236 THE entomologist's record. 



worn and others quite fresh. Lawpicles boetica and Lycaena, sp. ? very- 

 like Li/cacnesthes lycaenina were represented by single specimens, and a 

 beautiful Hesperiid, dark brown with golden spots, was abundant, flying 

 amongst grass on the banks of a mountain stream, and occasionally 

 taking extended flights among the upper branches of the smaller trees. 

 A species of Acraea was just on the wing, and, in another few days, 

 butterflies would probably have been numerous both in species and 

 individuals. 



We left Cape Town about October 20th for Port Elizabeth, Durban, 

 and Delagoa Bay. When near the latter port we witnessed one of 

 those terrible conflicts between a whale on the one side and thresber- 

 sharks and sword-fish on the other. We passed so close to the 

 combatants, or perhaps I should say the victim and its slayers, that 

 we were enabled to see every effort of the unfortunate whale to rid 

 itself of its adversaries. No sooner did it raise itself above the waves 

 when one of the threshers flung itself clear of the water and bending 

 itself into the form of a bow brought its tail with tremendous force on 

 the whale's back, forcing it again below the surface, there to be again 

 tormented by the thrusts of the sword-fish. With the aid of our field- 

 glasses we could see the actions of the threshers very clearly, and I 

 had no previous conception of the enormous power of these sharks. 

 The tail appeared to me to be about fourteen feet long, and before the 

 delivery of the blow it seemed that the end of it quite touched the head 

 of the fish. The end of the engagement, I fear, Avas the usual one, and 

 inevitable. 



We reached Lorenzo Marques, Delagoa Bay, October 27th, and were 

 naturally much interested in the place, as it was by this port that the 

 Boers received many of their munitions of war. The harbour is far 

 away the finest in South Africa, protected as it is from winds in any 

 direction. It is some seven miles across, and the shore to the west is 

 very picturesque owing to the verdure and deep red colour of the cliffs. 

 The town is still in a very rudimentary state, and a short time 

 previously had a most unenviable reputation for malarial fever. This 

 has now to a large extent disappeared since the extensive marsh in the 

 centre of the town has been filled in and drained. The weather was 

 intensely hot, but, fortunately, the heat of the sun was in a measure 

 mitigated by a cool breeze. Mosquitoes, even in the middle of the day, 

 were pretty vigorous, at night I am told they are still terribly numerous. 

 The country was very dried up and reminded me very much of parts 

 of the Punjab and Bombay. I noticed in the gardens numerous 

 English flowers, such as marigolds and petunias, flowering freely in 

 close juxtaposition with flamboyants, various species of Ficus and 

 other tropical trees and plants. The neighbourhood of the town is 

 being extensively laid out in building plots and will soon be built over, 

 but, at present, one can do a good deal of entomology on the outskirts 

 of the towaa, and even in it. Insects were numerous, particularly 

 Acridiids and Hymenoptera, which latter greatly impressed me by their 

 numbers. I saAV, perhaps, fifteen species of butterflies, including 

 Papiliu (leuwleiis, the larvfe of which cavase considerable damage to the 

 fruit-trees, and a goodly number of Acraeina sufficient to show me that 

 breeding experiments to distinguish the various species would prove a 

 very interesting study. After leaving Delagoa Bay we made straight 

 for Mauritius, keeping quite close to the shore of Madagascar for about 



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