456 SINGAPORE. [1842. 



insula, from which it is separated by a narrow strait, one 

 quarter of a mile in width, in latitude 1° 17' N., and longi- 

 tude 103° ol' E. Jn the centre of the town are the dwell- 

 ings of the merohants and the military cantonments ; the 

 Malay quarter is on the cast, and the Chinese quarter, which 

 is the business part of the city, on the west. The streets are 

 well laid out, and all the better class of houses are built of 

 brick. The only public buildings of any importance are the 

 government house, jail, custom-house, tho Armenian church, 

 the Missionary chapel, and the Singapore Institution, founded 

 for the purpose of affording instruction in the Eastern lan- 

 guages. 



The island on which the town is situated is composed prin- 

 cipally of laterite, sandstone, and granite. Iron ore is abun- 

 dant, and tin is also said to exist. The island is twenty-seven 

 miles long from east to west, and eleven miles wide. The 

 surface is for the most part low and undulating, here anjj 

 there rising into dome-shaped hills, whose summits are ster- 

 ile, but whose slopes are thickly covered with jungle patches, 

 while the intermediate plains and valleys are carpeted with a 

 most profuse vegetation, whose freshness and beauty are pre- 

 served throughout the year by the frequent showers. The 

 climate is hot, but the range of the thermometer is unusually 

 limited, being only from 71° to 89°. Nutmegs, coffee, pep- 

 per, and gambier catechu, thrive very well on the island, but 

 the clove does not seem adapted to the soil or climate. Most 

 of the principal tropical fruits and vegetables are raised in 

 considerable quantities. There are no quadrupeds on the 

 island, except a few small deer, the otter, the porcupine, 

 one or two others of no great importance, and the domestic 

 animals that have been introduced. Birds and reptiles are 

 quite plentiful, but the swarms of insects that usually con- 

 stitute so great an annoyance in Eastern countries are. un- 

 known. White ants, however, are abundant, and exceedingly 

 destructive to the crops in the interior. 



There are about thirty thousand inhabitants on the island, 

 three fourths of whom are Chinese and Malays, and the re- 



