70 RUBBER 



move again, each of us being jog-trotted along in a sort 

 of invalid chair with a picturesque, yellow-skinned 

 ragamuffin in the shafts, we were even more sure that 

 we were in China, and the impression became stronger 

 still as we passed through street after street thronged 

 with Chinese men, women, and children, and lined with 

 shops displaying Chinese wares, Chinese signs over 

 and around the doors, and Chinese lanterns for every- 

 night illuminations. Presently, as we emerged into 

 a broad thoroughfare, we found ourselves in totally 

 different surroundings. The fine public buildings, 

 houses, shops, and hotels looked distinctly Western ; 

 several times a minute trams and motors threatened 

 to run down our rickshaws ; we saw many English 

 faces, heard English being spoken freely, and noticed 

 that shops and hoardings gave us a great deal of in- 

 formation in the English language. But now we were 

 thoroughly puzzled as to the nationality of Singapore. 

 The crowd in the streets was cosmopolitan, Western 

 and Eastern in about equal proportions, but whilst 

 undoubtedly the West was represented mostly by 

 English people, it was difficult to make up our minds 

 whether there were more Malays or Chinese among 

 the Eastern population. 



Now that we have come up-country in the Malay 

 Peninsula, it is more difficult than ever to tell from our 

 surroundings who is the ruling power in the land. We 

 see a few Europeans among a host of Orientals, all of 

 whom are called " natives," although they represent 

 many races. We are in the midst of a highly cultivated 

 district, which is entirely devoted to rubber-growing ; 

 through its midst runs a railway, and the interior is 

 served by excellent roads. Yet everywhere in the back- 



