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XVIII. Notes on Butterflies collected by J. H, Bowker, 

 Esq., in Basuto-land, South Africa; with de- 

 scriptions of some Nov) Species. By Roland 

 Trimen. 



[Read 7th November, 1870.] 



Her Majesty's gracious declaration of the Basutos as 

 British subjects, has proved of benefit to Entomology, 

 inasmuch as one of the consequences of that proclamation 

 was the stationing of a most devoted insect collector, 

 Mr. J. H. Bowker, in Basuto-land, with his detachment 

 of the frontier armed and mounted police. Mr. Bowker, 

 who has recently received his well-earned promotion to 

 the chief command of the corps, crossed the Orange 

 River on the 22nd March, 1868, and remained in Basuto- 

 land until towards the end of June, 1870. During this 

 period, he had occasion to visit every part of the country, 

 except the sources of the Caledon River, and has carefully 

 collected all the species of Rhopalocera with which he 

 met on his journeys, as well as those occurring near his 

 principal stations, Koro-Koro and Maseru. 



Basuto-land may be said to extend over about two 

 degrees of latitude, being situate between 28° 30' and 

 30° 30' S., according to the existing maps, and, as at 

 present limited, lies almost entirely between the Caledon 

 River (a considerable Northern tributary of the Orange 

 River) on the West, and the head-waters of the Orange 

 River on the East. It is a high-lying region throughout, 

 and mountainous all along its Eastern border. The 

 following remarks by Mr. Bowker will give a general 

 idea of the tract of country. He writes : '' Near the 

 Caledon there extend high flat-topped hills of white 

 sandstone, with rocky summits, and between them wide 

 levels much cut up with gullies and streams. With the 

 exception of a few willows along the Caledon itself, there 

 are no trees on the river-sides in this part. The streams 

 falling into the Caledon all take their rise in the Maluti 

 mountains (a Southern continuation of the Drakensberg 

 range), but do not penetrate far into the mountains, 

 being mostly cut off by the first range, of which the 

 Machecha (about 10,000 feet above the sea) and Thaba 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. 1870.- — PART IV. (DECEMBER.) B B 



