VI 



molesting, the many species of birds that visit the fields in floclis on such occasions. 

 I have seen crows, large brown hawks, magpies, cranes, spur-winged plovers, and a 

 host of smaller birds, enjoying during the day ample meals furnished by these cater- 

 pillars, and had a great difficulty in preveuliug the overseer from driving them away, 

 'because,' he said ' they eat the lucerne.' The large family of ichneumons is also a 

 great ally of man in the war of extermination, for they pierce the body of the living 

 caterpillars, depositing their eggs within them, and thus cause a slow but certain 

 death before the larvae can attain to the perfect or winged state, and on this account 

 Ihey ought to be encouraged. 



" In January and March of the year 1865, my friend Mr. Eobert Vyner visited the 

 Bougong Mountains, accompanied in the first instance by an aborignal 'Old 

 Wellington,' and in the other by Mr. Sharp, of Adelong, Old Wellington, and 

 another black fellow ; both of these latter well acquainted with the habits of the moth, 

 called by them 'Boogong' and 'Gnarliong' indiscriminately. The tops of these 

 mountains are composed of granite, and present a series of lofty peaks, and it was up 

 one of these, named by the natives ' Numoiadongo,' he and his companions toiled for 

 nearly six hours before attaining the summit; so steep and rujiged was the path that 

 even the wild cattle never attempted to ascend to these heights. The moths were 

 found in vast assemblages, sheltered within the deep fissures and between the huge 

 masses of rocks which here form recesses, and might almost be considered as 'caves.' 

 On both sides of the chasms the face of the stone was literally covered with these 

 insects, packed closely side by side, overhead and under, presenting a dark surface of 

 a scale-like pattern — each moth, however, was resting firmly by its feel on the rock, 

 and not on the back of others, as in a swarm of bees. So numerous were these moths 

 that six bushels of them could easily have been gathered by the party at this one peak ; 

 and so abundant were the remains of the former occupants that a slick was thrust into 

 the debris on the floor to a depth of four feet. Mr. Vyner tells me that on this occasion 

 he ate, properly cooked by Old Wellington, about a quart of the moths, and found 

 them exceedingly nice and sweet, with a flavour of walnut — so much so that he desires 

 to have 'another feed.' His clothes, by the moths dashing against them on being 

 disturbed, were covered with honey, and smelt strongly of it for several days. At the 

 time these multitudes assembled, the tea-tree and the small stunted-looking white 

 gums were in full blossom, no doubt yielding up their honied treasures to these 

 nocturnal depredators, whose flight, when issuing from their hiding-places to the 

 feeding-grounds, was graphically described by Old Wellington, ' very much like wind, 

 or flock of sheep.' The Tumut blacks report that the moths do not congregate on the 

 high peaks in the spring time, but they first locate the lower mountains, feeding on the 

 blossoms, which appear there earlier, and then work their way up to the higher peaks, 

 where the plants are later in bloom. 



" The Bougong moths are collected and prepared for food by the aborigines in 

 thiswise: — A blanket or sheet of bark is spread on the floor; the moths, on being 

 disturbed with a stick, fall down, are gathered up before they have time to crawl or fly 

 away, and ihrust into a bag. To cook them, a hole is made on a sandy spot, and a 

 smart fire lit on it until the sand is thoroughly heated, when all portions left of the 

 glowing coal are carefully picked out for fear of scorching the bodies of the insects (as 

 in such a case a violent storm would inevitably arise, according to their superstitious 

 notions). The moths are uow poured out of the bag, stirred about in the hot ashes for 



