XIV. 



DAILY REGISTER 



OF THE 



TIDES AT SINGAPORE, 



FROM THE 



1st SEPTEMBER 1834 TO THE 31st AUGUST 1835, INCLUSIVE. 



OBSERVED 



By Mr. J. DIAS. 



[The present Register was kept in pursuance of an order from the Honorable the Court 

 of Directors, dated the 20th February, 1833, for the purpose of aiding the Rev. Professor 

 Whewell's investigation of the general cotidal lines on the surface of the globe. In forward- 

 ing it to the Bengal Government, (by whom it was liberally placed at the disposal of the 

 Society,) the Resident Councillor, Mr. Bonham, states that he is not aware what degree of 

 confidence is to be placed in it ; the Master Attendant having only three peons attached to his 

 office was unable to spare one for this particular duty, and was forced to employ an extra person 

 who performed the task without any stipulated remuneration for his service, and was finally 

 rewarded with a gratuity of 100 Rupees. It may very reasonably be doubted, under this ex- 

 planation, whether the Register will prove to be of that value, in a scientific point of view, 

 which might have been expected from its official character; and it is to be feared that the tenor 

 of Professor Whewell's instructions and the nature of his elaborate investigation were not duly 

 apprehended, if it was imagined that a mere Register made without due attention, apparentlj% 

 even to the exact time of the daily maxima and minima, — the state and force of the wind, the 

 set of the current, &c, would answer the purpose required. The official correspondence gives no 

 information as to mode of taking the observations, nor as to the fixation of the Zero-point on the 

 tidal guage — but it is understood that the jetty at Singapore aflbrds every facility on these points, 

 as there is a perpendicular wall washed by the tide which never quits its base at the lowest ebb. 



Notwithstanding the evident imperfections above pointed out, the Register has been 

 deemed worthy of preservation, in the uncertainty of procuring more accurate materials, and in 

 the hope that the Professor may be able to glean from it the necessary averages towards fixing the 

 elements of a station so important as Singapore in the discussion of the tidal theory. It would be 

 very desirable to obtain tables even of similarly moderate pretensions of the daily tides at one or 

 two principalstations ou tlie long range of coast upwards from Singapore to Chittagong, and it is 

 hoped that the attention of the Executive Eugiuecrs may be invited to the subject. All that seems 

 necessary is to set up a guage at some convenient spot, and to employ an intelligent native ser- 

 vant to read oil" the rise and fall, and to note the tiiuc as nearly as he can estimate it. — Sec] 



B 2 



