ten o'clock
Here was trade from the ends and corners of the earth ; out of her abundance this rich country was shipping to the nations wood , oil , rice , metals , cotton , tea , silken stuffs , ivory , jade , and precious stones ; masses of cargo lay piled on the wharves , amid which a multitude of noisy coolies , busy as ants , went to and fro incessantly , whilst in the distance the saw-mills screamed , the steam dredgers clanked , and tall factory chimneys blackened the heavens . All this amazing restless activity seemed strangely out of its natural perspective ; the scene should have been laid in Liverpool or Glasgow , instead of displaying a background of palms , tropical trees , gilded pagodas , and a circle of gaily-dressed , idle natives . Although the British and German residents did not assimilate , Shafto saw a good deal of their mercantile element . At ten o'clock every morning hundreds of Teuton clerks poured into Rangoon from the surrounding neighbourhood , and he could not but admire their indefatigable business activity , tireless industry , and world-wide radius of action . Long , long after British firms had closed for the day , and their employés had rushed off to amuse themselves at football , golf , or boating , the German was still sticking to it and hard at work . But there was another feature of which Shafto was aware and could not applaud ; this was the `` spy '' system . There were rumours of an active gang -LRB- manipulated from Berlin -RRB- , whose business it was to discover what English firms were doing in the way of large contracts , and subsequently to enter into competition , cut out , and undersell .