TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 
* 14 
by descending the string, as we caught them in the act, 
and found that in a few hours they had destroyed several 
fine insects. We were then informed that the Andiroba 
oil of the country, which is very bitter, would keep them 
away, and by well soaking the suspending string we 
have since been free from their incursions. 
Having at first employed ourselves principally in col- 
lecting insects, I am enabled to say something about the 
other families of that numerous class. None of the 
orders of insects were so numerous as I expected, with 
the exception of the diurnal Le^idoptera, or butterflies ; 
and even these, though the number of different species 
was very great, did not abound in individuals to the ex- 
tent I had been led to anticipate. In about three weeks 
Mr. B. and myself had captm*ed upwards of a hundred 
and fifty distinct species of butterflies. Among them 
were eight species of the handsome genus Papilio, and 
three MorpJios, those splendid large metallic-blue butter- 
flies which are always first noticed by travellers in South 
America, in which country alone they are found, and 
where, flying lazily along the paths in the forest, alter- 
nately in deep shade and bright sunshine, they present 
one of the most striking sights the insect world can pro- 
duce. Among the smaller species the exquisite colouring 
and variety of marking is wonderful. The species seem 
inexhaustible, and probably not one-half of those which 
exist in this country are yet discovered. We did not 
fall in with any of the large and remarkable insects of 
South America, such as the rhinoceros or harlequin 
beetles, but saw numerous specimens of a large Mantis, 
or praying insect, and also several of the large Mygales, 
