Directory_and_Chronicle_1889 — Page 714

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

This Colony-now consisting of the island of Singapore, the province of Malacca, the island of Penang, the Dindings further south, Province Wellesley on the mainland, and the Cocos Islands, receatly placed under the same Government-was transferred from the control of the Indian Government to that of the Secretary of State for the Colonies by an Order in Council dated the 1st April, 1867. The estimated revenue of the colony for 1889 is $4,389,339, and the expenditure $3,977,825. The accumulated surpluses amount to $1,773,415. The total value of the imports in 1987 was $142,322,920 as compared with $121,544,218 in the previous year, and of the exports $121,341,211 as compared with $104,122,274 in 1886. About two- thirds of the trade belongs to Singapore. The population according to the census of 1881 was 423,384, and is now estimated at over 500,000.

SINGAPORE.

The town of Singapore, situated on the southern shore of an island of the same name in lat. 1 deg. 16 min. N. and long. 103 deg. 35 min. E., is the seat of government of the Straits Settlements.

The Island of Singapore is about 27 miles long by 14 wide, and is separated by a narrow strait about one or two miles wide from the territory of Johore, which occupies the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. Originally taken possession of in 1819 by Sir Stanford Raffles, it was, until 1823, subordinate to our then settlement in Sumatra. In that year it became an appanage of the Indian Government in which condition it remained until 1867, when it was placed under the Colonial Office in conjunction with the other Settlements above mentioned.

The town proper extends for about four miles along the south-eastern shore of the island, spreading inland for a distance varying from half to three-quarters of a mile, though the majority of the residences of the upper class Europeans lie, as a rule, much further back, within a circle with a radius of three and a half miles from the Cathedral. This portion of the Settlement is almost entirely level, the highest hill in the island, indeeÎ, about seven miles from the town, only rising to a height of 500 feet. The country roads are well kept, and, thanks to the luxuriance of tropical vegetation, abound in shade. The town streets, on the other hand, though wide and well metalled, are, as regards architectural matters, drains, and gutters, no great credit to the Municipality which has them in charge. Filth and obstructions of all sorts distinguish the native portion of the town, while as compared with nearly every other Eastern city in European hands, the buildings of the business quarters are somewhat shabby and mediocre. The Goverument Offices, Police Quarters, Magistrates' Courts,