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tree in proportion to the size thereof, but they put none upon the Byer tree. The 

 Parieahs, or hill people, guard the insects night and day while in the worm state, to 

 preserve them from crows and other birds by day, and from bats by night. 



" I have myself seen them thus watching the brood. This species cannot he con- 

 fined, for so soon as the moth pierces the cocoon it gets away ; and the people add, 

 that it is impossible to keep it, by any precaution whatever. 



" To wind off these cocoons, they put them into a ley made of plantain ashes and 

 water, for about two hours, after which they take them out of the ley, and put them in 

 their wet state into an earthen pot; those which are properly softened are first applied 

 to the reel, and so on, as the cocoons become soft, for four or five days, till the whole 

 are wound off. 



" The implement used for taking off the thread is a small common reel of four bars. 

 The cocoons are laid in a smooth earthen dish, without water ; the reel is turned by 

 the right hand, whilst the thread of four or five cocoons passes over the left thigh of 

 the spinner, and he gives the thread a twist with his left hand upon his thigh. The 

 operation is this instant in my sight, with a thread of five cocoons, the produce of an- 

 other species called Jarroo and described below, but the reeling is exactly the same as 

 that of the Bughy, and therefore one description answers for both. I must add, that 

 the thread is exceedingly apt to come off double and treble for several yards together, 

 which is not regarded by the natives, as breaking off double threads would diminish 

 the produce, and, moreover, would occasion loss of time ; a very even thread, however, 

 may with care be reeled from either the Bughy or Jarroo cocoon. 



" The Jarroo cocoons, just alluded to, are so called from being produced in the 

 coldest month of the year, say January; the Bughy being about a mouth before them. 

 The Jarroo are likewise annual, and the history of them is nearly the same as that of 

 the Bughy; they are, however, different, as I am assured. The Jarroo will eat the 

 Byer leaf if he cannot get the Asseen, but he will always prefer the latter, and produce 

 a better cocoon when fed on it. His silk is more of a dull colour than that of the 

 Bughy, which latter worm the hill people put on the Asseen alone, not because it pre- 

 fers it to the Byer, but because they have greater plenty of Asseen than Byer, and 

 moreover, trim and dress out plots of Asseen on purpose for the worms. The princi- 

 pal difference between the above two species is, that the natives retain a part of the 

 Jarroo cocoons for seed ; these they hang out on the Asseen trees wlien the proper sea- 

 son of the moth arrives; when the moths come out, the male insects invariably all fly 

 away, but the females remain on the trees. These are not impregnated by the males 

 bred along with them, but, in ten or twelve hours, or perhaps one, two, or three days 

 a flight of males arrive, settle on the branches, and impregnate the females ; by the 

 bye, the hill people calculate good or ill fortune in proportion to the speedy or tardy 

 arrival of the stranger males. These insects die as soon as the purposes of Nature are 

 effected, and the females live only to produce the eggs on the branches of the trees 

 and then expire. In regard to the Bughy species, they all take flight, females as well 

 as males, and hence the natives firmly believe that they are all males, though I can- 

 iiot see any physical reason for supposing them so. I have frequently endeavoured to 

 detain the males of the Jarroo species, and have kept them locked up in a box for that 

 purpose ; but whether they did not like to make free with their female relations, or 

 from what other cause I know not, but I never could obtain a breed in the domestic 

 state, and the efforts of the male to escape were wonderful, and at last always effectu- 

 al. The accounts given by the natives of the distance to which the male insects fly 



