ITINERARY. 47 
forest; (2) ‘The Central Plateau,” including the ‘ Altos,’ which is an arid upland 
region becoming higher towards the Mexican frontier and bordered southward by. 
volcanoes which protrude from the main cordillera—pines and oaks here clothe the 
mountain sides, on which cereals, maize, and, at high elevations, potatoes are culti- 
vated ; (3) “The Pacific slope,” which has forest in the ‘tierra caliente’ and on the 
mountain sides, now largely replaced by second growth (rastrojo) or cultivated with 
sugar-cane, cacao, or (at elevations up to 4500 feet) coffee. The plain of Salama, in Baja 
Vera Paz, with San Gerdnimo at its eastern end—draining to the Atlantic,—is very 
hot and arid, abounding in Cacti, Yuccas, Agaves, &c., like the Motagua valley, from 
which it is separated by the Chuacus range of mountains. The mountains to the north 
of this plain, as shown by the abrupt change in the nature of the vegetation between 
Salama and Purula or Tactic, form the dividing line between the humid Atlantic slope 
and the plateau. These lower central valleys must either be included under district 2 
or treated as a separate faunal subregion. A comparison of the Lepidoptera Rhopalocera 
alone illustrates the great difference in the fauna of the two slopes *—many Erycinids, 
Ithomiids, Heliconius, Papilio, Leptalis, Thecla, &c., are peculiar to the Atlantic ; 
while Drucina, Euterpe, a few special Euptychia and Heliconius, a Morpho, &c., are 
found on the Pacific. The dry central plateau doubtless forms an impassable barrier 
for many species, and it has altogether a very restricted butterfly fauna. In the 
mountains in the neighbourhood of the plain of Salama a few peculiar Rhopalocera 
occur, such as Anewa nobilis and eacellens, &c. The ‘tierra fria’ or * tierra helada’ 
(10,000 feet and upwards) produced no alpine or subalpine forms, merely stragglers 
from below. | 
In Panama, April 17th, 1881—May 21st, 1883, Mr. Champion spent nearly all his 
time in Chiriqui, on the Pacific slope, between the Rio Chiriqui Viejo (near the Costa 
Rica frontier) and Tolé, making his headquarters at the various coffee-plantations on 
the mountain-slopes, at an elevation of 3000-4000 feet, or else at David or Bugaba. 
The Volcan de Chiriqui was ascended on June 7th, 1882, to 8000 feet, and the 
Cordillera above Tolé explored. ‘The old route across the mountains from David and 
Caldera to the Chiriqui lagoon and the Bocas del Toro Islands, on the Atlantic side 
(used during the early days of the gold-mining in California, and before the Panama 
Railroad was finished), was found to be almost impracticable, and the northern slope 
was therefore not visited. The principal forests in Chiriqui are situated on the mountain 
slopes, in the low country to the east of David, and in the‘ tierra caliente’ to the west of 
Bugaba and Divala; the forests alternate with extensive savannas along the lower part 
of the Pacific slope and in the country immediately adjacent to the western precipices 
of the Volcan de Chiriqui. The whole of the towns and villages are situated in the 
‘tierra caliente,’ and the Indians living in out of the way places in the Cordillera 
* Unfortunately this could not be very well shown in the Table of Distribution of the genera given in the - 
Introduction to the Rhopalocera. 
