£ 2 , 0 0 0 per annum by the surrender of a strip on the
mainland of similar size, covering an area of 160
square miles, now called the Wellesley province, on
the further condition, however, of Captain Light’s
service being retained as superintendent of the new
colony.
Georgetown, on the eastern shore of Penang, is the
seat of the present Government of the Strait Settlements,
including Malacca and Singapore, and is
defended by Fort Cornwallis. A few miles from it is
Strawberry Hill, the sanatorium of the island, situated
at an elevation of 2,700 feet, and from this point there
is a magnificent view of the lofty hills of Quedah.
The island is densely wooded, and watered by numerous
small streams; its principal inhabitants are Malays, but
there are also a large number of Chinese and Moors.
The latter, descended from the Arabs, are mostly small
shopkeepers, and both Malays and Moors are strict
Mahomedans.
The Chinese were that day celebrating their new
year, and the town was dressed in long red paper
placards and coloured lanterns. Each house or shop
belonging to one of their fraternity had its altar decorated
with bronze figures, vials of various shapes, and
scented Joss-sticks, whilst in the street the junior
members of these long-tailed Celestials amused themselves
by letting off squibs and crackers amongst the
passers-by. The entire population of the island seemed
to have flocked to the town,—there were crowds whichever
way one turned. A quantity of fruit was exhibited
for sale, oranges, guavas, and the jamboo, or Malay
rose-apple (Jambosa vulgaris), (Plate XX.), a delicious
fruit of slightly acid taste, and in appearance like
a small tomato.
The Moor contents himself with a very small square
space for his shop, where he squats cross-legged, dressed
in a sort of petticoat, dark jacket, and a pot-shaped
cap, generally striped. Here he patiently waits for a
purchaser; but he has not the civility of his race in the
Levant, where a customer is seldom allowed to go away
without a cup of coffee, and often a pipe, having been
offered to him. I entered a large bazaar kept by a
Chinaman, whose Josse, an immense figure of Buddha,
about twelve feet high, in sitting posture, was placed
in a recess upon a raised platform, a quantity of incense
burning all round; here I bought a few articles, amongst
which the well-known Penang-lawyer {Jjicuala peltata),
a small palm, six to eight feet high, making excellent
walking-sticks, a portion of the root being left to form a
handle. The Chinaman in the tropics generally wears
white trousers and long jacket, his pig-tail either