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19

She is rather plump, and wears her hair twisted up tightly on the top of her head.  She had diamond ear-rings, gold ornaments in her hair, and gold anklets.  Her stockingless feet were encased in slippers.  She was very smiling and gracious, in spite of knowing no English put us at ease with the poise of the accomplished hostess.

The lunch was made up of various Malay dishes.  First we had fish, highly seasoned, and cooked in palm leaves, much the same style as our Mexican tamales.  Then we had a meat dish called sati, - small pieces of lamb and of chicken liver broiled on skewers, accompanied by a finely ground rice and a hot sauce.  Dessert was European - ice cream.  We had champagne with lunch and liquers afterward.

In the evening we had dinner with Mr. Chasen at his home.  He is a bachelor, and keeps a large establishment - big, airy rooms, cool screened verandahs.  A Mrs. Capeau (?) and an enormous Dutch archeologist, Stein Capenfels (?) were the other guests.  After dinner we discussed the possibilities of getting orang-outans out of Borneo, as we sipped our whisky sodas. A large bat flew leisurely through the rooms, but no one noticed.  The little geckos were all over the ceilings, and occasionally gave their chuckle of pleasure over some succulent insect, but nobody noticed them either.

As we drove back to the hotel, I tried to count the smells of Singapore:  Incense, fried fish, wood smoke, the oil on the syce's hair, roasting peanuts, the scent of flowers, the smoke of firecrackers which the Chinese are always putting off, and occasional unsanitary whiffs better not analysed.

We were sorry to leave this fascinating city, with its mixture of races, its  crowded harbor, and the waterways where so many people live their lives in sampans; traffic policemen with rattan boards on their back for stop and go signs; sikhs and tamils from India directing the traffic of every imaginable Asiatic people; zebu cars rubbing axles with the latest make of motor car; orchids a customary decoration on the table.