Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1868-09-11
The COAST OF MALAY.-C. @. Coffin,

The COAST OF MALAY.-C. Q. Coffin,
"Carleton" Of the Boston Journal, gives the
following description Of the coast Of Malay:
Nature has put great block in the path of
commerce here, as she has also at Suez and
Panama The Malay peninsula is narrow
tongue of land--only twelve miles wide at one
place; but ii it did not exist, or if there were
canal across it, vessels bound to or from
China might save one thousand miles of their
VOYAGE. Off the coast lie numerous islands.
This is the Enchanted land You are never
weary Of gazing upon the hills and mountains
which rise one after anOther-some so high
that their SUBMITS are lost In the clouds
clothed in richest green from the wave-washed
rock to the highest peak.
You look into ravines, behold distant vistas,
varying every moment, revealing new beauties,
which before you have time to admire them are
succeeded by others equally enchanting These
are ''spice islands" ofpoesy, of nutmeg, Glove,
pimento, and cinnamon, famed by balmy
breezes, laved by gentle waves, reposing be-
meath skies ever beautiful-such islands as
have enchanted us when sailing over the sea
of reading in former years with Moore and
Byron, and even with Shakespeare, and sober
John Milton.
But there is another side to the picture.
The mercury to-day is SO in the shade, the at
mosphere steamy and sticky. Wipe yourself
thoroughly dry with towel, and in five min
utes you need to repeat the process. Energy
evaporates. You tell like doing nothing, but
would give anything for cool place to do it in.
The breeze, so balmy over the poetic page, is
hot and penetrating, and you would give big
Price if you could take off your flesh and sit In
your bones.
If We were to go on shore We should find
snakes, scorpions centipedes, lizards, and all
sorts of vermin in yonder spice groves There
are wood leeches which creep into your nostrlls
when asleep, and make themselves comforta-
BILE home in your nose, living on the best blood
of your brain; the deadly cobra comes into the
house without invitation, and makes himself
at home in your bed; spiders, with legs three
inches long and bodies the size of small tea
cur, spin webs over your windows or hang on
the corners of your rooms Swarms of flying
ants come into the dining room at dinner time
and light upon your roast mutton; white ants
bore out the table legs, the pillars OF the house,
carry off YOUR best suits of clothes or your books
in a single night; bugs, flies, feas, beetles, cock
reaches, ice-blue bugs, black bugs, yellow
bugs, green bugs, little bugs and big bugs
creeping, flying, skipping, hopping, jumping,
running-coming at morning, noon, and night
especially at night, when you are sweating,
tossing, turning, and tumblipg, and trying to
get wink of sleep. How nice to have great
spider straddle over your face, or to have cock
reaches as large as mice run across the dinner
table. Ifthese seem to be exaggerations, go
into the Museum of Natural History and see
iu the wonderful collection of insects there
what sort of company the people of the tropics
are compelled to put up with. The lands OF
spice are delightful as seen by the poets eye.
The natives undoubtedly think there are no
cIimes so beautiful, and there are some Eng
lishmen who profess to like these lands better
than their own misty isle. It is we'll for the
world that tastes differ.