Directory_and_Chronicle_1902 — Page 1075

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SINGAPORE

The largest feline animal indigenous to the island is a small leopard, called by the Malays harimau-daan, that is, "the branch" or climbing tiger. But the tiger, an animal unknown to the island in the earlier years of the British Settlement, made its first appearance five or six years later. It seems to have crossed over from the continent, attracted no doubt by the sound of human voices and the lowing of animals. It multiplied greatly, and was supposed to destroy yearly from two to three hundred persons, proving the greatest bane of the Setlement. Large rewards have always been offered for the destruction of tigers ($50 per head), and a good number were captured by pitfalls, but all attempts at their extermination were for many years unsuccessful. The spread of population, however, had its natural result; and although specimens are occasionally met with which have swum the narrow strait between the island and Johore, there are not probably more than half-a-dozen now existing in the jungle. Of the natural family of Mustelide there are two in Singapore-the musang of the Malays (Paradoxurus musanga) and the binturung (Ictides ater), of the size of a badger. Otters are occasionally seen along the coasts, but are rare. The wild hog is numerous, and there are five species of deer, the usual ones of the Peninsula and Sumatra, from the rusa, of the size of a heifer, to the pelandok, which is hardly as large as a rabbit. Among mammals, one species of bat is often to be seen, the same which is so frequent in almost all parts of the Archipelago, the kalong (Pteropus javanicus). This is about the size of a raven, and a troop of them in flight has very much the look of a flock of crows, and by a stranger may be easily mistaken for one. Among reptiles, crocodiles are common in the salt-water creeks and along the shores of the island, but, having an abundant supply of fish, are not troublesome to man. The Iguana lizard, the bewak of the Malays, is not infrequent, and the noisy house lizard or tokay, the take of the Malays, so common in Penang and so much more so in Siam, is also found in Singapore. The esculent turtle is very abundant along the shores of Singapore and the neighbouring islands, and its use as food being restricted to the European and Chinese population, it is the cheapest animal food in the market, one of the largest, weighing several hundredweight, selling for $2 or 83. Of snakes, forty-four species have been found to exist, of which fourteen are more or less venomous. The well-known cobra (Naia tripulians) possesses the peculiar property of ejecting venom from its mouth. The Malays say there is no cure for its bite. Those killed have measured from 44 to feet in length. The reptile, being slow and sluggish, is easily overtaken and killed. When attacked, it erects the body and dilates the skin on either side of the head, uttering a noise like that of an irritated cat. If attacked, it throws, to the distance of from 6 to 8 feet, a venomous fluid of a most poisonous quality, even should it only enter the eye or touch the mucous membrane or any open sore. The hamadryad (Ophiophagus elaps) exists, but is fortunately not common. The bungarus is the only other venomous snake of large size; but pythons of considerable length-up to 22 feet-are frequently captured. Fish and crustaceans are in great plenty, and some 200 species will be found named in the published lists. About half-a-dozen of these are excellent for the table, fully equal to the best fish of our own coasts. Among the best is the white pomfret of Europeans, the bawalputeh of the Malays, of richer flavour than our soles, though less luscious than the turbot, and the ikan merah, resembling the sam-lai

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Singapore offers but few points of salient interest to visitors, the Botanical Gardens at Tanglin, the Waterworks in Thomson Road, and the Raffles Library and Museum being its only show places. A railway across the island was sanctioned by a the Legislative Council in 1899, and is now under construction. This line of fourteen miles may be the first section of a great Malay Peninsula and India Railway, passing through and opening up the countries of Johore, Malacca, the Native Malay States, some Siamese territory and Burma, on to Calcutta. The distance from Singapore to Calcutta is just over 2,000 miles.

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