This drug is brought from India in an almost raw state,
rolled up in balls, about the size of billiard balls, and wrapped in
its own leaves. Here it is boiled down, several times refined, and
prepared for smoking. The traffic in it forms a very profitable
monopoly, which is shared in Singapore between the English Government
and the Maharajah of Johore.
We also saw indigo growing; the dye is prepared very much in the same
way as the gambir. That grown here is not so good as that which comes
from India, and it is therefore not much exported, though it is used
by the innumerable Chinese in the Malay peninsula to dye all their
clothes, which are invariably of some deep shade of blue. We saw
sago-palms growing, but the mill was not working, so that we could not
see the process of manufacture; but it seems to be very similar to the
preparation of tapioca, which we had seen in Brazil.
On our passage through the town we went to look at a large gambling
establishment; of course no one was playing so early in the morning,
but in the evening it is always densely crowded, and is a great source
of profit to the proprietor. I could not manage to make out exactly
from the description what the game they play is like, but it was not
fan-tan. We now left the carriage, and strolled to see the people, the
shops, and the market.
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