J. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN LIGHT. 



and other warlike spirits who were above using the bliong in 

 the jungle. Captain LiGHT had seen too many ruins of the 

 old factories which these gentry had *'cut off" to trust them 

 as settlers. To encourage the wood-cutters, he is said to 

 have ingeniously loaded a gun with a bag of dollars and fired 

 it into the jungle. It is mentioned also that the Malays pro- 

 vided nibongs for the stockade which was the precursor of 

 Fort Cornwallis. On the loth August, two of the Company's 

 ships, the Vansittart and the Valentine^ hove in sight, and 

 Captain LiGHT, thinking the occasion a favourable one for 

 the christening of the infant colony, invited the Captains 

 ashore to assist in the ceremony on the iith August. "At 

 "noon," he tells us, "all the gentlemen assembled under the 

 "flagstaff, and unitedly hoisted the flag, taking possession of 

 "the island in the name of His Britannic Majesty and for the 

 " use of the Honourable East India Company, the artillery 

 "and ships firing a Royal salute, the marines three volleys." 

 The following day being the birthday of the PRINCE OF 

 Wales, it occurred to our founder to name the island in his 

 honour ; but this name has been unable to compete with the 

 shorter one of native origin, and exists only in official docu- 

 ments. Once the establishment of the Settlement became 

 known, people began to flock in from all quarters to live under 

 the protection of the British flag. 



His work progressed favourably, especially in the matter of 

 health. The early entries in his Diary often express surprise 

 at the absence of all serious sickness ; until the following 

 year. Then the dry season affected many, and struck him 

 down with fever very severely in January, 1787. About the 

 same time he began to feel the want of support from Calcutta. 

 In February, 1787, he writes to Mr. A. Ross, of Madras : — "I 

 " have received nothing from the Bengal Government since my 

 " departure from Calcutta." But the Settlement prospered and 

 grew notwithstanding, the number of settlers being stated at 

 " about 10,000" by the end of 1 789, and at over 20,000 in 1 795."^ 



* Of this number the Chinese were then not much over 3,000; and Captain 

 Lennon, r. e., who visited Penang, in November, 1795, expressly states, That 

 the Chuliahs were more numerous. ( S. A. S. Journal, vol. 7,) 



