55 
A BUTTERFLY HUNT IN SOME PARTS OF 
UNEXPLORED FRANCE. 
By H. Rownanp-Brown, M.A., F.E.S. 
(Continued from p. 14.) 
(v) Basses-Alpes. (a) Allos. 
As in the case of a previous paper of the series, some quali- 
fication of title is necessary. Donzel * discovered Allos in 1831. 
It has received several recent visits from English collectors, 
myself included, and I have given a short account of a week 
spent here in August, 1908 (‘ Entomologist, vol. xli. p. 268). 
However, as I was in this part of the Basses-Alpes at an earlier 
date than on the occasion of my last visit, or that of the late 
Mr. J. W. Tutt (‘ Entomologist’s Record,’ vol. xix. pp. 197-199), 
I trust my experiences may be useful to those who wish to 
explore the upper valley of the Verdon during the summer 
months. Allos remains primitive. The motor services, the 
endless procession of touring cars have left it unperturbed ; and 
the little Hotel du Midi, where Mdlle. Pascal works so hard for 
the comfort of her pensionnaires, is as archaic and roughly com- 
fortable as ever. 
After a rather disappointing entomological week at Digne— 
for the universal drought in the lower lands of Provence had 
burnt up all the green herb—I took train for Thorame-Haute 
by the familiar narrow-gauge line. Here the alpine motors of 
the Sud Company pick up, and they are almost as cheap as the 
former rusty diligence. Between St. André and the starting- 
point there are doubtless many fine butterfly corners as sug- 
gested by glimpses caught from the windows of the never- 
express train. Such a one there is near the station before 
Thorame, and there I bade farewell to Papilio alexanor—so un- 
accountably and unusually rare in 1913 in its native haunts at 
Digne. The drive is pleasant enough by Beauvezer and Colmars, 
with its narrow medieval streets, through which the motor 
steers, scraping the stucco from the walls of the overhanging 
houses—a veritable threading of the needle’s eye. The climb 
scarcely begins before Colmars, from the gate of which town it 
is practically all uphill, and as dusty a road as ever provoked 
the thirst of man and beast. Still, there are several good 
stretches of collecting ground by the river en route, as I found 
when, on the hottest day of the year, I descended in quest of 
Erebia scipio at points indicated by Mr. Powell (‘ Entomologist,’ 
vol. xli. p. 298). 
I left Digne at eight o’clock, and reached my destination 
& ‘Notice Entomologique sur les Environs de Digne et quelques Points 
des Basses-Alpes,’ par M. Hugues Donzel.. Lyon, 1861. 
