22 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



them in my vasculum. In about an hour's time we re- 

 mounted, and commenced to ascend the hills by a different 

 route from that by which we had come ; and, on our way 

 back, our guide caught two large spiders for me, which he 

 appeared to regard as rare and remarkable animals, and I 

 collected some additional plants. At the close of the after- 

 noon we reached Mr. Miller's house, most agreeably situated 

 on a hill commanding a fine view of the bay ; and after 

 dining there, this very pleasantly spent day was terminated 

 by a ride down the hills by lantern-light to Porto Grande. 

 On our return to the ship, I found that some of the officers 

 had made me a small collection of Molluscs, Coleoptera, etc., 

 together with a little lizard of the Gecko family — the 

 Tarentola Delalandii — which also occurs in Madeira and on 

 the West Coast of Africa. 



On the afternoon of the 12th I again went on shore, and 

 had a pleasant ramble with two of the officers. Our way lay 

 for some time over a tract of sandy low-lying ground near the 

 beach, where the thorny Acacia already mentioned was very 

 plentiful, and a species of Solanum, with prickly leaves and 

 purple flowers, was also observed. We succeeded in capturing 

 a second species of lizard (the Euprepis Stangcri) which is also 

 an inhabitant of West and South Africa. Two species of 

 butterflies were observed — one the white-spotted species seen 

 on my first excursion, and another in which orange was the 

 prevailing colour. Several Coleoptera were taken. A species 

 of Cicindela (0. Hesperidum) was rather plentiful on the 

 outskirts of a salt-marsh, but no specimens were obtained, 

 owing to the activity of the insect, which always took 

 wing when approached. In his Coleoptera Hesperidum, Mr. 

 WoUaston states the number of species of beetles ascertained 

 to exist on St. Vincent as 132 ; and the prevailing forms in 



