86 M. SEEMANN’S JOURNAL. 
| ‘ordinary substance, the mere dipping of which into the fluid can cause 
| it to become a thickened mass. I was very eager to obtain a piece of 
| this wood ; unluckily, the Chinaman, whose laboratory I visited, could 
_ not be persuaded to part with his, and a friend of mine, who was exert- 
ing himself to procure a sample, had not succeeded at the time of the 
: Herald’s departure: he promised, however, to send it to England, 
, accompanied by the Malayan name, and specimens of the tree. 
~The Arrow-root is different from that of the Sandwich Islands, being 
made from the tubers of Maranta arundinacea, Linn. The cultivation 
of the plant commenced only a few years ago, and is at present not very 
extensive, but is said to be annually increasing. Cloves, Cinnamon, 
Cocoa, Siri, and Rice, being as yet only grown in small quantities, do 
not constitute articles of export; indeed, it is stated that all the Rice 
produced in the island is hardly sufficient to feed its population for a 
single week. Sago is not an indigenous production; it is brought 
from Cochin China, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Malaeca, Penang, and 
Celebes, and is only prepared in Singapore by the Chinese to be 
afterwards exported to other countries. The cultivation of the Sugar- 
cane, and the manufacturing of the different extracts from it, have 
hitherto, in a pecuniary point of view, proved abortive, and several - 
large estates have had to be given up in consequence. It is difficult to 
account for this failure, as climate, soil, the low price of labour, and the 
facilities for shipping the produce, would argue in favour of success. 
Similar disappointments have been experienced in rearing Cotton and 
Coffee, though in this case there were several physical obstacles that 
proved insurmountable. 
.  . Indigenous productions of any great commercial value, Singapore 
. has none. Rattan is common. From an Acanthaceous plant the 
.. Chinese extract, merely for their own immediate use, a blue dye, 
. which is probably the same as that called “ Room” in the * Vegetable 
Kingdom.’ Dr. Lindley states that it is obtained from a Ruellia, but 
.. as he does not particularize the species producing it, and none of the 
. specimens collected by me were in flower, I had no means of arriving at 
. the solution of the question. 
a T The Taban (Zsonandra Gutta, Hook.), which was formerly so plen- 
| tiful, has long since been extinct. -A few isolated trees may here and ` 
E. | there occur, but they are very scarce, and I have not been able to obtain 
even the sight of one. Several of the white residents keep in their 
