KHOPALOCERA. 
43 
I have seen but one example on one occasion. The long isolation of 
the present Cape peninsula from the mainland by a wide arm of the 
sea between the existing False and Table Bays, where the sandy 
" Flats " now extend, is the probable explanation of much of this 
poverty of butterfly life ; but the violent winds that sweep the whole 
tract render it a highly unfavourable station ; and it must also be 
remembered that, as far as is known, the, entire western and north- 
western districts of the Colony are but little more productive in the 
Rhopalocera. The " karoo " tracts universally, but especially the more 
northern and elevated ones beyond the second mountain range travers- 
ing the Cape Colony from west to east, are apparently exceedingly poor 
in butterflies, though possessing some peculiar forms of Satyriim and 
Lyccenidce. 
It is only when we progress eastward along the belt between the 
first mountain range and the sea-coast, that the Khopalocerous fauna 
finds conditions more and more favourable for its development. Thus, 
at Knysna, where extensive forests of large trees clothe a large area, I 
collected, during nine months' residence, sixty-two species ; and I have 
no doubt that a more prolonged investigation of the district generally 
would yield several others. Considerably farther eastward, the Albany 
district (especially the neighbourhood of Grahamstown, where Mrs. 
Barber and other good collectors have resided) has produced eighty- 
three species ; and, from the little that has been done at Port Alfred, 
at the mouth of the Kowie Eiver, I anticipate that this number will 
be considerably increased when that part is attended to by a resident 
collector. British Kaffraria (chiefly the vicinity of King William's 
Town) yielded ninety- four species to the researches of Mr. W. S. M. 
D'Urban many years ago, and the rich district of East London, when 
properly worked, will undoubtedly add largely to the local list. Across 
the Kei Eiver, in the wooded valley of the Bashee, Colonel Bowker 
collected 117 species, and added several others from the Tsomo (the 
principal tributary of the Kei) and other parts of the territory. From 
the Bashee River northward, little is on record respecting the native 
butterflies until reaching D'Urban, on the coast of Natal, where the 
augmentation of their ranks is most remarkable. At this spot, the 
Rhopalocera become a constant and beautiful feature of the scenery, 
and, from their size, abundance, and beauty, cannot be overlooked by 
the most casual observer. I was so much struck with their prevalence, 
that, on several days during the summer of 1867, I made a careful 
register of all the kinds met with. The most productive day was the 
4th February, when, in a radius of certainly not more than three miles 
from the town, I captured or determined with certainty no less than 
fifty'fiy^^" species,-^ and believe that several examples which I noticed 
^ One more species than the vicinity of Cape Town has yielded to careful research by 
many collectors, and by myself for twenty-five years, even including the six occasional 
stragglers named in the text. Such a "bag" in a single day's collecting compares well 
even with Mr. Wallace's experience (mentioned above) of the rich Malayan Islands. 
