THE CHARMS OF THE EAST.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 301, 14 September 1908, Page 5

THE CHARMS OF THE EAST.

p. We have Seen allowed to publish the fol- . lowing' extract from the. interesting' letter ' of'a lady in Malay to a friend in Wellington:— • . After, a delightful month in . Sydney, , I -thought it cf most beautiful and entrancing ! place, but now that I' have * arrived in tho East, or in fthe Malay Peninsula; I do not .think Sydney.is even pretty.' .We left the' latter place .-(in .the ship Airlie. on; June l.r ,v. There wbro passengers, all: bf . them'very nice. . . We landed at Thursday Island-arid Port Darwin; these two places are very* much alike^ —very small and Hot, but very pretty. The cocoanut palms grow here most beautifully, also orchids of all ■ sorts.. The next place was' Samarang, and then lovely Batavia. . . . I have never seen such a glorious place - before, though it is Dutch. The people jook so quaint, marching about • the streets/in their' picturesque dresses.; . Every street'is planted with trees, which in most cases meet overhead, and all the big . buildings arid • large private dwellings are built of'white stone, and the floors are white marble. • ■>:>, : ,We went ,to the Hotel > des Indes _to dinner, which was at 8.30 p.m. You sit down to a table most elaborately dcco'rated, and • a waiter behind each chair, got up beauti- / fully in Javanese dress. One great feature 'of: their dress is their belt. It is'very wide and very, much embroidered .with gold or silver, and a buncli of kejjs, etc., is hung (from it; When-we' had 'finished : dinner we went and sat in the verandah, which is : . tremendously' wide,' and' has little tables ' arid chairs put , about for-you to have your 'coffee. As you sit there you see the peopl? in the street, -and i it: is' most interesting to watch. We reached Singapore'-jfaro days afterwards, 1 staying there four days. Singapore is a lovely.plaoe to stay in,' and so bright. The rickshaws-are lovely, and the men run along so fast! It was fearfully hot, .but-as the Europeans do nothing and Chinese servants are cheap, it does not matter. Batu Gagah is a lively placc—you would .just' glory in it—the : bamboos aro ■ magnificent, and arc ' mostly clipped round the lower part of 'the stem and branch out like a tree at the ' top. Nearly all • the fences are. of bamboo. • Our friend's houstffis; very large and'nice. ' The lower part is ' lattice-work, and has a red marble; floor, with rugs laid_ about. Tho upper part; is, of course, built in tho ordinary way. i Every riom has $ balcony, and its own bathroom, Iwith a stone floor, which slopes to one corner. Tha bath consists-of a hugo earthenware cask,' and you pour the water over yourself, and tho water runs "down to a pipe in'one corner. There :is'never any trouble with Chinese. servants: they are so 'quick, clean, and quiet. We nave two boys '" (as they are called), who wait ,at table , and do the housework, a cook, a gardener, and a boy who cleans lamps, attends to the bathrooms, etc.; also a boy for the • motor-car. The houseboys: are always dressed in white, with, black velvet shoes. ' :You New Zealanders do not know What you-miss by not having Chinese labourers. They are splendid. ■ They bring.early tea and fruit to your room, and then-ybu have a bath, and dress and, go out.- -It -is too hot to be out affor 8.30. Then you .break- ' fast at nine; and either sew or-: do -what you like." Tiffen, or lunch, at one,-and then everyone,'servants and all, "lie off", till 4:30; then afternoon tea on your balconyi and then we go out for a motor'ride or to tennis. . Dinner at eight, and'bed any. time: • • • It is:a lovely, lazy life!—but .it is awfully hot.' The beds are nice—just a linen sheet oyer the mattress, two pillows, "arid a cotton riig across the foot, which you may pull over you if you. feel cold; and 'a; mosquito net tucked all over your bed. . . Not a ,few, who are afflicted with' the domestic servant trouble, might perhaps consider ' that- re- , moval to those parts is the only solution of the problem. < • . :