44 Voyage of the Novara. 



sects and butterflies, and at the time of our visit were about 

 publishing a large work upon Australian butterflies. They 

 also have the lepidopterous fauna of New South Wales in great 

 variety and in every stage of metamorphosis, in many cases 

 from the very ovum, all copiously explained, and their distin- 

 guishing characteristics placed beneath in a series of above 

 one hundred tables, which the two ladies, who are accom- 

 plished artists both in drawing and painting, have themselves 

 lithographed and coloured. 



An excursion was also made from Ash Island to the Sugar 

 Loaf, 3288 feet high, the loftiest mountain in the district. 

 As they had to do 40 miles in one day, the party sprang to 

 their horses as soon as day dawned, and, accompanied by 

 two settlers of Ash Island, laid themselves out for the day's 

 work. First they ascended Hunter River for about a couple 

 of miles, which a little further on headed to the northward, 

 while the cavalcade kept to the left towards the hills. The 

 forest was so clear of underwood, that one could almost ride 

 along as though in a park. Despite the numerous traces of 

 extensive fires, it seemed to have been but little altered by 

 these from its primitive wildness. Occasionally huts and 

 cultivated land were passed ; the great proprietors usually 

 give these runs to be cultivated as farms, or make them serve 

 for their cattle, under their own drovers. In winter the 

 cattle run at will in the " Bush," as the settlers call this cha- 

 racteristic scenery, wherever they can find the best pasture 

 for themselves. In summer again, when the great heat dries 



