8 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



scanty herbage growing-- somehow — in the sand and stones of 

 "Goldmohur Valley," which is the widest of several dry, stony 

 torrent-beds leading down from the crags of Jabal Shamsham, 

 the great crater-wall, to the sea. No more unpromising spot for 

 Lepidoptera could be imagined tban the barren Peninsula of 

 Aden. Practically no herbage exists save in these valleys ; 

 there, however, butterflies swarmed. A few were taken in the 

 cultivated ground across the harbour ; but inland, even in the 

 fertile district of Lahej, there were very few butterflies to be 

 seen. I only remember seeing Delias eucharis, but did not 

 take it. 



The few species of moths noted in List A swarmed in to light 

 in the bungalows at " Steamer Point," about May and June. 



List B, those taken in the Transvaal. 



In those troublous years 1900-2, there was not, as a rule, 

 much opportunity of collecting insects in the Transvaal ! At 

 Pretoria, however, in the hot weather 1900-1, opportunities did 

 occur. Through the kindness of Dr. Gunning and Mr. Zwierstra, 

 of the Pretoria Zoological Gardens, I found myself armed with 

 a net and a killing-bottle ; and numereus short forays in the 

 gardens, fields, and thickets of Fountains Grove, one and a half 

 miles to the south, on the stony kopjes surrounding the town, 

 and in the flower-gardens of the officer's quarters at the " Staats 

 Artillerie " Barracks, yielded a fair return. 



I again found chances of collecting while stationed at the 

 Dynamite Factory at Modderfontein, twelve miles north of 

 Johannesburg. This locality is 1000 ft. higher than Pretoria, 

 being about 5800 ft. above sea-level, and is in the midst of the 

 " High Veld." Here butterflies were not so numerous; such as 

 were obtained were usually taken at the flowers of the eucalyptus 

 trees, or amongst the tall grass. 



Nearly all my Transvaal moths, however, were taken at 

 Modderfontein ; they swarmed in nightly to the electric lights 

 in the factory dwellings. 



The only other locality in the Transvaal where I found it 

 possible to make any attempt at collecting was Pietpotgietersrust, 

 in the "Bush Veld," more than one hundred miles north of 

 Pretoria,- and much lower and hotter than that place. Keturn- 

 ing from a mission to General Plumer's force, which had just 

 (April, 1901) opened up the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway, and 

 "moved on" the migratory Boer Government from its temporary 

 seat in the Zoutpansberg, my train had to " cross," at Pietpot- 

 gietersrust, no less than seven trains hurrying up with troops 

 and supplies. In the two hours of delay thus enforced, I worked 

 the gardens close to the station. Besides several species already 

 met with at Pretoria and swarming here, in those two hours I 

 took V. antalus, Teracolus omphale, ramaguehana, psendetrida, and 

 ivvperator; none met with elsewhere. Mylothris agathina, too, 



