August i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



369 



RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON AND THE MALAY STATES. 



As Seen by The Editor of" The India Rubber World." 



FIFTH LETTER. 

 Departure from Colombo for the Federated Malay States. — 

 Christmas En route. — Arrival at Singapore. — The Botanic Gardens 

 and Director Ridley. — Successful Growth of Hevea.— Gathering 

 Gutta-jelutong in the Jungle. — Keboiling Guttapercha by the 

 Chinese. — A Visit to Johore. — Starting for the Malay States. 



MY second experience on a P. & O. boat was when I 

 boarded the Bengal in Colombo harbor, being taken 

 off in a catamaran, whose crew seemed to enjoy nar- 

 row escapes so much that they invited collision with 

 every moving craft that came their way. Reference to my 

 notes develops one fact that seemed of prime importance then, 

 and that was that I sailed from Colombo on the 20th of Decem- 

 ber, and had received no mail at all while in Ceylon. In other 

 words, I had got ahead of schedule time, and as a result was 

 facing a Christmas on a tropical sea with no holiday greetings. 

 However, the Bengal sailed just the same. We got away soon 

 after dark during an exceedingly heavy rainfall. As there were 

 only twelve passengers all told, I had a very roomy, four-berth 

 cabin to myself — a great comlort in tropical waters. 



The next morning I was up very early, took my last look at 

 the fading shores of Ceylon, 

 and got well acquainted with 

 a young planter from Penang 

 who was so much interested 

 in India rubber that he de- 

 scribed to me in detail the 

 way the American importers 

 bought it, " melted it up with 

 sulphur and lampblack and 

 sold it to the manufacturers 

 to be cast into goods." As 

 we were still working south, 

 the heat became even more 

 tropical, yet we were forced 

 to take much exercise to en- 

 joy our meals. We therefore 

 played ping pong, deck quoits, and cricket, being every now 

 and then driven to the smoking room by the floods of water 

 that poured along the decks, in spite of top and side awnings. 

 The air was exceedingly damp, one perspired constantly, and, 

 as one Briton expressed it, he felt like a chewed string. On 

 December 24 we sighted the island of Puloh Wea, which, hav- 

 ing no awnings over it, was getting mighty wet, and on the 

 following morning, which was Christmas, we entered the har- 

 bor at Penang at 6.30 in the morning. 



The rain had left us for a little, the sea was smooth, and all 

 about us were brown-sailed Chinese junks and sampans with 

 double pointed sterns, on which stood half naked dyaks with 

 queer conical hats, sculling with exceeding skill. The harbor 

 was crowded with foreign shipping, all gaily decorated with 

 flags, and as we cast anchor we had a good view of the town 

 nestling at the foot of lofty mountains covered with verdure to 

 their very summits. We all got ready to go ashore and stood 

 watching the swarming native boats containing money chang- 

 ers, curio sellers, and jugglers. These gentry were not sup- 

 posed to come aboard, but whenever they got a chance they 

 ran their boats close to the ship's side, climbed the slender 

 masts, and, swinging toward the vessel, caught hold of the edge 

 of a port, and clinging tooth and nail, came aboard like so 



JOHNSTON'S PIER, SINGAPORE. 



many monkeys. While we waited for permission to go ashore 

 we learned that the huge two story building fronting us, but, 

 alas, an eighth of a mile away, was the custom house, and the 

 factory plant a long distance away with four brick chimneys 

 was a tin smelter. We were also informed that the town was 

 not Penang, but was Georgetown, Penang being the name of 

 the island on which the town was situated, and then all at once, 

 when we were full of information, the anchor came up and we 

 sailed away. At first we were very much disgusted, but as we 

 circled the island and struck into the straits of Malacca in 

 plain sight of the low lying shores covered with graceful cocoa- 

 nut palms, with ranges of mountains in the distance, and as 

 island after island appeared in sight, each wilder and more 

 beautiful than the last, we forgot our disappointment and be- 

 came engrossed in the scenery. Possibly to make us more 

 good natured, we had a magnificent Christmas pudding that 

 night and then a musicale on deck, at which the first officer 

 sang and the fourth officer played, and all joined in games un- 

 til it was time to retire. 



It grew rough in the night and the pagan who pretended to 



look after my comfort slipped 

 in and closed the port, which 

 drove me on deck very early 

 in the morning, to find the 

 day lowery and dark, with a 

 high wind blowing. Toward 

 night, however, the clouds 

 had scattered, all except a 

 great black mass that lay over 

 Sumatra way. As the sun 

 dropped behind this mountain 

 of cloud, and sent its rays 

 through it, lighting the in- 

 terior, we looked into huge 

 golden caverns, their crimson 

 ceilings upheld by twisted col- 

 umns and arches of fantastic design, while the light shining 

 above the cloud mass flecked the sky to its furthest horizon 

 with wonderful combinations of gold and purple that held one 

 breathless with awe and delight. 



After passing Malacca, which showed simply a white line close 

 to the water's edge, so faraway was it, many islets covered with 

 palms, we sighted Singapore about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 

 As the tide was not right, we couldn't take the nearest channel, 

 but were obliged to go outside of the strongly fortified islands 

 that form natural breastworks for the fine harbor, and by put- 

 ting on all steam, were able to get up to the P. & O. docks just 

 as night fell. Those of us who were going to stop in Singa- 

 pore went ashore at once, leaving our baggage to follow, and, in 

 a square, box like gharri drawn by a little Burmese stallion, we 

 drove by the Malay fishing village, around through the Kam- 

 pong Glam to Raffles Hotel, said to be the hotel de luxe of the 

 East. There we had dinner and later took rickshaws and rode 

 through the Chinese, Malay, and Japanese quarters, watching 

 with eager eyes the strange street scenes, listening to and try- 

 ing to remember the grotesque calls of the street vendors, and 

 finally seeing and hearing so much that was new and strange 

 that it was a relief to get back to the quiet hotel and turn in on 

 a bed that had neither top sheet nor coverlet, because in that 



