26 CH00NGTAM. Chap. XVIII. 



which it replaces in the drier grassy parts of the interior 

 of Sikkim, the large cobra not inhabiting in the mountain 

 regions. Altogether I only collected about twelve species 

 in Sikkim, seven of which are venomous, and all are 

 dreaded by the Lepchas. An enormous hornet {Vespa 

 magnified, Sm.), nearly two inches long, was here brought 

 to me alive in a cleft-stick, lolling out its great thorn-like 

 sting, from which drops of a milky poison distilled : its 

 sting is said to produce fatal fevers in men and cattle, 

 which may very well be the case, judging from that 

 of a smaller kind, which left great pain in my hand 

 for two days, while a feeling of numbness remained in the 

 arm for several weeks. It is called Vok by the Lepchas, a 

 common name for any bee : its larvae are said to be greedily 

 eaten, as are those of various allied insects. 



Choongtam boasts a profusion of beautiful insects, 

 amongst which the British swallow-tail butterfly {Pajjilio 

 MacJiaon) disports itself in company with magnificent 

 black, gold, and scarlet-winged butterflies, of the Trojan 

 group, so typical of the Indian tropics. At night my tent 

 was filled with small water-beetles (Berosi) that quickly 

 put out the candle ; and with lovely moths came huge 

 cockchafers {Encerris Griffithii), and enormous and foetid 

 flying-bugs (of the genus Derecterix), which bear great 

 horns on the thorax. The irritation of mosquito and midge 

 bites, and the disgusting insects that clung with spiny legs 

 to the blankets of my tent and bed, were often as effectual 

 in banishing sleep, as were my anxious thoughts regarding 

 the future. 



important points more resembled an allied American genus than an Asiatic one. 

 The common immense earth-worm of Sikkim, Iclithyo%>hi& glutinosus, is a native 

 of the Khasia mountains, Singapore, Ceylon and Java. It is a most remarkable 

 fact, that whereas seven out of the twelve Sikkim snakes are poisonous, the 

 sixteen species I procured in the Khasia mountains are innocuous. 



