55 
in the early morning or not again till after dark, when they were 
sometimes to be obtained at light. 
On Monday, April 8th, two other men and myself made a tour of 
inspection of the Camaria road on the Cuyuni branch of the Esse- 
quibo. Entomologically there was not much to record. At the 
landing place, 'Papilio macroailaus was conspicuous, and a short way 
in, Morpho a eh dies was observed. Half way to this place a halt was 
made for the inner man, as it was necessary to procure firewood. 
The place was a swampy one, and the roots of the trees growing here 
had such buttressed roots that we were all struck with astonishment, 
it being quite difficult to move about between these great projections. 
I cannot refrain here from mentioning the signboards that one sees at 
intervals along the bank of the Mazaruni just before turning into the 
Cuyuni. It must be stated that there is a convict penal settlement 
here, and to prevent the off' chance of anyone coming in contact with 
a convict these notice boards bear the initials, “ H.M.P.S.” I sup¬ 
pose I need not mention that a well-known lepidopterist abbreviates 
his name in this way, and in consequence I could never pass a board 
without some feeling of amusement at this strange coincidence. The 
return journey was made at 8.80 from the landing, having groped our 
way in the dark back through 4 miles of forest. Soon after embarking 
it looked as if a watery grave was close at hand. The boat struck on 
a rock and heaved over on its side. It was a touch and go, but for¬ 
tunately we did not go, as we might easily have done—to the bottom. 
After hours of laborious, slow progression, we arrived at Bartica in 
the small hours of the morning. The lepidoptera from this time 
seemed to be getting scarcer, probably on account of the very hot, 
sultry weather which was presaging the rainy season. Some fresh 
insects began to put in an appearance—the Opsiphanids. These are 
essentially twilight fliers, and on the wing one would never suspect 
that they were Rhopalocera, as the flight is like some Lasiocamps or 
Saturniids, only not so rapid. Opsiphanex inrirae and O. cassiae were 
taken flying high up round and round the hotel, closely followed very 
often by a bat. To the human intelligence, the bat would have acted 
wisely if it had suddenly reversed its direction, but Nature does things 
in her own way, and I fancy I accounted for more Opsiphanes by 
waiting at an open window. 
One of the last places to be explored while staying at Bartica w-as 
Cow 7 Island—called Cow, I fancy, because a number of cattle are kept 
here. The visit was made with two professional collectors, who were, 
curiously enough, stopping at Bartica. Me had heard that the place 
was swarming w ? ith snakes, but we could not find one between us. 
Lepidoptera were not much in evidence either, and as the male sex of 
the grazing quadrupeds gave us some anxiety, we left this once-upon-a- 
time leper station, and pegged away again at the already well-known 
paths on the mainland. After spending a complete month at Bartica, 
and as rain had now begun in earnest, stopping collecting altogether 
on some days, 1 resolved to try new ground. Rockstone, some 30 odd 
miles higher up the Essequibo, was chosen, but as the journey up the 
river at this point requires a good, chosen crew to negotiate the falls, 
and as the place can be reached by a long, circuitous route, safer, 
however, and cheaper, the latter was chosen. To do this, Georgetowm 
must be sought again, a steamer must be W’aited for to go up the 
i 
