332 



MY LIFE 



[Chap. 



few days a first-class ticket overland to Singapore by the 

 next Peninsular and Oriental steamer, which sailed in about 

 a week, so that I did not lose much time. The voyage was 

 a very interesting one, stopping a few hours at Gibraltar, 

 passing within sight of the grand Sierra Nevada of Spain, 

 staying a day at Malta, where the town and the tombs of 

 the knights were inspected, and then on to Alexandria. 

 But having by me a long letter I wrote to my school- 

 fellow, Mr. George Silk, I will here quote from it a few 

 of the impressions of my journey as they appeared to me 

 at the time they occurred ; and first as to my fellow- 

 passengers : — 



" Our company consists of a few officers and about twenty 

 cadets for India, three or four Scotch clerks for Calcutta, the 

 same number of business men for Australia, a Government 

 interpreter and two or three others for China ; a Frenchman ; 

 a Portuguese officer for Goa, with whom I converse ; three 

 Spaniards for the Philippines, very grave ; a gentleman and 

 two ladies, Dutch, going to Batavia ; and some English 

 officers for Alexandria. At Gibraltar we were quarantined 

 for fear of cholera, then rather prevalent in England, and all 

 communication with the ship was by means of tongs and a 

 basin of water, the latter to drop the money in. We had 

 a morning at Malta, and went on shore from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., 

 walked through the narrow streets, visited the market to 

 hear the Maltese language, admired the beggar boys and 

 girls, strolled through the Cathedral of St. John, gorgeous 

 with marbles and gold and the tombs of the knights. A 

 clergyman came on board here going to Jerusalem, and a 

 namesake of my own to Bombay. The latter has a neat 

 figure, sharp face, and looks highly respectable, not at all like 

 me ! I have found no acquaintance on board who exactly 

 suits me. One of my cabin mates is going to Australia, and 

 reads ' How to make Money ' — seems to be always thinking 

 of it, and is very dull and unsociable. The other is one of 

 the Indian cadets, very aristocratic, great in dressing-case 

 and jewellery, takes an hour to dress, and persistently studies 

 the Hindostanee grammar. The Frenchman, the Portuguese, 



