The town of Singapore is built upon an island, separated from the Malay peninsula by a narrow and scarcely navigable strait. The ancient capital of the Malayan Kingdom, or, as it was sometimes called, the Kingdom of Malacca, formerly stood upon the site of the present town. This old city was built in the twelfth century, and conquered by a chief from Java, who transferred the royal residence to Malacca. From that period its population and wealth gradually declined, so that in 1819, when the English took possession, there were but few vestiges of the former city, which indeed had become but a haunt for pirates, where, as well as in the neighboring islands and passages, they found a secure retreat from the vessels of the English and the Dutch sent in pursuit of them. The natives still offer for sale models of the various descriptions of the Malay war, pirate, and sailing proas; and most of them present exceedingly beautiful specimens of graceful form. So much was the Commodore struck with the beauty of the model of the sailing proa that he purposed sending one home to the New York yacht club.[1]
Summary
DescriptionNarrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China seas and Japan (1857) (14598056997).jpg
Text Appearing Before Image: py commodious and tasteful residences, built front-ing the bay. There is a striking contrast in the dwellings of those who havesettled in this thriving place, between the elegant and convenient town andcountry houses of the colonial ofl&cials and merchants, and the ill ventilatedand filthy domiciles of the Chinese, or the frail tenements of the IMalays.The latter ordinarily select some marshy ground in the suburbs, near a roador pathway, and rear upon piles their wooden houses, the only entrance towhich is by means of temporary bridges, often constructed of a single plank. The prosperity of Singapore, so apparent even to the casual observer, ismainly to be attributed to the sagacious and energetic Sir Stamford Eaffles,who pursued with untiring zeal, in spite of the opposition of many in high-er authority, his determined purpose of carrying out his favorite projectsof policy in the administration of the colony. The population at the period of the Mississippis visit was estimated at Text Appearing After Image:
'
Note About Images
Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
The categories of this image need checking. You can do sohere.
Please remove redundant categories and try to put this image in the most specific category/categories.
You can remove this template by clicking here (or on the first line).
Licensing
This image was taken from Flickr's The Commons. The uploading organization may have various reasons for determining that no known copyright restrictions exist, such as:
The copyright is in the public domain because it has expired;
The copyright was injected into the public domain for other reasons, such as failure to adhere to required formalities or conditions;
The institution owns the copyright but is not interested in exercising control; or
The institution has legal rights sufficient to authorize others to use the work without restrictions.
Please add additional copyright tags to this image if more specific information about copyright status can be determined. See Commons:Licensing for more information.
No known copyright restrictionsNo restrictionshttps://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/false