SINGAPORE.

Wellington Independent, Volume VIII, Issue 763, 2 February 1853, Page 4

SINGAPORE.

- The following extracts arc from the Singapore papers received by the Chusan:

CoMiiuiicE ov Sin'gapohk.—The accompanying- tabular statement, showing the result of the trads of Singapore fo ,- the official years 1851 -52, has been communicated to us by the hoti. the Resident Councillor. It is gratifying to find that notwithstanding the large increase, of upwards of three millions of rupees exhibited by the returns of ISoO-Sl, those of '185 i-52 show the trade is still progressiva. The whole trade of lbol-6'2 was as follows :—- - Merchandise Treasure '""""' Total . Imports 33,011,511);.:3,570,704..28,083,303 Du. to. Pinang & Mitluoeii .. 3,2H0,3fii:. 100,948.-. 3,00f1,G09 Kxporis 30,603,740. .4,347,503. .35,041.843 Do. to IMnang ' & MiUnuctt .. 1,370,040.. 1,019.434.. 2,390,070 Gmnd total ra.d!Vlsl,3o(i. .0,837,030. .08,05f),335 Trade of 1850-51 50,072,880 Increase in 1851-93, rupees .. 3,316,339 The trade of 1851-52 is the largest which lias ever been reported.— Singapore Free Press. Destructive Frr.E. —On the evening of Thursday, the 16th inst., a fire broke out in 23, Arab-street, Carnpong Jawa, about 7-o'clock, which speedily spread among the atlap and wooden houses in that quarter,'rendering all attempts to cheek it iv the outset unavailing. The police and convict fire engines were in attendance, and succeeded in saving the Sultan's, mosque and a number of houses behind it, which were in much danger at one lime. Tho.five was got under by 10 o'clock. A detachment of military were on the-spcs to preserve order. All the houses destioyed were of wood or attap, which will aecouut for the rapidity with which the fire did its work. The number of houses burned amounted to 135, of which 101 were inhabited by Javanese, 21 by AT'ilfiys, 8 by Chinese, and 5 by Klings.-' The number of persons burnt out are reckoned-at 1500. A good deal of pillaging took place, and several attempts were made to break into houses at a distance from the fire.—lbid.

China. -By the P. & O. Company's Steamer Ganys, Captain Purchase, we hayo-Hcugkoiig papers to the 28th September. The rebellion in China still continues without either party apparently gaining any advantage. The United States squadron remained at Canton, and it appears doubtful' whether it will proceed to Japan. 11. M. S. Serpent is paid to have received orders to accompany the American vessels.— lbid, Oct.B. The Choi.kiu. — By recent arrivals .we have Piiiaiiff Gazettes to the 18th September. Cholera had been making considerable ravages on the island and in Province Wollesley. We find 40 deaths recorded in the police reports as having Occurred in Pinang, and, a number of

! persons had beencured by the administration of pills, prepared by Dr. Rose, civil surgeon.— S. Fres Press, Oct. 1.-— Cholera, we regret to say, has made its appearance" at Malacca. Four persons died from' it on the 30lh September.— Ibid, Oct. ].—Cholera is stated to be raging at Bukit Batu, in the .Siak territory,, from 10 to 15 persons dying, daily. —Ibid, October 22. DiispBRATK Struggle in a Chinese Passengbh Boat.—VVe find the following daring outrage .recorded in the China Mail of Out. 14:—"The Macao passage boat No. 4, which left Hongkong on Monday evening, was the scene of a desperate encounter more worthy of commemoration than some of the " brushes " betweeu men-of-war and pirates, real or supposed, which we occasionally read of. Besides a crew of eight persons, and upwards of twenty passengers, who were known or had paid before starting, there were fifteen who had neither money nor buggaga, but promised to settle on amval at Macao. As usual in such cases, they were shut into a particular part of the bin., . . Nest morning, whan the boat was opposite Tai-yu-shan,. four of the men were allowed to come on deck, and while the others wore pretending to wash their faces, ono quietly set his confederates below at liberty. There wore amoug6t them four double swords, which , had been concealed, and eight of the villains being thus armed, they fell upon the crew and passengers, most of whom were asleep. The alarm was given by the captain, who, with such of his crew as were at hand, fought gallantly. After being desperately wounded, he continued to encourage both passengers and crow and with such success, that after four besides himself were, it is thought, mortally wounded, and four men severely hurt, the true man proved more than a match for the rogues, and drove twelve of them into the water, having wounded and made prisoners of the other three, who about eight o'clock on the morning of Tuesday the sth, were brought to Macao and banded over to the authorities there. The wounded men were all taken to the hospital, so rare of them —the gallant master of the boat being one—with little hope of recovery."—S. Free Press.

Java.—Unusually heavy rains fell in the residency of Sanmrang, from the 30th of July lo the 10th of August, which caused the rivers to ovei'fiow their banks, and covered the greater part of the second crop of rice, so that little can ho expected from the harvest. A great deal of the siigftr crop was also much damaged, in J"n[Kirri-"a_(ry.eat..<lca! of rain had also fallen, which it was feared would be very prejudicial to the prbspeci.s of the sugar planters. In the residency of Bagelan, the iisltls of tobacco, cachang, and ketela, were under water, and ie was feared that the crops of these articles would be spoilt. In Deraak and Grobogan five to six thousand bouws of the second crop of rice had been destroyed by the, heavy rains, and the tobacco crop would proba-' bly be very much injured. From Burteuzorg it is reported that four rivers in the district of Jassiuga had overflowed their banks, in consequence of the unusually heavy rains, and dove considerable damage iv some karnpongs, besides carry--' ing away v bridge ou the highway "to i3atiim. Two men. are stated to have been drowned.—S. Free Press.

SiAVBitY in Java.—The following is translated from the Java Bode of Saturday, Oct. 9 : —" Yesterday morning, at a public auction, a circumstance occurred, which appeared to us very remarkable and impressive. Three families of slaves belonging to the estate of the late Tan Eng Nio, a Chinese lady, were to be sold to the highest bidders. When the .sale was at out to commence, the twelve slaves stood up, and addressing , the uncommonly large assemblage, bogging pardon for the liberty, displayed a few rupees they had scraped together, and besought the favour to be permitted'to come forward to bid with the rest for the purchase of their liberty. Shame prevented their speaking loud, so that yovy few of those in their immediate neighbourhood heard the request. The Government broker, E. S. Voute, however, stepped forward and made known their request in a loud voice, ending by beginning to bid on their behalf. Although almost the whole of tho Chinese population were present, not a single voice was raised against him, so that one family purchased its liberty for f. 20, the next Tor f. 12, and the third f. 2 ! The scene was indeed impressive. — Singapore Free Press.