216 [February, 



bacon on that of " Protection," he has no difficulty in explaining, to 

 his acquaintance's admiration, that you are a great chief who allows 

 him so much a month besides his food, and gives him very light work. 

 It is ten to one, after this, that the two set up a barbaric chant in your 

 honour, the object of which is to extract from you a " pen," or penny, 

 which in Kafir computation means a threepenny bit. As you amusedly 

 watch the two Africans, and admire their symmetrical proportions and 

 easy flow of language, you half envy them their simple enjoyment of 

 life. They have no cares, they take no thought for the morrow. 

 Tailors' bills are as much unknown to them as tooth-ache. No wonder 

 they are always laughing and singing. It is doubtful whether, if they 

 could be brought to understand them, they would vex their brains much 

 over theories of " natural selection," " centres of creation, "glacial " — . 

 A deep red butterfly, floating slowly past just in front of you, cuts 

 short your philosophical reflections. It settles on a leaf of the bush to 

 your right, where it lazily basks with open, slightly -wavering wings. 

 It is the beautiful Acrcea Petrcea ; and as you look up at the wall of 

 tree-foliage and twiners behind you, you find the place alive with this 

 butterfly. Conspicuous as they are, they lazily float through the warm 

 air, or settle in the most exposed situations, with the utmost security. 

 Other butterflies hurry about, scarcely giving themselves time to take 

 food, or seem, if slow fliers, to seek concealment among the foliage. 

 But these Acrcsce are the very aristocrats of the Ehopalocera ; they 

 will not hurry themselves for anything. Flash ! comes a great dragon- 

 fly, glittering in mail of blue and green, right through, the fluttering 

 throng. Surely he has one of the idlers in his jaws, as he settles on a 

 bare twig at some distance. Tou cautiously approach ; — the victim is 

 no Acrcea, but a luckless yellow Pier is, and jEschna the terrible is 

 making short work of her. While you are wondering what was the 

 reason or this selection, one of the Acrtece, perfect in depth of colour, 

 passes within such easy reach that you net him without effort. The 

 first thing the captive does is to feign death in a very admirable 

 manner ; but, knowing the gentleman previously, you are not taken in 

 by this. Finding this of no avail, he suddenly struggles mightily to 

 escape, but your practised fingers close upon him. This treatment 

 induces him to try his last and (usually) most effective means of dis- 

 gusting his captor, and he foi'thwith, from various joints of his body, 

 suflfers to ooze forth a clear yellow liquid, which exhales a disagreeable 

 odour, and strongly stains your fingers. But you are proof against 

 this even, and he is securely pinned in your box, after the administra- 

 tion of what you consider a very su.fficient pinch of the thorax. 



