THE BUTTERFLIES OF CEYLON 77 



and eastern part of the Island loaded with moisture, and a tremendous 

 downpour, almost continuous, is the result. The mountains also 

 receive a yery fair amount, and even Colombo on the western sea 

 board is treated to heavy afternoon and evening thunderstorms. 



The climate of the Island, speaking generally, runs thus : From the 

 end of January to the end of May it is dry all over the Island and 

 there is very little wind ; at the end of May to the end of September 

 the South-West monsoon brings heavy rain to the Ceylon Hills, but a 

 dry wind to the rest of the Island ; at the end of October the North- East 

 monsoon brings heavy rain all over the Island, but more particularly 

 to the northern and eastern parts. 



The Hills begin to rise about thirty miles from the western coast 

 and sink again into the low country at a very considerable distance 

 from the eastern and northern sea boards. As it is, that portion of 

 the country devoted to tea and cocoa cultivation, and therefore more 

 inhabited by Europeans, and as it possesses, near by, the most important 

 harbour of Colombo and being, withal, the most beautiful and conse- 

 quently the most visited district in Ceylon, it has obtained a notoriety 

 certainly most deserving, but at the same time of undue prominence, 

 taking into consideration its small area compared with the rest of the 

 Island. 



There is no doubt that the usually received ideas regarding Ceylon 

 are, if taken as a whole, erroneous, for of the large number of globe- 

 trotters and others who visit Ceylon annually not one in a thousand 

 visits the low country, but confine their peregrinations chiefly to 

 Kandy and Nuwara Eliya in the Hill district. 



The physical configuration of this portion of the Island and that of the 

 Western Ghauts being so similar, and the climate also being almost 

 identical, together with, in all probability, a land connection in far off 

 times, probably accounts for the remarkable similarity of the butterflies 

 found in these regions. 



They form a very natural group which extends to the North Kanara 

 district in India and thence gradually thins out and disappears a little 

 to the north of Bombay. It also extends to the Nilgiris, which are 

 an off-shoot of the Western Ghauts, but which have in addition some 

 species such as Colias Nilgiriensis of palaearctic affinities. The similarity 

 of the butterflies of the rest of the Island with those of the Deccan and 



