as VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA, 



snakes lying on the surface of the calm sea, one kind among- them 

 being a speci es of Anguis platura and very well known to me. 



I saw another kind of a rather large size, their backs were 

 brown-green, more like eels ; their head was lancet-shaped and 

 pressed flat. Some of them seemed to have yellow lipped-mouths. 

 Their tail was pointed and I observed that they had big spots of 

 yellow, brown, and black colour. They came quite close to the 

 ship and snapped at the small fish. I cannot classify them with 

 certainty in the family of the Anguides. 



I also found those Mollusks I had seen near the ship at 

 Masulipatam at the time when we were hoisting anchors ; the 

 only difference between them being that the ones here were 

 quite white on the upper side, while the others were reddish 

 yellow, but 1 suppose this colour was only caused by the red 

 colour of the Ghodaveri stream. 



9. — There was a swimming Triton. It looked like two bun- 

 dles consisting of an exceedingly thin membrane, veined, 

 fibious, slimy and folded together, they were joined by a short 

 stalk looking like a thin thread. The top was rather large, and 

 by means of this the animal could swim upwards, and also des- 

 cend to the depth of the sea. In swimming all the parts 

 fitted into each other, but when it was taken up, one could 

 scarcely part them without breaking them on account of their 

 utter softness. The best thing with which one could compare 

 these parts would be two bundles of feathers, each feather being 

 able to lengthen or to shorten itself. The body itself was coni- 

 cal. It had some irregular furrows on its back and a sort of 

 crescent shaped shield sticking out a little more at one end; its 

 under part was concave, helmet shaped, and here the first shorter 

 tentacles were to be seen; they were covered with stiff hair 

 on the inside and bent in at the ends, some had between the long 

 tentacles small silvery grains, which were probably their eggs. 

 I am uncertain as regards their number, because they were too 

 close to each other and were very fragile. The other tentacles 

 borne at the end of the body, and bent towards those afore 

 mentioned, were about twelve pairs in number. They were 

 divided at the ends, pressed flat, jointed and covered with stiff 

 transparent hair, which grew on the inner edge. The length of 

 these longer arms was about one inch, they were of rusty 

 yellow colour ; the Tentacles standing opposite to these were 



