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Show 1899.] REPTILES OF THE MALAY PENINSULA AND SIAM. 623 Museum Catalogue says of this species: it " reaches a length of 4-5 metres " (14 feet 9 inches). Hab. Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo 25. CROCODILUS SIAMENSIS Schmidt. Crocodilus siamensis, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 61, pl. viii. fig. B ; Blgr. Cat. Chel. etc. p. 282. But little seems to be known of this species, first described from a skull sent by French missionaries from Siam to the Paris Museum, about, or before, the year 1801. The only specimen in the British Museum was procured in Cambodia by M . Mouhot; it is 1*38 metres long. It is not represented in the Siamese Museum so far. Hab. Siam, Cambodia, Java. 26. CROCODILUS POROSUS Schn. Crocodilus porosus, Cantor, p. 16 ; Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 62; Blgr. Cat. Chel. etc. p. 284 ; S. Flower, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 862. Crocodilus pondicerianus, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 62, pl. vii. Localities. This crocodile is exceedingly numerous in every suitable locality in Malaya, and is also found in the tidal rivers of Siam. Malay fishermen tell me that formerly crocodiles were to be seen along the coast of Penang, but now they thought they were only to be found on the coast of Province Wellesley, on. the mainland; these men, that I happen to know, however live and work on the east and north coasts ; and Mr. Wilkinson, Straits Settlements Civil Service, tells m e some crocodiles still remain in the swamps on the west or seaward side of the island. Every year many people lose their lives in the Peninsula by being seized and carried off by crocodiles, and many extraordinary stories are told of them. In Kedah, in May and June 1898, I found this species as numerous as I had previously in April 1895. In the Prye and other rivers of the Province Wellesley there are still many crocodiles ; I have seen specimens in Mr. A. G. B. Van Som-meren's collection at " Strawberry," Penang Hill, and in the possession of Mr. A. H . B. Dennys. In Perak it is also numerous, as testified by specimens in the Taiping Museum. Col. Frowd Walker, C.M.G., has a specimen caught in the lake of the Taiping public park ; and Captain Duff, of the s.s. ' Thaipeng,' which runs between Georgetown, Penang, and Port Weld, Perak, tells m e he frequently sees them in the estuaries of Larut. Iu the museum at Kuala Lumpor there are many specimens killed in Selangor. In the quieter parts of Singapore Island crocodiles can always be found, and at times they even wander into the busiest parts. I hear, on good authority, that one was shot in the spring of 1898 from the Tanjong Pagar wharf, where all the big steamers from Europe, India, and China lie, and day and night there is a constant bustle of men, mails, cargo, and coal. |