40 



MR. H. J. ELWES ON THE 



Butterflies from the Pamir region, only 51, or about one-quarter 

 of tlie species, are also found in the Altai. As compared with auy 

 area of similar extent in Europe or Asia, this number of species 

 is surprisingly large ; and as Kindermann in two seasons only 

 took about 90 species, and Euckbeil about the same, as against 

 the 140 which I myself collected, it shows that the South- 

 western Altai, where they both worked, is not nearly so rich 

 and has not nearly so much of an Oriental character as the South- 

 eastern Altai, where most of my collection was made. 



In the 20 years during which I have collected butterflies, I have 

 never got nearly so many species in so short a time, and must 

 attribute my success to the fact that when travelling on horseback 

 I always had a net in my hand and never passed a likely spot 

 without giving it a trial. 



As for Moths, I was not able to do much myself. First, be- 

 cause at the high elevatioa at which most of our time was spent 

 there were not many night-flying species, or at all events very 

 few came to our lights. Secondly, because I was generally too 

 tired to sit up at night to collect. But having received since I 

 returned home the collection made by M. Beresowsky at 

 Ongodai, and having gone through the list of Moths made by 

 Kindermann, I do not think they are as numerous in proportion 

 to the Butterflies as they are in the /ilps or Himalayas. 



Of the plants I cannot say much, because, although they 

 have been pretty fairly worked out by Ledebour, yet a very 

 intimate knowledge of the Flora of Turkestan and Eastern 

 Siberia, as well as that of Europe, would be necessary to enable 

 one to say how the distribution of plants coincides with that of 

 birds and butterflies. 



The Fauna and Flora are also materially influenced by the 

 very peculiar climate of the Altai, which has gi-eat extremes of 

 heat and cold, and is subject ti) heavy thunderstorms, which fall 

 as snow and hail in the higher regions, almost daily throughout 

 the summer. During the whole of the two months we were in 

 the mountains, we only had seven or eight days quite free from 

 rain or snow. These heavy storms seem mostly to come from 

 tlie eastward, and from the high mountains, at the source of 

 the Kemchik river, which is the westernmost tributary of the 

 Tenesei. To show what sort of climate it is, I may mention 

 that there were large beds of unmelted snow close to our camp, 

 at about 7000 feet, all through July. On almost every clear 



