50 A NATURALIST ON THE "CHALLENGER." 



A beetle, a species of Cicindela, is very common on the dry 

 sand along the seashore, and is very difficult to catch. The 

 beetles sit five or six together on the sand, and fly off before the 

 wind directly they are approached. They are so quick that I 

 could not catch them with my net. I found, however, that if a 

 handful of sand were thrown at them, they seemed paralyzed for 

 a few moments, and could be picked up with the hand. 



Most of the insects on the island are to be found amongst 

 the clumps of tamarisk. An Ant-lion (Myrmelion) is very 

 common, making pitfalls for the ants under the lee of all the 

 tamarisk bushes. Spiders are abundant. A large and handsome 

 yellow spider (Nephila). makes large webs of yellow silk every- 

 where amongst the bushes. The silk is remarkably strong, and 

 the supporting threads of the web often bend the tips of the 

 tamarisk twigs, to which they are fastened, right down. Either 

 the spider drags on the thread and bends the twig, or the twig 

 becomes bent in growing, after being made fast to. The result 

 is that the thread is kept tense, although yielding to the wind. 



I ascended one clay one of the steep slopes on the north-east 

 side of the town, on the leeward side of the encirclino- rano-e of 

 the island. It was terribly hot and parchingly dry, but the 

 instant the summit was reached, the refreshing trade wind was 

 felt in full force, and its influence was everywhere seen in the 

 increased vegetation, and wherever it lapped over the crest, or 

 crept through a gully, green tufts marked its range. 



I climbed a peak about 850 feet in altitude, from which there 

 was a comprehensive view of the island, showing well the 

 general outward dip of the strata composing the encircling 

 range. In the distance was the irregular mountainous outline 

 of the island of St. Antonio, which was blue and hazy-looking, 

 with a line of white clouds hanging against it at a height of 

 about 2,000 feet. How I longed to be at the summit of the 

 principal mountain, 7,000 feet high, to see the European wild 

 thyme growing there far above the Atlantic and African plants ! 

 A sheer precipice led down from my feet to the surf and the sea 

 driven into white crested waves by the trade wind, which was 

 blowing with more than ordinary violence, so that it was difficult 

 to stand on the edge of the cliff. 



