COLLECTING IN JAMAICA. 273 



the cords which the forest-climbers afford. At length the 

 plant is reached, and pushed off, and triumphantly bagged ; 

 but lo ! while examining it, some elegant twisted shell is 

 discovered, with its tenant snail, crawling on the leaves. 

 Scarcely is this boxed, when a gorgeous butterfly rushes 

 out of the gloom into the sunny glade, and is in a moment 

 seen to be a novelty ; then comes the excitement of pur- 

 suit; the disappointment of seeing it dance over a thicket 

 out of sight; the joy of finding it reappear; the tantalising 

 trial of watching the lovely wings flapping just out of 

 reach ; the patient waiting for it to descend ; the tiptoe 

 approach as we see it settle on a flower ; the breathless 

 eagerness with which the net is poised ; and the trium- 

 phant flush with which we contemplate the painted wings 

 within the gauze; and the admiration with which we 

 gaze on its loveliness when held in the trembling fingers. 

 Another step or two, and a gay-plumaged bird rises 

 from the bush, and falls to the gun ; we run to the spot 

 and search for the game among the shrubs and moss ; at 

 last it is found, admired, and committed to a little pro- 

 tective cone of paper. Now a fern of peculiar delicacy 

 appears ; then a charming flower, of wliich we search for 

 ripe seed : a glittering beetle is detected crawling on the 

 gray bark of a lichened tree ; here is a fine caterpillar 

 feeding ; yonder a humming-bird hovering over a brilliant 

 blossom ; and here a female of the same spangled bird 

 sitting in her tiny nest. By and by we emerge into a 

 spot where, for some cause or other, insects seem to have 



specially congregated ; a dozen difi'erent kinds of buttcr- 



S 



