224 BRITISH GUIANA TIPULIDAE 



This colony is thickly covered with forest, in the interior abound- 

 ing in valuable hardwoods. The house at which I stopped while at 

 Bartica was about 150 yards from the forest and formed an ideal 

 location for one employed in my vocation. This house had two 

 floors; the one on the second, facing the woods, was fitted with a 

 gallery or balcony in which there were several windows. Darkness 

 falls very quickly here, there being but little twilight, so that as 

 soon as the sun set I would repair to the balcony I have described 

 above and make preparations for the evening's work. The method 

 I adopted was to hang a sheet under my oil-lamp that is provided 

 with a reflector, thereby proving a great attraction for various 

 insects. Then with net in hand and cyanide bottles within easy 

 reach, I was ready for my evening's catch, that is to say as ready as 

 is possible, for within an hour they were trooping in a good deal 

 faster than I could handle them. Sometimes there would be as 

 many as fifty or even one hundred craneflies flying against the 

 ceiling, besides numerous moths, beetles, etc. It was truly a happy 

 hunting ground for the enthusiastic collector and one, much to the 

 disgust of my landlord, from which I could hardlj'' tear myself 

 awa}^ 



My time for rising was six A. M. and from then on until eleven 

 A. M. I would employ my time in drying, papering or pinning the 

 specimens that I had captured on the previous day and night. 

 From half past eleven until after five in the afternoon, I would go 

 afield for specimens. My experience is, that for successful cranefly 

 collecting, one should select damp, shady spots, most of the species 

 being found in such places though some are found on hilly ground. 

 I never saw the craneflies swarming as I have noticed them doing in 

 Toronto, excepting at Mallali and then only three or four together. 



After leaving Bartica I went back to Georgetown and from there 

 took a steamer to Wismar which is the highest point at which the 

 Demerara River is navigable by that steamer. I remained over 

 night at this place and then took a smaller steamer for Mallali 

 that is about 175 miles from the starting point. On steaming up 

 the Demerara River, I noticed that almost all of the tall trees 

 were dead, caused by the terrible forest fires that raged througii the 

 country a few years ago. These fires burned up everything, 

 destroying all animal life for miles around and it is only now that 

 the vegetation is springing up again. This was a great disappoint- 



