408 
SINGAPORE. 
as incumbent on those who rule over this rising colony, to see that the 
general administration may have a tendency to promote civilization. 
I regret to say that T could perceive but little indication of any other 
principle than that of gain. 
During my stay at Singapore, the subject of steam navigation was 
much talked of, and many projects appeared to be forming by which 
the settlement might reap the advantages of that communication, 
when established between India and China. 
Some idea of the facilities that this method of transportation has 
already furnished will appear from the fact that I received letters on 
my arrival there, via England, only seventy-two days after their date 
in the United States. This places the East in such close proximity 
to Europe, that instead of looking for yearly or monthly accounts, as 
was formerly the case, they are now on the watch for daily news. 
This has already, as may be supposed, altered the current of trade, 
instead of specie, drafts being sent out by the ships with orders for 
shipment of goods from China. The transactions pass through banks, 
or are performed by purchase of government and individual bills. 
Many believe that in a very few years the whole commerce of these 
seas will be carried on by steam, which would afford peculiar facili¬ 
ties for communicating with the ports of the Chinese Empire, by the 
control it gives the commercial world in counteracting the monsoons, 
which have hitherto regulated the routes of commerce. All that is 
needed is capital to set it in motion. 
As vessels of war, the steamers have been particularly useful in the 
British operations against China. The shallow and unknown coast 
of that country, and its almost impenetrable rivers, could have been 
rendered accessible by no other means. 
Singapore, as a port of supplies, offers many inducements, although 
there are the same objections to it that apply more or less to all the 
ports of the East. One of these is caused by the ravages of the 
white ants. A portion of our flour was rendered entirely unser¬ 
viceable, for these insects had literally perforated the barrels in all 
directions; and in rolling them over, the staves appeared like fine 
sieves, through which the flour passed in every direction. This, 
how r ever, was only the case with that which had been stored in a dry 
upper loft. The larger portion of this article, which had fortunately 
been left on the ground-floor or basement of the storehouses, had 
escaped this injury. The latter place was both cooler and damper 
than the former, and these were the only apparent reasons why the 
barrels had escaped uninjured. 
The climate of Singapore, notwithstanding its geographical and 
local position, is considered as very salubrious: it is admitted by all 
