AND THE MALAY STATES 
65 
FIFTH LETTER. 
Departure from Colombo for the Federated Malay States — Christmas En 
Route— Arrival at Singapore— The Botanic Gardens and Director Ridley — 
Successful Growth of Hevea — Gathering Gutta-jelutong in the Jungle 
Reboiling Gutta-percha by the Chinese — A Visit to Johore — Starting for 
Salangor. 
M Y second experience on a P. and O. boat was when I boarded the 
Bengal in Colombo harbor, being taken off in a catamaran, 
whose crew seemed to enjoy narrow escapes so much that they 
invited collision with every moving craft that came their way. Reference 
to my notes develops one fact that seemed of prime importance then, 
and that was that I sailed from Colombo on the 20th of December, and 
had received no mail at all while in Ceylon. In other words, I had got 
ahead of schedule time, and as a result was facing Christmas on a trop- 
ical sea with no holiday greetings. However, the Bengal sailed just 
the same. We got away soon after dark during an exceedingly heavy 
rainfall. As there were only twelve passengers all told, I had a very 
roomy, four-berth cabin to myself — a great comfort in tropical waters. 
The next morning I was up very early, took my last look at the 
fading shores of Ceylon, and got well acquainted with a young planter 
from Penang who was so much interested in India-rubber that he 
described to me in detail the wav the American importers bought it, 
“melted it up with sulphur and lampblack and sold it to the manufac- 
turers to be cast into goods.” As we were still working south, the heat 
became even more tropical, yet we were forced to take much exercise 
to enjoy our meals. We therefore played ping pong, deck quoits, and 
cricket, being every now and then driven to the smoking room by the 
floods of water that poured along the decks, in spite of top and side 
awnings. The air was exceedingly damp; one perspired constantly, and, 
as one Briton expressed it, he felt like a chewed string. On December 
24, we sighted the island of Puloh Wea, which, having no awnings over 
it, was getting mighty wet, and on the following morning, which was 
Christmas, we entered the harbor at Penang at 6.30 o’clock. 
The rain had left us for a little, the sea was smooth, and all about 
us were brown-sailed Chinese junks and sampans with double pointed 
sterns, on which stood half naked dyaks with queer conical hats, sculling 
with exceeding skill. The harbor was crowded with foreign shipping. 
