Cli. YIIL] AXT-THRUSHES AND BEETLES. 127 



half I surveyed and levelled myself; and my almost 

 daily walks up it familiarised me with every bush and 

 fallen log by its side, and with every turn of the clear 

 cool brook that came prattling down over the stones, 

 soon at the machinery to lose its infantile purity, be 

 soiled in the ceaseless search for gold, and never to 

 regain its first freshness until it reached the great 

 ocean. 



The sides of the valley rose steeply, and a fair view 

 was obtained from the tramway in the centre over the 

 shrubs and small trees on each side, so that the walk was 

 not so hemmed in with foliage as is usual in the forest 

 roads. Insects were plentiful by this path. In some parts 

 brown tiger beetles ran or flew with great swiftness ; in 

 others, leaf-cutting ants in endless trains carried along 

 their burdens of foliage, looking, as they marched along 

 with the segments of leaves, held up vertically, like green 

 butterflies, or a mimic representation of a moving Birnam 

 wood. Sometimes the chirping of the ant-thrushes drew 

 attention to where a great body of army-ants were 

 foraging amongst the fallen branches, sending the spiders, 

 cockroaches, and grasshoppers fleeing for their lives, only 

 to fall victims to the surrounding birds. On the fallen 

 branches and logs I obtained many longicorn beetles ; 

 the woodcutters brought me many more, and from this 

 valley were obtained some of the rarest and finest species 

 in my collection. On the myrtle-like flowers of some of 

 the shrubs, large green cockchafers were to be found 

 during the dry season, and a bright green rosechafer was 

 also common. I was surprised to find on two occasions 

 a green and brown bug (Pentatoma punicea) sucking the 

 juices from dead specimens of this species. The bug has 



