18841, X65 



A WEEK ON THE "BROADS." 



BY F. D. WHEELER, M.A. 



During the last few years, tlie Norfolk Broads have come some- 

 what prominently before the public : not only have Mr. Barrett, Mr. 

 Farn, Mr. Bird, and others brought their entomological treasures to 

 light, but a large number of gentlemen from all parts of the kingdom 

 bave been attracted to them by the unrivalled opportunities they afford 

 for yachting and fishing. In the present season, besides scores of 

 parties from the inland counties, who had hired boats or pleasure 

 wherries on the spot, I met with two gentlemen who had sailed round 

 Prom Yorkshire in their own yacht, and heard of another who had 

 3ome from Ireland in the same way. Consequently, I do not 

 3xpect to be able to contribute anything new to a large proportion of 

 readers of the Ent. Mo. Mag., but thought that a short account of a 

 rip on these inland waters might be interesting to some of the large 

 3lass of beginners who have not tried fen-collecting, and have not 

 ^et acquired a taste for more purely scientific articles. 



The date of our excursion was fixed by "circumstances over which 

 we had no control ;" I should much have preferred to go earlier, but 

 my occupation as a schoolmaster made that impossible, and we started 

 )n Saturday, July 26th. Our force consisted of three of my boys, 

 jvhom I will designate as B. S., H. E., and H. S., and myself. 



"We made our start by the 9.13 train for Wroxham, where a cart 

 net us to convey our traps to Irstead shoals, the port at which we were 

 embark. After getting out our boat, cleaning and trimming lamps, 

 md other preparatory measures, we took our "trial trip," pulling 

 iway up the Ant, across Barton Broad — a fine stretch of water, close 

 jpon a mile in length, and of considerable width — and again up the 

 Int above the Broad, to a spot where 1 have many times had good 

 jport. Here we got out our paraphernalia, lit and hoisted the big 

 amps,* and proceeded to explore. 



The nature of what by courtesy we may call the ground, precluded 

 as from going far ; except on the river bank, there was nothing but a 

 ioating crust of vegetation, that yielded to the tread in a manner un- 

 oleasantly suggestive. As dusk came on, a few of the commoner fen 

 jpecies began to appear : Hydrocampa nijmphcGalis and stagnalis, 

 Paraponyx strafiotalis, Cataclysta lemnalis, Eudorea pallida, Cramhus 

 mscuellus and selasellus, Cliilo gigantellus, plumgmitellus, mucronelluSj 

 indforjlcellus, but though the night was breathless and not cold, the 



For descriptiou of apparatus, see Ent, Mo. Mag., vol. xiii, p. 246, 



