AND THE NILE 



137 



blue or grass- green . A common s[)ecies and a large insect has the upper 

 part of its wings like mother-of-pearl — gleaming and opalescent. But 

 perhaps the ones that made the most vivid impression on my retina were 

 those of pure vermilion. These butterflies would hold up the whole of 

 the caravan, for they would settle in masses and clusters on the moist 

 soil of the path, sucking up water from the mud ; or the largest and 

 handsomest covered some putrefying bits of carrion or the foBces of a 



III. ON A TOKO RIVER 



leopard with a hundred wings of shimmering colour. Then of course the 

 long line of porters had to wait whilst buttei'fly nets descended and the 

 glorious captures were pinched to death with trembling fingers and put 

 securely away in collecting boxes. P'ortunately the masses of butterflies 

 were so great that these often futile raids on their numbers to secure 

 specimens for identification made no impression on the flitting thousands, 

 which really seemed like flowers let loose. So like were many of them 

 to the white balsams, scarlet Musswndas, and the blue and pur[)le flowers 



