1891.] W. Boheviy—The Butterflies of Sumba and Samhaiva, Sj'c. 157 



declining this, he invited the leading nobles into the council-house 

 and consulted the auguries about mj journey, examining the liver of 

 one fowl after another till one suited him. Every stain or flaw in the 

 liver has its own meaning, and I was surprised at the aouteness of his 

 inferences regarding them. Sometimes he would consult some of the 

 old men, who seemed quite familiar with the science, and evidently 

 considered it as reasonable and reliable as the multiplication table. 

 The king is held the best haruspex in the country, and is also proud of 

 his skill in causing rain or drought. He remarked incidentally that 

 he would give me good weather for my trip. We sat up till late 

 listening to a minsti-el singing a song of the king's composition, twang- 

 ling a guitar the while. The king sat glancing sharply at us alternately, 

 some nerv^ous affection keeping his head and hands in constant motion. 

 Meanwhile his followers sat in a circle round him, looking singularly 

 dignified and austere. They wore black mantles and turbans, their 

 belts were full of handsomely-mounted weapons, their fine Roman 

 faces perfectly quiet, in striking contrast to their master's, whom they so 

 surpassed in dress and bearing. Still I think I understood then some- 

 what of the power which made this ignorant savage a ruler of men 

 personally more reverenced than any sovereign in civilized countries. 



The butterflies mentioned in the following list were taken in 1887. 

 The Sambawan specimens are in the hands of Mr. B. N"eumoeo'en. The 

 Sumba ones have remained four years in my possession, during the 

 course of which most of them have suffered greatly, and many of the 

 best have disappeared or been destroyed, including several uniques, 

 of which I have only descriptions made at the time. As, however, no 

 one may visit the interior of Sumba again for many years to come, I 

 shall include these descriptions here. Owing to my small knowledge of 

 Moluccan and Timorese butterflies, and the absence of specimens for 

 comparison, my work is necessarily imperfect. When described, the 

 Sumba butterflies will be sent to M. Charles Oberthiir. Of the 

 Sambawa butterflies I cannot give a complete list, and I am obliged to 

 omit most of the Euploeas and some others. At the time I was there, 

 I counted about 140 species taken in each island. In this list 1 number 

 only the Sumba species, those from Sambawa being introduced chiefly 

 to ilkistrate the geographical distribution of the species, and to describe 

 a few novelties. 



There is a considerable Austro-Malayan element in the Sumba 



butterflies, but very few of these forms reappear in Sumbawa, Orni- 



thoptera naias and Danais (Nasunia) hamhasa being the most remarkable 



of those that do. The list scarcely does justice to this element in 



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