Alfred Russel Wallace 



two days on the voyage, with nothing but rice and curry 

 to eat, not having made any provision, it being our first 

 experience of these country vessels. Malacca is an old 

 Dutch city, but the Portuguese have left the strongest 

 mark of their possession in the common language of the 

 place being still theirs. I have now two Portuguese ser- 

 vants, a cook and a hunter, and find myself thus almost 

 brought back again to Brazil by the similarity of lan- 

 guage, the people, and the jungle life. In Malacca we 

 stayed only two days, being anxious to get into the country 

 as soon as possible. I stayed with a Koman Catholic mis- 

 sionary ; there are several here, each devoted to a particular 

 part of the population, Portuguese, Chinese and wild Malays 

 of the jungle. The gentleman we were with is building a 

 large church, of which he is architect himself, and super- 

 intends the laying of every brick and the cutting of every 

 piece of timber. Money enough could not be raised here, 

 so he took a voyage round the world! and in the United 

 States, California, and India got subscriptions suflSlcient 

 to complete it. 



It is a curious and not very creditable thing that in the 

 English colonies of Singapore and Malacca there is not a 

 single Protestant missionary ; while the conversion, educa- 

 tion and physical and moral improvement of the inhabitants 

 (non- European) is entirely left to these French missionaries, 

 who without the slightest assistance from our Government 

 devote their lives to the Christianising and civilising of the 

 varied populations which we rule over. 



Here the birds are abundant and most beautiful, more 

 so than on the Amazon, and I think I shall soon form a 

 most beautiful collection. They are, however, almost all 

 common, and so are of little value except that I hope they 

 will be better specimens than usually come to England. 

 My guns are both very good, but I find powder and shot 



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