24 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Boden Kloss, an Englishman of Sing- 

 apore who frequently accompanies Dr. 

 Abbott, 



The cruises are made in the Terrapin 

 a Singapore-built teak schooner, 67 

 tons yacht measurement, of which Dr. 

 Abbott is the captain and owner. She 

 is 65 feet long and Ki feet broad, and 

 draught is 7 1-2 feet. She is provided 

 with suitable equipments and the ar- 

 rangement of the <iuarters is such as 

 would be desirable for sailing in the 

 tropics The crew, five ordinary sea- 

 men, a " serang, " or boatswain and a 

 sailing master are Malays. Natives, 

 it is said, are far more satisfactory in 

 nearly every way on a small boat in 

 the tropics:' than are white men, even 

 if the latter could be obtained. The 

 Malays can put up with more restrict- 

 ed quarters, are less inclined to grum- 

 ble under peculiar circumstances, or 

 to be disobedient, are more at home in 

 every way in their surroundings, and, 

 most important of all, keep in good 

 health and can stand the sweltering 

 sun. A Chinese " boy " and cook are 

 also carried. 



The Terrapin is well provided with 

 places for storing the numerous speci- 

 mens which are collected on every 

 voyage. 



The schooner left Singapore on the 

 trip before the last in October, 1900, 

 cruised off the coast of Tenasserim, 

 and among the islands of Mergui arch- 

 ipelago. A few days were then spent 

 in the Malay peninsula, where several 

 wild deer and pigs were obtained. 

 After visiting High Island, where an 

 unsuccessful search was made for 

 skeletons of an animal known as the 

 sellung, and where a number of birds 

 and mammals were added to the col- 

 lection, the schooner left for the And- 

 aman Islands, which lie to the west of 

 the Malay peninsula, in the Bay of 

 Bengal. There are four large islands 

 in the group and many smaller ones. 

 They are excellent places for research 



far students in Natural history. Below 

 these are the Nicobar Islands, a small- 

 er group. 



The Terrapin cruised among both of 

 these groups, stopping here and there 

 to visit the natives and collect things 

 of interest. To a lover of natural his- 

 tory and ethnologj' nothing more like 

 a paradise could be imagined, it is 

 said. 



Hundreds of specimens were secured, 

 every one of which is at present mount- 

 ed or preserved in some way at the 

 United States museum. Little trips 

 into the interior were made, either on 

 foot or in boats, and explorations made 

 up small creeks or inlets. Photo- 

 graphs were taken, which to-day bring 

 back pleasant recollections, and are 

 very helpful to the curators of the 

 museum in their study. 



Not until April did Dr. Abbott leave 

 the islands and sail toward Sumatra 

 and for home. 



On his more recent trip he returned 

 to the same general region, though de- 

 voting his time to collecting ammig 

 the little islands just west of Sumatra. 

 The specimens which he secured here 

 are still being unpacked and mounted 

 in the museum. In a previous issue 

 of the " Star '' the domestic imple- 

 ments, weapons, decorations and 

 many other articles, showing the hab- 

 its and customs of the natives, were 

 descril)ed. But these are but a small 

 portion of the immense collection pre- 

 sented as a result of the cruise. 



In fact. Dr. Abbott's last contribu- 

 tion has provad to be so excellent 

 that, in reward for his unexampled 

 services to th eum, it is said 



there is a movement on foot to confer 

 upon him an honorary title in the in- 

 stitution. If no class now exists into 

 which he could be placed it is sup- 

 posed bv officials of the museum that 

 a new and separate one will be createil 

 in order that some recognition of his 

 services may be rwade.— WaxhiiHitdii 

 Star, A iigiis't iDo::. 



