Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/363

Rh endeavours and frantic clutches at the air, they all fell into the sea, amidst a perfect storm of laughter and cheers. There were crowds of gaily dressed Malays and other natives on the pier, and the harbour was a mass of Chinese sampans and other craft, the ships all decorated with flags, and the scene of the most brilliant description, alive with movement and colour. The Malay phraus and Chinese sampans raced, and very beautiful and exciting was the race between Malay kolehs with crews of twenty men. Many of these and the sampans were upset, but no one minded.

Then I was taken through various public buildings, including the Drill Hall, where my cicerone pointed out the maxim guns subscribed for by the Chinese of Singapore. He was enthusiastic about the Volunteers. By some strange fatality I commenced running down an article in a Singapore paper, noticed the blank silence, received a nudge from behind, and heard a whisper that my guide was the editor! So I quickly went on saying worse things about the paper, awful things, and then said I hoped he would not pillory me in his paper for jesting about it—and he was all smiles again, evidently thinking I had known all the time and was only chaffing!

Then in the afternoon were gorgeous and amusing New Year’s Day sports for the natives —really a fine scene, and every one in holiday humour. What an intensely pleasant thing it is to see people happy! The funniest thing was dipping heads in tubs of treacle to find money with their mouths; when they got it they bolted straight for the sea, near by, to clean their heads, scattering the shrieking crowd right and left. Then the tug-of-war was most exciting, all sorts of natives, Chinese, Javanese, Acheenese, Indian coolies, and Indian soldiers, and so on took part; it was