( Hx ) 



Concerning these specimens Mr. St. Aubyn Rogers wrote 

 on September 29, 1905: — 



" I was very interested to meet with Precis sesamus for the 

 first time. All the specimens except one were of the winter 

 form, and were more or less worn. The one exception was 

 a beautiful fresh natalensis which was taken in coitu with 

 sescwius. One sesannis has the red spots considerably 

 elongated, thus showing some approach to natalensis. 



" During the whole time I was on the mountain the weather 

 was for the most part cloudy and showery, so that I was un- 

 able to go up to the higher levels as I had hoped. I did go 

 as far as the forest which extends upwards for about 6000 ft., 

 but everything was diipping, though it was one of the finest 

 days we had, and no butterflies came within reach, in fact 

 only two or three were seen. In the forest there are ferns 

 and mosses everywhere carpeting the ground and hanging in 

 festoons from every branch, and the begonias form great 

 bushes 20 ft. high." 



Still more recently the following interesting notes on the 

 subject have been received from the same keen and observant 

 naturalist : — 



" I saw one other natalensis which was also quite fresh, so 

 it is fairly certain tliat I was on Kilimanjaro just at the time 

 when the wet-season phase was appearing. 



" I fear I have no first-hand knowledge of the seasons on 

 Kilimanjaro except what I can assume from living well with- 

 in sight of it, and being able to tell from the amount of cloud 

 what the weather is like. (We are not more than ten or 

 twelve miles from the mountain, which rises from the plain 

 on which we live, and probably not more than five or six from 

 the nearest foot-hills.) I have, however, inquired diligently, 

 and I am informed that the wet season lasts with short breaks 

 from the middle of March till the end of November, so that 

 1 was there towards the end of the ivet season, when one 

 would expect the drij phase to be beginning to show up, and 

 the wet phase to be still predominant though somewhat woi^n, 

 whereas the facts wei^e exactly opposite to this. Possibly the 

 explanation is that during the wet season, or at any rate a 

 good part of it, the clouds hang so heavily over the mountain, 



