282 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



stem ; this I at once recognized to be no other than a large but 

 strange Rhinortha guttata, but, owing to the thorny nature of 

 these bushes, my coat-sleeve caught ; I at the same time lost 

 sight of the Fulgorid, and it was not until a subsequent date 

 (? May 14th) that I was again afforded another opportunity of 

 visiting the garden — only this time it was in the evening, after 

 dinner, when, thinking I saw an old Glowworm {Lampyris) close 

 by, I made for the spot. Some mention may be made of this 

 shrub, which is widely distributed about the gardens on the 

 Berea and elsewhere. Besides being ornamental, it produces a 

 large, oval, scarlet fruit, rather acrid but tempting ; its foliage 

 is as handsome as the rest — dark green leaves, with light under 

 surfaces, supported by firm stems, and is strongly fortified with 

 crowns of sharp thorns, which give most painful scratches. To 

 the natives it is known as the " Amatungulu," but I see in Medley- 

 Wood's ' Natal Flora,' p. 81, it is enumerated as Carissa grandi- 

 fiorus, Linn. The evening was warm, a short shower having 

 freshened things up a little, giving the foliage, &c, a silvery 

 appearance, while overhead, without a moon, some stars with 

 the scintillating points of the Southern Cross were just visible. 

 On my approach — which, I suppose, had been noticed — the light 

 moved away almost out of sight, and my curiosity being aroused, 

 I waited until I saw it reappear, which it did, but higher up, 

 making it still more difficult to observe, as I have already 

 alluded to these strongly guarded bushes, which will not permit 

 any liberties being taken with them. Keeping my eye on this 

 spectre, which kept constantly moving its position, I wedged 

 my hand in between the foliage, and grabbed in the direction of 

 this luminous body. I was at once sure that if I had missed 

 my object, I had something else of a painful nature to console 

 myself with. My next object was to examine what I held, and 

 which I carried to the dining-room lights. Now came a per- 

 plexing feature. I found, besides some fine specimens of thorns, 

 I had secured an old worn and battered R. guttata, which has 

 already been referred to ; another was unlike anything I had seen 

 — a perfect stranger to my entomological experience— certainly 

 no glowworm. For some moments I surveyed their respective 

 peculiarities, turning over in my mind what were their rela- 

 tions to each other. This surely was the beginning of some 



