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 



