Directory_and_Chronicle_1891 — Page 713

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 or Keeling Islands, and Christmas Island, recently 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 revenue of the colony for 1891 is estimated at $3,975,061, and the expenditure at $4,378,391. The accummulated surplus balance to the credit of the Colony on the 1st January, 1889, was $1,359,734. The total value of the imports in 1889 was $156,199,061 as compared with $159,746,590 in the previous year, and of the exports $133,219,281 as compared with $134,208,435 in 1888. 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 550,000.

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. 53 min. E., is the seat of government of the Straits Settlements.

The Island of Singapore is about 27 miles long by 14 wide, containing an area of 306, or, with the adjacent islets, 223 square miles, and is separated by a narrow strait about three-quarters of a mile wide from the territory of Johor, which occupies the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. Originally taken possession of in 1819 by Sir Stamford 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, indeed, 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, not much credit to the Settle- ment. Dirt and obstructions of all sorts distinguish the natire portion of the town, while as compared with nearly every other Eastern city in Eur pean hands, the build ings of the business quarters are somewhat shabby and mediocre. Government House, the Government Offices, Police Barracks, Magistrates' Courts, Post Office, Library and Museum, and Town Hall, however, are fine buildings, while the Settlement possesses a handsome Club which compares favourably with any in the East. A fine bronze statue of Sir Stamford Raffles stands on the Esplanade, facing the sea.

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