THE 
BANDSTAND HILL 
When, in 1859, the Agri-Horticultural Society of 
Singapore obtained land on which to begin the Gardens, 
their first work was the making of a band-promenade on 
the highest part of it, 109 ft* above sea-level. At that 
time the slopes to the southward had been cleared and 
cultivated, but the land to the north was virgin forest, the 
forest limit crossing the hill top. They cut back this 
limit, but left on the hill certain beautiful trees, for 
instance, the large Jelutong, Dyera laxiflora, and the 
Monkey Jak, Artocarpus rigida, which are on the west 
side, and the Garcinia nigroUneata and Artocarpus 
lanceeefolia — Kandis and Keledang of the Malays — which 
are on the east. The effective terraces, to the south and 
west, were constructed between i860 and 1862, Planted 
on them are ornamental rather than economic plants. But 
while the general features of the planting have been 
maintained for twenty or thirty years, the species used for 
bedding change, and it is only possible in this Guide to 
indicate what is the more permanent. 
The Bandstand itself serves as a playground in the 
evening for small children, and for music whenever 
possible. 
There are two Ring-roads round it, the lower broken 
over a short distance on the south-east. Within the upper 
are two palms of Dypsis madagascariensis, two tall palms 
of Livistona altissima, and round the Stand itself a ring of 
Actinorhytis calappariaf which having a life of only 15 years 
needs to be replaced often. This last palm is the Pinang 
sendawa of the Malays, who use its seeds medicinally. One 
of the two Honeysuckles bedded on the hill is Lonicera 
— 31 
ACTINORHYl'IS CALAPPAKfA. [Pftofo by H. E. Holttum, 
