V5YAI:JE FKOM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. SJ 



specially disting-uish some trees with very high, trunks growing 

 on the ridge of a long extended mountain. The ridge of th6 

 highest mountains seemed to be surrounded by clouds. The 

 peak of the Lion mountain forms an exception and its woods seeiri 

 to lie more in the valleys. The stones resemble a Petrosilex 

 arid are best observed in a perpendicular clift in one of the 

 mountains. I think the last thing it could be was either felspar 

 or granite, many mountains of the Coromandel coast consisting 

 of this rock. In many places the rocks shewed lines as if 

 they were columnar, but these lines have been caused by 

 the rain loosening certain fine particles of the rock, and forming 

 on its surface a kind of tufa. This is a common occurrence in 

 rocks sloping down perpendicularly. In one place the most 

 beautiful red showed between the stones ; however beauty is 

 always enhanced by the ardent desire to possess a thing. 



There were some people on our ship, who formerly had 

 cut down some big trees in these islands, furnishing them witfi' 

 a beautiful yellow wood, fit for joiners' purposes. 



9.— To-day we had the same fate as regards calm as we 

 had yesterday. The specially lucky circumstance, that our car- 

 penter had to caulk the ship on one side, gave me oppor- 

 tunity of fishing diverse objects from the sea, as there was even 

 a more perfect calm than on the preceding days. The first 

 thing I found was a kind of Perch. I have already given s. 

 description thereof above. They looked in the water as if their 

 backs were red, and swam about in thousands ; but out of water 

 their backs seemed to be of a dirty green ; the stomach was silvery 

 white ; the head green like the back and the sides. Wherever it 

 was green it was speckled with some silvery green spots, and 

 it was darker on one side. The tail was broad, a little scooped 

 out towards the middle, and had white and dirty-green stripes. 

 The fins of the back had prickles, the longest standing in the 

 middle ; they were joined to the second of the backfins, the front 

 part of these being longer than the end of the firstback fins ; they 

 were also sharp-pointed ; all the others were soft, they were 

 little longer than the front ones they were hardly as long as a 

 finger, but very fleshy. Among the above mentioned there 

 swam another kind of fish, which according to its shape was a 

 kind of Perch. They had wide stripes across their body, were 

 much whiter and about three times as large. There were inaii;^ 



