332 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 28, 1909. 
the work necessarily carries one into wild dis¬ 
tricts or even unexplored countries. Perhaps 
the island of New Guinea has furnished more 
Exciting tales of adventure than any other, not 
Excepting the Upper Amazon or Central 
Africa. The country is rough and mountainous, 
jagged, and inhabited by many distinct tribes 
of cannibals. I have, among hundreds of 
others, one pair of butterflies taken there by a 
man who was afterward a victim of the can¬ 
nibals. He secured only four pairs of this very 
Tare butterfly, and I understand he left his wife 
little else. The first pair sold in Germany for 
two hundred dollars. To-day this butterfly can 
be purchased for one-tenth that price, other 
collectors having captured them, and later on 
they may be found in great numbers in some 
locality and become of little value. Such is 
the uncertainty of “rarities” in the insect 
world. 
Another collector in whom I was interested, 
having advanced well up the Amazon, was 
stricken with fever, brought to the coast with 
difficulty, and there had the misfortune to find 
himself nearly penniless, owing to uncertain 
mail connections. He finally secured passage 
homeward via England. Still another, in 
Central America, was brought back with a fever 
which rendered him an invalid for several years. 
A few years ago I sent a collector to Bolivia 
to explore the high altitudes in the vicinity of 
La Paz, the capital. His trip was quite free 
from narrow escapes, nevertheless he suffered 
hardships and vexatious annoyances. A collec¬ 
tor following him later was killed by the In¬ 
dians, of whom there are endless tribes in the 
interior. My collector landed at Mollendo, 
Peru, and proceeded to La Paz, where he spent 
a number of days purchasing mules and making 
arrangements for his first trip to the south to¬ 
ward Chulumani. Constant rains and snows in 
the higher altitudes impeded his progress. 
Later, his mules gave out, necessitating pastur¬ 
ing, and in addition to this his Indian guide 
deserted him, causing several weeks’ delay. The 
return trip was made on foot mostly. On 
entering La Paz on the seventh day he was 
immediately arrested, a revolution being under 
way. Through the efforts of our consul he was 
released, but the mules were seized and more 
trouble caused in getting them back. Some 
days later he made a start for the region about 
Coroico, but the mules became unmanageable 
and threw all the supplies, etc., from their 
backs, scattering them along the streets in a 
bewildering mess. This caused several days’ 
delay again. Two donkeys and fletero were 
added to the outfit. They proceeded toward 
Cusilluni, the main road leading to the interior 
being so encroached upon by brush that the 
mules passed with difficulty. Such places offer 
good collecting, however, and having taught 
his Indian the art of butterfly-catching, good 
results were obtained. 
This trip extended from March 25 to June 14 , 
and on his return to La Paz he shipped me 
5,000 selected butterflies. This time the 
soldiers abducted his Indian, and it was four 
weeks before he was able to start on his 
longest trip to the north and east. Starting 
off on foot, the mules carrying the supplies, he 
covered fifteen miles the first day through a 
barren, dreary waste, twenty-two miles the sec¬ 
ond day and thirty miles on each of the two 
succeeding days. On July 27 they reached 
Cochabamba. He writes: 
“We spent two days here buying provisions 
and hiring fleteros for our trip to the north. 
Leaving on the morning of July 30 , we traveled 
two days over an undulating country with 
scarcely any vegetation, camping at spots which 
offered grass for our animals. We soon 
reached Choro, a scattering of huts near Coca- 
pata. During the day we saw many wild 
vicunas. The country is covered with grass 
interspersed with high rocky ridges, some of 
them covered with snow.” 
They soon reached the tropical valleys, where 
collecting improved. Beyond the suffering and 
annoyance caused by stinging flies, nothing 
serious occurred. He was generally well re¬ 
ceived by the Indians. After sixty weeks he 
returned to New York. To me the value of the 
trip was in the discovery of eighty-one species 
of butterflies new to science, a good return for 
the expense of the undertaking. 
Generally explorers go with a view to general 
natural history collecting and sometimes with 
instruments for geographical surveys. 
The coloring of all butterflies is beautiful, 
beauties that remain hidden from the popular 
gaze, owing to the fact that no one looks at 
them. The commonest species of this locality 
evoke exclamations of surprise when they are 
shown in my cabinets, spread and easily ex¬ 
amined. There are to me some strange coinci¬ 
dences in connection with their coloring and de¬ 
signing. It seems reasonable to suppose that 
the people of a certain locality, in succeeding 
generations, have been influenced in their arts 
by the butterflies surrounding them. Euphcedra 
eupalus, Fabr., and Cymothae antiorgis, Hew., 
for instance, invariably bring to my mind the 
wilds of Africa, while Cyrestis thyodamas, Bsd., 
and Tacliyris celestina, Bsd., recall the dress and 
surroundings of the people of India. 
