172 
FASCICULI MALATENSES 
the bones were those of members of the Orang Laut Kappir tribe, but at the 
same time begged me not to inform the ‘ Malays ’ ( i.e ., the Samsams) that 1 
had taken them. From the relative position of the bones as they lay on 
the ground it seemed probable that they had fallen from a tree, and, so 
far as I was able to discover, the Orang Laut Kappir never adopt ‘ tree 
burial,’ though it is very probable that they leave the bodies of those who 
have ‘ died badly ’ exposed wherever they may chance to breathe their last. I 
did not believe the nest-farmer at the time, and the improbability of the 
specimens having been of Orang Laut origin is intensified by examination of 
their anatomical characters and comparison with the series from Chau Mai. 
There remains the possibility that these Pulau Mentia skulls may be those of 
Siamese or Chinese, but comparatively few Chinamen visit the islands off the 
coast of Trang, and those who do so are fairly prosperous merchants; while 
the Siamese do not live on the islands unless they are revenue officials, as on Pulau 
Telibun, or farmers of the nests, that is to say, unless they are comparatively 
wealthy or important persons, whose bodies would be either cremated or 
buried. Moreover, I do not think that a Siamese would have permitted me 
to remove the bones of one of his own race. I, therefore, conclude that the 
specimens represent the Samsams of Trang, but have added a note of inter- 
rogation to the heading to show that the exact origin of the bones has not 
been absolutely authenticated, as in the case of the rest of our osteological 
collection. 
Skulls. I have no doubt that both the skulls are those of adult males, 
though the third molar has not been erupted on either side of the upper jaw 
in No. 19. 
Norma verticalis. The outline of the skulls is a broad ovoid, rather 
asymmetrical in No. 19, owing to the greater prominence of the left parietal 
region. There are, however, no traces of artificial shortening of the cranium. 
The cephalic index of No. 19 is just mesaticephalic (79'3)> while that of 
No. 20 is strongly brachycephalic (86‘l). The vault of the cranium is rounded 
in No. 20, rather inclined to be flat in No. 19 ; there is no sagittal ridge in 
either specimen. The posterior slope of the cranium is abrupt in No. 20, 
rather less so in No. 19. The side walls are convex. The parietal longitu- 
dinal arc is greater than the frontal in both specimens. 
Norma lateralis. The facial region is missing in No. 20. In No. 19 
prognathism is absent ; the nasal bones are prominent as compared with those 
of the Orang Laut Kappir, but not so as compared with those of Europeans 
or even Chinamen, and there has been a definite bridge to the nose. The 
glabella and supraorbital ridges are not prominent in either specimen, but 
