138 



LIST OF MOLLUSCA COLLECTED DURING THE COMMISSION OF 

 H.M.S. " WATERWITCH " IN THE CHINA SEAS, 1900-1903, 

 WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. 



By Surgeon K. Huelstone Jones, M.B., R.N., and H. B. Preston, F.Z.S. 

 Read Uth May, 1904. 



The shells referred to in the present paper were collected by Surgeon 

 K. H. Jones, E..N., as opportunity occurred, in the various localities 

 which H.M.S. " Waterwitch " was employed to survey. These 

 localities were spread over about thirty-three degrees of latitude, 

 namely, from about 4° to 37° North, that is to say, from the boundary 

 between British North Borneo and Dutch Borneo, on the east coast 

 of the island, to the vicinity of Wei Hai Wei in Northern China. 



The localities examined were all at considerable distances from one 

 another, and include, in addition to those above mentioned, the island 

 of Hong Kong and a considerable portion of the adjoining mainland, 

 and the neighbourhood of Shanghai, with certain islands off the 

 coast of Chekiang, in which province Shanghai is situated. 



A somewhat more particular description of the above localities, with 

 special reference to their physical features, may not be here out of 

 place. It should perhaps be mentioned that all the places referred 

 to in this paper are in close proximity to the sea, if not actually on 

 the seashore. 



British North Borneo and the neighbouring islands are eruptive, 

 with rich alluvial deposits overlying their igneous rocks, and are 

 covered, except in those few spots where civilization has effected 

 a clearing, with luxuriant jungle. In Labuan, however, the old jungle 

 was entirely destroyed by fire some thirty-two years ago, and a good 

 deal of the native fauna disappeared after the disaster. Terrestrial 

 molluscs are undoubtedly plentiful in the old jungles, but are most 

 difficult to find. Marine molluscs swarm in the warm seas which 

 surround the great island and its smaller offshoots. 



The country round about the island of Hong Kong is rocky, 

 precipitous, and contains much waste land, although the natives manage 

 with infinite toil to cultivate large quantities of rice in the narrow 

 valleys, and by means of terraces on the steep hillsides, and, indeed, 

 high up the mountains. More than half the " Waterwitch's " com- 

 mission was spent either at Hong Kong or in the survey of the newly 

 acquired British territory on the maiuland adjoining, which therefore 

 received a large share of attention. Geologically this district is 

 composed of igneous rocks, sandstone, greenstone, and granite pre- 

 dominating ; and, like most localities in which these conditions exist, 

 it was not found very favourable for terrestrial mollusca. 



