1895.] L. de Niceville & Dr. L. Mavtin— Butterflies of Sumatra. 359 



true tobacco districts of Deli — Deli being the name generally used as a 

 topographical unity for all the three tobacco-yielding sultanates — and 

 in consequence, as Imperata arundinacea is not liked by any animal, 

 there have disappeared not only all the interesting pachyderms, but 

 also all the butterflies whose food-plants are in the forests. Ten or 

 twelve years ago, or even six or eight, certain species, for instance the 

 different black and brown Euploeas, were to be found commonly every- 

 where. But then all the forest had not been cut down ; now these 

 species are never seen, having retired to the well-wooded outer hills 

 and mountains, or to the boundaries of the tobacco districts north of 

 Langkat, and to the south in Serdaug. Only the most common species 

 whichfeed on the Graminece, garden vegetables, cocoa-nut palms and other 

 fruit-trees and on ubiquitous plants remain. So it has become neces- 

 sary to send our collectors far away out of range of tobacco cultivation. 

 Regarding the elevations of the different places where our cap- 

 tures were made, we could generally distinguish four well-separated 

 zones : — 



1. The zone of the plains from the sea-board to the elevation of 

 Namoe Oekor (266 feet), with the subzone of the beach, situated quite 

 close to the mangrove fence of the coast. Laboean and the Saentis 

 Estate are localities in this subzone, whereas Mabar (25 feet), Paya 

 Bakong (40 feet), Stabat (45 feet), Medan, the capital of the Deli 

 district (50 feet), Selesseh (90 feet), and Dr. Martin's later station 

 at Bindjei (100 feet), all belong to this first zone. 



2. The zone of the outer hills, beginning some few miles south 

 of Narnoe Oekor and extending to Bekantschan, the elevation of this 

 district being between 300 and 2,400 feet. Kampong (village) Singka- 

 pura (725 feet), Namoe Tampis and Namoe Blanka (1,050 feet), are 

 good localities in this zone, to which may also be added the villages of 

 Bohorok and Kepras, situated more to the west in the direction of the 

 Gayoe country. 



3. The zone of the higher mountains which begins south of Be- 

 kantschan, and ends on the margin of the Central Plateau, with the 

 frequently- visited valley of the Soengei Batoe (4,125 feet). Between 

 Bekantschan and Soengei Batoe there is the Bekantschan pass, leading 

 to the Central Plateau, at an elevation of 4,785 feet. 



4. The Central Plateau itself, with no elevation less than 4,000 

 feet. The Kampongs of Naman, Beras Tepoe, Soekanaloe, and Atjih 

 Djahe more to the south in the direction of lake Toba, were the spots 

 where our collectors were most successful. 



Two other good collecting places have to be mentioned. The first 

 is Paya Bakong which is situated quite in the centre of tobacco-land. 



