NUMBER NINETEEN.
On Board Steamer “Thales,” Indian Ocean, Feb’y 10, 1871
Afier 4 sail of 360 milesup the Straits of Malaces, winding among islands covered from watel’s edge to summit with tropical foliage, where the air is fragrant with epiey odors, and the jirglea ewarm with venomous serpents and man eating tigere, with Sumatra on our left, and Java behind ug, early this morning our steamer, tha “Thales” dropped archor in front of the town of Penang. This is another Englteh possession like Singapore, and with the neighboring islands is known es the **Prov- irce of Wellesley.” I: has a population of 125,000, one third of whom are Chinese em- igrauts, the balance native Malaya and Asi- atics of various races, with only a few hun- dred Buropeans, who by virtue of forts and gunboats, rule these vast hordes of natives in perfect security, The whola commerce by steam and sail veegele between western nations and China passes through the Straits of Malaces, of wnich Singapore guards the southern and Penang the northern entrance, 89 that the positions of these two depend: encies of Great Britain are of great comme:~ cia] importarcs. Penang is the limit of Chinese emigration in this direction, for to the westward stretches the broad expanse ot the Bay of Bengal, 1,200 miles acrosn which is India. Several very large Chinese junks are anchored near us which have
