820 DR, A. G. BUTLER ON LEPIDOPTERA [Nov. 17, 
camped at Bandawe about the last day of October, 1885. Bandawe, 
I might here mention, is a terrible spot for thunderstorms. 
“In Henga, the valley of the Upper Lunyina River, 3300 feet 
alt., on the mean, some fifty miles S.W. of Deep Bay, the early 
rains fall about the beginning of November and the rainy season 
ends about the beginning of May, though there may be, and very 
often are, a good few showers after that. 
“On the Konde plains, which commence about thirty miles 
north of Deep Bay and extend to the lofty Wakinga Mountains 
in German territory, the rains are a week or two later than at 
Deep Bay. At Karonga, the terminus of the so-called Nyasa- 
Tanganyika “road” (no road in reality exists—it is only a native 
track), the first rains do not fall before the beginning of December, 
asarule. The dry season there commences at the beginning of 
May, or possibly a little earlier, according to the phase of the 
moon. 
“The Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau:—rains commence in Novem- 
ber, about the beginning of the month on the escarpments of the 
plateau, and about a fortnight later halfway across, and last until 
the end of April. The rainfall is very heavy, especially at the 
extremities of the plateau: nevertheless, towards the end of the 
dry season, much of it is a desert almost, for want of water. 
“In the Loangwa River valley, Senga, some seven or eight 
days’ journeying on foot S.W. of Karonga, the preliminary rains 
commence in September; and, I believe, the rainy season lasts till 
May, though I was not there to see this for myself. In August, 
1895, I found the Loangwa valley completely burnt up; on 
September 10th we had rain, also on one or two days subsequently. 
“Tn the Eastern watershed of the Congo, 7.¢. on Lake Mweru, 
and in Kabwiri and Itawa, the preliminary rains fall in September, 
and the rainy season lasts on into May. During my period of 
residence on Lake Mweru, I found the rainy season of 1891-1892 
ended May 6th on the level of the Lake; a fortnight later on the 
plateau to the eastward: the preliminary rains of 1892-1893 
again began on September 4th, some three weeks earlier than was 
the case in 1891.” 
All Mr. Crawshay’s captures having been carefully dated, it will 
now be possible for any Lepidopterists, by going through my 
published papers, to discover whether a form was obtained in the 
dry or wet season; in any case it is certain that some of the 
supposed distinctly seasonal forms were all captured at the same 
spot on the same day, and (to judge by their excellent condition) 
must have emerged from the pupa about the same time; but I am 
told that this fact does not militate against the view that they are 
dry- and wet-season forms! Personally, I fail to understand how 
an insect which flies abundantly in the middle of the rainy season 
can be called a “ dry-season form”; I can only suppose that the 
expression “dry season” is not to be understood literally, but 
merely as indicating a type of form and colouring prevalent 
during the dry season, though often occurring during the rains. 
