40 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



heteropterous insects, with leaf-like expansions on their legs 

 (Anisoscelis) ; and a large species of spider, which formed geo- 

 metric webs between the great leaves of an Agave, and is 

 probably the same with that obtained in similar situations by 

 Mr. Darwin on his visit to Rio * On the morning of the 12th, 

 a day of great heat, we moved up from our anchorage to Coal 

 Island to take in a supply of fuel, and a large party took ad- 

 vantage of the opportunity to land on a portion of the main- 

 land in the neighbourhood, which we had not yet visited, and 

 spend the day roaming about the wooded hills. Near the 

 beach many large mango-trees (Mangifera Indica) were grow- 

 ing, and cast a delightful deep shade, and the cashew-nut 

 (Anacardium occidentale) abounded — its curious fruit in 

 various stages of growth. Many lizards were seen on this as 

 well as on other excursions, but they generally succeeded 

 in eluding capture owing to the extreme rapidity of their 

 motions ; and I also caught a momentary glimpse of two 

 snakes in the woods. It was such a perfectly still day that, 

 while resting under the shade of the trees on the side of a 

 hiU, the noise made by a wasp scrambling up and down the 

 leaves of an Agave close to me was most distinctly audible. 

 Mosquitoes were rather troublesome, but one afforded me 

 some amusement by its persistent efforts to pierce my coat- 

 sleeve — trying first one spot and then another unsuccessfully. 

 I also saw for the first time a butterfly, which on the follow- 

 ing year I met with abundantly, the Ageronia feronia, which 

 has the curious property of making a crackling sound with its 

 wings as it flies. It is very fond of lighting on the trunks of 

 the trees with its head downwards and wings expanded in a 

 horizontal plane, a habit possessed also by an allied species 

 which appeared to us to have a special predilection for the 



* Naturalist's Voyage, p. 36. 



