Ch. XVI.] SOIL OP SINGAPOEE. 261 



ture does not vary more than 20° or 22° during the whole 

 year, ranging between 70° and 92° as a rule, and not there- 

 fore in excess during the hottest seasons. Rain falls upon 

 half the days of the year, neither so frequently nor so 

 heavily now as it did before the jungle was cleared away from 

 the neighbourhood of the town; but the total amount of 

 rain is moderate. 



The soil is poor, and will grow nothing without care and 

 plenty of manure. It consists of a fine, compact,* reddish 

 clay, in the interior of the island (not having much sub- 

 stance), and mixed with sand, which increases in quantity 

 near the sea-beach, the clay predominating inland, and the 

 sand near the coast. The island was, of course, originally 

 covered with jungle, but there has been a great mania for 

 clearing, and it has been done in an indiscriminate manner, 

 so that no judicious spots of shelter have been left standing, 

 which would have proved invaluable as protection for certain 

 crops, as well as being useful in other ways. The virgin soil, 

 covered with a thin layer of decaying vegetable matter was 

 rich enough ; but when, after a little time, its material was 

 exhausted, nothing but plenty of manure would induce the 

 growth of remunerative crops. 



Foremost among these crops was the Nutmeg (Myristica 

 moschata), a plant which once promised a harvest of pros- 

 perity to the settlement ; but which, after for a few years 

 producing every result that could be desired, was destined to 

 end in utter disappointment, and, ia too many eases, in 

 utter ruin to the proprietors. The nutmeg-plantations of 

 Penang preceded those of Singapore, and were for some 

 years in the hands of the East India Company, who, after 

 expending considerable sums upon them for some years 

 without receiving an adequate return, finally gave them up 



