ch keeps them sweet, so that
no one suffers from residing in their neighbourhood.

A full description of the inhabitants of Singapore would fill a volume,
they are of so many countries. Here may be seen, besides Europeans of
different nations, and Americans, the Jew, the Armenian, the Persian,
the Parsee, the Arab, the Bengalee, the Malabaree, the China-man, the
Malay, the Javanese, the Siamese, the Cochin Chinese, with the native of
Borneo, of Macassar, and of every island of the Eastern Archipelago;
all in the costumes of their respective countries, and forming motley
groupes that can nowhere be surpassed. With the exception of the
Europeans, Americans, and Armenians, each class occupies a distinct
quarter of the town, mixing but little with the rest, except in business
hours, when one and all may be seen in eager converse on the
all-important subject of money-making.

Europeans generally live in garden-houses in the suburbs. The favourite
situation is along the beach to the eastward of the town, from which the
merchant has a full view of the harbour, as well as of both its
entrances, and can see every vessel that comes or goes. Pleasant,
however, as is this part of the suburbs, it is gradually being deserted
for country situations, where the hot winds of July, August, and
September are not so much felt, and where the nights are cooler than on
the sea-shore. The houses generally occupied by these gentlemen, are
large and roomy, with verandahs in front and rear, enclosed with
Venetian blinds: these are kept shut from ten A. M. till four P. M., which
darkens the house so much that a visiter can with difficulty see his
host or hostess for two or three minutes after entering a room, till the
pupils of his eyes, contracted by the glare on the road, expand, and
enable him to distinguish objects. This custom keeps the house
wonderfully cool, and is universally adopted by newcomers after the
first few months of their residence. The Chinese occupy the next best
part of the town, and many of them have built substantial and commodious
houses. A portion of this class are the descendants of Chinese who
settled at Malacca two hundred years ago: they have never been to China,
and speak Malay much more fluently than they do their own language.
Numbers of them keep their families at Malacca, having superstitious
objections to a final removal far from the graves of their ancestors.
The real Chinese emigrant looks on Singapore only as