Introduction. 



Xhe following notes may serve as an introduction to the scientific works on the 

 zoological collections made by the author in Siam in 1899 — 1900. 



«The Danish Expedition to Siam» had only two members, Mag. Sc. Johs. 

 Schmidt, as Botanist, and the author of those introductory remarks, Dr. Th. Mortensen, as 

 Zoologist. The expedition was made at the expenses of the Danish Government and the 

 Carlsbergfond. Further the East Asiatic Co. in Copenhagen gave us very great assistance, 

 and the Director of the Company, H. N. Andersen , Councellor of state, deserves our best 

 thanks for his liberality. But especially we are exceedingly obliged to H. Exc. Admiral 

 A. de BicHELiEu, who helped us in every way in Siam; to him it is mainly due that the 

 results of this little expedition are so valuable. 



On the 1 st of Oct. 1899 we left Copenhagen onboard S.S. «Siam» of the East Asiatic Co. 

 The passage took a rather long time, so we did not reach Bangkok till the 12 th of December. 

 We were kindly received by the Siamese Government, and having got a letter of introduc- 

 tion to the Governor of Muang Krat, we left Bangkok on the 19 th of Dec. on H. Siamese M.S. 

 «Chamroen» tor the little island of Koh Chang in the eastern part of the Gulf of Siam. We 

 had chosen this place with the consent of the Admiral; here was a' Government Station, 

 where we could stay, and soldiers to assist us with the dredgings etc., and, last not least: 

 this small place we might hope to study rather completely in the short time (about 3 

 months), we could stay. Especially for the Botanist this was a matter of importance. 



The place however turned out to be a rather bad one for researches on marine 

 Zoology. On account of the several large rivers disemboguing themselves in the neig- 

 bourhood the water was quite muddy, and especially the sound between Koh Chang and 

 the mainland was a very bad dredging-ground, the bottom being deep, soft mud with very 

 little animal life; there were almost no corals in the sound, which fact sufficiently indi- 

 cates the character of the place. Happily I had not to restrain my researches to the 



20' 



