f the
school-children off my hands. Her husband had found more lucrative work
at Singapore, and sent for her to join him. It was a grief to both of
us, and a great addition to my responsibilities. Mrs. William Channon,
then a widow, was installed matron of the school, but she had neither
knowledge nor experience. She did as well as she could, with continual
supervision. The sick children now came to me to be doctored early every
morning. I also had a large sewing-class of boys, and a tailor to teach
us how to cut out and make their peculiar-shaped clothes: however, we
soon learnt to do without the tailor. Mrs. Hacket taught the little ones
to sew, and I had the elder ones from seven to ten every morning.
Sometimes I gave a music lesson between whiles; sometimes I had to leave
them for a while, first to see what the cook had brought from the bazaar
for their day's food, and to give out the rice which was kept in my
store-room; also the cocoa-nut oil, which trimmed the lamps of both
house and school. Sometimes I read aloud to my boys, stories from
history. They could understand English quite well.

While our spirits were at their lowest ebb, and the rain still pouring
with little intermission, we had a visit from H.M.S. _Esk_, Sir Robert
J. McClure captain. He did his best to cheer us. How kind and bright he
was I shall never forget, nor how he used to sit patiently under a tree
in the rain to be photographed, simply to amuse us. There are certainly
some people who have more of the wine of life than others, and who are a
wonderful refreshment to their friends. It was during this year, 1858,
that we built our seaside cottage at Santubong--Sandrock Cottage, as we
called it, which sounds rather cockney; but as it stood on the sand,
with great boulders of granite rock scattered about, it seemed the most
appropriate name. Santubong is the most beautiful of the two mouths of
the Sarawak River, but not as safe as the Morotabas for ships to enter.
The Bishop had a mission yacht this year; consequently he was away,
visiting the mission stations. The next year he sailed the _Sarawak
Cross_ to Labuan. The voyage took only one week either way, whereas in
other years he had to go to Singapore, more than four hundred miles off,
in order to get to Labuan by P. and O. steamer, or any man-of-war
chancing to go there. Months instead of weeks were consumed by this
means.

Our cottage took three weeks to build. We sent three men down with a