Northern Portion of the Malay Peninsula. 665 
did not ourselves visit, but where our collectors stopped for 
some time. Elsewhere the country is very mountainous, the 
highest hill, Gunong Raya, rising to nearly three thousand 
feet, while there is a range of precipitous mountains in the 
north-west corner well over two thousand feet. 
The geological formation is in the main limestone, though 
schists and probably granites occur. In many places the 
rocks come sheer down into the water and are much under¬ 
cut by the waves, forming small caves and recesses overhung 
by the most luxuriant vegetation. The flora of the island is 
very peculiar and markedly different from that of the more 
southern parts of the Peninsula and is extremely rich in 
orchids, among which may be mentioned a very beautiful 
Cvpripedium, snow-white in colour (Cypripedium niveum). A 
handsome yellow Balsam (Impatiens mirabiiis ) is also met 
with here. 
Being separated from the mainland by a strait only some 
ten miles in breadth, which nowhere exceeds ten fathoms in 
depth, neither Langkawi nor Terutau harbour any peculiar 
species of birds, though a Hawk (Spizaetus nipalensis) was 
obtained which has not as yet occurred on the adjacent main¬ 
land. The mammals, however, shew a slight amount of 
differentiation from the continental forms and have therefore 
attained the honour of names of their own. Of these the 
most interesting perhaps is a small Pig (Sus jubatulus Miller), 
which is very abundant and causes much damage to the rice- 
fields and plantations. 
One of the most famous features of the Langkawi group is 
a lake of fresh water some forty or fifty feet deep, which is 
found on one of the smaller islands to the south-west. It 
is an almost circular piece of water perhaps a quarter or a 
third of a mile in diameter, lying in a cup-shaped hollow 
at the top of a small hill, and probably owes its origin to the 
subsidence of the roof of one of the caves with which the 
limestone formation is always honeycombed. The water is 
of a translucent milky-blue, contrasting well with the deep 
green of the jungle by which the lake is surrounded, and 
making a scene of extreme beauty, which is worth travelling 
