The costume of the average Malay woman has remained unchanged; it is
surely the most hideous of the many sumptuary hideosities for which
fashion is responsible. This is the more deplorable for that the Malay
women, when young, are often extremely pretty. The color scheme they
affect is good; these women usually dress in light, flimsy silks of
varied hue. Such materials are used at all events among the well-to-do
for skirt, bodice, kerchief, and coiffure. But under the skirt, which
hangs from just below the arm-pits, there must be at least a dozen
petticoats. The result is a figure resembling a misshapen cone. I
believe this costume is an exaggerated imitation of that of the
"merchant's" wife of a little more than a century ago, and that it was
adopted by the Malays when the Dutch sumptuary laws were repealed.

We were hospitably entertained by the families of some friends we had
made on the voyage. One day we spent with the Hams, an old Cape family
whose homestead, long since "improved" away, stood not far from the
present site of the Mount Nelson Hotel. Constantia, also, we visited,
and were presented with some of the famous wine there grown.

At this time the only railway in South Africa was a single line between
Cape Town and Wynberg. It was said, but I do not know with how much
truth, that the building of this line was due to the accidental
circumstance that a ship, bound for Australia with railway material,
was wrecked in the vicinity of the Cape.

After a delay of about a week we set sail for Port Elizabeth, the end
of our voyage. We left considerably more than half of our passengers in
Cape Town. The parting with some of these was a sad experience; during
the course of the long voyage we had made many friends. We reached Port
Elizabeth on Christmas Eve, and were carried ashore through the surf by
natives. Immediately after landing, we passed a yard full of old
lumber. Protruding from a chaos of ancient rubbish was a signboard,
bearing in dingy letters the legend: "Joseph Scully, Coach Painter."
This is the only occasion upon which I have come across my name in
South Africa. We landed at once, but some of the passengers elected to
remain on board the Asia until next morning. This they had ample cause
to regret, for a severe south-easter set in during the night and
rendered communication with the shore impossible for several days.

Port Elizabeth, although then a thriving town, had not yet earned the
title "the