eman, however, the colony is chiefly indebted for the many
excellent roads on the island, and the carrying out of the disposition
of town allotments, projected in the first instance by Sir Stamford
Raffles himself, in his instructions to the Committee appointed for the
purpose shortly after the settlement was founded.

Mr. G. D. Coleman died on the 27th March, 1885, and the newspapers of
the day, in regretting his death, brought about by hard work and
exposure in the public service, spoke in the highest terms of his
ability as an architect and surveyor, and Superintendent of Convicts.

Chapter V

SINGAPORE (_Continued_)

There were then about 1,100 or 1,200 Indian convicts in Singapore,
divided into six classes, and employed in various ways as already
narrated, but the following extract from _The Anecdotal History_ is
worth quoting verbatim:

"Singapore, Malacca, Penang, and Maulmein were the Sydneys of
India. There are upon an average about 1,100 to 1,200 native
convicts from India constantly at Singapore. These are employed
making roads and digging canals; and, undoubtedly, without them
the town, as far as locomotion is concerned, would have been
now but a sorry residence. They are secured within high walls,
and although a few now and then escape, they meet with such
rough treatment from the Malays on the Peninsula, that they
find it commonly the most prudent course to return, or allow
themselves to be brought back. The native of India accommodates
himself more easily to banishment than a European does, because
his ideas lead to predestination, and his habits are simple.
In former days, when convict discipline was not so well
understood as it is now, the convicts transported from India
used to traffic and amass money; banishment was in some cases,
perhaps, sought for, and crimes were, it is feared, sometimes
committed by natives to obtain it; but the felon must now
expect to be kept in his place and hard at work. Still, the
convict whose period is short, contrives to save something out
of his allowance, and on the expiration of his term he
generally sets up as a keeper of cattle, or a letter-out of
carriages and horses; and undoubtedly some of these men are as
well, if not better behaved than many of their native
neighbours of higher pretensions. There are regulations by
which the convict is encouraged by