the sum of £30,000 as the works proceeded and to supply any deficiency of funds, if necessary, by mortgaging; the water rate, which anyhow was to be levied, at the rate of 2 per cent, on the gross annual value of house property, according to assessment. An imperfect estimate of the cost of the materials ordered out from England, and the substitution of cement for mortar (ordered by the Colonial Office), caused an excess over the original estimate by a considerable sum. It was not till the close of the year 1863 that the works were completed so far as to allow of the water rate being levied. The scheme was, at the time, believed to have proved a great success. But the experience of subsequent years revealed defects of construction. Moreover, as the scheme did not provide for a sufficient quantity of water (during the dry season) to provide for the wants of a rapidly growing population, and left the town east of the clocktower entirely without water, it was even at this time foreseen that this scheme afforded but temporary relief.
The Praya works were, in public estimation, considered unsatisfactory. These works, which had been commenced in a desultory way by Sir J. Bowring, and in the face of obstructions of all sorts, were energetically pushed on by Sir H. Robinson and carried out in conjunction with the Crown tenants under special arrangements with reference to the land reclaimed. Landing piers for cargo boats were also provided. The sections extending for a mile and a half west of the parade ground and for a quarter mile east of the arsenal (there being a break between) were completed in 1862. The construction having, however, proceeded piecemeal, and under incompetent (Chinese) overseers, the work was palpably deficient in solidity and, although no typhoon had touched it yet, much of the work had to be done over again in 1863. Sir H. Robinson accordingly determined to rebuild the whole Praya wall and to use this opportunity to extend the Praya seawards by reclaiming from the sea a further strip of land 100 feet in width. The Surveyor General (W. Wilson) addressed the holders of marine-lots to this effect (August 15, 1864) stating the
