PEICKLY PEAES. 27 



step, which, added to the sun's rays direct and re- 

 flected, makes any exertion terribly fatiguing. Dra- 

 gon-flies and Butterflies were numerous here ; one of 

 the first objects that attracted my attention was 

 Heliconia charitonia. Its beauty and singularity of 

 form, the great length and little breadth of the wings, 

 the length and slenderness of the body, and the 

 brilliant contrasts of colour, lemon-yellow and vel- 

 vety black, together with the very peculiar flapping 

 of the wings in flight, as if their length rendered 

 them somewhat unwieldy, gave me a sensation of de- 

 lighted surprise. It is one of the most easily cap- 

 tured of Butterflies, being slow of flight and fearless ; 

 it flutters heavily along over low herbage at the sides 

 of roads, and by the sea-shore, rarely mounting as 

 high as one's head, except when alarmed. Colcenis 

 Delila, Jgraulis vanillce, and the minute Polyom- 

 matus Cassius, were also abundant here. A large 

 Opuntia was growing in great straggling beds, the 

 broad spine-set articulations displaying both flower 

 and fruit in profusion. Notwithstanding the pencils 

 of fine barbed spines with which the latter is armed 

 at intervals, well maintaining ;ls title o^ Prickly pear ^ 

 I was tempted by its plumpness and rich blooming 

 colour to taste one. My lips were soon full of the 

 spines, which are detached from their base with the 

 slightest force, and left sticking in the flesh ; yet the 

 pulp and juice, both of which were of the richest 

 crimson hue, were pleasantly sweet-acid, though 

 somewhat insipid, and full of stony seeds. An ex- 

 cellent crimson dye, equal to true cochineal, has re- 

 cently been obtained in the East Indies from the 



