Visited the city, and was astonished at its amount of population and business. Singapore being a free port, it is a great entreport of trade. Great quantities of Eastern produce reaches it from all quarters, whence it is shipped to Europe. The business is almost exclusively in the hands of the Chinese, who are also the artisans and laborers of the place. The canal is filled with country boats, of excellent model, and the warehouses are crammed with goods.
Money seems to be abundant and things dear.
They are just finishing a tasteful Gothic church, with a tall spire, which is a notable landmark as you approach the town, and are completing officers' quarters, etc., on a hill which commands the town. The moving multitude in the streets comprises every variety of the human race, every shade of color, and every variety of dress, among which are prominent the gay tartans and fancy jackets of the Mohammedan, Hindu, etc. Almost all the artisans and laborers were naked, except a cloth or a pair of short trousers tucked about the waist. The finest dressed part of the population was decidedly the jet blacks, with their white flowing mantles and spotless turbans. The upper class of Chinese merchants are exceedingly polite, and seem intelligent.