sful. One is brought in now and then, for
which the captor receives his reward, and sells the flesh for some forty
dollars more; for the reader must know, that the flesh of a tiger is
readily purchased and eagerly eaten by the Chinese, under the notion
that some of the courage of the animal will be thereby instilled into
them. Some time before I left the Island, a Malay fell in with two tiger
cubs in the woods, and captured one of them: next day, he went back,
like a fool, alone, in search of the other, when the dam captured and
made a meal of him; a lesson to his countrymen, which has effectually
cured them of meddling with tiger-whelps. On another occasion, a
China-man, having set a trap for tigers, took a walk out about midnight,
to see if his plan had been successful. He paid dearly for his temerity,
being carried off by some prowling monster; and his mangled body was
found near the place a few days afterwards.

CHAPTER IV.

SINGAPORE.

TRADE OF SINGAPORE--CHINESE TRADERS--BUGIS
TRADERS--SIAMESE AND COCHIN CHINESE--ARAB
SMUGGLERS--BORNEO--TRADE WITH CALCUTTA--
COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS.

The trade of Singapore has, until within the last three years, gone on
increasing; but it has now, in the opinion of many people, reached its
ultimatum. The harbour is visited regularly by native vessels from all
the neighbouring islands, as well as from the Continent; and I shall
proceed to notice the nature and value of their trade, respectively,
class by class.

And first as to the China junks. These unwieldy vessels visit the Island
in numbers varying from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty
per annum, their size ranging from fifty to five hundred tons: they are
manned and navigated entirely by Chinese. They of course come with the
monsoon, and reach Singapore in the months of January, February, and
March. Their cargoes form a very material item in the trade of the
place, and consist of tea, raw silk, camphor, Nankin (both yellow and
blue), immense quantities of coarse earthenware, and supplies of all
kinds for the myriads of Chinese that reside on this and the
neighbouring islands. The season of their arrival is one of great
activity in the Chinese bazaars, and gives an impulse to the trade of
the importer of Manchester and Glasgow manufactures. Their commanders
and supercargoes are cautious dealers, and usually sound the market well
before disposing of their commodities. Sometimes, however, they
o