28 JOURNAL, NATUBAL HIST. SOCIETY OF SIAM. Vol. I. 



In the padd}' plains are chiefly Siamese, with colonies of Lao 

 Puan and Lao Wiang intermixed ; and, usuall}^ on the outskirts of the 

 true plains, are found colonies of Lao Song, easily recognised by their 

 distinctive dress and dwellings. 



The thii'd class of country is sparsely populated and is chiefly 

 used by the inhabitants of the plains for the extraction of building 

 material and fish stakes for export to the coast. 



In the fourth class are found a few scattered Kariang hamlets ^ 

 while in the dense evergreen forest, comprising the fifth class, are 

 found the Karangs, who are really primitive Kariangs, using a some- 

 what different dialect and who, as a rule, cannot speak Siamese and 

 sometimes fly from their dwellings on the approach of strangers. 



The Coast Line, 



In March 1909 I made a trip of some two weeks duration from 

 Samut Song Kram to Petchaburi in small open boats, the coast lino 

 about there being only defined by the outer verg^e of m--ingroves, which 

 are extending steadily seawards, and at low tide the mud flats ai'e 

 exposed for upwards a kilometre in breadth. At such times the fisher 

 people go mud-sledg-ing for shell fish, the sledge being composed of 

 a box nailed to a plank, and the fi~lier, kneeling on the plank, uses one 

 foot as a propeller. 



South of Lat. 13^ 10' N. the character of the coast changes, 

 until in Lat. 12° 40' the limestone crags, which follow a general trend 

 8. S. E., form seacliffs and islets. Between these points the coast is 

 slowly eroding, judging from the Sugar-Pahn trees I found either 

 destroyed or growing on the verge of the sandy beaches. Having 

 been warned that nothing lived on the mud coast, except mosquitoes, 

 I foolishly took no gun. 



At the mouth of the Meklong or Katbnri river I saw large 

 families of Otters ( species unknown ) playing on the mud banks and 

 among the mangroves at low tide ; and along the coast, and principal- 

 ly in the creeks in the extreme N. W. corner of the Gulf, found the 

 Crab-eating Macaque (M. cynomolgus) acting up to its trivial name — 

 eating crabs and other small denizens of the mud flats, and general- 

 ly enjoying itself swimming snd diving in the brackish creeks. The 

 fisher people complain that these monkeys frequently steal rice and 

 other edibles from their houses. Whether they also steal drinking 

 water, which the inhubitanls have to bring from a considerable dis- 



