The Journal of a Sporting Nomad 
bottles, nets, boxes, and the rest, and I shall 
never forget the first batch of specimens they 
brought me—a collection of broken wings, 
absolutely useless ! 
I had no appliances for setting insects, so 
simply folded them gently together in a V-shaped 
envelope in order to protect their plumage, and 
soon had quite a nice lot of gorgeous butterflies 
and moths. The small red ants that swarm 
over and devour everything were my chief 
enemies, and I had to keep all my treasures in 
hermetically sealed cases in order to save them. 
These ants, on discovering anything edible, 
seemed to convey the news to each other, and 
in next to no time a constant stream of them 
passed to and fro from their nest to the object 
and back again. 
One might fondly imagine oneself the neue 
possessor of some rare bird skin or moth, only 
to find, when next it was looked at, a little heap 
of feathers, or some particles of dust. 
I soon had a box crammed full of fine speci- 
mens, and sent them off to Mr. J. E. Harting, 
in England, who had promised to have them set 
up and given to the Natural History Museum. 
Unfortunately, the first consignment never 
arrived. I sent them via Fernando Po, Came- 
roons, by a German steamer, and though the 
parcel may have reached Europe, I heard no 
more of it. I had better luck next time, when a 
40 
