Plate XX.
Our lime and cement were made from coral, of which there were extensive reefs round the Island of Singapore, and some few "atolls" (a Cingalese word), or special coral islands. Coral is almost a pure carbonate of lime, and therefore very well suited for the purpose. It was broken up and heated in kilns constructed for the purpose. The cement was made from this lime, and from selected clay, in the proportions we had by careful experiments established, until we obtained a good and quick-setting article. It was made into small balls and then dried, and burnt in a special kiln, and afterwards well and finely ground and sifted by female convicts; its tensile strength was excellent.
Stone Quarrying (see [Plate XX].).
The stone we used for all our building operations was procured from an island between Singapore East and the mainland of Johore, and was named Pulo Obin. It is about three miles long and three-quarters of a mile broad. The stone was the best possible form of crystallised granite, fine grained, very compact and durable, grey in colour, with here and there black patches or nodules of hornblende. It occurs in large fluted boulders, and was wrought by the convicts by fire, or by blasting with gun-powder, or split by pointed chisels and large hammers. Its weight was 168 lbs. per cubic foot. The excellent quality of this granite led the Government of India to approve of the construction by the late Colonel Eraser, C.B., of several courses for the Alguada Reef lighthouse, which was built upon a dangerous reef off the coast of Burmah. Our department looked after the preparation of some of these courses, and forwarded them by ship to Burmah.
Well Digging.
It is known to everyone how capable the Indians are in the sinking of wells, and that with many Orientals it is a work of great merit to build one. As two were required for Fort Canning, we were soon able to select men fitted for this special work amongst the third class convicts, who, many of them, begged to be allowed to take part in their construction. After a careful set of borings, we came upon water at a depth of 180 and 120 feet respectively. They were eventually dug out to these depths, and steined to six feet in diameter by the use of sound and hard bricks from the convict kilns. The water rose to a height of 80 feet from the surface of the ground, and they were provided with lift and force pumps for the convenience of the troops in garrison. It was a heavy job for the convicts, but they performed it with eagerness and alacrity.
Footnotes:
| Archdeacon and Chaplain, Ven. John Perham; | |||
| Choirmaster, Mr. C. B. Buckley; | – | 1899. | |
| Organist, Mr. E. Salzmann. |
[11] Colonel Macpherson had seen as a young man the ruins of the old church and abbey of Netley, or "Letley," as it was originally called, from the Latin word "lætus," pleasant, and the Saxon word "ley," a field, and had been so impressed with the simple character and proportions of the Early English style of church architecture, of which this was an excellent example, that when called upon to plan a new church for Singapore, he, as we say, chose this as his model.