IV AUTHOR S PREFACE. 



foolscap sheets was abstracted. It was not for many months 

 that the theft was discovered, and then very little of the 

 MSS. could be recovered. 



It thus happens that in the cases of some of the most 

 interesting species, of which I had worked up all the notes 

 into a connected whole, nothing, or, as in the case oiArgya 

 subrufa, only a single isolated note, appears in the text. It 

 is to be greatly regretted, for my work was imperfect enough 

 as it was ; and this ' Selection from the Records/ that my 

 Philistine servant saw fit to permit himself, has rendered it 

 a great deal more imperfect still ; but neither Mr. Oates nor 

 myself can be justly blamed for this. 



In conclusion, I have only to say that if this compilation 

 should find favour in any man's sight he must thank 

 Mr. Oates for it, since not only has he undergone the labour 

 of arranging my materials and seeing the whole work through 

 the press — not only has he, I believe, added himself consider- 

 ably to those materials — but it is solely owing to him that 

 the work appears at all, as I know no one else to whom I 

 could have entrusted the arduous and, I fear, thankless duty 

 that he has so generously undertaken. 



ALLAN HUME. 



Kothney Castle, Simla, 

 October 19th, 1889. 



