We returned home without any further addition to our stock of game,
but highly delighted with our agreeable trip.
Although Singapore is a small island, and all means have been used
and rewards offered for the extirpation of the tigers, they have
failed. Government gives a premium of a hundred dollars, and the
Society of Singapore Merchants a similar sum for every tiger killed.
Besides this, the valuable skin belongs to the fortunate hunter, and
even the flesh is worth something, as it is eagerly bought by the
Chinese for eating. The tigers, however, swim over from the
neighbouring peninsula of Malacca, which is only separated from
Singapore by a very narrow channel, and hence it will be impossible
to eradicate them entirely.
The varieties of fruit found at Singapore are very numerous and
beautiful. Among the best may be reckoned the mangostan, which is
said to grow only here and in Java. It is as big as a middling-
sized apple. The rind is a deep brown on the outside and scarlet
inside, and the fruit itself is white, and divided naturally into
four or five sections: it almost melts in the mouth, and has an
exquisite flavour.
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