Just before this another ship had docked at the port and a number of young British women wearing loose gowns and hats had got off. They, too, stood around looking at the scene before them with unabashed curiosity. Then they boarded the phaetons that were waiting to receive them.

‘These are unmarried British girls who have come here to get married,’ Lum Kwa explained to Ho Han and his companions, who were staring wide-eyed at the women.

‘They’ve come here to get married?’ Ho Han asked in surprise.

‘British girls come here quite often. Many of the Britishers who come to work here are bachelors. Where would they find British girls here? That is why the girls come, knowing full well they will soon find a husband.’

‘But how will that happen?’ Ah Chin, one of Ho Han’s companions asked in surprise.

‘There will be dances and if the men and women like each other, they will get married.’

‘Hai ah! Hai ah!’ they all nodded.

Pointing towards another ship, Lum Kwa explained, ‘That ship is bringing in a lot of ice from a distant country.’

A number of men carrying palanquins stood around. These men were Oriya – they had shaved a part of their heads and made little knots with the long hair that remained. Some of them were already in knee-deep water, trying to attract customers coming down from the boats to their own palanquins. On the roadside under the shade of trees, men were playing cards. A few of the palanquin bearers joined them and played bagh-bandi. Some men with their dancing bears were amusing crowds of spectators for a little money.

Walking past these sights, Ho Han’s group reached the coolie depot. These depots were better than the ones in Penang, and it was from here that the assembled coolies, from different parts of India, were dispatched abroad.

‘Ho Han!’

Ho Han looked back to find Yi Kan waiting.

‘Come here.’

As Ho Han drew close, Yi Kan said, ‘Don’t enter the depot just now. Go to this man’s house instead. I will join you in a while. I have something important to discuss with you.’

‘Only with me?’ he asked in surprise.

‘Yes, go with this man.’

Worried, Ho Han asked, ‘What is it that you want to talk about?’

‘I’ll tell you at his house. Go quietly without telling anyone. There is nothing to be worried about.’

Ho Han tried to read Yi Kan’s face. Was there any sign of deceit? It was difficult to tell.

‘I’ll tell just Ho Yen,’ he said. ‘Or else he will keep looking for me.’

Pondering for a moment, Yi Kan said, ‘Alright. But no one else should know.’

Ho Han went to tell Ho Yen, after which he got into a phaeton and left with Lum Kwa.

‘Are you worried?’ Lum Kwa asked him.

Ho Han shook his head uncertainly.

He was looking around wide-eyed. The tall brick houses, Fort William, the headquarters of the East India Company, the huge fields, the clean, broad roads with their beautiful lamp-posts, the attractive horse buggies, the bullock carts, palanquins, and the highroads filled with pedestrians – Ho Han was spellbound.