74 MR. C. BODEN KLOSS ON 



built on a knoll at the southern end of the flat land : the house, 

 formerly known as ' Fort Anglais,' is now called ' Villa des Allies'. 



" Behind the plain rises a semicircle of hills, irregular in 

 height, sometimes steep, sometimes with a gradual slope : there 

 appears to be one low pass to the western side of the island. 



" Except for the plain and the neck of the peninsula which 

 forms the northern part of the island, the land seen was hilly every- 

 where and apparently not fertile: it seems to consist of many rocky 

 slopes and some precipices and, where wooded, there were apparently 

 growing only small trees, much wind-contorted and without much 

 undergrowth. 



" At the south of the island opposite Little Condore - which 

 has a high steep peak and some cliffs - there is a stretch of forest 

 on the lower slopes, but much of the island above this was practi- 

 cally naked. 



" The northern part of Pulo Condore has a lesser elevation 

 than the rest of that island except for the neighbourhood of the 

 settlement, and some of the hills behind, which seem to be forested. 



" The islets to seaward seemed to be very rocky and sterile, 

 the only woody growth being wind-twisted trees and scrub." 



There are no modern descriptions in English of the islands 

 other than that in the " China Sea Directory," but good accounts 

 have been given of visits in 1687 by Dampier (The Voyage round 

 the World); in 1780 by Captain James King, LL. D., F. R. S. (A 

 Voyage of Discovery into the Pacific Ocean, Vol III — Captain 

 Cook's Third Voyage); and in 1822 by Dr. George Finlayson (The 

 Mission to Siam and Hue) and by John Crawfurd, F. R. S. (Journal 

 of an Embassy to Siam and Cochin China).*" 



*In Staunton's " Embnssy to China,," under Lord Macartney, occurs 

 a short account of a visit paid in May 1793. Turtles are the only animals 

 mentioned. 



JOURN. NAT. HIST. SOC. SIAM. 



