44 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



was no path, and much of the ascent consisted in scaling hazardous 

 precipices of crumbling rock. In spite of the lack of water and the 

 sun-dried vegetation, fresh signs of a bear were discovered at the 

 top, and the remains of a Petaurista, recently killed (perhaps by a 

 leopard) were found. Birds, mollusks, and insects were collected. 

 During the descent, the dry grass below us was set afire, presumably 

 by a wandering party of hill-men, and we managed to return safely 

 to camp only by going down a difficult cliff, which permitted us to 

 reach an area where the fire had burned itself out. Return to the 

 plains was made by a new route, along a ridge parallel to the southern 

 face of the mountain, offering indescribably magnificent views of the 

 precipices, which are among the highest and sheerest in the world. 

 The day was enlivened by the sight of bear, sambhur, goral, and serow, 

 as well as great flocks of Cerasophila thompsoni, one of the rarest of 

 Oriental birds. 



April was spent in the southern portions of Nan province, the center 

 and north of which had been visited during 1936. The route lay 

 wholly in the lowlands, and, with the increasing drought, travel became 

 almost intolerably difficult ; all minor streams were quite dry and 

 water-holes were as much as 40 kilometers apart. The forest, largely 

 hot-weather deciduous, was by now leafless, offering no respite from 

 the sun during the hottest month of the year. It was with relief that 

 we finally reached the river Nan at Pak Li. From this point it was 

 determined to carry on by boat as far as Utaradit and the railway, 

 making camp at nightfall on the sandbars. Game was plentiful on 

 the banks, including peafowl, deer, and swine, and parties of otters 

 were often seen at play in the shallows. 



At the end of April, work in North Siam was terminated, and a 

 change was made to the extreme southeast of Siam, the provinces of 

 Chantabun and Trat (Krat). A fortnight was spent at Khao Sa-bap, 

 a somewhat isolated mountain, where a number of remarkable birds 

 have been discovered in recent years. Here, in the most humid part 

 of Siam, where rain falls throughout the year, we found a great con- 

 trast to the arid districts of Nan, and field-work was decidedly handi- 

 capped by the weather. Later a removal was made to the sea-coast 

 near Chantabun, where the salt-marshes, at low tide, offered a great 

 variety of waders and other water-birds, including the very rare 

 Asiatic finfoot and the Malayan ring-plover, a bird not hitherto known 

 from any locality outside the Malaysian subregion. The final week of 

 work in Siam was spent on the large island of Ko Chang, where 

 numerous interesting invertebrates were collected. 



