FIRST SETTLEMENT. 133 



Respecting the first settlement of Singapore : 

 '" In the first agreement," says Crawford, " with 

 the native chief, the arrangement amounted to 

 little more than a permission for the formation 

 of a British factory and establishment, along 

 two miles of the northern shore, and inland to 

 tlie extent of the point-blank range of a cannon- 

 shot. There was, in reality, no territorial ces- 

 sion giving a legal right of legislation. The 

 only law which could have existed was the Malay 

 code. The native chief was considered to be the 

 proprietor of the land, even within the bounds 

 of the British factory ; and he was to be entitled, 

 in perpetuity, to one half of such duties of cus- 

 toms as might hereafter be levied at the port. 

 In the progress of the settlement, these arrange- 

 ments were of course found highly inconvenient 

 and embarrassing, and were annulled by the 

 treaty I am about to describe. 



' ' The island of Singapore belonged to the 

 Malayan principality of Johore, a state which 

 probably was never of much consequence, and 

 for the last century had been of none at all. 

 Sultan Mahomet, the last prince, died about the 

 year 1810, leaving no legitimate issue. No prince 

 of his family assumed the throne in immediate 

 succession to him, and the country was dismem- 

 bered among his principal officers. The Bind 



