servants, as well as traders from Celebes, Bali, and many-
other islands of the Archipelago. The harbour is crowded
with men-of-war and trading vessels of many European
nations, and hundreds of Malay praus and Chinese junks,
from vessels of several hundred tons burthen down to little
fishing boats and passenger sampans; and the town comprises
handsome public buildings and churches, Mahometan
mosques, Hindoo temples, Chinese joss-houses, good
European houses, massive warehouses, queer old Kling
and China bazaars, and long suburbs of Chinese and
Malay cottages.
By far the most conspicuous of the various kinds of
people in Singapore, and those which most attract the
stranger’s attention, are the Chinese, whose numbers and
incessant activity give the place very much the appearance
of a town in China. The Chinese merchant is generally
a fat round-faced man with an important and business-like
look. He wears the same style of clothing (loose white
smock, and blue or black trousers) as the meanest coolie,
but of finer materials, and is always clean and n eat; and
his long tail tipped with red silk hangs down to his heels.
He has a handsome warehouse or shop in town and a good
house in the country. He keeps a fine horse and gig, and
every evening may be seen taking a drive bareheaded to
enjoy the cool breeze. He is rich, he owns several retail
shops and trading schooners, he lends money at high
interest and on good security, he makes hard bargains and
gets fatter and richer every year.
In the Chinese bazaar are hundreds of small shops in
which a miscellaneous collection of hardware and dry
goods are to be found, and where many things are sold
wonderfully cheap. You may buy gimlets at a penny
each, white cotton thread at four balls for a halfpenny
and penknives, corkscrews, gunpowder, writing-paper, and
many other articles as cheap or cheaper than you can
purchase them in England. The shopkeeper is very good-
natured ; he will show you everything he has, and does
not seem to mind if you buy nothing. He bates a little,
but not so much as the Klings, who almost always ask
twice what they are willing to take. If you buy a few
things of him, he will speak ;to you afterwards every time
you pass his shop, asking you to walk in and sit down, or
take a cup of tea, and you wonder how be can get a living
where so many sell the same trifling articles. The tailors
sit at a table, not on one; and both they and the shoemakers
work well and cheaply. The barbers have plenty
to do, shaving heads and cleaning ears; for which latter
operation they have a great array of little tweezers, picks,
and brushes. In the outskirts of the town are scores of
carpenters and blacksmiths. The former seem chiefly to
make coffins and highly painted and decorated clothes-
boxes. The latter are mostly gun-makers, and bore the
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