MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 285 
LANDING oF RAFFLES IN SINGAPORE. 
By An Eye-Witness. 
The following account of the first landing of Sir Stamrorp 
Ra¥Frres in Singapore may not be without interest to the readers 
of this Journal for two reasons: first as being the statement of one 
who is now probably the only survivor of those present on the 
occasion, and who is certainly the oldest inhabitant of the island 
who was himself an eye-witness of the proceedings ; and, secondly, 
as going to prove how unreliable is the detailed account, given in 
the * Hikaiat Abdullah,’ from what Appuntan was told a few 
months afterwards. The short summary in Mr. Jonn Canroy’s 
work is apparently much more correct. It is a pity that no autho- 
ritative record exists of all the circumstances attending Sin- | 
eapore’s foundation, in Sir Stam¥Forp Rarriss’ Life or elsewhere. 
That given in the Journal of Eastern Asia (1875) is obviously 
incorrect. 
Wa Hakim, now residing in Téluk Saga, of the Kelimang tribe 
of “Orang laut,’ was, according to his own account, about fifteen 
years old when Sir Sramrorp Rarrius landed, so he must be about 
eighty years old at the present time. He is still an intelligent old 
man. His statement isas follows :—‘‘ At the time when Tuan Rar- 
FLES came, there were under one hundred small houses and huts at 
the mouth of the river [ Singapore |]; but the Raja’s house was the 
only large one, and it stood back from the river, between the sea and 
the river, near the obelisk. About thirty families of ‘ Orang laut’ also 
lived in boats (dia punya rumah ada prahu ) a little way up the 
Singapore river at the wide part (lawt ofis). About half the 
‘Orang laut’ lived ashore and halfin boats. My sister still lives in 
aboat there, and has never lived ashore. The place where the 
‘Orang Laut’ lived was called Kampong Téménggong, and it faced 
the river. There were a few Malays who lived near, their huts 
facing the sea. Our boat lay where the Master Attendant’s Office 
now is. I myself was born in the Singapore waters, and this settle- 
