Some Visits to Batam Island. 



C. Bodex Kloss, F.Z.S. 



Pulo Batam though so close to Singapore and frequently 

 visited by pig-shooters, has never been investigated by a 

 naturalist, so perhaps the following extracts from journals — 

 though of trivial happenings as must necessarily be the case 

 where the fauna of small islands is concerned — kept during 

 two short visits I paid to it to collect animals may be of 

 interest. 



This island is 9 miles distant from Singapore, about 15 

 miles long and 10 miles broad. The northern side is indented 

 and elsewhere it is closely surrounded by other islands. 

 There are hills in the interior covered with jungle, where large 

 outcrops of quartz occur and the boulders are a quartz grit. 

 Much of the low land which has at one time been cleared is 

 swampy or sandy and very poor but where red laterite soil 

 occurs pineapples flourish under the cultivation of Chinese 

 and Bugis settlers. Many young getah trees (Dichopsis sp.) 

 are found in the forests where roam a tribe of Proto-Malays 

 still little affected by outside influences. 



My first visit was paid in September 1905. I left Sing- 

 apore in a 10-ton cutter-yacht at 11 a.m., got caught in a 

 squall off Pulo Sambu in the afternoon, ran on to a sand-bank 

 at low tide later on but poled off, and anchored off a kampong 

 at the head of Senimba Bay at 5.30 p.m. The upper part of 

 the bay is very shoal and at low water wide mud-flats are 

 exposed all round. I collected some interesting small sponges 

 of bright colours on them. There were seven houses in the 

 kampong and others building further along the shore. 



After getting the baggage landed next morning we found 

 a deserted Chinese shop behind the village. This we broke 

 open and throwing all the rubbish it contained into a side 

 compartment, I set up my bed, table and chair in the centre 

 room while the boy fixed up his kitchen and sleeping place 



Jour. Straits Branch, R. A. Soc, No. 50, 1908. 



