BULGAKIAN BUXTEKFLIBS. 33 



above the convent. The highest point of these mountains is the Elenin 

 Vrch ; it is easily ascended in four hours from the monastery, and 

 commands a splendid view southward and eastward over the peaks of 

 the Ehodope and the Perim Dagh, whilst northwards the mountains 

 fall gradually to the Bulgarian plain, and westwards to the rolling 

 hills of Servia. These mountains are everywhere intersected by very 

 deep valleys, which are clothed with splendid forests of beech, fir, and 

 other trees, wherever the sides are not too precipitous to allow of their 

 growth. Above the tree level creeping pine and juniper flourish, 

 springs are everywhere plentiful, and the streams are strong and un- 

 failing torrents fed by the perpetual clouds that roll up to the summits 

 of the northern Ehodope, alike from the Black Sea, the Adriatic, and 

 the Egean. During the whole of June and three weeks of July, which 

 I spent in this district, I never had three fine days together ; however 

 well the weather might promise it always rained on the third day at 

 best. On the other hand, it seldom rained all day without stopping. 

 There were generally a few glimpses of sunshine at some time or 

 other in each day. But 1899 was a very dry summer in the Balkans, 

 and the harvest in the Bulgarian plain suffered seriously from the 

 drought, so the Ehodope miyht be far wetter in a bad season. 



June 9th was showery, and I did not go out till the afternoon. A 

 beautiful meadow occupies the bottom of the Eilska valley for about 

 two miles above the monastery, and slopes up into the woods that 

 clothe the base of the precipices — an ideal collecting ground, but I did 

 not do much on account of the weather. Next day was rather worse 

 than better, and I went down the valley a couple of miles through 

 forest, and then up a side valley, where I found good marshy meadows 

 and caught C'. hippothoe, just out, and M. cinxia, with ground colour 

 of wings almost white in the ? . June 11th was another bad day, 

 very cold, and snow low down on the mountains ; we had little sun. 

 In the valley I took the following :— P. mnemosyne, Leucophasia sinapis, 

 A. euphrosyne (very common), A. p)ol^s, M. cinxia (with females white 

 ground colour), 21. j^hoebe, one L. anteros, one L. baton, one L. eumedon 

 var fyhjia, Pararge maera (very dark), P. hiera (dark), one C. leander, 

 one C. p)amp]iilus, E. medusa, Carterocephalus palaemon, &c. June 12th 

 was really fine, though the wind blew down very high and cold from the 

 fresh snow. We had a tolerably good day on some broken ground 

 about three miles up the valley where granite blocks had rolled down 

 from the precipices on to a sheltered meadow, at the foot of the woods ; 

 these were overgrown with all kinds of flowering weeds and intersected 

 by a tiny stream, forming a sort of natural rockwork, the best 

 "butterfly corner" we found in Bulgaria. Bag as follows: P. 

 mnemosyne, C. ediisa (and var. helice, taken by Haberhauer), C. dorilis, 

 C. hippjothoe, C. pjhlaeas, Pieris rapae and P. napi, E. cardamines, A. 

 pales, A. dia, A. aglaia, A. eup)1irosyne, M. pjarthenie, Nemeobius liicina, 

 L. anteros (plenty), L. icarus, L. hylas, L. bellargiis, L. semiargus, L. 

 orion, L. eumedo7i, E. medusa var. psodea, C. palaemon, S. alveus, and 

 Pamphila comma. Next day was cold and gloriously fine, of which unusual 

 fact I took advantage to ascend the Elenin Vrch, but it was too early to 

 get butterflies so high up, all the last part of the ascent being 

 sprinkled with fresh snow, which spoilt the beauty of the lovely purple 

 crocuses. But on the way down the lower slopes of the mountain I 

 found M. aurinia in some numbers, also M. cinxia. June 14tb was a 



