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nine of them, varying in color from black to blonde, all in nice large cages with perches and bars [[strikethrough]] for them to [[/strikethrough]] overhead. They were parked outside the Captain's cabin, and the Captain seemed to be fond of them already. One little pale golden one was very tame, and romped over the Captain's bed and into his tea without being reprimanded.

The Kedah is a fine small boat, trim and white and speedy. The Brownes were on board, and we all had dinner together - and a very good dinner, too, with button quail on toast.

July 19 - 

It was pouring rain when we pulled into Penang, early in the morning. We went ashore and walked as far as the railroad station, stopping at the post office to send some letters and cables. Penang is said to be a beautiful island, but we saw nothing of it, except the arcaded fronts of the office buildings near the wharf, the narrow passageways where we tried to walk to avoid the rain, and where we had to step over old men and women sitting on the sidewalk and spitting betel nut juice. It was easier to walk in the puddles of rain in the street. The railroad station is famous for having no trains in it. You buy your ticket at the office, and then go across the street and take the ferry over to Prai, on the mainland.

The train left at 9.40 - a European-style train with compartments known as "cabins" and a good dining car, with Siamese stewards. We sat most of the day in the diner so that we could see the country on both sides of us. For an hour and a half we went through solid rubber plantations - not a break except for an occasional small railroad station. There were four hours of Malaya - the districts of Kedah and Perlis. After the rubber come open plains and rice pawahs. Lunch was our first Siamese curry, which has an entirely different flavor from the curry we are accustomed to, perhaps due to the fact that the powder is mixed with coconut milk to make the sauce.

Padang Besar is the border station, and polite customs officials came aboard the train. "Have you anything to declare?" "No" said we, and be bowed and started away. "What is dutiable?" Bill asked, and learned that only fire-arms are forbidden, and only merchandise for sale is dutiable. The Customs man was followed by the Immigration officer, and Bill made him look at our unnecessary Siamese visa. A traveler can only stay in Siam thirty days without putting up bond, but as we have only a week there was no trouble on that score.  He did want to know "How old your Missis?"

All afternoon we watched the moving picture outside our car windows. A few plantations of young rubber showed that Siam has aspirations to compete with Malaya. Most cultivation was devoted to the inevitable rice. Buddhist priests in gold-colored robes wandered through the rain, sometimes holding paper umbrellas over their heads. From time to time curious rocks jutted straight up out of the flat country, high cliffs against the gray sky, and toward evening we came into real mountain country, where a thick jungle spread on both sides of us, and the train needed an extra engine to push it up the steep slopes of the hills. Men and women on the station platforms