1912.] 203 



the small island of Ureparapara. This bay is walled in by lofty forest- 

 clad cliffs of black volcanic rock, its whole aspect suggesting that it is 

 an old crater broken down on the side next the sea. It rained too 

 hard the next morning to admit of landing on this curious island, as 

 I should have liked to do, and we proceeded northward to the limit 

 of our cruise, the small compact group called the Vava or Torres 

 Islands. Anchoring under Hiu, the northernmost island, in the after- 

 noon, I found it, on landing early the next morning (13th), to be 

 entirely composed, like the other islands of the group, of raised coral, 

 elevated to a maximum height of 800 feet, and covered with fairly 

 dense forest, but much less varied than in the islands we had just 

 left. Two species of that genus so characteristic of these islands, 

 Euplcea, were very common close to the beach, and were among the 

 finest I have ever seen, and a very brilliant moth (Glaucopis sp.) was 

 also plentiful. We moved on to the next island to the south, Tegua, 

 and anchored for several hours, giving me an opportunity of going on 

 shore. Here again butterflies were numerous in the shady bush-paths 

 near the beach, consisting chiefly of five or six species of Uuploea, 

 Atella, a handsome Doleschallia, probably the D. Montrouzieri, Butl., 

 Terias, sundry Lyccenidce, and several others, including a fine black 

 and yellow Papilio which 1 was unable to catch. Some very 

 interesting small land-shells, and a few beetles, were also obtained, 

 and I caught several Halobates while wading ashore over the coral 

 reef fringing the beach. In the afternoon we proceeded southwards 

 to Lo, or Saddle Island, and early on the morning of the 14th I had 

 my last chance of landing before we sailed for Noumea. An hour on 

 shore here, chiefly in the outskirts of a very neat native village, pro- 

 duced a fair number of useful butterflies, including a pair of a fine 

 black Papilio allied to P. Hi/psicles, but lacking the white macular 

 band on the fore-wings. The first specimen of this insect which I saw 

 was in the hands of a small native child, tethered by the body by a 

 piece of thread, and of course too much knocked about to be of any 

 use for the cabinet. 



After spending a few days at Noumea on our arrival there on 

 September ISth, our interesting visit to these remote islands came to 

 an end on the 27th, on which day the " Riugarooma " sailed for 

 Sydney. 



H.M.S. " Eingarooma," Picton, New Zealand : 

 1902. 



