504 ENTOMOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES, &C. 



years, and cannot be accounted for, unless by the numerous 

 fires that have been made over the whole country in order to 

 help to clear the timber and rough long grass. These dead 

 patches look dreary in the extreme, and one or two which 

 were partially cleared, called forcibly to my mind the sketch of 

 a back settlement in Mrs. Trollop's work. Even where the 

 mortality has not been so general, it is usual to see about one 

 third of the trees dead, while even those which are alive look 

 like ghosts, from shedding their bark each year, which hangs 

 about them in rags, and leaves them always nearly white. 



" The absence of underwood is another peculiarity here, for 

 I have seen none whatever, although in some parts there are 

 'scrubs' which it is almost impossible for a dog to get through ; 

 these, however, are scarce, and only found in wet land. 



" When I first came here, I took up my abode a mile out of 

 town, in the midst of a large garden surrounded by a farm, 

 from the edge of which rise uncultivated hills, covered with 

 ti'ees, shrubs, and coarse grass. In such a spot, in the middle 

 of spring, I concluded that I should soon fill my insect boxes ; 

 and you may imagine how much I was disappointed when, on 

 making my first evening rambles, I scarcely found a single 

 insect, with the exception of ants and grasshoppers, which, 

 together with flies, always abound. In vain I searched the 

 foliage for caterpillars and beetles, and equally in vain did I 

 illuminate my window for moths ; I could meet with nothing, 

 and gave up the attempt in despair. I soon after made an 

 excursion into the country, and was riding about for a fort- 

 night, but noticed a similar scarcity of animal life ; and I 

 frequently rode for hours through an uncultivated country with- 

 out seeing a living thing, although I kept a sharp look out. 

 I attribute much of this scarcity to the fires that rage during 

 our dry season, destroying all vegetation, with the exception 

 of the highest trees, for many miles in extent; indeed, so 

 numerous are these fires, that I have considered it probable 

 that the whole of the inhabited districts are burnt occasionally; 

 and since these occur during the summer, the destruction of 

 insects and of birds' nests must be very great. 



" Nevertheless, as the summer advanced, a large quantity 

 of small Coleoptera made their appearance about the trees ; of 

 moths and butterflies I still found but few; and such a deficiency 

 was there of large and handsome insects, that my mania for 



