INTRODTJCT NT. 
a 
Under instructions recei ed from the Colom Office (Letter No. 10,411/00, 
dated 3rd April, 1900,) I was directed to proceed to hingapore to discuss the existing 
forest system with the Officer Administering the Government of the Straits Settle- 
ments and after conferring with that Officer and the Resident-General of the Feder- 
ated Malay States to report whether, in my opinion, the present system of forest 
administration, conservation and development admit of improvement at a reasonable 
cost, and, if I considered any changes in the present system desirable, to suggest 
broad general rules, in accordance with which such changes should be carried out. 
1 was also asked to report what steps, ii any, were considered desirable tor 
developing the supply 0! gutta percha in the Colony and in the Federated Malax 
States. .... , 
In compliance with these orders 1 reported my arrival in Singapore on the 1 /th 
May, 1900. From that date till the 1st June, I was occupied in studying the reports 
published from 1883 and in making excursions to different reserves and parts of the 
island. On each occasion 1 was accompanied by Mr. H. N. Ridley, M.A., Director of the 
Botanic Gardens, and Mr. W. L. Carter, the Collector of Land Revenue 1 , went out with 
us on two days. . 
From the 2nd to the 14th June I visited Malacca and with Mr. Ridley spent 6 days 
in going round to the different reserves. ' 
^ We arrived at Penang on the i6th June. Under the guidance of Mr. C. Curtis, 
Assistant Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens 4 da ys were given up to visiting 
the reserves and parts of the island. From the 22nd to the 25th the reserves ot Pro- 
vince Wellesley were inspected and on the 26th Mr. CURTIS and I proceeded to the 
Dindings. Mr. Ridley left us at Bukit Mertajam on the 24th to return to Singapore. 
Five days were passed in the Dindings and on the 2nd July I reached the Perak road 
and took up the work in that State, having been met the day before by Mr. Douglas, 
the Acting Forest Officer of Perak. 
I desire to acknowledge, with many thanks, the cordial welcome and ready assist- 
ance in my work which has been afforded to me by the Officer Administering the 
Government, Sir J. ALEXANDER SweTTENHAM, K.C.M.G., by the Colonial Secretary, 
the Resident Councillors, and those District Officers whom f had the pleasure of meet- 
ing in the course of my tours and inquiries. Mr. Ridley’s knowledge of the reserves, 
and their composition, as well as his familiarity with all forest questions, enabled him 
to act as a most useful guide, and 1 am indebted to him and to Mr. Curiis for much 
of my information. 
General Remarks. 
The Colony known as the Straits Settlements consists of the three different Set- 
tlements, Singapore, Malacca and Penang, and the last named comprises the separate 
territories of Province Wellesley and the Dindings. While Singapore and Penang 
are Islands, Malacca and the other tracts are rectangular strips lying on the coast of 
the main peninsula. Province Wellesley is almost entirely, with the exception of the 
forest reserves, taken up for the cultivation of coco-nuts, paddy, sugar, tapioca or fruit 
and more recently of Para Rubber. Even the hills have been brought under the cul- 
tivation of nutmegs, areca-nuts and cloves. 
The island of Penang is similarly highly cultivated, but being more hilly, it has a 
much larger percentage of forest reserves, and a larger proportion ot land under 
spices and fruit trees. 
The Dindings on the other hand is almost entirely under forest, cultivation 
being limited to scattered villages or hamlets. 
Malacca is highly cultivated in part and its forests, outside reserves, are being 
rapidly cleared for the shifting cultivation of tapioca. 
In Singapore coco-nuts, pine-apples, indigo, pepper, gambier and garden produce 
are grown. the cultivation of both pepper and gambier was at one time much more 
extensive, and it has been said to have declined because of the scarcity of wood for 
posts on which to train the pepper and for fuel for cooking gamSjer. It is believed, 
however, that a serious fall in prices is alone accountable for the abandonment of the 
cultivation of these crops. 
