My dear Mother,--We arrived here safe on the 20th of this month, having
had very fine weather all the voyage. On shore I was obliged to go to a
hotel, which was very expensive, so I tried to get out into the country
as soon as I could, which, however, I did not manage in less than a
week, when I at last got permission to stay with a French Roman Catholic
missionary who lives about eight miles out of the town and close to the
jungle. The greater part of the inhabitants of Singapore are Chinese,
many of whom are very rich, and all the villages about are almost
entirely of Chinese, who cultivate pepper and gambir. Some of the
English merchants here have splendid country houses. I dined with one to
whom I brought an introduction. His house was most elegant, and full of
magnificent Chinese and Japanese furniture. We are now at the Mission of
Bukit Tima. The missionary speaks English, Malay and Chinese, as well as
French, and is a very pleasant man. He has built a very pretty church
here, and has about 300 Chinese converts. Having only been here four
days, I cannot tell much about my collections yet.
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