CEAP. III.] TUE TOlFir AND ITS INHABITANTS, 27 



At present, a vessel over a bund rod tons hardly cvor 

 enters its port, and the trade is entirely ooufiiied to a few 

 petty products of the forests, aud to the fruit, which tlie 

 trees pLmted by the old Portugese now produce foi* the 

 ►Mijoyment of tlie iiiliubitaiits of Singapore. Although 

 rather subject to fevers, it is not at present considered 

 ver}" unhealthy. 



The population of Malacca consists of several races. 

 The ubiqiutous Chinese are perhaps the most numerous, 

 keeping up their niannei-s» customs, and language ; the 

 indigenous Malays are next in [X)int of numbei'S, aud 

 their language is the LiDgua-franca of the place. Next 

 come the descendants of the Fortngueso — a mixed, de- 

 ;,'raded, and degenerate race, but who still keep up the 

 use of their mother tongue, though ruefully mutilated in 

 gi-ammar ; and then there are the English rulers, and the 

 descendants of the Dutch, who all speak EiigUsh. The 

 Portuguese spolcen at ilalacca is a useful philological 

 phenomenon. The verbs have mostly lost their iullections, 

 and one form does for all moods, tenses, numbers, and 

 persons. Eu vai, serves for " I go," *' I went/' or, " 1 

 will go." Adjectives, too, have been deprived of their 

 feminine and plural terminatious, so that the language is 

 reduced to a marvellous simplicity, and, wnth tlie admixture 

 of a few ilalay words, becomes rather puzzling to one 

 who has heard only the pure Lusitauian. 



In costume these several peoples are as varied as in 

 theii- speech. Tlie English preserve tiie tigbt-fitting coat, 

 waistcoat, and trousers, and the abomuiable hat and 

 cravat ; the Portuguese patronise a light jacket, or, more 

 frequently, shirt and trousers only ; the Malays wear 

 their national jacket and sai-ong (a kind of kilt), witli 

 loose drawers; while the Chinese never depart in the 

 least from their national drt'ss, M'luch, indeed, it is im- 

 possible to improve for a tropical climate, whether as 

 regards comfort or appearance. The loosely -liaiig in g 

 trousers, and neat white half-shirt half-jacket, are exactly 

 what a dress should bo in this low latitude. 



T engaged two Portuguese to accompany mo into the 

 i!itcrior ; one as a cook, the other to shoot aud skin birds, 

 wliicb 18 quite a trade in Malacca. I first stayed a fort» 



