148 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



expect them, and then only in very small numbers. The greater 

 part of May and early June had been very wet and cold, and at 

 Vizzavona I was told there had been more ram and snow during 

 the early part of the summer than had been known for at least 

 ten years. An old French gentleman who lives at Ajaccio told 

 me that the backwardness of plant life generally (he was some- 

 thing of a botanist) was phenomenal, and that the excessive cold 

 and wet which they had been having had done considerable 

 damage to fruit trees and crops ; and so of course in the same 

 way insects suffered. Except with one or two exceptions butter- 

 flies were never plentiful ; and even when we went down from 

 Vizzavona to Corte, two thousand feet lower, we still found 

 the same condition of things prevailing and heard the same 

 story : that never had there been such a wet, cold summer. 

 Consequently, when we arrived in the island towards the end of 

 June many of our first days resulted in seeing very little, and 

 we had literally to wait for the butterflies to come out, which 

 they chose to do very slowly indeed ; and when we had to leave 

 on July 17th our " bag " was by no means a large one, though 

 I am bound to say we were able to see and obtain good series of 

 the majority of the interesting Corsican specialities. Before 

 going to Corsica I had spent a few days collecting in the forests 

 near Laon, in Northern France. Here on June 19th Dryas 

 paphia was emerging and becoming common ; in Corsica, 

 hundreds of miles further south, I did not see D. paphia until 

 July 5th, when at Corte, in the Restonica Gorge, which is very 

 warm and sheltered, this species was then only just commencing, 

 and was not out at Vizzavona a week later, where most collectors 

 have generally found it abundant in the second week of July. 

 However, if butterflies were not plentiful, Corsica itself is so 

 beautiful and full of interest that one must indeed be without 

 resources if one cannot fill up the time in other ways. We found 

 the natives charming and always pleasant to talk to ; while with 

 its splendid mountain scenery every corner is a perfect picture 

 for an artist ; and of course the flora of Corsica is well known 

 for its variety and interest. I had as companion my friend 

 Mr. Eobert Trapper-Lomax, who, although at starting some- 

 what of a novice in matters entomological, soon became an adept 

 with the net, and quickly began to talk with the greatest glib- 

 ness of " elisa " and " hospiton," though his great wish to 

 secure a specimen of the latter butterfly was never realized. 

 Leaving Marseilles at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we slowly 

 steamed out to sea under a cloudless sky, the statue on the 

 church of "Notre Dame de la Garde" standing up above the 

 tower like a figure of living gold, illuminated by the rays 

 of the hot afternoon sun. Next morning, however, when we 

 arrived at Ajaccio at 5 a.m. a drizzling rain was falling, and the 

 hills surrounding one of the most beautiful bays in Europe were 



