THE FIRST CAMP 
bird neatly and quickly and fired without hesitation. 
He seldom missed. 
During the morning, while the boys were out at 
work, Harry and I would also be engaged with our 
nets; or, as our collections increased, we would be 
busy putting specimens together, tending them and 
seeing that they were not suffering from damp. 
Sometimes, taking a couple of the laziest boys with 
me, I descended to the Aculama and followed the 
stream up its course, collecting as we went. As the 
boys’ skill increased, it became possible to send them 
two by two so that several localities could be worked 
simultaneously. Work, still further afield, fell to 
Sam, who often went away with five or six carriers 
on collecting expeditions that lasted a week or a 
fortnight. 
The best time of day for butterflies is from 8 A.M. 
till noon. The boys returned to camp at times vary- 
ing according to their luck or their laziness, and in 
any case, we had all returned by three o'clock. Then 
Doboi or Weiyah cooked a meal which varied in 
excellence according to the state of the stores or our 
luck with the gun, and afterwards we took our siesta. 
The late afternoon or early evening found us at 
work again on the collections or putting the camp 
straight. Darkness descended quickly, and when there 
was no moon we went to the verandah and began 
collecting moths. On favourable nights we often 
continued at work till daybreak. 
The boys did not care about night work and 
usually sat round the camp fire smoking, spinning 
yarns, or crooning their charmingly plaintive mountain 
119 
