TBINIDAD 
255 
to take us ashore in his launch. The temperature and the general 
look of things were tropical without question, in every garden 
stately palms rose above a wealth of flowers. After a glorious 
breakfast at the Queen’s Hotel, we drove to the Maraval Water¬ 
works, making acquaintance on the way with the large orange pods 
of Cacao growing out of the trunks of the trees in a surprising 
manner. 
Hear the reservoir was a flowery bank so rich in butterflies 
that in a very short time I captured eighteen species. Perhaps I 
got hotter than I had ever been in my life, but the sense of hurry, 
the desire to make the best of the flying hours, was far more trying 
than the heat. Here I saw my first Humming-birds, two species, 
one of them of a beautiful metallic green. 
The somewhat dull and uninteresting Euptychia hermes, Fabr. 
(camerta, Cram.), is recorded in my note-book as common in partial 
shade, but I had time to take one only, and the same may be said 
of the white-striped E. hesione, Sulz. Far more interesting to me 
were my first Heliconiines. Of Eueides aliphera alijohera , Godart, I 
took a female, and noted that it had a slow flight, also a peculiar 
scent, which was strong, and compared at the time to that of 
acetylene; moreover, it was tenacious of life. Of the far more 
exciting scarlet and black Heliconius amaryllis euryades , Biff., I took 
a male, which also had a peculiar but rather pleasant scent. Another 
long-winged butterfly, after being duly pinched, got up and flew a 
long distance, giving me a hot and exciting chase. I brought it safely 
back to the hotel, and noted that it had no scent, but by some mis¬ 
adventure it was lost afterwards. From recollections I am disposed 
to think that it was Tithorea megara , Godart, a well-known Trinidad 
Ithomiine. 
The best represented group was the Nymphalinae, and among 
them the commonest was Anartia jatrophae, Linn., a member of a 
Neotropical genus allied to Precis; jatrophae is a grey-brown butterfly 
with a somewhat ghostly flight, it settles on the ground, and was 
seen to orient with tail to the sun; A. amalthea , Linn., is much more 
showy, being black, scarlet, and white; it flew near the ground, fre¬ 
quenting damp ditches, and settled with wings three-quarters 
expanded, orienting somewhat indecisively. Adelpha cytherea , Linn., 
with similar habits to the latter, seemed to have a slight pleasant 
scent, though I was not sure of this. Phyciodes leucodesma, Feld., a 
smaller insect, was also rather common, it has a gliding flight like 
that of the Old World Nejotis, which it somewhat resembles also in 
its black and white colour-scheme. 
