of the Malayan Peninsula. 409 
have passed under my observation. . The Coluber tigrinus, or 
tiger-snake, is one of the most brilliant of the species, being 
striped like a tiger, as its name imports, and the head being 
beautifully variegated with yellow marks resembling Persian 
characters; and along the belly runs a chain of bright scarlet 
spots, every four being disposed in diamond squares ; the Co- 
luber porphyriacus ; the Coluber purpurascens ; the Coluber made- 
rensis ; the Coluber schokari; the Coluber ahetula, or whip-snake ; 
the Pseudoboa lineata of Cuvier, or Boa lineata of Shaw; and the 
following three, which I could not class by means of ‘ Gmelin’s 
System,’ and which, from my not having ‘ Stark’s Elements’ 
at hand at the time of examination, and not having the specimens 
by me now, I am equally at a loss to arrange ; viz. Coluber ; 
this snake is six feet long; plates of the belly 161; scales under 
the tail 59; pale yellowish brown; sides marked with equilateral 
triangular white spots placed equidistant from each other; in- 
habits the jungles of the peninsula. Coluber ; plates of the 
belly 184; scales under the tail 34; length three feet eight 
inches ; body thick; above bluish black, beneath white; scales of 
the back hexangular with paler edges. Coluber ; plates of 
the belly 172; scales under the tail 125; two feet long, slender; 
tail one-third of the whole length, tapermg; above brown ash, 
with a black stripe leading from the eye to the shoulder, a few 
minute bluish green specks intermingled with the stripe; a white 
stripe along each side, growing yellowish towards the head ; 
beneath white, terminated on each side by a black filiform line. 
The Anguis hepaticus is also found in the woods. 
The Zygena vulgaris, or hammer-headed shark, is caught in 
great abundance and exposed in the.markets, constituting the 
food of a large proportion of the lower orders; the Pristis cir- 
ratus, or cirrated saw-fish; several species of the Sclerodermi 
family, which are eaten by the natives, although their flesh is 
not in great esteem ; the Clupea chinensis, or Indian sprat, and a 
great variety of others: those however most in esteem for Euro- 
ean tables are the Pleuronectes bilineatus, or Indian sole; the 
black and white pomfret; the Polynemus paradiseus, or Ikan 
kuru; the seer fish, &c.,—all of which are remarkably fine. 
Of shell-fish there are but few varieties, and of those the only 
edible ones are oysters*, crabs, the common and the land, or 
violet, the cockle, and the muscle. The Monoculus Cyclops, which 
is a singular sea-insect, having a bivalve shell about a foot in dia- 
meter, is eaten by the lower orders. Prawns are in abundance. 
The Cancer Bernhardus, or hermit-crab, is remarkable for its 
* Crabs of course belong to the crustaceous class of invertebral animals, 
as oysters do to the conchiferous class; but I introduce them here by the 
term shell-fish, as they are designated in common parlance. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xvii. 2F 
