made; and the natives
of India are such wonderful imitators, as we all know, that they soon
were able to follow the copy we had given them. So the work progressed
from day to day, until it was ultimately finished in 1862. We found that
the skill of the convicts never failed them, and their capacity as
builders and carpenters never seemed to slacken.

In dealing with the interior walls and columns, we used what is well
known, though little employed with us in England, "Madras chunam," made
from shell lime without sand; but with this lime we had whites of eggs
and coarse sugar, or "jaggery," beaten together to form a sort of paste,
and mixed with water in which the husks of cocoanuts had been steeped.
The walls and columns were plastered with this composition, and, after a
certain period for drying, were rubbed with rock crystal or rounded
stone until they took a beautiful polish, being occasionally dusted with
fine soapstone powder, and so leaving a remarkably smooth and glossy
surface.

We have given the dimensions of this building, but we may remark that,
owing to the simplicity of its tracery and mouldings, it really appears
much larger than it actually is, and being built on an open space, its
proportions at once strike the eye of every visitor to the colony.

A peal of bells was added to the cathedral in 1889 by the munificence of
Mr. W. H. Read, C.M.G., who, with the late Mr. John Crawfurd, Mr. James
Guthrie, and others, was instrumental in bringing about the transfer
of these settlements to the Crown, and some of their portraits are now
in the Town Hall, including that of Mr. Thomas Scott, then M.L.C.

[Illustration: MORTAR MILL, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SINGAPORE.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE GARDEN BEING LAID OUT BY CONVICTS.

_Plate XVII._]

GOVERNMENT HOUSE (see Plate XIX.).

We have already mentioned that the transfer of the Straits Settlements
from the direct control of India to the Crown was effected on the 1st
April, 1867. The first Governor under the new _regime_ was Colonel Sir
Harry St. George Ord, R.E., who, upon his arrival in Singapore, had to
take up his abode in a hired house. He therefore lost no time in issuing
orders to purchase land, and to erect a suitable residence for himself
and for the future Governors of the colony. Plans were accordingly
called for from the colonial engineer (Major McNair), and they soon took
shape and were submitted by the Governor to the Legislative Council
without delay; and