Many designers, lithographers, etc., keep a 
case of butterflies for color suggestions. 
In all tropical climates, nature revels in 
brilliant colors, in fishes—as in the family 
Labridce of Samoa—in birds, in flowers, but 
none of these possess such delicate presentation 
of colors as the butterflies. It is not only the 
iridescent brilliancy of many large species— 
the genus Morpho of South America—but also 
the almost microscopically detailed markings of 
small species, that rouse one to enthusiasm. 
Women go into ecstasies of delight over the 
radiating shafts of colors in precious stones, 
but truly they do not compare with the wonder¬ 
ful changeable hues of butterflies, not only in 
the imago, but in the earlier stages of develop¬ 
ment, the egg, the larva and the chrysalis, the 
wonderful coloring is expressed. Few realize 
that in variety of shapes and markings the eggs 
of butterflies are in a way more interesting than 
birds’ eggs. 
Lack of' opportunity for examination and lack 
of interest in anything of the insect world are 
responsible for the widespread ignorance of 
these hidden (?) beauties. Familiarity with 
them can but draw one to a firm conviction in 
the existence of a Supreme Ruler. 
Andrew Gray Weeks. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any nezvsdcaler on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
Alligator Attacks a Horse. 
Atiiol Springs, N. Y., Aug. 21 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Here is a short account of an ex¬ 
perience recently had by my gamekeeper, Geo. 
W. McCormick, at St. Vincent Island, Florida, 
with a large alligator. The account, which ap¬ 
peared in a local paper, says: 
“One day last week, while riding a mare down 
a small trail on St. Vincent’s Island, Capt. 
George W. McCormick had an adventure he 
will not soon forget. The trail ran near a 
pond, with grass thick in the neighborhood. 
When opposite the pond, following the trail, a 
nine-foot alligator emerged from the grass and 
fastened his teeth on the mare’s leg, then his 
tail was brought into play, striking the fore 
legs of the mare with a force sufficient to bring 
her to the ground. This was done so quickly 
that Capt. McCormick went down with the 
mare, but he soon extricated himself from his 
perilous position, and jerking the stirrup and 
strap from the saddle on the mare’s back, he! 
used it vigorously and with effect upon the head 
of the alligator. So fast and so vigorously did 
Capt. McCormick apply the stirrup, the alli¬ 
gator’s jaws were soon relaxed from the leg of 1 
the mare and the ’gator placed beyond the 
power of harm by the brave Captain, who de¬ 
clares that it was the worst scrimmage he ever 
ran up against. 
“The mare was gotten to her stable with 
much difficulty. She will recover from the bite 
of the saurian. 
“In relating his experience, Capt. McCormick 
states that when the attack came he was not 
armed, and could procure nothing but the 
stirrup to use in attacking the alligator, and in 
this instance vigilance was the price of the 1 
mare’s liberty. 
“Capt. McCormick also states that in the 
neighborhood where the attack was made are 
to be found bones of deer and cattle which were 
probably attacked by alligators, killed andi 
eaten.” 
Many people suppose alligators to be very 
harmless creatures, but this is the fourth time' 
that they have been known to attack horses j 
and mules since I have owned the island—now 
a little more than three years. While in each 
instance the animals attacked have recovered, 
they have in each case suffered considerable 
injury and in some instances required the 
services of a surgeon to sew up the wounds. 
During the present summer hunters have 
killed more than three hundred alligators, some 
of them measuring close to twelve feet in. 
length. This slaughter will be continued, as I 
some time ago decided that they are an un¬ 
desirable inhabitant of a game preserve. 
R. V. Pierce. 
Berlin Spends $10,000,000 to Buy a Foresi 
Taking the lead of all cities, American and 
European, Berlin is spending vast amounts of 
money in the municipalization of its outskirts, 
the latest proposal being to acquire for $10,000,-, 
000 a great forest in the so-called Spree dis¬ 
trict. This is to be developed as a park and 
municipal waterworks. Lying near the city was 
a sandy tract of little or no use. It was utilized! 
for the disposal of sewage and actually trans-; 
formed into a healthful and productive spot. 
