168 THE JOHORE SURVEY. 



part. Singapore Island is about 30 miles from east to 

 "west by 14 miles from north to south. On the southern 

 side is Singapore, the commercial emporium of Malaysia. 

 The island is crossed by a good road, and good roads inter- 

 sect its cultivated parts generally ; the uncultivated portion 

 of the interior is covered by jungle, and the coast is lined 

 by mangrove swamps. 



The strait between Singapore Island and Johore formed, 

 before the rise of Singapore City, the highway for ships 

 bound from the West or the Straits of Malacca to the China 

 Sea or the Central or Eastern Malay Archipelago. The 

 island of Singapore was originally a part of the territory of 

 Johore, but passed into British possession under Sir Stam- 

 ford Raffles, sometime Grovernor of the Straits, who acquired 

 the sovereign rights over the island for the British Govern- 

 ment by purchase. The trade of Singapore with all parts 

 of the world is very large. The Malay Peninsula itself, on 

 the other hand, is only just beginning to be developed, and 

 a through line from Rangoon to Johore would be a great 

 advantage to every State concerned in the commercial 

 prosperity of the Peninsula, as well as to Burmah and those 

 countries bordering on Burmah. 



The Malay Peninsula. 



The Malay Peninsula extends from its most southern 

 point, Johore Bahru, in lat. 1° 30' North, to a parallel pass- 

 ing through the mouth of the Menam River near Bangkok. 

 The level of the land is low in the south, but rises as you 

 proceed northward ; indeed, in many parts of the country 

 there are mountain chains, the positions of which are not 

 as yet, however, determined, or only approximately so. The 

 first range, about 30 miles north of Johore, is the Blumat 

 range. It consists of a cluster of isolated peaks which 



