Report on the sanitary condition of Singapore / by W.J. Simpson.

  • William Simpson
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the sanitary condition of Singapore / by W.J. Simpson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/232 page 4
    3. Topography. 4. Climate. basin, is to form the main feature of the new harbour works, having for their object the accommodation and shelter of the inter-colonial and other small steamers now exposed to the North-east monsoon. These are Government works. The town of Singapore extends along the coast from North to South for 9 miles and inland 44 miles, embracing a total area of 40*5 miles. This area is traversed by three series of hills, which, with their numerous diverging spurs and low-lying valleys, run from East to West and join an irregular range extending in a southerly direction and ending at Mount Faber. In the most southern valley formed by these hills is the Singapore River, in the next is the Brasali Bras River, now called the Stamford Canal, and in the third is the Rocliore River, all of which enter the sea in front of the town. The Rocliore River is joined at its mouth by the Kalang River. They are tidal rivulets, and as will be seen later swamps of an extensive character are formed in their vicinity, owing to tiie numerous creeks and low-lying land on their banks. The area drained by the Stamford Canal is an exception in this respect, because this waterway has been sluiced at its junction with the sea, and it has been converted into an open masonry storm-water channel. Similarly, that portion of Singapore near the mouth of the Singapore River is also an exception, owing to the banks and land adjacent having been raised at an early period to form the boat quay. The soil varies in character, but chiefly consists of clay ironstone or laterite, or sand, or a mixture of these with outcrops of granite, sandstone, shale and conglomerate. Situated in latitude 1-17 North, or less than 1^ degrees from the Equator, Singapore has all the characteristics of an equatorial climate in which it is alwavs summer. There are no distinct seasons, and its mean annual rainfall, which is distributed in every month throughout the year, is 95 inches ; some months have more cloudy and rainy days than others, and in these the days are cooler, but the difference between the mean temperature of the cooler months and that of the hotter months is not more than 4° F., while the range between the maximum and minimum temperature in any one month is seldom more than 14°, the annual mean being well under this figure. Occasionally there is a year in which the temperature is maintained at a considerably higher level than usual, and the range is greater, but on the whole the principal feature of the climate is its uniformity. The nights are generally comparatively cool, a sea breeze tempering the heat; sometimes there are calms, and then the air is oppressively hot. The annual mean temperature of 79° to 80° F., or in some years even higher, conveys very little conception of the kind of climate, except it be its monotonv. It is not as high as many of the more northern countries
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