ABSTRACT
The strip of territory facing Pinang was ceded to the East India Company; it is British, and is called Province Wellesley. From England to Pinang, by way of the Suez Canal, is a voyage of about eight thousand miles, and the last stage of it, from Colombo to Achin Head, the northern point of Sumatra, is practically due east. Seventy miles south are just visible some islands off the coast of Perak, and the traveller who means to see Malacca, and prefers a journey by ship to one by rail, will appreciate their beauty on closer inspection. Singapore is 120 miles south-east of Malacca, a few miles north of the southernmost point in Asia; the island stands sentinel at the narrow gate which divides the Straits of Malacca from the China Sea. A dozen ocean-going steamers pass into or out of its harbours every day, and most of the vessels call at no other port in the Straits.
