294 TWO YEARS IIST THE JUNGLE. 



stamped by our trade mark, and liable to be prosecuted according 

 to law." Verily human natiu'e seems to be very much the same in 

 Singapore as in Rochester. 



The streets are wide, the shops are trim and orderly, and appa- 

 rently filled to overflowing with their respective wares. What fine 

 times we shall have loafing about these queer streets, and poking 

 our nose into everything that is new ! 



Just now, however, it is poui'ing rain, so we rattle on through 

 the Chinese bazaars, across an iron bridge, spanning a sort of inner 

 harbor for lighters and small boats (Singapore River), and, without 

 having passed a single European house or shop, we alight at a hotel 

 just at the foot of Fort-Canning-on-the-hill. 



Singapore is certainly the handiest city I ever saw, as well 

 planned and carefully executed as thoiagh built entirely by one 

 man. It is like a big desk, full of drawers and pigeon holes, where 

 everything has its place, and can always be found in it. For in- 

 stance, around the esplanade you find the European hotels — and 

 bad enough they are, too ; around Commercial Square, packed 

 closely together, are all the shipping offices, warehouses, and shops 

 of the European merchants ; and along Boat Quay are all the ship 

 chandlers. Near by, you will find a dozen large Chinese medicine 

 shops, a dozen cloth shops, a dozen tin shops, and similar clusters 

 of shops kept by blacksmiths, tailors, and cai-penters, others for the 

 sale of fniit, vegetables, grain, " notions," and so on to the end of 

 the chapter. All the washerwomen congregate on a five-acre lawn 

 called Dhobi Green, at one side of which runs a stream of water, 

 and there you will see the white shirts, trowsers, and pajamas of 

 His Excellency, perhaps, hanging in ignominious proximity to and 

 on a level with youi-s. By some means or other, even the Joss 

 houses, like birds of a feather, have flocked together at one side of 

 the town. Owing to this peculiar grouping of the different trades, 

 one can do more business in less time in Singapore than in any 

 other town in the world. 



Ai'chitecturally considered, Singapore has Uttle to boast of ex- 

 cept solidity and uniformity. With but few exceptions the build- 

 ings are all Chinese, and perfectly innocent of style. It is a two- 

 story town throughout, solidly built of brick, plastered over, and 

 painted a very pale blue or light yellow. There is a remarkable 

 scarcity of the tumble-down, drunk, and disreputable old buildings 

 so essential to the integi'ity of aU other large cities. Some of the 

 Chinese shops and dwellings of the rich merchants are quite elab- 



