Northern Portion of the Malay Peninsula. G67 



though we secured examples of a new species of another 

 genus of the latter group. 



At the time of our visit both islands were under the 

 suzerainty of Siam, Langkawi belonging to the vassal State 

 of Kedah, while Terutau was under Setul.. The inhabitants 

 of Langkawi were almost exclusively Malay, while those of 

 Terutau were mainly Siamese, or rather Sam-sams, a mixed 

 race of Malay and Siamese origin, speaking the latter language. 

 Both islands are visited during certain seasons by the Orang 

 Laut, or Sea Gypsies, a people akin to, if not identical with, 

 the Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago, who frequent the 

 coast as far north as those islands. These people, however, 

 are more commonly found on the Butang Group, which lies 

 about twenty miles to seaward of Terutau and is otherwise 

 uninhabited. We were not so fortunate during the brief time 

 at our disposal as to meet with any of these interesting folk. 



Since the date of our visit Langkawi, as part of Kedah, 

 has passed under the protection of Great Britain by the 

 Anglo-Siamese treaty of 1909, while Terutau, as an island 

 frequented by Siamese-speaking people, still remains an 

 intrinsic part of the Siamese dominions. 



We left Penang for Trang on November 25th in a small 

 and crazy Chinese steamer, much overloaded with material 

 for the railway now under construction from the port of 

 Trang across the Peninsula to join the main line from 

 Singapore to Bangkok, as provided by the Anglo-Siamese 

 Treaty. After a brief stop at two small ports in the State of 

 Perlis, Lunghu and Sungei Opis, which are mainly concerned 

 with the shipment of pepper, we arrived at the mouth of the 

 Trang River about 5 p.m. on November 26th. The navigation 

 along this coast is exceedingly intricate, no charts being at 

 present in existence, and within the last few months several 

 wrecks have taken place, sunken rocks and shoals being very 

 numerous. The scenery is extremely picturesque, as the 

 course lies through an archipelago of lofty limestone islands 

 of strange outline, covered with rich vegetation and fringed 

 with white coral beaches. Arrived at the river's mouth, we 

 promptly stuck on the bar, but as the tide was rising soon 



SER. IX. VOL. IV. 2 Y 



