1882.] 23 



I added rery little to my collection of insects during July and September, at 

 Callao. The butterflies had nearly all disappeared by the end of June, and the 

 ■weather was generally unfavourable for collecting, as well as the reverse of tropical — 

 the thermometer rarely standing above 65° in the day-time, and usually down to 

 57°, or even lesS*, at night, so that I often felt quite cold. The sun was sometimes 

 obscured for a week at a stretch, and though there was no actual rain, a dense web 

 sea-fog (" G-arua," as it is called), which may fairly be compared to the traditional 

 Scotch mist, prevailed almost every day, and was far more disagreeable than a 

 heavy shower would have been. I managed to increase my local list of butterflies 

 to 46 species, the additions being small and inconspicuous, with the exception 

 of a pretty yellow and black Pieris ? Among the moths, the best novelty to me 

 was a very handsome little Cerura, about the size of C. bifida, but rather like 

 C. vinula in style of marking. The cocoons were not rare on willow-trunks in 

 August, but I have not yet been able to meet with the larva. A few fresh beetles, 

 mostly small Heteromera, occurred. On the island of San Lorenzo (6 miles 

 from Callao) the Coleoptera appeared to be rather better represented than on 

 the mainland. Early in September, I obtained some 25 species of beetles, mostly 

 Geodephaga {Harpalus, Pterostichus, Scarites, &c.) and Heteromera — not to mention 

 plenty of scorpions — under stones on the top of the highest hill, 1200 feet above the 

 sea ; and among dead mussels on the beach, a large number of a fine species of 

 Dermestes, and of a Phaleria, very like our British P. cadaverina. I also met with 

 a few small moths which I had not seen on the mainland, among them being a very 

 fine Agdistis, much larger and more richly marked than our Bennettii : I bred it from 

 a little glassy-green larva, which I picked up casually on the sand. San Lorenzo is 

 for the most part excessively barren, consisting of either naked rock or drifting 

 yellow sand ; only on the highest summit is there a trifling amount of vegetation, 

 among which the wild potato holds a conspicuous place : it produces well-formed 

 tubers, sometimes two inches in diameter, but they are too watery and bitter to be 

 eatable. 



The great event of my stay at Callao, was a trip up the Trans-Andine Eailway 

 to Chicla, which I enjoyed, on the 17th June. This railway, intended to connect 

 the fertile tropical districts east of the Cordillera with the Pacific coast, is a most 

 wonderful piece of engineering, it being carried up the valley of the E-imac to Chicla 

 (12,200 feet above the sea), and then over the main ridge of the mountains to Oroya ; 

 the highest elevation reached by the railway being 15,722 feet — about 50 feet less than 

 the height of Mont Blanc ! The line has, however, been completed only as far as 

 Chicla, and the works have been suspended ever since the beginning of the Chilo- 

 Peruvian war. The scenery all the way is of the most magnificent description, and 

 requires only a little more vegetation to render it perfect, though some favoured spots 

 on the route are verdant enough. At Chicla, the hill-sides were carpeted with 

 beautiful wild-flowers, a shrubby lemon-yellow Calceolaria, &\\A a plant like a lupine, 

 with showy blue-purple blossoms, being abundant, with yellow hawk-weeds and 

 Cruciferce, and a conspicuous species of Loasa (I think) with large garnet-red 

 poppy-like flowers, and most formidable stinging hairs. I was able to devote only 

 about half-an-hour to collecting here, and observed five species of butterflies, three 

 of which {Pi/rameis Carye, a small Colias?, and a Satyrits) appeai'ed only singly, 

 and I could not catch them. The other two were a little satiny-blue Lt/ctenid (rare), 



