and there is the usual round of
gayety, and of the amusements which make life intolerable. I think that
in most of these tropical colonies the ladies exist only on the hope of
going "home!" It is a dreary, aimless life for them - scarcely life,
only existence. The greatest sign of vitality in Singapore Europeans
that I can see is the furious hurry in writing for the mail. To all
sorts of claims and invitations, the reply is, "But it's mail day, you
know," or, "I'm writing for the mail," or, "I'm awfully behind hand
with my letters," or, "I can't stir till the mail's gone!" The hurry is
desperate, and even the feeble Englishwomen exert themselves for
"friends at home." To judge from the flurry and excitement, and the
driving down to the post-office at the last moment, and the commotion
in the parboiled community, one would suppose the mail to be an
uncertain event occurring once in a year or two, rather than the most
regular of weekly fixtures!
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