176 [August. 



Bamboo clumps close hy, and the beaut}' of their lofty feathery fronds 

 all dancing with light and life, and brilliant sparks of fire, was a picture 

 never to be forgotten. I can see it all now, although it occurred as long 

 ago as March 1872. 



My temper was restored by the time the gharr\'- wallahs returned, 

 for one could not be angry in such beautiful surroundings. This sug- 

 gests a point that may be worth further study and following up — the 

 influence of the picturesque and beautiful in insect-life on temper, and 

 consequently on health ! Firefl}' displays remind one very much of 

 Brock's exhibitions at the Crystal Palace, and their methods are much the 

 same. Both love a still warm night witliout wind, though the Fireflies 

 prefer to hold tlieir best displaj's after a fall of rain. 



If you watch a Bamboo-tope just as the last rays of dajdight die 

 awa}', you will see a few mysterious lights flitting about. These lights 

 become moi-e numerous and stronger, then suddenly, as if by signal 

 someone had turned on the electric light or gas, the whole tope becomes 

 a blaze of light, and a shower of gold, as it were, comes rushing down. 

 Brock may take first place for volume of light, but undoubtedl}' the 

 Fireflies take the prize for really artistic beauty *. 



The next incident that is fixed in my memorj^ is a beautiful display 

 of ButterlUes in the gardens of Safdar Jung's Tomb and also Humayon's. 

 These tombs, surrounded by ruins of old Delhi outside the walls of the 

 present city — the gardens, terraces, and fountains are more or less fallen 

 into decay, and the trees and flowering shrubs have grown into jungle, 

 but the jungle-grounds are made beautiful by a dancing crowd of gay 

 Butterflies ; mostly of yellow and orange tints, all the more striking 

 from their gloomy surroundings. 



The scrul) and jungle about the Kootub and Sughlukabad are also 

 the favourite resorts of the same species, bvit in a less striking degree, 

 for here they are not pent up and confined in a walled garden. 



The long, hot, dusty road from Saharanpore on the way to Mussoorie 

 by the Mohun Pass I have seen made beavitiful by the bewildering 

 numbers of kaleidoscopic dancing Butterflies, and an otherwise tedious 

 journey thus made interesting and enjoyable by their cheering presence. 

 Of course, there are hundreds of such cases all over India, but these few 



* I have a vivid recollection of the first really fine display of Fireflies which I witnessed, when on 

 shore with a " seining party " at Kavala, on the north coast of the Aegean Sea, on* hot evi-ning in 

 May 187S. A rough lane running up inland from the beach was quite brilliantly illuminated by 

 scores of these insects, all flying steadily at a height of from three to ten feet, and each emitting, at 

 internals of about two seconds, a bright gleam of greenish light lasting about half a second, and 

 visible thii'ty or forty yards off. Krequently, too, a little group of half a dozen or more individuals 

 would extinguish and resume their lights simultaneously, which made the sailors remark that " they 

 were flashing signals to one another ' " The species was probably Luciola italica L. — J. J. W. 



