1885.] 79 



Our party consisted of my host, a guide, and myself, with four horses. 

 We started with fair weather, a warm wind blowing, and the ther- 

 mometer at 91°, and made our way up a dry sandstone spur, clothed 

 wath the ordinary Australian forest of Eucalyptus and thin scrubby 

 undergrowth, the insects being much the same as on the Blue Moun- 

 tains. The ground was encumbered with fallen trees, and the travelling 

 very rough, there being no track. At 5000 feet we emerged upon a 

 swampy flat, bare of trees, but w^ell grassed, and the boggier ground 

 supporting a dense vegetation of heath-like shrubs {Mijrtacece, Legu- 

 minosce, and a Veronica) ; skirting this were low" forest-clad ridges. 

 Here the alpine fauna began suddenly, and consisted almost wholly of 

 species quite new to me ; principally Geometrce of the family Laren- 

 tiadcB, which were in great profusion, and remarkable for their gay 

 colouring. 



Whilst collecting here rain bee^an to fall, and we remounted and 

 pushed on. The rain, however, increased to a steady downpour, and 

 the wind rose and blew in fierce gusts right in our faces ; we continued 

 to ascend, but it became difficult to make our way along the exposed 

 sides of the ranges, and impossible to collect ; my companions com- 

 plained of the cold. We had intended to camp out, but under these 

 circumstances, we made for a deserted wooden hut, the only building 

 on the whole mountain, which we reached about dusk. It was a 

 small roughly constructed shed, in a very disorderly condition, and 

 my companions w^ere inclined to despise it ; but I, who had anticipated 

 nothing better than wet grass for my bed, was disposed to be thankful. 

 Whilst the rest of the party made a fire and prepared tea, I employed 

 the little remaining daylight in collecting. I found that the Lepi- 

 doptera appeared to like the rain, and flew freely, but my net and 

 boxes became so wet, that operations were diflScult. I took two spe- 

 cies of SimaetJiis, both of which I had found previously in Tasmania ; 

 Mimeseoptilus ceJidotus, which extends to New Zealand ; and several 

 species of Tortricina and (Ecophoridce, principally of Tasmanian types ; 

 our elevation being about 6000 feet. The thermometer fell at night 

 to 40°. 



The next morning w^as bright and fine ; mists hung about the 

 valleys, but soon cleared away, and the day proved eminently favoura- 

 ble. We started soon after sunrise ; our way lay over undulating 

 ridges, separated by boggy creeks, and luxuriantly clothed wnth long 

 grass and many coloured Composifcp, over R'hich the new Xenica de- 

 scribed below was flying in abundance ; the only other butterfly was 

 an occasional specimen of Pyrameis cardui. The country now became 



