20 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. n. 



been formed ; and there is here an excellent library of 

 books, on nearly all subjects. A collection of economic 

 products is in course of formation, and if well carried 

 out, will add much to the interest of the place. The 

 Botanical Gardens are situated at Tanglin, a distance of 

 about three nules from the town of Singapore ; and as 

 the roads are smooth and level, it is a very pleasant 

 journey, either in the morning or evening. One night 

 each week the military band performs in the garden ; 

 and then a good many of the residents ride or drive 

 out to " eat the air," and hear the music before dinner. 

 Good collections of orchids, palms, and economic plants, 

 are here kept up, and the place forms an agreeable 

 promenade morning and evening. In addition to the 

 plants, a small collection of animals and birds, for the 

 most part natives of the Archipelago, may be seen here. 

 The island itself is tolerably flat, the elevated portions 

 being in the form of low hills, or " bukits," the highest, 

 Bukit Timah, being about 400 feet above sea level. 

 Many of the rare plants, formerly found here, have died 

 out since the destruction of the old forest for cultivation. 

 Wild pigs are plentiful ; but the tigers do not often 

 repeat the predatory visits of twenty or thirty years ago, 

 when two or three hundred Chinamen were devoured 

 every year. They now very rarely cross the "Old 

 Straits," a channel about half a mile wide, which separates 

 the island from the mainland of Jahore. 



In the Singapore Times, however, for Feb. 1, 1879, 

 the following paragraph appeared, which shows that 

 the binites have not quite lost their old-established 

 man-eating desires : — 



" Tigers, it would appear, are approaching Singapore 

 town unpleasantly close. On the 29th January a China- 

 man was taken away by one on a plantation only about 



