INTRODUCTION. 71 



rivers, however, are pretty abundantly supplied, and 

 afford many species peculiar to the country. This 

 is the metropolitan station of the genus Acrea, and 

 it is likewise inhabited by several peculiar groups 

 of the genera Papilio, Pieris, &c. The neighbouring 

 island of Madagascar is much richer than the con- 

 tinent, and exemplifies what has been observed in 

 relation to many other islands, that their zoological 

 productions by no means correspond to those of the 

 nearest portion of the main land. Little relation 

 exists between the diurnal lepidoptera of Madagas- 

 car and the Cape of Good Hope, but a very close 

 one can be traced between the former and those 

 inhabiting distant parts of the continent, such as 

 Senegal and Sierra Leone. Mauritius and Bourbon 

 likewise differ considerably in their lepidopterous 

 productions from Madagascar. In the latter, magni- 

 ficent Papilios, Acrcece^ Euploew, Danaides, Uraniw, 

 Cyrestes, and Xanthidia, embellish by their elegant 

 forms and splendid colours, the marshy and pesti- 

 lential forests of that extensive island, and rival in 

 beauty that majestic and teeming vegetation which 

 has always excited the admiration of botanists*. 

 New Holland is not without its peculiar species, 

 although this department of its zoology is not cha- 

 racterised by such marked singularities as are 

 observed among its higher animals and vegetable 

 productions. 



A singular circumstance has been recorded by a 



* See Boisduval, Nouv. Ann. du Museum, vol. ii. 



