VOYAGE FEOM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. 175 



time until our captain had found suitable quarters, by contemplat- 

 ing- the thing's of nature. The first view which I took at the 

 large fat buffaloes, which were pulling square massive carts was 

 formidable. I could form an idea of the wild buffaloes, living 

 here in the woods. The grazing places, which lay close to the 

 Governor's house, were mostly burnt down, and consisted of a 

 kind of sugar-cane, which grew very high, had broad leaves and a 

 very narrow panicles, and stood about as high as one or one and 

 third men. Mr. Arch v. Linne does not mention this cane.* There 

 was also some Saccharum diamlrum^ which grew also unusually 

 high here, only in the most fertile places grew Saccharum 

 spontaneum. Besides these there were few other kinds of grass 

 which I managed to recognise. From the leaves of the first kind 

 they plait here the common mats. Between these high grasses 

 grew some shrubs with simple branches, their leaves were lancet- 

 shaped, rough and a little wavy ; they had no blossoms, but many 

 ball-shaped fruits, having five winged edges, and the fruit itself 

 was woolly and larger than a hazelnut. Deeper among the 

 grasses I found some kind of Hedysarum ; they had fruits but no 

 blossoms. Among them was the Hedijsarum umheVatum ; lastly 

 I found a Hedysarum ulchellum, which I only could recognise by 

 the nodding distichous branches with opposite orbicular stiff 

 veined bracts ; only here and there I could see a few leaves at 

 the base. I collected much seed from this kind. At last I came 

 to a dense forest. The first plant I saw there was Laurus cassia, 

 which had just got fresh leaves, with their spreading panicled- 

 racemes, but hardly had one of the blossoms begun to bloom 

 when it was devoured by innumerable ants ; the selamonic? ant 

 being the worst among them. There was a diadelphous shrub, 

 which as it had support for its branches in those of some other 

 shrub, had climbed up ; it had many blossoms, and I have found 

 many other specimens of this same class on our coast ; the blossoms 

 resembled the Pungum of Rheede, which has been classed by 

 Mr. Zolander among the Glycines. I took many of these 

 blossoms with me, as well as specimens of the Lichousand of the 

 Laurels, and went joyfully back to my boat. We rowed on 

 about hundred steps and took up our quarters with a well-to-do 

 Chinese merchant ; we learned there to live like the Chinese and 

 did very well. The weather during the last days was fine, only 

 * Probably Saccharum arundinaceum, L. 



