394 
SINGAPORE. 
ingly handsome race, dress after the English fashion, and generally 
speak English or the Portuguese fluently. Some of them, that I had 
occasion to visit, were extremely courteous, but spoke of the inhabi¬ 
tants of Singapore generally as of a low class. 
The Armenian church is one of the finest buildings in the place: 
service is held in their church every morning at six o’clock. 
Just before our arrival, one of the Armenians was detected in an 
extensive forgery, by the water-mark of the paper. It had not been 
decided what punishment was to be inflicted upon him, and it was 
an act of which the government was not prepared to take cognizance. 
From what I heard, I was inclined to oelieve that the influence of his 
friends was so great, that by their intercession the punishment that is 
so ready at all times to be inflicted on the poor, would not be inflicted; 
yet even-handed justice to all is here made a great boast of. 
Parsees are not numerous at Singapore, but they rank among the 
most wealthy of its inhabitants. They are dressed partly after the 
Eastern and partly after the European fashion. They excited our 
attention as being worshippers of fire, which they venerate as emble¬ 
matical of the Deity. They are of various shades of colour, and 
generally more robust and portly than the other races. Many of them 
speak the English language. 
Some persons, who were said to be Arabs from the east coast of 
Africa, were also pointed out to me, who were quite different from all the 
other races. They had what would be termed woolly hair, with large 
whiskers, and one of them was remarkable for his large blubber lips. 
Their complexion did not strike any of us as being much darker than 
that of the Hindoos or Malays. Their face was long, and the nose by no 
means prominent: one of these had a strange appearance about his 
head, and it was some time before it was discovered that it was owing 
to his beard and whiskers, which were long, being in gray and black 
stripes. Although it was undoubtedly done by some artificial process, 
yet it seemed quite natural. 
Individuals of the Caffre tribe, from the east coast of Africa, were 
also met with; and it is said that there are many of them in Hindoo- 
stan, whither they have been carried by the English from Mozam¬ 
bique ; # but they are rarely met with so far east as Singapore. They 
resembled those seen by us at Rio, though we had no opportunity of 
identifying them by their tattooing. 
The Chinese burial-place is about a mile from the town, situated on 
the side of a hill, at the apex of which is the josh-house, which, as 
usual, is filled with hideous idols. This building has a light and 
pretty effect, principally arising from its situation. 
