of the Malayan Peninsula, 409 



have passed under my observation. The Colubei' tigrinuSy or 

 tiger-snake, is one of the most brilHant of the species, being 

 striped Hke a tiger, as its name imports, and the head being 

 beautifully variegated with yellow marks resembling Persian 

 characters ; and along the belly runs a chain of bright scarlet 

 spots, every four being disposed in diamond squares; the Co- 

 luber porphyriacus ; the Coluber purpurascens ; the Coluber made- 

 rensis ; the Coluber schokari ; the Coluber ahetula, or whip-snake ; 

 the Pseudoboa lineata of Cuvier, or Boa lineata of Shaw; and the 

 following three, which I could not class by means of ' Gmelin^s 

 System,' and which, from my not having ' Stark's Elements' 

 at hand at the time of examination, and not having the specimens 



by me now, I am equally at a loss to arrange ; viz. Coluber ; 



this snake is six feet long ; plates of the belly 161 ; scales under 

 the tail 59 ; pale yellowish brown ; sides marked with equilateral 

 triangular white spots placed equidistant from each other ; in- 

 habits the jungles of the peninsula. Coluber ; plates of the 



belly 184; scales under the tail 34; length three feet eight 

 inches ; body thick; above bluish black, beneath white; scales of 



the back hexangular with paler edges. Coluber ; plates of 



the belly 172; scales under the tail 125; two feet long, slender; 

 tail one-third of the whole length, tapering; above brown ash, 

 with a black stripe leading from the eye to the shoulder, a few 

 minute bluish green specks intermingled with the stripe ; a white 

 stripe along each side, growing yellowish towards the head; 

 beneath white, terminated on each side by a black filiform line. 

 The Anguis hepaticus is also found in the woods. 



The Zygcma vulgaris^ or hammer-headed shark, is caught in 

 great abundance and exposed in the markets, constituting the 

 food of a large proportion of the lower orders ; the Pristis cir- 

 ratus, or cirrated saw-fish; several species of the Sclerodermi 

 family, which are eaten by the natives, although their flesh is 

 not in great esteem ; the Clupea chinensis, or Indian sprat, and a 

 great variety of others : those however most in esteem for Euro- 

 pean tables are the Pleuronectes bilineatus, or Indian sole ; the 

 black and white pomfret; the Polynemus paradiseus, or Ikon 

 kuru ; the seer fish, &c., — all of which are remarkably fine. 



Of shell-fish there are but few varieties, and of those the only 

 edible ones are oysters*, crabs, the common and the land, or 

 violet, the cockle, and the muscle. The Monoculus Cyclops, which 

 is a singular sea-insect, having a bivalve shell about a foot in dia- 

 meter, is eaten by the lower orders. Prawns are in abundance. 

 The Cancer BernharduSj or hermit-crab, is remarkable for its 



* Crabs of course belong to the crustaceous class of invertebral animals, 

 as oysters do to the conchiferous class ; but I introduce them here by the 

 term shell-fish, as they are designated in common parlance. 

 Ann. ^ Mag, N, Hist, Volxw'ii, 2F 



