The currency of commerce is the Spanish dollar; but the official currency of govern ment is the rupee. The Chinese pecul, of 133k lbs. avoirdupois, which is divided into 100 cattics, is the standard of weight. The population of Singapore is perhaps the most heterogeneous in the world, comprising at least 16 nationalities, speaking different tongues. The Malay, however, soft and easily acquired, is the recognized medium of communication between all classes. Tne population, which is increasing, amounted in 1871 to 97,111, of whom 61,752 were in the town of Singapore and its environs, 31,235 in the country, and 4,124 on board of vessels. According to the census report for that year, the various races stand to each other in the following proportion: Europeans any Americans, 1946; Chinese, upward of 54,000; Eurasians. and Jews, 2,285; Malays, and Klings or immigrants from southern India, 37,000. Of the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, not a trace remains; but similar tribes are still to be found in small numbers in several parts of the peninsula. Of the native population, the Chinese are the most useful part; they form almost the only body of trustworthy native mer chants, in the proper sense of the word, and are freely trusted to large amounts by Euro pean importers; and it may be doubted whether, as a commercial body, they are, on the whole, more deficient in morality than many European communities. The laws are those of Great Britain, with some modiffations; the court is that of a recorder. Singapore being i a free port, the revenue is raised by inland excises on opium and spirits. Singa pore s the seat of government for the Straits settlements (q.v.), which, on April 1, 1S67, were transferred from the control of the Indian government to that of the secretary of state for the colonies.
The town of Singapore, which, as we have seen, contains two-thirds of the whole population of the settlement, is situated at the mouth of a small river, on the Singapore side of the island. It is the seat of government for the whole of the Straits settlements. Its appearance is of a mixed oriental and European character; the streets are generally wide, and kept in good order, and in 1864 the town was lighted with gas. There is an
efficient police, and the sanitary arrangements of the town are good. The municipal council consists of public officers and ratepayers.
Singapore possesses two fine harbors; one opposite the' town, which, although little more than an open roadstead, is a safe and convenient anchorage, where ships load and discharge by means of lighters; the other is about 3 m. w. of the town, and is land - locked, and capable of admitting the largest vessels. Along its shores, extensive wharves have been erected by steam companies and individual merchants; and it is probable that when communication by railway with the town is established, the old harbor will be little used. There are several fortifications commanding the harbor and roads, but the increasing commercial and political importance of the place calls for a still stronger naval and military station. Singapore being within 80 m. of the equator, has little or no variety of seasons; the climate, although hot, is healthy; the temperature ranges from 71° to 92°; rain falls more or less on 200 days of the year, and• the extent of the fall is about, 87 inches. The soil of Singapore is not fertile, although the climate is such as to cover it with a rich and beautiful vegetation. The nutmeg was at one time suc cessfully cultivated, but most of the trees having unaccountably died, this has been., abandoned, and husbandry is now confined to the cultivation of the cocoa-nut, the pep per-vine, and gambir•plant, and to the raising of sugar-cane and vegetables for local con sumption. The curse of Singapore is the tiger. It is estimated that 300 Chinamen and other natives are carried off yearly. Turtle are abundant on the shores, and form the cheapest animal food in the bazaars.—See Thomson's Journal of the Indian Archipelago; J. Crawford's Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries; J. Cameron's Our Thspieal Possessions in Malayan India. '