Observed in a tour through India and, Ceylon. 7.3 



ing at this remote frontier post. Perched on a saddle, 

 where the old Buddhist road crosses the foot-hills, looking 

 forward over the Swat valley, back over the dusty plain 

 of the Panjab, this isolated fortress affords a picture of 

 rocky desolation. The Pass is closed every night by 

 chcvaux dc /rise, and the garrison is always prepared for 

 attack. When I went collecting it was deemed prudent 

 that I should be accompanied by a gigantic chv/prassi, a 

 Pathan of the tribe of the Jusufsai, or Sons of Joseph. 

 Moreover, when scrambling over the hillsides, in addition 

 to the usual Indian thorns in all their varieties, wire 

 entanglements have to be negotiated ! 



The rocky hills seemed too dry and burnt up to harbour 

 many butterflies, but on the parched slopes of the fortified 

 crag, nicknamed Gibraltar, the pretty little Melitsea trivia, 

 Schiff., was almost abundant; on a glaucous shrub at the 

 foot of the same hill were numbers of a glaucous green and 

 yellow locust, Pceciloccra picta, which though conspicuous 

 enough on the wing was decidedly cryptic. Other Orni- 

 thoptera were Quiroguesia blanehardianus, Sauss., and 

 Truxalis nasuta, L. I also took three wasps, two Vespa 

 velutina, Lep. (var. " dcs Indes" Sauss.) $ , and a £ Polistcs 

 hcbrxns, F. 



In addition to the above a long and hot walk only 

 yielded one Ganoris canidia, $ ; tw r o Terias hecabe, a $ of 

 the variety without the "dog's head," and a large but 

 otherwise normal £ i two Blues, a Zizera karsandra, 

 Moore, and a Z. maha, Koll., var. diluta, Feld. ; one 

 Precis orithyia ; a dingy Skipper, Gegencs nostrodanms, Fab., 

 and a micro, Tiniegeria, sp. Some puddles of water at 

 the baggage-mules' drinking-place proved very attractive, 

 yielding Argynnis niphc, a $, Tarucus theoplt.rastus, F., 

 a £, and the conspicuous Ilipparchia parisatis. 



The next day (Oct. 29th) I lighted upon an oasis in the 

 desert in the shape of the staff-sergeant's garden, where 

 irrigation had produced a brilliant mass of flowers, some 

 vegetables, and a small field of lucerne. Here butterflies 

 abounded : Terias hecabe, without the " dog's head mark," 

 was in plenty among the lucerne as well as at the marigolds ; 

 the lucerne also yielded both Colias ficldii and C. crate, 

 the eastern form of hyale. Among the Danaids Limnas 

 chrysiijpiis was common, and D. genutia, Cr., abundant at 

 the marigold flowers, at which also one Tirumala limniaee, 

 Cr., was taken. Athyma perius, Linn., was rather com- 



