18S1.1 81 



Entomological collecting on a voyage to the Pacific. — [The following very in- 

 teresting extracts from a letter addressed to the Rev. W. W. Fowler, have been 

 handed to us by this gentleman for publication, which we have great pleasure in 

 doing. — Eds.] 



The ship left Plymouth on September 28th, 1880, and, after a very rough and 

 disagreeable passage, anchored off Horta, in the island of Fayal (Azores), on October 

 6th. As we remained here six days, making good some slight defects, I was enabled 

 to land and look about me a little : on one occasion reaching the " Caldeira," a vast 

 extinct volcanic crater in the centre of the island, the lip of which is 3200 feet above 

 the sea, and five miles in circumference. The scenery of the island is very beautiful, 

 and the vegetation luxuriant and varied in the extreme, the loose volcanic soil being 

 of very great fertility : the hedges of Hydrangea were in their full beauty for 

 hundreds of yards, one mass of pink, blue, and white blossom : and ferns in wonder- 

 ful luxuriance and variety. I did not, however, find insects particularly numerous 

 — about 20 species of beetles, mostly Harpali and other familiar Geodephagous 

 forms, a Calosoma, a prettly little variegated Slater related to Cryptohypnus, &c. ; 

 a large and curious Otiorhynchid weevil, Laparocerus azoricus, &c. Small moths, 

 mostly Pyrales, were individually numerous, the most abundant being Scopula 

 ferrugalis. Leucania unipuncta (extranea) , so rare in England, was here the com- 

 monest Noctua : there were only three butterflies, Pyrameis cardui, Pieris brassier 

 and a Satyrus, like a small S. Semele : the latter appeared to occur only on the 

 summit of the Caldeira. 



Leaving Horta on the 12th, we visited the island of Elores, 120 miles to the 

 westward, and stayed there two days, I went ashore once, but the weather was not 

 favourable, and I got nothing that I had not found in Eayal. We finally left the 

 Azores on October 16th, and reached St. Vincent, in the Cape de Verde Islands on 

 November 1st, remaining here until the 6th. St. Yincent presents a very great 

 contrast to the Azores, being as barren and forbidding in aspect, as they are fertile 

 and luxuriant ; the whole island looks like a vast heap of " clinkers " and brick- 

 kiln refuse. Yegetation is scanty in the extreme, and what there is, is of a wretched 

 weedy aspect. Two or three walks on shore yielded me a few Heteromerous beetles, 

 two species of Cicindela, and a Cleonus, besides a nice series of a showy butterfly, 

 Danais Chrysippus, var. Alcippus, and a few moths, of which the most noteworthy 

 were Peiopeia pidchella (common), Heliothis peltiger and armiger, &c. We had a 

 long and somewhat tedious passage of 30 days to Monte Yideo, our next port of 

 j call ; the chief events which occurred to vary the monotony, were the capture of a 

 couple of sharks (which were eaten by the ship's company, and pronounced ex- 

 ceedingly good ; I tried a morsel of one, and found it by no means unpalatable), and 

 the sight of a most gigantic cuttle-fish, floating dead on the surface of the sea, about 

 200 miles off the Brazilian coast. This creature (which resembled, on a colossal 

 scale, the common calamary, or " squid," of the British seas) was at least 14 feet in 

 total length, and weighed at least 3^ or 4 cwt. — a veritable sea-monster. We 

 remained at Monte Yideo from December 6th to 12th. I found it a very interesting 

 place, although the surrounding country is somewhat sandy and arid, with but few 

 trees. I obtained a few species of beetles, including a conspicuous green Phanceus 

 (a very fine genus of Lamellicornes related to Copris, &c), some curious small 

 Heteromera and weevils, &c. Butterflies were very numerous, as regards individuals, 



