696 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY. Vol. XXIII. 



season. Quite a short distance inland, however, the usual evergreen 

 jungle commences. 



Bankachon. — A very small Malay village (Bankasun of Davison), 

 composed of about twenty houses, situated at the high tide limit of 

 one of the many small creeks that flow into the Pakchan E,i\^er, about 

 1 7 miles inland from Victoria Point, With the exception of one 

 or two rubber plantations, this is the only populated spot between 

 the Point and Maliwun, The country is partly flat with mangrove 

 swamps on the Pakchan side of the village. On the other side the 

 hills, that run along the peninsula, here reach a height of less than 

 1,000 feet. With the exception of a little cultivation round the 

 village, the surrounding country is under dense evergreen jungle. 



Maliwun. — A small township, at the head of a creek flowing into 

 the Pakchan. It owes its present existence chiefly to the Bm-ma 

 Development Syndicate, which owns a large rubber estate, and the 

 Kyuli Tin Mines, about four miles further inland. The surround- 

 ing country, owing to old ' Taungya ' clearings, now under grass, 

 has a more or less open, park-like appearance, which is however 

 again surrounded by evergreen jungle, similar to that round 

 Bankachon. 



Victoria Island. — A small island, about 2 miles off" Victoria 

 Point. Eough, hilly country, but not rising to more than 200 feet. 

 Covered with the dense evergreen jungle that is characteristic of all 

 the islands of the Mergui Archipelago. A visit of only 2 days was 

 paid, but when the Archipelago is worked later on, a longer camp 

 might well be made. 



Mergui Town. — Head-quarters of the District, on an island in the 

 Delta of the Tenasserim River, only separated on one side from the 

 main land by a narrow creek. Situated in Latitude 12^ 26' N., Lon- 

 gitude 98° 36' E. It is protected by the hill island of Pataw, which 

 helps to form a good natural harbour, and farther out by a ring of 

 islands, including King Island, the largest in the Mergui Archipelago. 

 Population about 12,000. Around the town the country is largely 

 under cultivation, including the 'Crown' and several other Rubber 

 Estates. The remainder of the Island is covered with mangrove 

 and scrub jungle, 



Tenasserim Village. — Situated in Latitude 12° 6' N. and Longitude 

 99° 3' E., at the confluence of the great and little Tenasserim Rivers, 

 45 miles up stream from Mergui. The village, which now contains 

 barely 100 houses, is on low ground, surrounded by fruit orchards, 

 on the site of the ancient city of Tenasserim, which for several 

 hundred years was the principal port of Siam, and the gateway of 

 the most direct route to the Far East. There are still remains of 

 the old walls, enclosing an area of about 4 miles. The city is said 

 to have been founded in 1373, and was conquered and destroyed by 

 the Burmese in 1759. The surrounding country is covered with 



