EXPLORING SIAM 



By H. G. DEIGNAN 

 Division of Birds, U. S. National Museum 



In January 1937 a collecting expedition for the National Museum 

 was made to Doi Pha Horn Pok, a mountain over 8,000 feet high 

 lying partly in the Shan State of Mu'ang Hang and partly in the 

 Siamese district of Fang. The name, which means Mountain of the 

 Blanket, refers to the bank of cloud which usually lies on its slopes. It 

 proved to be impossible to ascend the mountain without a guide, and, 

 as no one could be found who knew the trail, camp was made at a 

 small village in the foothills, on the banks of the Me Mao, a brawling 

 mountain torrent. Valuable general collections were made in this 

 neighborhood, which had never previously been investigated. From 

 this place, travel was continued to Chiengsen Kao, a ruined city on 

 the bank of the great Me Khong, by way of an unfrequented path 

 which skirts the northern boundary of Siam. The Chiengsen district 

 is famous for the vast numbers of ducks and other waterfowl occur- 

 ring there during the cold season, and we succeeded in collecting nu- 

 merous birds of this type, many of them new either to the Kingdom 

 or to the northern provinces. 



February was spent in the southwestern portion of North Siam, 

 collections being made in the hilly country on the Siamese bank of 

 the Salwin. This district was only separated by the river from the 

 Burmese territory of Karenni, and the White Karens (in reference to 

 the color of their garments, in contradistinction to the Red Karens) 

 proved to be the dominant people of the area. The fauna appeared 

 to be typical of the Himalayo-Burmese mountain chain, which con- 

 tinues on to Tenasserim, but none of the peculiar forms of Karenni 

 was found, the great gorge of the Salwin seeming to act as an effec- 

 tive barrier even to the birds. 



In March Doi Chiengdao, a great massif of metamorphosed lime- 

 stone more than 7,000 feet high, was re-visited ; its summit has been 

 reached by only six Europeans. Camp was made at 4,500 feet, near 

 the highest spring, at this season all but dry, and a miserable week 

 was spent here, tormented by insects and endangered by forest-fires, 

 which were devastating the stands of pine. The summit of the south- 

 west pinnacle, exactly 7,000 feet above sea-level, was reached ; there 



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