SIND 439 SINGAPORE then Sinclair has written a number of novels, none of which has attracted much attention. Among these are "The Indus- trial Republic" (1907) ; and "The Brass Check" (1920); the latter an alleged ex- pose of American journalism. SIND, SINDH, or SCINDE, a province of British India, in the N. part of the presidency of Bombay. It consists of the lower valley and delta of the Indus, and is bounded on the W. and N. W. by Baluchistan and Afghanistan; N. E. by the Punjab; E. by Rajputana; and S. by the Runn or Ran of Kach and the Indian Ocean; area, 46,980 square miles, pop. about 3,500,000. Divided into six districts : flaidarabad, Karachi, Shikarpur, Thar and Parkar, Larkhana and Upper Sind Frontier, and also includes the native state of Khairpur (6,109 square miles). The chief city and port is Kurrachee or Karachi, but the ancient capital Haidara- bad is still a populous town. The history of Sind is of little interest. It was subdued by the Mogul Emperor Akbar in 1580, since which period it has always been either nominally or really tributary. In 1739 it fell under the nower of Nadir Shah, but on his death it re- verted to the imperial sway of Delhi. From about the middle of the 18th cen- tury it was subordinate to Afghanistan. Civil dissension in the end of the 18th eentury led to the elevation of the Talpur dynasty of the "Ameers." The govern- ment then became a wholly unchecked military despotism, upheld by a feudal soldiery. The hostility displayed by the Ameers of Sind toward the British during and after their operations against the Afghans led ultimately to its invasion by British troops, and final conquest by Sir C. Napier's victory at Miani in 1843. Sir C. Napier was appointed its first governor, and it was soon after annexed to the presidency of Bombay. SINGAN-FTJ, the capital of the prov- ince of Shen-si, in northwest China. It was long the capital of the empire, and is still of strategic and commercial impor- tance. Silk, tea, and sugar are the prin- cipal articles of commerce. Pop. about* 1,000,000. SINGAPORE, a British dependency in Asia, the most important of the Straits Settlements; consisting of the islands of Singapore (27 miles long, 14 broad; area, 217 square miles), separated from the S. extremity of the Malay Peninsula by a strait only half a mile wide at its narrow- est, and of a great number of very small islands along its shores. The surface is undulating, the highest point reaching 520 feet only. The climate is hot and moist, but the soil is not particularly fertile; nevertheless the island is perpet- ually clothed with verdure, and yields good crops of coffee, pineapples, cocoa- nuts, aloes, and every kind of fruit, espe- cially East Indian fruit (e. g., mango- steen and durian). Gambier, pepper, and nutmegs used formerly to be the staple crops; but all three are cultivated to a much smaller extent than formerly. This island was purchased in 1824 from the Sultan of Johore for $62,500, and a life rent of $25,000. Pop. of island (1919) 369,777. SINGAPORE, the capital of the de- pendency of the same name, is the only town on the island. It occupies a pleas- ant site on the S. E. coast, on the Strait of Singapore, the principal waterway for vessels trading between eastern Asia and India and Europe. This city was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 as an em- porium for British trade in the East In- dies, and it has since that time advanced and grown in prosperity till it has become the most important trading-place in the S. E. of Asia, its only competitor being Batavia in Java, from which it is 600 miles distant. Singapore is a picturesque, well-built town, with fine public buildings and aU kinds of appliances in the nature of public works. It possesses a governor's residence, St. Andrew's Protestant cathe- dral (1861-1870), a Roman Catholic ca- thedral, Mohammedan mosques, Hindu temples, Chinese joss-houses, Raffles mu- seum (1823), the supreme law-courts, post-office (1883), hospitals, jail, bar- racks, and fine botanical and zoological gardens. It is defended by numerous bat- teries and forts, and is a naval coaling station and depot. The docks, stores, and dwelling houses extend for 6 miles or more along the sea front. The harbor is spa- cious and safe and remarkably easy of access, and its dock accommodation em- braces two graving docks, an admiralty dock, and several docks of the ordinary kind. The total annual trade of Singa- pore has increased at a remarkable rate since the city was founded. The imports in 1918 were valued at £67,219,285, and the exports at £57,940,969. The imports embrace nearly every kind of European manufacture, while the exports consist of the productions of the East Indies, China, Japan, and the islands of the Western Pacific. The tonnage of the vessels en- tering the port has been known to increase at the rate of 75 per cent, annually. The vessels of the P. and O. Company, and other large companies trading to China, Australia, and the East put in regularly at Singapore. The population has grown at the same rapid rate as the commerce: in 1824 the town had 10,603 inhabitants; in 1919 about 325,000. The death rate
