762 Lieut.-General The Hon. Sir Andrew Clarice [May 27, 



have succeeded in securing Singapore in the teeth of his official 

 superiors. 



As stated above, on the 29th February, 1819, Raffles formally 

 occupied on his own responsibility the island of Singapore, and con- 

 tinued to watch over its progress till he finally left it on the 9th June, 

 1823,* having on his departure received, amongst other tributes of 

 resj^ect and esteem accorded to him, including one from the Supreme 

 Council of India, an address from the people of Singapore, iu which 

 it states, " at such a moment we cannot be suspected of panegyric 

 when we advert to the distinguished advantages which the commer- 

 cial interests of our nation at large have derived from your personal 

 exertions. To yonr unwearied zeal, your vigilance, and your com- 

 prehensive views, we owe at once the foundation and maintenance 

 of a settlement unparalled for the liberality of the princii^les on which 

 it has been established — principles the operation of which has con- 

 verted, in a period short beyond all example, a haunt of pirates into 

 the abode of enterj^rise, security and opulence." 



After Raffles' departure, Singapore and the settlements on the 

 Straits were, under successive Governments, limited to the ordinary 

 administration of an Indian out-station. The failure of a military 

 expedition in 1831, and the partial success of one sent in 1832 to 

 retrieve that failure, on the Malacca frontier, induced the Indian 

 Government to withhold, more or less, all intervention in the native 

 states amongst wliich its settlements were situated. On the transfer 

 of these settlements to the direct authority of the Crown the same 

 policy was continued, and thus remained till 1874. 



In order to form a just estimate of the value of what has been 

 done in the Malay Peninsula it would be necessary to describe its 

 condition in January 1874, when it was determined that the internal 

 struggles which were then paralysing trade in all the western states 

 and decimating the population, had become a serious danger to the 

 neighbouring British settlements. Years of guerilla warfare between 

 rival ]\Ialay chiefs and their adherents on the one hand, and between 

 various Chinese secret societies and factions on the other, had put a 

 stop to all legitimate work. Towns and villages had been destroyed, 

 mines closed, orchards wasted, and fields left uncultivated for years. 

 There was no safety for life and property, no money, nO trade, and 

 little food in the country. Lawlessness and opj)ression prevailed 

 everywhere, and those who found it hard to live on shore took to the 

 water and made the Straits of Malacca the scene of their operations, 

 so that hardly a day passed but some small trading vessel would be 

 attacked and burnt after the entire crew had been murdered. Pro- 

 bably at no time had the ill fame of the Malacca Straits so truly 



* Sir S. Raffles died on the 4tli July, 1826, after having been elected the 

 first President of the Zoological Society in the previous April. This Society, 

 which has given pleasure to millions of young and old, was founded mainly by 

 his exertions. 



