Viewing page 20 of 185

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-16-

This is one of the great shipping ports of the world, and the harbor was filled with ships of all sizes and nationalities.  We made our way at once to the Raffles Hotel, but were disappointed to hear that the hotel was full and they had no accomodations for us.  The Adelphi however, was more hospitable, and although they told us the only rooms they had were so bad that they were ashamed to show them to us, we were pleased to have any sort of shelter, and quite liked the room assigned to us.  It has wooden, half-doors, that swing open off a balcony that overlooks a little garden.  The beds were well draped in mosquito net, and furnished with two pillows, a Dutch wife, and small piece of cotton-flannel sheeting to pull over one if the night turns chilly (it doesn't).  I tried in vain the first night to find some comfortable way of sleeping with the elongated bolster down the middle of the bed, but soon gave it up and threw Gretchen on the floor.  Bill insisted on hugging his, and I wanted him to paint two eyes, a nose and a mouth on it.  The bathroom also contained one of the institutions of the East of which we had heard-the Shanghai jar instead of a tub.  There was running water, so one held an enamel bucket under the tap and poured cool water over oneself.  It was surprisingly refreshing.  The water runs off the floor and down the drain eventually.

Our first concern was to visit the American Consul, and see if he had any permits for us.  Mr. Monnett Davis, the Consul General, was most cordial, and anxious to be of any possible assistance.  No permits had come through, but he offered to take the matter up with the Colonial Office.

In the afternoon Bill and I went for a walk.  Singapore is like any tropical town, with all the buildings making an arcade along the street, furnishing protection from both sun and rain, of which there is plenty.  I doubt if any other city in the world has quite the variety of nationality among its shopkeepers.  Here are Chinese, Japanese, Indians, [[strikethrough]] and [[/strikethrough]] Malays and Europeans side by side, selling a tempting variety of things.  Prices in general are much higher than Shanghai or Singapore;  in fact they compare quite well with American prices.  We are paying [[$10?]] a day for our room, and with the dollar at 58 cents U.S. that is not cheap.

In the evening we visited a number of bird stores in North Bridge Road and Rochore Road.  They were well stocked, and had numbers of Australian birds as well as Malay things.  One of them had a tiny Malay bear cub, which I was allowed to  hold for a minute.  It was sucking its enormous paw, and whining in a most pathetic way.

About nine o'clock we went out to the Great World, a big amusement park where we heard there was a circus playing. The grounds were amazing:  Booths selling everything from modern furniture to silk handkerchiefs; cabarets; Chinese, Malay and Indian theatres, open in back so that if you wanted to stand you could see the show free; what the carnivals at home call "games of skill"; open air restaurants with enticing displays of young chickens and pickled octopus; jugglers and snake charmers - and eventually the circus.

A ten-foot wall of corrugated iron barred our way to the circus.  A sign proclaimed that the house was full, "come back early to-morrow".  We pounded on the wall, and at intervals a bearded and turbanned sikh would climb up and put his head over the fence and tell us to go away. We finally persuaded him to let us in, and to find the manager for us.  "Bell's Hippodrome Circus and Touring Zoo", with "Richard Bell, Sole Proprietor" was a good-sized European-type cir-

Transcription Notes:
Not sure if it's $10 or $20 a day for a room given the figure has been typed over. -@siobhanleachman