THE ZOOLOGY OF KOH SAMUI AND KOH PENNAN. 



I. INTRODUCTION. 



By H. C. ROBINSON, c.m.z.s., m.b.o.u., Director of Museums, T.M.S. 

 "TN view of the interesting results yielded by the zoological 

 exploration of the Tioman group of islands off the coast of 

 Johore and Pahang on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula, it 

 was thought that a similar investigation of the islands lying oif the 

 Bight of Bandon in the north-east of the Malay Peninsula might 

 prove equally profitable. With the permission of His Excellency 

 the High Commissioner, Malay States, and the Chief Secretary, 

 Federated Malay States, and provided with introductions from the 

 Siamese authorities, an expedition was arranged by the Federated 

 Malay States Museums in the early part of 1913 and large collections 

 of mammals and birds and smaller ones of plants and reptiles were 

 made on the islands. 



The collections, though in some v,'a3-s disappointing, are sufficiently 

 interesting to merit description in detail, and full lists are given in 

 the succeeding pages, which are prefaced by the following short 

 account of the general character of the islands, which have been 

 little visited by Europeans and are hardly, if at all, represented in 

 the local literature. 



Koh 1 Samui situated between the parallels of 9° 22' and 9^ 34' 

 N. and between longitude 99° 56' and 100° 07' E. is considerably the 

 largest island on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula, being only 

 approached in size by Pulau Tioman. It is situated well within the 

 ten-fathom line and at its nearest, is distant from the mainland about 

 nine miles, this distance -being bridged over by a chain of several 

 small islets. 



The surface is very irregular, rising to a maximum elevation 

 in the centre of the island of 2,200 feet, several other ranges 

 exceeding 1,500 feet in height. These elevations are mainly disposed in 

 long ridges, running roughly from S.E. to N.W., having large areas of 

 flat or gently undulating land, between the hills, which are very steep. 



On the east large areas are quite flat, having the appearance of 

 recent elevation ; near the coast they are sandy and devoted to 

 the cultivation of coconuts, but further inland the soil is better and a 

 considerable amount of swamp rice is grown. On the north, west 

 and south, the ground is more broken and the hilly gTound comes 

 quite down to the coast. There are several streams of permanent 

 water, some of considerable size, but in the dry season, which was 

 the time of our visit, those on the eastern side were much diminished 

 in crossing the sandy coastal plain, and potable water was scarce and 

 poor in quality. 



' Koh or Kaw (Siamese) = Island. 



