Directory_and_Chronicle_1889 — Page 719

SINGAPORE,

669

Post Office, and Town Hall, however, are fine buildings, while the settlement possesses a handsome Club which compares favourably with any in the East,

The population of Singapore Island according to the census taken in April, 1881, was 139,208, of whom 86,766 were Chinese and 22,114 Malays, and has since been steadily increasing. The Klings, with a very few Parsees, Arabs, &c.-forming perhaps a sixtieth part of the whole population-are as a rule peaceful and uvabi- tious, and give but little trouble. The European community consists in the main of English and Germans, and numbers, with 783 military, a total of 2,769. A large half-caste or Eurasian population, numbering 3,094, occupies the place elsewhere taken by the Asio-Portuguese. The population of the Town of Singapore is a boui 97.000.

Singapore possesses a handsome though small Protestant Cathedral with a tower and spire 204 feet high, a neat Presbyterian Chapel, and several Catholic churches of roomy proportions. The principal schools are those of the Raffles Institute and the Christian Bro' hers, the Raffles Girls' School and the Convent also providing for the education of girls of the Protestant and Roman Catholic persuasions. There is a country Club with a well built bungalow situated some three miles out of town, at which dances and amateur theatricals are frequently given. The German coùì- munity have a similar institution. The Raffles Library and Museum, moved in October, 1887, into the new building erected for them, are creditable and well kept institutions, the Museum having made very fair progress since its inception. The Library contains over 14,000 volumes, chiefly of standard modern literature, and includes the valuable philological collection of the late Mr. Logan.

Singapore boasts several hotels, but none of them at all equal to those of Hon;- kong or Penang. A public company is now being formed to establish a not one or a large scale. The Press is represented by the Straits Times and Sing spore Free Press (daily), weekly issues of both, and the Government Gazette, published weekly.

Singapore is well off for Docks. The Tanjong Pagar Company's premises lie about a mile to the westward of the town, a fine wharf affording berthage for twenty vessels at one time with sufficient water alongside for vessels of the heaviest draught, and protected by a breakwater from the swell from the roads and from the strength of the tides. There are commodious godowns erected on the wharf for the storage of goods. Coal sheds capable of storing 50,000 tons of the mineral adjoin the godowas, while a small steam railway essentially aids the labour of unloading vessels. The usual accompaniments are also to be found-two docks, one a graving dock 450 feet in length, a machine shop, boiler and masting shear, &c. The New Harbour Dock Company's premises, situated about three miles further West, include two docks of 415 and 450 feet in length respectively, with sheds, workshops, &c., as at Tanjong Pagar.

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The climate of Singapore is remarkable for its salubrity, and the island has been described by medical writers as the "paradise of children," infantile diseased seldom being at all malignant. Despite its proximity to the Equator, under normal circumstances a daily rainfall tempers the heat so thoroughly that many sleep beneath blankets. Droughts, however, have been experienced of from one to five months. The island is not exempt from the animal pests which usually infest intra-tropical locations. Tigers are occasionally seen; wild pigs and monkeys inhabit much of the jungle surrounding the country residences; while the much dreaded cobra has been killed in most of the compounds. The existence of the hamadryad has also been demon- strated, though this fierce reptile is fortunately but very seldom met with. It should be added that specimens of the formidable python, up to 24 feet in length, are found in the jungle, and that alligators and sharks inhabit the still waters of

the coast.

Singapore offers but few points of salient interest to visitors, the Botanical Gardens at Tanglin and the Raffles Library and Museum being its only show places. Tramways, which were opened in the middle of 1886, now run along the main thoroughfares, and gharries and jinrickshas also furnish means of conveyance.