midnight
The servants , one and all , from Zim , the cookee , to the wretched Kling dhobie -LRB- wash-man -RRB- , had brought some little remembrance of their Christian master 's great holiday . In respecting our customs , they had taken occasion to establish one of their own . They had adopted New Year 's as the day when their masters should return their presents and good will in solid cash . At midnight we were awakened by a regular Fourth of July pandemonium . Whistles from the factories , salvos from Fort Canning , bells from the churches , Chinese tom-toms , Malay horns , rent the air from that hour until dawn with all the discords of the Orient and a few from Europe . By daylight the thousands of natives from all quarters of the peninsula and neighboring islands had gathered along the broad Ocean Esplanade of Singapore in front of the Cricket Club House , to take part in or watch the native sports by land and sea . The inevitable Chinaman was there , the Kling , the Madrasman , the Sikh , the Arab , the Jew , the Chitty , or Indian money-lender , -- they were all there , many times multiplied , unconsciously furnishing a background of extraordinary variety and picturesqueness .