334* VISIT OP A PARTY OP ORANGt MINTIRA TO SJN6APFRE< 
Tala was also good natural and indolent, but more lively, and not 
without a little humour. He was exceedingly fond of raw brandy, 
and, when slightly elevated, danced, sung and played on his flute,—a 
piece of bambu with some holes in it. On the third evening he was 
seized with melancholy, his thoughts reverted to his absent wife, and 
he sat for some hours by himself, drawing plaintive notes from his 
flute, and singing of her, by turns, while the tears coursed down his 
cheeks. His temperament was much more excitable than that of the 
others. 
The women were good natural, and one of them, Fawang’s wife, 
livclv. While their conversation was characterized by an Old Testa- 
menfc simplicity and unreserve, their manners were, in every respect, 
modest. 
The impression which they made upon every one who saw much 
of them was very favorable. In manners they were soft, simple, can¬ 
did, and, at the same time, independent. Their whole conduct was 
marked by a tone of propriety and good sense. They shewed an en¬ 
tire absence of obtrusiveness, greediness, deceitfulness, intolerance or 
any other of the vices which so often mar the effect of the good qua¬ 
lities possessed by many of the races who inhabit Singapore. In a 
word, they were perfectly well behaved, and inspired a trustfulness 
and liking, which are not often awakened by Asiatics in the breast 
of the European. 
Within a- fortnight after I had wished them a safe voyage back to 
Malacca, and promised to visit Gunong Bernran under Fawings 
guidance, a rumour reached me that the trading boat which came d 
them away had been wrecked, and three oi them drowned. This 
most painful intelligence has been confirmed, and the satisfaction 
which I had anticipated when bringing these notes to a close, from 
the hope that attention and sympathy might be drawn to the race, is 
embittered by the reflection, that the resolution of those simple friends 
to overcome their natural dread of the sea, has proved a fatal 
one to them. It appears that stormy weather was experienced 
from Polo Pisang to Fading. When off the latter place on the 14th. 
the boat being much damaged and the wind rising to a gale, the 
