Emperor of Solo’s reception; nay, he was not satisfied
until I promised to show him the graceful step of His
Majesty’s warriors. I had now only one day more at
Singapore, which, being wet, I passed in a dolce fa r
viente state, loung'ingf under the verandah, where my 7 O O 7 J
meditations were now and then disturbed by Chinese
pedlars, who here as elsewhere carry their wares on a
bamboo, and often let themselves be transported in a
chair by a couple of coolies. In this way I picked up
some fine canes, cuttings off the
Rattan (Calamus rotang): a slender tree that often
grows to a height of 150 to 2 0 0 feet,
although barely an inch in diameter, with
a small crown of feathery leaves ; also of a
Malacca cane (Calamus scipionum): likewise a
genus of palm, once in great request as
sticks carried by livery servants behind
the carriage ; they, when cut and dried,
are a beautiful chestnut colour.
The steamer “ Behar,” her hold filled with opium for
China, which during the first few days of our voyage
made everybody on board very sleepy, took me on to
Hong-Kong. She was not a fast boat, but there being
some pleasant passengers we got on well enough,—a
Hamburg gentleman and his frau, tremendous talkers,
and a clever American widow lady belonging to Macao,
—of all the wretched places in. the world the worst,—
assisted by a very agreeable captain, kept us pretty
well alive. The season of the year, having started on the
the 16th March, being in favour of a quick voyage, the
“Behar” took the ordinary north-easterly course, else,to
avoid the monsoon as much as possible, ships run along
the northern coast of Borneo and Palawan, which is called
the “ Palawan passage.” On the fifth day, however,
we encountered a strong head-wind, which within the
next twenty-four hours developed into a smart gale,
admitting of very little progress; this lasted until we
sighted Hong-Kong late on the evening of the eighth
day, having during that day passed innumerable junks
deeply laden, and many islands. Our average run
since starting from Singapore had thus been barely
eight knots an hour over a distance of 1,543 miles.
Owing to a slight collision with a sailing ship, which
broke our main yard, we approached our anchorage too
late to enable passengers to land that evening, and on
reaching the deck on the following morning, we were
rewarded by a magnificent panoramic view: on one
side, the coast of China and numerous islands; on the
other, Hong-Kong rising abruptly from the water’s
edge in the form of an extensive amphitheatre, with
Victoria peak, 1,825 feet high, for a background, and