most retired of the burghers' dwellings.
These are mostly fine old mansions of red
brick, with solid, grim-looking gable-ends
frowning down upon the old rusty gates, and
the great round well by the forest of plantain-
trees. I found myself standing before one
of these, in a sweet green lane lined with
lofty palms, spreading gorekas, and huge
India-rubber trees. The heavy wall in front
hid the sturdy mansion from my view; but,
the gates being open, I obtained a peep of
the Oriental paradise within. Rare old fruit-
trees on the grass-plot were well laden
with clustering, many-coloured fruit! They
must have been in bearing when the old
gentleman in the easy chair, and the pink cotton
trousers, and black skull-cap, was a mere
child. How cool the place looked amidst all
that dense green foliage! One might almost
have caught a cold in the head by merely
looking in at the gate. The sun evidently
never troubled the little children playing on
the grass under the thick clusters of mangoes,
sour-sops and plantains; except, perhaps, for
a few minutes at noon. What a jolly old
house it was, to be sure, with verandahs as
large as the Burlington Arcade in London;
and such windows! They looked like so
many roofs of hot-houses let sideways into the
walls; and, as to the doors, one might have
fancied, from their size, that the family were
in the habit of keeping their carriage in the
back parlour, or setting out the dinner-table
in the doorway: there would have been
abundance of room in either case, and a little
to spare, too!

There were nice beds of flowers on each side
of the large grass-plot, and orange-trees; and
the passer-by peeping in far enough, as I did,
might have caught a glimpse of one or two
pairs of small pretty feet, and faces to match,
hidden away cosily among the roses and
oleanders. Well, those are nice, quiet,
enjoyable places, and much better than the hot
dusty dignified rabbit-hutches of the English
on the other side of the fort!

I passed on, as my fancy led me, until I
came to another stout Dutch residence, which
pleased me, though not so much as the other
one had done. It was altogether another
description of house, though doubtless pleasant
enough in its way. It stood close upon the
road, with all the garden behind it, so that
one saw nothing but red bricks and little
Dutch tiles. There was no peeping in, there,
through any open gates; no catching the
daughters quietly among the flowers.

The owner of the house chanced to be
enjoying his evening pipe in the capacious door-
way; and, seeing me surveying the premises,
he at once rose from his quiet seat and bade
me welcome. When he learnt my desire to
examine his mansion, he gladly conducted me
through the great rooms to the garden. The
principal room. or hall was of enormous
magnitude. I believe you might have driven a
stage-coach, with very frisky leaders, round
the dinner-table without fear of touching the
army of chairs ranged along the walls. I
could almost fancy the builder had made a
mistake, and roofed in a good part of the road.
I looked up, and thought I should never get
a sight of the roofing, and wondered whether
the sparrows building their nests so high
there, ever felt giddy and fell down upon the
dinner-table. The other rooms were smaller,
but all spacious enough, and well filled with
ebony and calamander furniture. On the
whole, the mansion was elegant and refined.
There was a degree of polish about the
windows, and a sort of rakishness in the couch-
covers and ottoman drapery, which struck me,
while the very screen in the doorway had a
jaunty air which there was no resisting.

Right and left from the large house,
extended, backward, two ranges of sleeping
apartments and stores, with long stone
terraces, filled with flowering shrubs in gigantic
pots. At the farther end were rows of huge,
suspiciously-shaped jars, looking as though
they belonged to Ali Baba and the Forty
Thieves. At the termination of this pottery,
were wide flights of steps leading to a neatly-
laid out garden, full of the richest flowers,
and greenest shrubs, and most tempting fruit-
trees, the eye ever saw, or fancy pictured.
There was a small fountain in the midst, with
a seat by the side, and round it lay scattered
children's toys.

On the whole, this was a pretty place, but
not so natural and home-like as the other;
besides, the stiff terrace and the jars of the
Forty Thieves rather marred its beauty.

Such houses are mostly the dwelling-places
of old Dutch families, the heads of which may
be lawyers, or deputy registrars, or chief
clerks in a government office, and are none the
worse for that. But, when I mention Dutchmen,
by the bye, do not let any one for a
moment picture to himself the burly, bright-
visaged, many-breeched gentry of friend
Knickerbocker: that race has died out long since,
within the tropics. Nankeen trousers, a white
jacket and waistcoat—all fitting pretty closely
on a rather slim-built figure—with a modern
London beaver, make up the externals of the
Dutch burghers of the East.

Determined to see all that related to the
day among the burghers, I had accepted
an invitation from a Dutchman, a worthy
book-keeper grown grey in the service of
one of the leading merchants, to join an
evening party at his house. I arrived there
between eight and nine o'clock, and found old
Samuel Kugper at the door, anxiously awaiting
me. I was at once introduced to Mrs. Kugper,
a portly dame, whom I found seated in solemn
silence, on a huge ottoman, at one end of
the long room. In vain I uttered innumerable
speeches, full of compliment; equally
useless were my inquiries after her family.
The lady, I found, understood not one word
of English; and this is the case with most of
the female members of these families.