FASCICULI MALATENSES 
61 
The interior of Trang is chiefly occupied by Siamese, though certain 
districts are given over to Chinese pepper-planters ; but the Siamese of this 
state differ considerably from those of the opposite side of the Peninsula. 
In Trang their hair is almost invariably straight, whereas in the adjacent State 
of Patalung it is rarely quite straight, and not infrequently curly ; their skin 
has a distinct yellowish tinge, while that of the Patalung Siamese is just as 
distinctly reddish ; and I am inclined to believe, though it is impossible to 
dogmatize on this point without closer examination than I was able to make, 
that the eyes of the Trang Siamese are more Mongoloid in shape than those 
of the people of Patalung. 
The ‘ Caucasian ’ features of the faces of figures stamped on ancient clay 
tablets , 1 2 recently found in caves, points to there having at one time been an Indian 
element in the population of Trang ; but it is possible, though not probable, 
that these tablets, or the stamps with which they were made, were brought 
from India . 1 It can hardly be doubted that the religious caste among the 
Siamese, who are called Brahmin or Pram , and who claim descent from Indian 
immigrants, once existed in Trang, as they still do in Patalung, and individuals 
of this caste must still occasionally cross from the latter into the former state, 
indeed, one accompanied me for the greater part of my journey from Lampan 
to Kantang ; but it is probable that the Indian blood in the Pram has been quite 
eliminated by constant intermarriage with Siamese, carried on for centuries, 
even supposing that their ancestral claims be just. Kantang, the modern 
capital of Trang, which, however, was only founded about ten years ago, 
has a considerable floating population of Klings and Burmese. On casual 
inspection I found it only possible to distinguish the latter from the Samsams 
by the fact that they tattooed their thighs. 
( B ). Orang Laut Kappir. [Plates XIV, fig. i ( partim ) ; XV, fig. i] 
While I was awaiting an opportunity on Pulau Telubin to visit Pulau 
Mentia (Kok Muk), a boat belonging to the Orang Laut Kappir of that island 
happened to put in to avoid a squall. It had been hired by a Chinaman, who 
was on board, to bring rice from the State of Perlis ; but he was induced to 
turn back and to allow the Orang Laut to take me to their camp on Pulau 
Mentia instead. I was only able to stay one night on the island, but obtained 
a certain amount of information from the two Orang Laut, who formed the 
crew of the boat, during our journey thither, and visited a disused cemetery of 
the ‘ Sea Folk ’ on the way. 
i. A. Steffen and N. Annandale, Man , Dec., 1902. 
2. And it is not improbable that the makers may have merely followed a traditional model. H. C. R. 
