52 Contributions to Indian Malacology. [No. 1, 



the entrance to the Bassein river, precisely the same mollusca occur as 

 along the Arakan coast near Cape Negrais.* At the mouths of those 

 channels by which the mass of fresh water poured down by the Irawady 

 reaches the sea, I do not think that any typically marine animals are 

 met with, nor could they exist, for, in the height of the rains, I have 

 found the water outside the mouth of the Rangoon river perfectly 

 fresh and drinkable, and yet this is only a minor channel compared 

 to the Chinabuckeer and the neighbouring branches, down which the 

 great bulk of the water pours. 



To the greater saltness of the Bassein river I attribute the presence 

 of the numerous marine types mentioned in the following list. It 

 will be seen that a few distinctly marine species were met with ; the 

 number, however, was small. There are also in the list two or three 

 genera, forms of which do not appear to have been hitherto found in 

 estuaries, e. g. Tectum, Sphenia, Scalaria ; whilst, on the other hand, 

 the genus Scaphula had previously only been met with in fresh water. 



The fauna and flora of the Irawady delta appear to be twofold.f 

 Farther from the sea, where the water is more or less brackish, the 

 creeks are mostly narrow and deep, with steep banks, which are 

 covered at high water, and bordered by an unbroken belt of salt 

 swamp, in which grow high trees, chiefly of Bruguieria gymnorhiza f 

 The views along the creeks, with their borders of dense high forest, 

 are often of great beauty. This belt of salt swamp and high trees 

 varies much in breadth, from a few yards to half a mile or more ; inside 

 it are either open plains, which, if uncultivated, are covered with high 

 grass, or else rises, usually of gravel, occasionally of rock, which are 

 covered with jungle. 



The mollusks of this tract comprise Neritina depressa, N. ootusa and 

 N. Smithii ; the species of Tectum, Modiola, Martesia and Sphenia 

 named in the following list are met with wherever rocks occur; 

 ScopJmla is found under stones, Auricula and Cyrena inhabit the salt 

 swamp. Teredo perforates the dead trees. Neritina cornucopia is 

 principally met with in this region, but is also found lower down the 



* Amongst others, I found species of Dolium, Ricinula, Banella, &c. 



f I regret that my want of knowledge of botany and the paucity of the obser- j 

 vations I was able to make upon the zoology, prevent me from entering fully j 

 into this subject. I can merely point out the fact that a distinction exists between ' 

 the fauna and flora of the delta nearer to the coast, and that found further in- ■ 

 land, and illustrate it in the single instance of the mollusca. 





