1899.] EEPTILES OF THE MALAX PEXINSULA A>"D SIAM. 609 



the various synonyms and a description of each species wiJl be 

 found ; I have only given other references and remarks on the 

 description of species where it seemed these were needed for ready 

 reference by other workers, or where they were made necessary by 

 the fresh material examined during the last few years. 



Part III. — List of Species, rvith Remarhs on their Localities, 

 Hahits, Life-coloration, Sfc. 



Order CHELONIA. 



General terms applied to all Tortoises and Turtles : — • 



Siamese. " Tow-darng-darng." 



Malay. " Koora-koora." 



Jahun. " Binku." (H. J. Kelsall, J. S. B. E. L. S., No. 26, 

 1894, p. 7.) 



All Tortoises, though not apparently considered actually sacred 

 animals, are held by many Siamese and Chinese in religious 

 veneration, and are kept and fed by the devout in temples and 

 private enclosures. In a Chinese temple in the valley of Ayer 

 Etam in Penang, in April 1898, I saw about fifty tortoises, 

 belonging to five species ; many of these had " chops " or Chinese 

 characters stamped on their shells. In Bangkok we were informed 

 that tortoises are kept in order to " make merit " with Buddha ; 

 anyway we noticed when living there that, however much our 

 Siamese water-carrier might neglect to bring water for our own 

 use or for other animals in captivity, he never forgot to replenish 

 the supply in the tank where our collection of live tortoises was 

 kept. Once at Ayuthia, in February 1898, I met a Chinaaian 

 carrying a fine tortoise, painted with the sacred yellow colour ; 

 though I offered him a large sum for the animal he declined to 

 sell it, as he had determined to give it to the shrine of the colossal 

 Buddha there. 



There is also a Chinese belief that a turtle can act as a sort of 

 " scape-goat," and take away a man's sins, if it is suitably inscribed 

 and set free. When one of these marked turtles is captured a 

 second time, it is considered more efficacious. And if a turtle is 

 caught whose " chops " show that it has been liberated thus twice, 

 it can be sold by the lucky finder for a very high figure to some 

 man who finds his past misdeeds to hang particularly heavy on his 

 conscience and wishes to have all mention of them erased from 

 "the recording anjjel's book." 



Suborder ATHECJi. 

 Family SPHAEGiDiE. 

 1. Debmochelxs coeiacea (L.). 



Dermochelys coriacea, Blgr. Cat. Chel. etc. p. 10 (skull fig. p. 9). 

 The Leathery Turtle mentioned as supposed to have been caught 

 near Singapore, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 857, has been found really local. 



