Miscellaneous. 317 



you hope on this point ; hut I must convey my conviction that the 

 worst is almost certain, but cannot with certainty be known until 

 the reinforcements to be despatched from this and Samarangin three 

 or four days arrive there, and enable Colonel Anderson, the present 

 acting resident, to recover Kalangan, or establish a communication 

 with it. I sincerely trust to be able to give you certain tidings by 

 next mail. 



" Not only at Kalangan have these terrors been enacted, but near 

 Poctoi Petak, in the missionary settlement, four missionaries, three 

 of their wives, and nineteen children have been sacrificed ; in fact, 

 the intention of the insurgents seems to have been (incited by some 

 priests lately returned from Mecca) to exterminate the whole of the 

 Europeans in that division of Borneo ; and in this they would have 

 fully succeeded, had the small force under Col. Anderson arrived two 

 days later, which alone enabled them to hold their ground at Ban- 

 jermassing. 



" I am well aware, my dear sir, that in affliction such as yours 

 human sympathy will not console you ; but that you may receive the 

 precious consolations of Him who is to be found of all who call upon 

 Him in time of trouble, is the earnest and sincere prayer of 



" Yours very truly, 



" Thos. Motley, Esq., Stanley Terrace, "Alex. Frazer. 



Douglas, Isle of Man." 



On the 1 8th of July another letter was received from Mr. Motley, 

 dated April 18th (the last he wrote), cautioning his father against any 

 anxiety on his account should any rumour of disturbances in Borneo 

 reach England, as he had himself heard some reports, which he did 

 not believe. Alas ! in twelve days more he had become a victim, 

 and, it is too probable, all he held most dear in this world. 



Philosophical Hall, Leeds, Aug. 11, 1859. 



On a New British Snake. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.'&c. 



The Hon. Arthur Russell has brought to the British Museum a 

 specimen of a female Coronella austriaca (Coluber hevis, Lacepede), 

 wbich was found near the flag-staff at Bournemouth in Hampshire. 



This snake is commonly found in company with the Lacerta stir- 

 pium, which has only been discovered in England in the same loca- 

 lity. They are ecmally generally spread and common in different 

 parts of Northern and Eastern Europe. The snake is said to feed 

 often on the lizard. It is curious that as yet the lizard has only 

 been seen in this single locality, though the sandy district in which 

 they are found forms a broad belt across the south of England. The 

 snake may have been overlooked as an Adder, as it is nearly of the 

 colour of the paler specimens (about the usual size) of that species. 

 It is easily known from it by the want of the lozenge-shaped spots 

 on the back, which are replaced in C. austriaca by three rows of 

 small darker spots, by the smooth sides, and the shielded head. 

 There is a dark blotch on the crown, and a dark streak under the 

 eyes on each side of the head. 



