SINGAPORE. 



127 



the bay. There is a striking contrast in the dwellings of those who have settled in this 

 thriving place, between the elegant and convenient town and country houses of the colonial 

 officials and merchants and the ill ventilated and filthy domiciles of the Chinese, or the frail 

 tenements of the Malays. The latter ordinarily select some marshy ground in the suburbs, 

 near a road or pathway, and rear upon piles their wooden houses, the only entrance to' which 

 is by means of temporary bridges, often constructed of a single plank. 



The prosperity of Singapore, so apparent even to the casual observer, is mainly to be attrib- 

 uted to the sagacious and energetic Sir Stamford Raffles, who pursued with untiring zeal, 

 in spite of the opposition of many in higher authority, his determined purpose of carrying out 

 his favorite projects of policy in the administration of the colony. 



The population at the period of the Mississippi's visit was estimated at eighty thousand, a 

 number which shows a very rapid increase since it fell into the possession of the British, at 

 which time there were scarce two hundred on the whole island of Singapore. The inhabitants 

 are made up of Jews, Chinese, Arabs, Malays, and natives of the neighboring countries. Tlie 

 Europeans count the least, and the Chinese the largest number ; of these last it was stated that 

 there are no less than sixty thousand, who are the artisans, fishermen, laborers, and small 

 dealers of the place ; an industrious class, to which the colony is indebted for much of its trading 

 activity. 



Mosque in Singapore. 



These various people who inhabit Singapore retain their national habits and customs, and 

 their peculiar modes of worship. The Chinese lets grow his tail, smokes his opium, and offers 

 incense to Jos ; the Arab sports his turban, invokes the name of the prophet, and prostrates 

 himself within the mosque, while the European shaves his beard, drinks London porter, and 



