October, 1904.] 217 



El-Kantara is at a higher elevation than Biskra, and more to the 

 north ; here, during the first two or three weeks of my visit, collecting 

 was slow and uninteresting work. The desert plants were for the most 

 part absent ; there was a rather monotonous abundance of Artemisia 

 (herba-alba f), and of Acanthyllis armata, but the ground varied much 

 in elevation, and before I left the place at the end of May many 

 species not seen in the field came to light in the garden of the hotel, 

 including several Phycitidce recognised by Sir George Hampson as 

 useful additions to the number of species hitherto represented in the 

 British Museum. Nemotoia constantinella, Bkr. (n. Syn. = demaisoni, 

 Rgt.), which does not occur at Biskra, was flying iit the end of April 

 and in the beginning of May on the mountain to the north of the 

 El-Kantara gorge with one or more species of Fleurota, but of the 

 undescribed species found in this locality it was frequently impossible 

 to secure a representative series ; some very distinct forms taken in 

 places not easily accessible are still unfortunately unique (e. g., 

 Micropteryx cyoneoclirysa and IScythris marioneUa). 



In 1903, in something less than four months' work, with the 

 assistance in the field of my indefatigable Italian valet Sola, who 

 would cheerfully spend a day in tracking any desirable Acarus 

 through a ton of hay, and is now quite an experienced collector, I 

 managed to accumulate and set over 3000 specimens in good con- 

 dition, in spite of many other calls upon the attention and interest 

 of a traveller. The greater number of obviously new species were 

 already described before starting again in November, but I was left 

 with a residue of more or less doubtful cases requiring further study 

 and research. Several of these have since been successfully dealt 

 with. 



In November, 1903, Morocco being in a still more hopeless con- 

 dition of lawless anarchy than in the previous winter, 1 went again to 

 Biskra, rather in the hope of clearing up doubtful points in the life- 

 history of previous captures than of securing additional species. Such 

 work promised to be extremely enjoyable, resembling the leisurely 

 recreation of picking up one's birds after a furiously rapid grouse- 

 drive, as contrasted with the continued strain required to ensure the 

 heaviest bag in the shortest possible time. For this purpose I chose 

 Hammam-es-Salahin as head-quarters, meaning to make excursions into 

 the desert from time to time. Even if the weather of 1903 was ex- 

 ceptionally favourable, that of 1904 was generally acknowledged to 

 be very exceptionally unfavourable. High winds prevailed for at 

 least twenty days out of every thirty, with many blinding sand-storms. 



