Ch. XVI.] TIGER-BEETLES AXD BUTTERFLIES. 299 



ditches that were seen here and there amongst the brush- 

 wood. As we got further south the alluvial flats in the 

 valleys increased in size and fertility, and the cultivated 

 fields were enclosed with permanent fences. On some of 

 the ranges we crossed the rocks were amygdaloidal, con- 

 taining nests of a white zeolite, the fractured planes of 

 which glittered like gems on the pathway. 



Eight leagues from Matagalpa we reached the small 

 town of Tierrabona, where, as the name implies, the land 

 was very good. Every house had an enclosure around 

 it, planted with maize and beans ; and though it was 

 evident that the land was cropped year after year, it still 

 seemed to bear well. We stopped at a small brook just 

 outside the town, and eat some provisions we had brought 

 from Matagalpa. Some speckled tiger- beetles ran about 

 the dusty road ; and on wet, muddy places near the 

 stream groups of butterflies collected to suck the moisture. 

 Amongst them, were some fine swallow-tails (Papilio), 

 quivering their wings as they drank, and lovely blue hair- 

 streaks (Theclce). The latter, when they alight, rub 

 their wings together, moving their curious tail-like 

 appendages up and down. Great dragon-flies hawked 

 after flies ; and on the surface of still pools " whirligigs ' 

 (GryrinidcB) wheeled about in mazy gyrations, just as they 

 are seen to do at home. 



Savannahs, sparingly timbered, were next crossed ; 

 then we reached one of those level plains, with black 

 soil and blocks of porus trachyte lying on the surface, 

 which are swamps in the rainy season, and have for 

 vegetation sedgy grasses and scattered jicara trees, 

 cactuses and thorny acacias. Up to the time we passed, 

 there had been no rain in these parts, and the plain was 



