of the snowy mass of Kanchenjunga. The ascent is very steep at first, and only a few Geometers settled on the rocks by the roadside to reward my search. As we got higher into the dense forest of dwarf bamboo, the timber in which is mostly destroyed by fire, I had a glimpse of an unknown butterfly, and waiting till one settles on the road, I am delighted to take the delicately marked Zophœssa Atkinsoni. Three specimens, however, are all I can get during the day, as the range of this insect seems here to be only from about 8,000 to 9,000 feet.
Turning off the ridge overlooking Nepal, the road now goes for four or five miles through a dense shady forest of smaller trees than on the Goom ridge, the undergrowth of bamboo being generally so dense that it would be quite impenetrable off the path. The beautiful long-tailed blue Magpie, Urocissa flavirostris, is seen once or twice; whilst Trochalopteron, Leiothrix, Minla of several kinds, and other peculiar Himalayan birds occasionally appear in small parties. Only one of our party has a gun, and he confines his attention to the green pigeons, which are fairly abundant. The red Monal pheasant or Tragopan (Ceriornis satyra) is also found here at 7,000 to 9,000 feet, but it is so shy and difficult to see that only in the early morning may it sometimes be shot on the path, or, when its loud wailing cry is heard at daylight, followed into the gloomy recesses of the forest.
As I ascend to 8,500 or 9,000 feet I come to a very small break in the forest, where some Potentillas and other herbaceous plants are growing on a bank, and the sun now becoming warm, I begin to get my butterfly net into use. Zophœssa jalaurida and Lethe maitrya are the two first insects I take. Both of them, strange to say, were first taken by Mr. de Nicéville together on the Jalauri pass in the Simla hills; though very abundant on the Singalela range from Tonglo to Sandakphu at 9,000 to 12,000 feet, they are seldom or never seen in collections made at Darjeeling. They both fly rapidly, on cloudy as well as sunny days, settling on bamboo leaves on the path and on rocks, where they apparently roost at night and may often be bottled without difficulty like moths. Now a splendid green Papilio Krishna settles on a bramble flower, and is secured by a rapid sweep of the net, though it is not now in perfect condition. Sinchul, the hill close above Darjeeling, seems the best locality for this grand insect, which has been abundant this season in May and June, while the female, which I have never seen in any collection in Europe or India, has been taken this year on Tendong by Mr. Moller’s native collectors. Argynnis Childreni also appears, but flies too fast to be caught, as well as a few Neope putala; these have very much the same habits as the other Satyridæ, which seem to be almost the only butterflies in any number flying between 8,000 and 11,000 feet, in the outer hills at least. Continuing the ascent, which at last becomes steep but everywhere quite easy for ponies, we at last, at a little over 10,000 feet, come out on the top of Tonglo, where Rhododendrons, Birches, Viburnum, Mountain Ash and some Araliaceæ are the most noticeable trees. We find a nice little bungalow close to a small marshy flat covered with Iris Clarkei which at this season is in full flower. Arisæma Griffithi, whose great purple and flesh-coloured spathes are now over, and other Aroids and herbaceous plants cover the ground,
