THE FOUNDING OF SINGAPOKE. 179 



'-.established more than four months every one is comfortably 

 housed, provisions are in abundance, the Troops healthy, and 

 every thing bears the appearance of content and abun- 

 dance. I am sure you will wish me success, and I will there- 

 fore only add that if my plans are confirmed at home, it is 

 my' intention to make this my principal residence, and to 

 devo te the remaining jeaxs of my residence in the East, to 

 the advancement of a Colony which in every way in which 

 it can be viewed bids fair to be one of the most important, 

 and at the same time one of the least expensive and trouble- 

 some, that we possess. Our object is not territory but trade, 

 a great commercial Emporium, and a fulcrum whence we 

 may extend our influence politically, as circumstances may 

 hereafter require. By taking immediate possession we put 

 a negative to the Dutch claim of exclusion, and at the same 

 time revive the drooping confidence of our allies and friends ; 

 one Free Port in these Seas must eventually destroy the spell 

 of Dutch monopoly ; and what Malta is in the West, that may 

 Singapore become in the East. 



I shall leave this for Bencoolen in a few days, where I hope 

 to remain quietly until we hear decidedly from Europe, 

 at all events I am not likely to quit Sumatra again for some 

 months and then only for a short period to revisit my 

 new Settlement. You may judge of our anxiety to re- 

 turn to Bencoolen when I tell you that we left our little 

 girl there in August last, and have not since seen her. 

 Lady Baffles, who accompanied me to Bengal and is now with 

 me, has since presented me with a son ; the circumstances 

 preceding his birth were not very propitious ; I was obliged 

 to quit her only four days before the event, we were 

 almost amongst strangers, no nurse in whom to confide, 

 no experienced medical aid, for we had expected to reach 

 Bencoolen in time, and yet all went on well, and a finer 

 babe or one with more promise of intelligence never was 

 beheld. You will recollect that our little girl was born on 

 the waves, under circumstances not more promising, and yet 

 no mother and no children could have suffered less. What 

 strange and uncertain dispensations of Providence ! Good 

 God when I think of Claremont and all the prospects which 

 were there anticipated, — but I must check my pen. 



I thank you most sincerely for your letters of the 8th 

 December 1817 and 29th April, 1819 ; the former I could, 

 never acknowledge till now ; the latter is before me and 1. 

 cannot express how much I feel indebted to you for your 

 kind and affectionate attention, The engravings I haye 



