Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/755

 727- and Penang is so enervating and un- healthy that it takes away all inclination for work, and only the very strongest can hope to keep well over a period of years. Yet there are many English hospital nurses in the Government hospitals there, and it is often commented upon that the standard of health among them is greater than among women of leisure. No doubt this is the direct result of Ihe necessity to work, for unless so compelled, men and women alike tend to become lazy and in- dolent, and spend the day in a long chair thinking only of the heat and mosquitoes, and caring for nothing but another drink. But although much may be said about the compensations of life in the tropics for married women, or single women living WOMAN'S WORK eternally, but there are rain showers every day with frequent thunderstorms, and the nights are cool compared with the day. No doubt many people will say Singapore is a lovely spot ; and so it is. But for the working woman it is a paradise to be left as quickly as possible. Hong-Kong; In Hong-Kong, which is outside the tropics, the climate is very different. The island itself rises almost sheer from the water, and the houses are perched on the hillsides up to the very summit. The most common exclamation of people arriving for the first time in Hong-Kong is " What a beautiful place ! " And the longer one lives there the deeper the View of Singapore with their own families, nothing can be held to compensate the woman who has to work for her living for loss of health, energy, and good looks. After even a short period of residence in Singapore or Penang it is noticed the skin becomes yellow or pasty white, the complexion muddy, and the general appearance unhealthy in the extreme. Singapore No one need hope to keep pink cheeks, for, as it has often been said, there is not a com- plexion in the Straits. In Singapore and Penang the climate is the same all the year round, the temperature, as a rule, rising to about 90° or more in the day and falling a few degreeS/.in the evening. The sun shines impression that is made. The climate is not, however, all that could be desired. The cold season from November to March, it is true, is almost perfect, the temperature from about 39° Far. to 68° Far., and the sun shines almost every day and all day. But the spring, with its damp, steamy white fogs and grey skies, is depressing in the extreme, and makes even a London fog seem cheerful by comparison. April, May, and June, although not the hottest months, are, owing to the dampness, perhaps the most unhealthy. July, August, and Sept- ember are very hot months, having a tem- perature ranging from a maximum of -97° Far. to a minimum of 78° Far. To be continued.