GENERAL NOTES- 
During July and August of this year (1906) through the kindness of Lieut.-Commander 
R. E. Vaughan, R.N., I had a very interesting run up the West River and the Nanning branch as 
far as Kwei-hsien in Kwangsi. These months, as already stated, are not good from an entomolo¬ 
gical point of view, but there seems to be scarcely any difference between the butterfly fauna there 
and at Hongkong, with the exception of the circumscribed forest area at How-lik, where several 
species new to the Hongkong list were met with, and where some butterflies which are rare in 
Hongkong and Macao were common, which latter is also the case at some other places up the 
West River. Danaisplexippus and D. chrysippus were common at least as far as Kwei-hsien, 
where the foodplant ( Asclepias curassavica ) of the larvas was found growing amongst the cur¬ 
iously pitted and weathered black limestone rocks on the plain opposite the city, on the other side 
of the river. This plain is a great change from the scenery of the coast and Delta, though the red 
soil is still evident in many places, and the hills are mostly barren. The country here is more 
sparsely populated than anywhere below Wuchau, or perhaps I should say less densely populated. 
The plain opposite Kwei-hsien is covered with long coarse grass sprinkled with small bushes in 
places, and traversed in circuitous Chinese fashion by rough cart tracks, cut by the huge tyreless 
wheels of the farm-carts, in universal use there. Groups of jagged limestone rocks rise from 
the plain, looking almost black in the distance, but most of them with a fair amount of vegetation 
growing on the ledges and summits, and even a few large trees ; whilst the inevitable joss-house is 
perched on two or three of these isolated pinnacles. These rocks are probably over three hundred 
feet in height, and much resemble those at Shui-hing, The ledges and summits of these rocks 
have very likely proved a refuge for several rare plants, as many of them are inaccessible without 
ropes and other gear. Danais melanoides occurred at Tam-chau, but seemed very scarce. 
After Wuchau no Lantana was seen, and there it was growing in a garden, evidently 
planted, with a few escapes not far away. Lethe confusa , rare at Hongkong, is one of the com¬ 
monest Satyrids at How-lik, and also occurs frequently at Wuchau. Euthalia phemius was 
extremely abundant at How-lik during July, but had much fallen off in numbers in August. 
Llestina assimilis during July was very common in many places at Wuchau, and it also occurs 
at Tam-chau. Athyma snlpitia was common at Luk-tau and abundant on the banks of the path 
leading from Lok-yum to How-lik, where the shrubby herb Vitex Negundo was in full bloom, its 
pale bluish or lavender flowers attracting hosts of insects. One specimen of Limenitis procris 
was taken at Kwei-hsien. Zemeros Jiegyas is common at many places up the river, especially 
about Sam-shui and Wuchau. Eeopithecops zalmora is very common in all the patches of wood 
