84 [ September, 



four or five $ , they have all managed to elude my pursuit. Among the moths, a 

 fine Deilephila is conspicuous, in fact, almost the only showy insect to be obtained, 

 though there are one or two pretty Plusice, with yellow hind-wings, besides our old 

 friend P. gamma. The beetles are by no means as well represented as the Lepido- 

 ftera ; though this is probably due to the fact that I was there at the very worst 

 time of year, when everything is utterly dried up. A tiger-beetle, CicindeJa chilensis, 

 is the most abundant, as it occurs in myriads on the beach ; one or two large black 

 Heteromerous fellows must be exceedingly plentiful at certain times of the year, to 

 judge from the number of dead ones strewed about everywhere, though living ones 

 I found by no means numerous : some smaller, but very curious beetles of this 

 group {Heteromera) , a few good-sized weevils, a Puprestis, one or two ordinary 

 Lamellicorns, a Calosoma, a ladybird, and one or two cosmopolitan 'Necropliaga, 

 almost complete the list of beetles. The Order Hymenoptera, owing to the sandy 

 character of the surrounding district, is remarkably well represented, both in species 

 and individuals, at Coquimbo. 



We left this port on March 12th for Callao, where we arrived on March 31st, 

 having called in at about a dozen small ports on the way, but made no stay at any 

 of them — a few hours, or, at most, a day, as we did at Iquique. The whole coast 

 from Coquimbo northward, nearly to the equator, is a desert, simply appalling in its 

 utter barrenness : for hundreds of miles you sail along a range of high hills, rising 

 steeply out of the water, of red volcanic rock, covered for hundreds of feet up their 

 sides with drifts of loose white and yellow sand, and without even a blade of grass 

 to relieve the awful sterility. Occasionally one of the snowy peaks of the Andes is 

 to be seen, but, as a rule, this grand mountain chain is shrouded in an impenetrable 

 veil of clouds. The ports on this coast are wretched places, mere collections of 

 wooden shanties, filthy and squalid almost beyond description ; in many cases the 

 water on which the inhabitants have to depend entirely, is all distilled from the sea, 

 and is sold at the rate of about 3d. per gallon. I landed at Caldera (Chile), 

 Antofagasta (Bolivia), Iquique and Arica (Peru), but, of course, got no insects, 

 except at the latter place, where a small stream of water supports a narrow 6trip of 

 vegetation, a mere ribbon of green in the yellow waste of sand. Here I obtained a 

 Pamphila, very like our sylvanus, in profusion ; one or two little " Blues," some 

 small moths, a Cicindela, &c. 



We arrived at Callao on March 30th, and have remained here ever since ; we 

 shall probably leave for Panama towards the end of the present month. Callao 

 stands on the edge of an extensive plain, all but level, with a scarcely perceptible rise 

 towards the city of Lima, eight miles distant, and 500 feet above the sea-level. 

 Behind Lima commence the foot hills of the Cordillera, which are very rugged and 

 barren : the snowy summits of the main range are to be seen on a clear day. The 

 plain is covered with a tolerably luxuriant vegetation, by no means, however, of a 

 tropical character in general : willows, bulrushes, reeds, and other familiar marsh 

 plants, remind one very much of England, and only here and there a clump of 

 bananas, or a field of sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, or " yuce," a sort of Cassava 

 (Jatropha sp), give a tropical aspect to the scene. The little river Rimac, which 

 flows through Lima, intersects the plain, and small running streams and ditches are 

 met with in all directions, otherwise the roads and bye-paths are dusty to a most 

 disagreeable degree : as you are aware, vain is all but unknown here. The insects, 



