A number of shirtless women were threshing shocks of wheat as we entered the little settlement of mud huts, each with its thatched roof. Naked children were playing in the streets. Our advent soon became known and the village drummer, squatted by the school house, announced our arrival and summoned the people to come and meet us. It was hardly a minute before we were surrounded by two hundred or more odd and inquisitive-looking people. If I had not known where I was I should have thought myself in the wilds of Africa. The black bodies of the naked men glistened in the sunlight; the young boys and girls, clad in nothing but the happy smile of youth, hovered about us like a swarm of butterflies, and the almost nude women, remaining a little aloof, stared at us with eyes of intense curiosity.
Every man in this interesting group was a thief. I began to get worried for fear one of them might steal my watch or the few coins I had in my purse. Dr. Jones allayed my fears when he informed me that there wasn't a pick-pocket among them. A hundred thieves and not one of them a pick-pocket! This was strange. I couldn't understand it. I had thought that this means of appropriating another man's possessions was fundamental and indispensable to the profession. I discovered also that these robbers never used pass keys, pistols, flash lights or gas pipes as means to hold up their neighbours. They didn't have such things. Now the mystery of a hundred thieves with no pick-pockets was solved. There were no pockets to pick. Their victims wore no clothes and they had had no training along this line. They didn't know a pocket when they saw one.
The Foreign Business Section of Singapore
The Village Drummer Summoning the People on Our Arrival
Dr. Jones led the way into the small mud-walled school house. The room was full of naked boys and girls. The fathers and mothers crowded in at the rear of the little hall. They were an interesting and simple lot of savages. Richardson and I were given seats of honour near the teacher's desk and a wreath was placed about our necks. Dr. Jones asked for a report from the native teacher and also questioned several of the pupils on their lessons. He then explained to his audience that Richardson and I were Americans travelling around the world. He went into detail defining an American. He asked the chief of the village, a much whiskered and hairy-chested man, if he had any message to give us.
"Tell them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and they will get around all right," were the chief's words of greeting as interpreted by Dr. Jones.