192 CHINESE SETTLERS. 



our table, however, with some excellent oranges 

 from his garden : he has upwards of two hundred 

 orange trees, (which had been originally brought 

 from China,) of large size and in full bearing, 

 which brought him in a good annual income, 

 from the sale of the fruit in the Singapore mar- 

 ket. He said he had expended fifteen thousand 

 dollars upon the cultivation and improvement of 

 his farm. 



Many Chinese are settled in the interior of 

 this island, upon land for which no quit-rent 

 having been paid, they render themselves liable to 

 lose the ground they have cleared and cultivated, 

 unless they pay the heavy sum demanded by the 

 government as quit-rent. However, I am not 

 aware of any such oppressive measures having 

 yet been resorted to by the government, and 

 hope the tax on the industry and general culti- 

 vation of the land will be removed altogether ; 

 and by bestowing small grants upon the settlers, 

 render the island a garden instead of a jungle — 

 productive, instead of barren. 



Although I devoted much attention to the sub- 

 ject of quit-rents, and collected much informa- 

 tion on the question, I do not consider that I 

 can do better than insert the following in- 

 telligent remarks, which have been published 

 in the Singapore Chronicles of January 24th, 



