During the year 1845 the Bukit Timah Road was opened up by convict labour between Bukit Timah and Kranji, so that the produce hitherto carried by water to Singapore from the neighbouring country of Johore could now be brought into town by road, while at the same time land was thus opened up for cultivation. The convicts were also employed in this year in constructing a road to the summit of Telok Blangah Hill, now called Mount Faber, for the purpose of building there a signal station, that upon the island of Blakan Mati having proved unhealthy, due, as it was said at the time, to malaria from the enclosed marsh at the back of the island, and to the tainted air from decaying pine-apple leaves, which were left by the Malays, who cultivated the fruit upon all the available soil. Pine-apple growing has been largely extended in this island, as is now generally known at home; and as it is a source of some wealth to the colony, it may be incidentally mentioned in this running history of the place, and more particularly in reference to the fact that the Indian convicts upon ticket of leave have been often employed in its culture in order to earn a daily wage. The plant that produces the pine-apple known as the "ananas," or by the Malays as "nanas," grows literally wild upon the hills on Blakan Mati Island, and other islands round about Singapore. It delights in a moist climate, and here it has it to perfection, with just enough heat to help its growth. There is little or no trouble in its propagation, for after the apple is sufficiently ripe and cut, the crown that surmounts the fruit is planted, and a new plantation soon springs up. There is, however, some difference in the sweetness and flavour of the fruit, according to the exposure to which it is subjected, those having the benefit of the sun being preferred. The first to export the tinned fruit to Europe was a Frenchman named Bastiani,[5] who succeeded far beyond his expectations, and the industry has since been taken up largely by the Chinese in Singapore and Johore. [Footnote 5: He was known to both of us when he commenced the undertaking.]