stionable business in great waters.

These India Docks are like no other docks in the world. About their
gates you find the scum of the world's worst countries; all the peoples
of the delirious Pacific of whom you have read and dreamed--Arab,
Hindoo, Malayan, Chink, Jap, South Sea Islander--a mere catalogue of the
names is a romance. Here are pace and high adventure; the tang of the
East; fusion of blood and race and creed. A degenerate dross it is, but,
do you know, I cannot say that I don't prefer it to the well-spun gold
that is flung from the Empire on boat-race nights. Place these fellows
against our blunt backgrounds, under the awful mystery of the City's
night, and they present the finest spectacle that London affords.

You may see them in their glory at the Asiatics' Home, to which we now
came. A delightful place, this home for destitute Orientals; for it has
a veranda and a compound, stone beds and caged cubicles, no baths and a
billiard-table; and extraordinary precautions are taken against
indulgence of the wicked tastes of its guests. Grouped about the giant
stove are Asiatics of every country in wonderful toilet creations. A
mild-eyed Hindoo, lacking a turban, has appropriated a bath-towel. A
Malay appears in white cotton trousers, frock-coat, brown boots, and
straw hat; and a stranded Burmese cuts no end of a figure in under-vest,
steward's jacket, yellow trousers and squash hat. All carry a knife or a
krees, and all are quite pleasant people, who will accept your Salaam
and your cigarette. Rules and regulations for impossibly good conduct
hang on the walls in Hindustani, Japanese, Swahili, Urdu, and Malayan.
All food is prepared and cooked by themselves, and the slaughter of an
animal for the table must be witnessed and prayed upon by those of their
own faith. Out in the compound is a skittle-alley, where the boys stroll
and play; and costumes, people, and setting have all the appearance of
the _ensemble_ of a cheap revue.

I suppose one dare not write on Limehouse without mentioning
opium-rooms. Well, if one must, one must, though I have nothing of the
expected to tell you. I have known Limehouse for many years, and have
smiled many times at the articles that appear perennially on the
wickedness of the place. Its name evokes evil tradition in the public
mind. There are ingenuous people who regard it as dangerous. I have
already mentioned its sinister atmosphere; but there is an end of it.
There is noth