50 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [February, 



should think he was in fear of them, but boldly sallied forth with his but- 

 terfly nets and explored the shores of tiie bay and penetrated some dis- 

 tance into the interior, discovering a large fresh-water lake, the existence 

 of which was not known before to geographers, and making wonderful 

 collections of new species, which have since been transmitted to Hon. 

 Walter DeRothschild and Mons. Oberthur, of France. 



The natives followed him everywhere and went fully armed, but keep- 

 ing a respectful distance, not knowing at what minute his terrible rock- 

 rending power might be invoked for their destruction. Finally, however, 

 they became bolder and more threatening in their demeanor, and realiz- 

 ing that his life was in danger he made his way in his boats westward, 

 exploring from point to point as he touched. His life was in his hands, 

 so to speak, during this whole perilous journey, but with amazing tact 

 and coolness he succeeded in carrying out his purposes and in coming off 

 unscathed, save by fever and the effects of the constant nervous strain to 

 which he was subjected. 



The following incident is a good illustration of his nerve: One of the 

 best ways of collecting moths is by placing baits for them in proper places, 

 and then visiting the spots after dark with a lantern and capturing them 

 where they have congreated. While in Java Mr. Doherty was following 

 this method, but discovered, to his surprise, during his rounds in the for- 

 est, he had been followed for several nights by a Bengal tiger, which had 

 tracked him from tree to tree as he went his walks. The tiger evidently 

 had been deterred from making an onslaught by the lantern which Mr. 

 Doherty carried. Mr. Doherty made up his mind that if the lantern pro- 

 tected him, he would not be deterred by the tiger, and went on with his 

 work night after night, and just as regularly as he went his rounds the 

 tiger followed him. Finally the brute became bolder and showed him- 

 self, and Mr. Doherty determined that it was time to put an end to this 

 form of coquetry and laid a bait — a dead animal — in his path, and con- 

 cealed himself with a rifle in a hollow tree. All night long he sat there 

 waiting for " Old Stripes " to sliow himself, but singularly enough the 

 tiger had reached the same conclusion as Mr. Doherty, and that night he 

 failed to appear, and thereafter was conspicuous by his absence. He had 

 apparently gotten tired of tiie business, as Mr. Doherty had. Not all of 

 Mr. Doherty's tiger stories have such an ending, and he has been "in at 

 the death " of not a few of these lords of the jungle. Strange to relate, 

 Mr. Doherty declares that he is less afraid of tigers than of tame elephants. 

 Tame elephants in India, he says, kill on an average one man a year, 

 and as some of them live to be over one hundred years of age they are 

 veritable man destroyers. This is true principally of bull elephants. Cow 

 elephants are more tractable and gentle. 



Mr. Doherty possesses a wonderful faculty of acquiring languages, and 

 this power has served him in his journeys. He possesses a colloquial 

 knowledge of twenty-seven of the languages and dialects of Asia and the 

 East, and is wonderfully accomplished in the languages of modern Eu- 



