We were then under the necessity of
sitting in the dark or going to bed.
In the morning the cabin served as a barber's shop, and in the
afternoon as a dormitory, where the cooks and servants, who were
half dead with sleep, used to come and slumber on the benches.
In order to render us still more comfortable, one of the officers
pitched upon our cabin as quarters for two young puppies, who did
nothing but keep up one continued howl; he would not have dared to
put them in the sailors' cabin, because the latter would have kicked
them out without farther ceremony.
My description will, in all probability, be considered exaggerated,
especially as there is an old opinion that the English are, above
all other people, justly celebrated for their comfort and
cleanliness. I can, however, assure my readers that I have spoken
nothing but the truth; and I will even add that, although I have
made many voyages on board steam-ships, and always paid second fare,
never did I pay so high a price for such wretched and detestable
treatment. In all my life I was never so cheated. The only
circumstance on board the ship to which I can refer with pleasure
was the conduct of the officers, who were, without exception,
obliging and polite.
I was very much struck with the remarkable degree of patience
exhibited by my fellow-passengers. I should like to know what an
Englishman, who has always got the words "comfort" and "comfortable"
at the top of his tongue, would say, if he were treated in this
manner on board a steamer belonging to any other nation?
For the first few days of our voyage we saw no land, and it was not
until the 28th of August that we caught sight of the rocky coast of
Cochin China. During the whole of the 29th we steered close along
the coast, but could see no signs of either human beings or
habitations, the only objects visible being richly wooded mountain-
ranges; in the evening, however, we beheld several fires, which
might have been mistaken for the signals from lighthouses, and
proved that the country was not quite uninhabited.
During the following day we only saw a large solitary rock called
"The Shoe." It struck me as being exactly like the head of a
shepherd's dog.
On the 2nd of September we neared Malacca. Skirting the coast are
tolerably high, well-wooded mountain-ranges, infested, according to
all accounts, by numerous tigers, that render all travelling very
dangerous.
On the 3rd of September we ran into the port of Singapore; but it
was so late in the evening, that we could not disembark.
