NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN. 109 



euphrosyne. It took us some little time getting up to the village, 

 and several halts were made on the way for the purpose of 

 admiring the scenery ; but when at last we reached the top we 

 were amply repaid for our climb. At one period the village was 

 evidently well fortified, probably when it was inhabited, some 

 centuries ago, by the Knights of Malta. Above the village, upon 

 the highest point of rock, stand the ruins of a castle, and the 

 view from here is simply superb. We had our picnic in a little 

 meadow off the track, about a quarter of a mile below the village. 

 It was a most romantic spot, and the long climb and invigorating 

 air had given us all keen appetites. 



On the 12th I noticed the first P. machaon, and by the 17th 

 they were out commonly, and were joined by Anthocharis carda- 

 mines, A. euphenoides, P.mcera, L. icarus, and C.phlceas, and 

 on this day I took the only specimen of Thecla rubi seen during 

 our stay at Ville Franche. Cidaria sp. ?, Camptogramma bi- 

 linedta, Minoa euphorbiata, and Mecyna polygonalis (1) were 

 taken by beating. On 19th P. egeria and Spilothyrus alcece 

 were added to the list, but nothing fresh was noticed after 

 this date. Nests of the larvae of Cnethocampa were plentiful on 

 the pines. If we had remained here for another month a great 

 many more species would doubtless have been taken, and I 

 should say from the appearance of the country that Lepidoptera 

 would be abundant during May and June. 



We arrived at Suda Bay, Crete, on May 2nd, and remained on 

 the coast of that island, principally at Canea, until July 6th. All 

 the time we were there the country was in such a disturbed condi- 

 tion that our admiral gave orders that no officers were to go alone 

 outside the town, but were to be in parties of not less than two 

 or three together, to be in uniform, and armed with revolvers, 

 and on no account were they to pass the cordon of international 

 troops, which extended from two to three miles beyond the town. 

 This made collecting rather a trying matter, for it is no easy 

 thing to run after a butterfly in a blazing hot sun, with a 

 revolver-belt round one's wrist, and with a closely-fitting tunic 

 buttoned up to one's throat, not to mention the absence of 

 voluminous pockets for the stowage of glass-bottomed boxes, &c. 



Canea, which is one of the largest towns in Crete, is situated 

 at the corner of a wide bay facing the north. It is irregularly 

 built, and the streets are narrow, dirty, and badly paved. It is 

 enclosed by old walls and fortifications, with a bastion and ditch 

 on the land side, the work of the Venetians. Beyond the town 

 there is an extensive plain, which stretches away to the foot 

 of the lower slopes of the range of lofty mountains which run 

 from east to west throughout the island. It is very fertile, and 

 contains vineyards and olive-gardens, and a large quantity of 

 corn, maize, melons, garden produce, &c, is usually cultivated. 

 Owing, however, to the unhappy state of the country, many of the 



