It is not to be wondered at that the abuse of opium should be a fertile source of poverty, when so much of the wages of many of its votaries are devoted to it. This diseased habit is progressive, and the quantity taken must be daily increased to produce the necessary effects; but the capability of furnishing the means does not keep pace with the desire of consumption. The cooly, who, when strong and vigorous, could earn twenty-five shillings per month, has only to commence opium-smoking, and in two years he will not receive more than two-thirds of that amount, whilst he still smokes his quantity of opium; and as years roll on, he finds that, mainly on account of the vice he has adopted, he can no longer endure the toil that formerly was to him only as child’s play, the amount of excitement having still to be kept up under a decreased income, he has to lessen his expenditure for clothes, and then for food, and lastly, the quantity of opium itself; until worn out, exhausted, and diseased, he finds himself the inmate of a jail or a poorhouse. A sad reflection, truly, but a history repeated over and over again, with but little variation, in the lives of thousands of Chinamen and Malays. Were poverty to be succoured in places where this description of persons most do congregate, as it is at home, thousands would become public burdens; but there the hand of charity has been closed, and the springs of compassion for the poor dried up. In Singapore, it was not until the horrid spectacle of miserable Chinese daily crawling in front of their doors, exposing their loathsome sores and leprous bodies, and polluting the air they breathed; it was not until these wretched beings, without food or friends, and deprived of the power of supporting themselves, laid them down to die in the streets, of disease and starvation, that by the active philanthropy of two or three individuals a shed was erected to keep these paupers out of sight. When the novelty passed away, the philanthropy declined, and the monthly contribution dwindled down to about three pounds, which was the sum total of the public charity of the European residents in behalf of the diseased poor of Singapore. In this shed were to be found two classes of persons, united in the same individuals, the _diseased poor_. These are the only kind of poor that excite _any_ sympathy in such places, and an examination of the inmates of the _shed_ will give some insight into the propensities of this class. Out of 125 under relief at the time, 70 were opium-smokers and 55 were not (or would not acknowledge it). Of these 70, some before their admission, were reduced to the alternative of _Tye_ or _Samshing_, or no opium at all. The total consumption of these paupers before their admission amounted to upwards of four pounds (2022 grains) daily, giving an average daily consumption to each smoker of upwards of 28 grains, being nearly the average consumption of the opium-smoker in general, under more favourable