54 A NATURALIST IN THE TRANSVAAL. 



4 P.M. the principal rush of water had drained down, 

 and, though the river was still full, it was now silent, 

 and by the next morning it had almost resumed its 

 ordinary obscurity. Thus sudden and dangerous are the 

 results of these heavy rains. Insects in numbers must 

 have been carried away, and some were found in a wet 

 and exhausted condition clinging to low shrubs, and 



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I thus obtained an orthopterous insect (Pycnodictya 

 adustum) and the rare Dragonfly (Tramea basilaris), 

 neither of which I ever found again. It was interesting 

 to observe the different sculpture in many parts of the 

 banks after this visitation, and one could now under- 

 stand how it was that the usually shallow brook flowed 

 at the bottom of so deeply an excavated river-bed. As 

 November advanced flowers and insects became more 

 plentiful, and the most abundant beetle was the large 

 heteromerous red-striped Psammodes striatus. These 

 beetles, when they first appeared, were most abundant 

 on the roads which crossed the veld, and, though 

 globular and ungainly in shape, yet actively ran on 

 their high legs, but were so numerous that we crushed 

 many under the wheels and horses' hoofs as we drove 

 along. I believe that these form a considerable portion 

 of the prey of the different species of Anthia, and also 

 of the Manticorce, which actively patrol these spots ; and 

 in the dry season I had often been puzzled to explain 

 the number of empty shells of the Psammodes which 

 I found strewn about. Beautifully marked Longicorn 

 beetles enlivened the scene, and about this time I was 

 much struck with the numbers of two species of Weevils 

 (Polyclaeis cquestris and P. cinereis), that literally covered 

 the acacia and others shrubs to be found on the veld. 

 These two species were always found together, and it 

 was only because the sexes of each could be found, and 

 often in cop., that my doubts as to their being one 

 species were dispelled. 



When we first arrived and saw the long white spines 

 of the acacias, I involuntarily wondered why no signs 

 were seen of the larder of the Shrikes, of which there 

 are a fair number of species in the Transvaal. I at 



