e could not
see the process of manufacture; but it seems to be very similar to the
preparation of tapioca, which we had seen in Brazil.

On our passage through the town we went to look at a large gambling
establishment; of course no one was playing so early in the morning,
but in the evening it is always densely crowded, and is a great source
of profit to the proprietor. I could not manage to make out exactly
from the description what the game they play is like, but it was not
fan-tan. We now left the carriage, and strolled to see the people, the
shops, and the market. I bought all sorts of common curiosities,
little articles of everyday life, some of which will be sure to amuse
and interest my English friends. Among my purchases were a wooden
pillow, some joss candles, a two-stringed fiddle, and a few preserved
eggs, which they say are over a hundred years old. The eggs are
certainly nasty enough for anything; still it seems strange that so
thrifty a people as the Chinese should allow so much capital to lie
dormant--literally buried in the earth.

At half-past nine o'clock the Maharajah, with the Governor and all his
guests, came on board. His Highness inspected the yacht with the
utmost minuteness and interest, though his Mohammedan ideas about
women were considerably troubled when he was told that I had had a
great deal to do with the designing and arrangement of the interior.
At half-past eleven the party left, and an hour afterwards we went to
make our adieux to the Maharajah.

On our departure the Maharajah ordered twenty coolies to accompany
us, laden with fragrant tropical plants. He also gave me some splendid
Malay silk sarongs, grown, made, and woven in his kingdom, a pair of
tusks of an elephant shot within a mile of the house, besides a live
little beast, not an alligator, and not an armadillo or a lizard; in
fact I do not know what it is; it clings round my arm just like a
bracelet, and it was sent as a present by the ex-Sultan of Johore.
Having said farewell to our kind host and other friends, we pushed off
from the shore, and embarked on board the yacht; the anchor was up,
and by five o'clock a bend in the Straits hid hospitable and pleasant
Johore from our view, and all we could see was the special steamer on
her way back to Singapore with the Maharajah's guests on board. At
Tanjore we dropped our funny little pilot, and proceeded on our course
towards Penang. The Straits are quite lovely, and fully r