276 THE UNKNOWN. 



getting eatables and preparing my meals, so as to leave 

 me unembarrassed to devote all my thoughts to my work. 

 Between nine and ten A.M. I prepare for the woods; a 

 coloured shirt, pair of trousers, pair of common boots, 

 and an old felt hat, are all my clothing; over my left 

 shoulder slings my double-barrelled gun, loaded, one with 

 No. 10, one with No. 4 shot. In my right hand I take 

 my net, on my left side is suspended a leathern bag with 

 two pockets, one for my insect-box, the other for powder 

 and two sorts of shot ; on my right side hangs my " game- 

 bag," an ornamental affair, with red leather trappings and 

 thongs to hang lizards, snakes, frogs, or large birds. One 

 small pocket in this bag contains my caps ; another, 

 papers for wrapping up the delicate birds; others for 

 wads, cotton, box of powdered plaster ; and a box with 

 damped cork for the Micro-Lepidoptera ; to my shirt is 

 pinned my pin-cushion, with six sizes of pins. A few 

 minutes after entering the edge of the forest, I arrive 

 in the heart of the wilderness ; before me nothing but 

 forest for hundreds of miles. Many butterflies are found 

 on the skirts of the forest; in the midst of numbers 

 flitting about, I soon distinguish the one I want often 

 a new one Erycinide, Hesperia, Thecla, or what not. 

 Coleoptera you see nothing fine of at first; a few 

 minute Halticce on the leaves, or small Curculios, or 

 JEumolpi. When you come to the neighbourhood of u 

 newly-fallen tree, is soon enough to hunt closely for them ; 

 not only wood-eating species, but all kinds seem to con- 

 gregate there; Agras and Lebias in the folded leaves. 



