Directory_and_Chronicle_1892 — Page 773

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

This Colony-now consisting of the island of Singapore, the province of Malacos, 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 1892 is estimated at $3,629,316, and the expenditure at $3,830,806. The accummulated surplus balance to the credit of the Colony on the 31st December, 1890, was $1,223,447. The total value of the imports in 1890 was $158,651,000 as compared with $156,199,061 in the previous year, and of the exports $137,725,000 as compared with $133,219,281 in 1889. About two-thirds of the trade belongs to Singapore. The population according to the census of 1891 was 506,984, as compared with 423,384

in 1881.

SINGAPORE

The town of Singapore, situated on the southern shore of an island of the same name in lat. 1 deg. 18 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 206, 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 native portion of the town, while as compared with nearly every other Eastern city in European 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 Railes stands on the Esplanade, facing the sea.

Singapore possesses a handsome though small Protestant cathedral called St. Andrew's Cathedral, built in 1861; it is in the Gothic style, with a tower and spire 204