88 B-ESJ. To the Alps for Coleoptera. [voi.'xxxvil. 



As showing the mildness, not to say coldness, of the summer, 

 clusters of the yellow and black Ladybird, Halyzia melhyi, 

 were frequently found sheltering themselves under stones. 

 Under ordinary circumstances they would have been found 

 on the various shrubs. I would hkc to say that at no time 

 were we more than about two miles from the Hospice, as our 

 experience of many years has proved to us that in collecting 

 insects it is not tlic distance you travel, but rather the careful 

 inspection of a limited area, that counts. 



At one time the Hospice maintained a flock of goats, and 

 from these the visitors always got fresh milk, but now one has 

 to be contented with the condensed article. The goats, 

 however, are still in evidence, and may be seen at times from 

 the Hospice on the steeper side of Mount Smythc. They have 

 gone wild, and probably in the near future may afford good 

 sport — not, perhaps, equal to the Swiss Chamois — to those 

 visitors who may like a bit of difficult hunting. I trust they 

 will not be interfered with for some time, so that they may 

 increase and spread ov-er the numerous hills. 



Since writmg the above I have quite recently heard that 

 Mr. and I\Irs. Thompson have temporarily removed from the 

 Hospice, so that now only a man is left to cater for —shall I say 

 unfortunate ?— visitors. 



At Harrietville, at the foot of the Alps, we stayed for a couple 

 of days, but were not very successful, insect life being far from 

 plentiful. Our best captures were a longicorn of the genus 

 Tryphocharia, similar to some taken by Mr. Dixon at (iisborne, 

 supposed to be new, and, so far as we know, these are the only 

 two places where there are any records of it — truly a very 

 wide distance apart ; also one specimen of that large Clerus 

 beetle, Nalalis litana. Nearly all others were similar to what 

 is found around Melbourne. At the time of our visit there 

 should have been an abundance of lif(; on the young gums, but 

 it was not so. Even the common Ladybirds, Paropsis and 

 Cadmus, were almost cntin-ly absent. There were, however, a 

 few of the large common l)rown cockchafer, Anoplognalhus analis. 



At this place (Harrietville) we had, through the influence of 

 a friend, obtained permission to accompany him through a 

 mine which has had many ups and downs, but is now again 

 doing very well, having recently come on to the dividend list. 

 The mine is the Rose. Thistle, and Shamrock, and the tunnel 

 through which we were taken to reach the workings is 

 2,000 feet long, and. we were informed, took over fifteen years 

 to drive — a fact e;'.sily to Ix; believed whrn one looks at the 

 solid rock through which it was driven, ihe reef varies in 

 thickness and in richness, but to our inexperienced eyes it 

 looked poor, but W(; were told it was averaging at least one ounce 



