404 
SINGAPORE. 
it, resort there in their passages to and from Bengal, and many of 
them are owned or under the agency of the merchants of this place. 
It is not a little remarkable that even those who are engaged in the 
trade, condemn its immoral and hurtful results, while others at a 
distance offer many reasons in its defence. I must say that it appears 
to me truly strange that with the scenes that daily offer themselves 
in Singapore, before the eyes and under the cognizance of the 
governor and officers of the place, some steps should not be taken to 
put a stop to the practice altogether, instead of making it a source of 
revenue. 
This government seems to be actuated by totally opposite principles 
from all others that attempt colonization ; for while it has been consi¬ 
dered necessary in other places to introduce females in some propor¬ 
tion to males, for the purpose of softening the manners and the savage 
propensities of our sex, they have been here interdicted almost alto¬ 
gether. I made many inquiries respecting the reasons that had 
induced so extraordinary a course, but all appeared to be equally 
ignorant with myself. 
The population, from the most authentic returns, is in all about 
sixty thousand souls: of these forty-five thousand are Chinese, eight 
thousand Malays, seven thousand natives of India, and about one 
hundred and fifty foreigners; and only one-tenth, of the whole are 
females. 
A short description of the Malayan peninsula will be a proper 
sequel to the account of the island of Singapore. What is usually 
included under this name extends as far as latitude 7° N. It is 
nearly five hundred miles in length, by about one hundred and fifty 
miles in width, and comprises about fifty thousand square miles. It 
is mountainous and hilly, and destitute both of extensive valleys and 
plains. 
A range of mountains traverses its whole length, rising gradually 
towards the north, to the height of about six thousand feet. Its 
geological formation, from the best reports, is exclusively granite; 
which towards the south has been found to contain many minerals, 
and the ores of gold and tin in particular. In the latter metal, it is 
supposed to be the richest of any country in the world. In other 
respects it cannot be called a favoured region, and in comparison with 
the surrounding countries is barren. The greater portion of it is still 
occupied by the primeval forest, which is frequented only by beasts of 
prey. 
The Malayan peninsula, and the surrounding islands, are now far 
less populous than they formerly were. Intestine wars among the 
