260 
WEST INDIES AND SOUTH AMERICA 
( Avicennia nitida, Jacq.); at its flowers were several Blues, Gatochrys- 
ops hanno being the commonest; of Callicista bubastus, Cram, (salona, 
Hew.), the tail-less form, and of Chilades exilis , Boisd., two each were 
taken, but of Theda hazia, Hew., one only. A Precis lavinia and a 
Terias delia, a dry-season female, complete the list. 
But those same insignificant-looking Mangrove flowers attracted 
a number of insects of other orders, many of which still await de¬ 
termination. As might have been expected, Hymenoptera pre¬ 
dominated : a tiny Megacliile , near peruviana , Smith; a number of an 
unnamed Melipona; a green Augochlora; Polybia occidentalis, Oliv., 
and P. nigra } Sauss.; the grey, red-tailed Sphex, Earpactopus thomae, 
Fabr.; Tachytes amazonum, Smith, var.; and Microbembex sulphurea, 
Spin. Conspicuous, however, among all these was Pepsis equestris, 
Erichs., a magnificent insect nearly 2 inches in expanse, of a blue- 
black colour, all except the basal third of the fore-wing, which is a 
dead white. They were easily frightened off the flowers, and were 
swift of flight, but I managed to net a couple. 
It may be remarked that the Mangrove belongs to the Natural 
Order Verbenaceae , of which so many members are especially 
attractive to insects. 
From the river were obtained a Banatra unidentata , Stal, and a 
water-beetle, Cybister laevigatus, Brulle. On the sand just above 
high-water mark were a number of highly cryptic Acridians. 
Living in Colombia is not so expensive as the sight of the first 
bill might suggest: the paper dollar is so depreciated as to pass for 
a cent; a fact not easy to realize. 
Cartagena, Colombia, lat. 10° 25' N. 
December 23rd, 1906. 
We entered the beautiful land-locked harbour of Cartagena de 
las Indias in the early morning. How different must have been the 
whole look of the place in 1585 when it was sacked by Drake! and 
yet again how different when the muddling and quarrelling of Vernon 
and Wentworth led to the disaster of 1741! 
The fine situation remains, but the city itself bears to-day a 
forlorn and abandoned look. The chief merit of the cathedral is its 
size, both within and without it suggests poverty and neglect. One 
cannot but rejoice that the famous—-or rather infamous—Inquisition 
is no more, but it is a pity that the building was not suffered to 
stand as a monument. I have seen no volunteers so ill-drilled and 
unserviceable in appearance as the sorry soldiers of Colombia. The 
