PROCKEDINGS OF THF. COTTESWOLD CLUB 299 



As regards the geological features of the country, little 

 of interest can he said. The rocks are chielly serpentine 

 and limestone ; and a small quantity of iron and copper 

 pyrites is found, hut not in sufficient amount to make it 

 worth while to work. Investigation has shown that 

 the Islands are sinking, and a sunk forest has heen 

 discovered. 



The forests of the present day cover the main portion 

 of the land, down to the very water's edge, and many 

 varieties of trees exist, the most valuable being the 

 Gurjan (Bomljax Malabaricum) which rises to a height of 

 200 feet, and the wood of which is hard, and straight in 

 the grain ; the growth is remarkable, as huge buttresses 

 are formed stretching out several feet from the trunk. 

 " Padouk " (Pterocarpus dalbergioides) is a hard wood, 

 and red like mahogany, and is the best the Islands pro- 

 duce. All the wood is felled under the superintendence 

 of the officials, and is shipped to Calcutta and London. 

 The Fauna are small, and of carnivora there are only two 

 species. The pig is peculiar to the Islands, and I am 

 informed by an authority on the subject, that he differs 

 from the ordinary pig in the following particulars : — tail 

 very short, covered with somewhat long and shaggy 

 bristles ; molars much less complex ; the hinder molar 

 above and below shorter than the two preceding molars 

 taken together. He is only 20 in. high at the shoulder. 

 I did not have the pleasure of seeing a live specimen, 

 though I saw a dead one being cooked, eaten, and disposed 

 of, after their own fashion, by the aborigines. 



Amongst the many fishes of these waters, one of the 

 most curious is the " mud skipper," or jumping fish, 

 (Periophthalmus Koelreuteri) having tw^o pectoral fins, and 

 great goggle eyes on the top of its head ; it is only about 

 three or four inches long, and lives as nearly out of the 

 water as it is possible to do, appearing to be quite happy 

 so long as a part of its tail is immersed. It is next to an 



