( 309 ) XIX. Entomological Observations and Captures during the visit of the British Association to South Africa in 1905. By F. A. Dixey, M.A., M.D., F.E.S., and G. B. LoNGSTAFF, M.A., M.D., F.R.GP., F.E.S. [Read June 5th, 1907.] Plate XXV. Cape Town. Lat. 34° S. Sea level. August 8tli, 1905. Surely no one who was on deck when the " Kildonan Castle " anchored in Table Bay will forget the impressive scene. Behind the town-lights which gleamed along the front the grand mass of Table Mountain, clear cut against a streak of dawn, lay under the Southern Cross and Magellanic Clouds, while in the opposite quarter Jupiter and Venus shone brilliant beyond our experience, the latter reflected in the sea, and Orion standing on his head demonstrated that we were indeed in a Southern land. These astronomical facts had a bearing on our entomological operations, since we had to grow accus-tomed to the fact that the most promising hunting-grounds were slopes with a north-cast aspect. Faithful to our own science rather than to the associa-tion of which we were members, we had decided to go on to Durban by the same steamer, and put in as many days collecting as possible on the Natal Coast. This left us but a day and a half at Cape Town, in which to get a glimpse of its fauna and flora, and we were truly fortunate in that the Southern spring smiled upon us and provided, if indeed few insects, at any rate what Mr. Boswell would have termed "some fine prospects." We were aware of the poverty of the Cape Peninsula in Rhopalocera, and Mr, L. Peringuey, the obliging director of the South African Museum, impressed the fact upon our minds, yet we were hardly prepared to find butterflies so scarce as in fact we did. The best scheme seemed to be to drive to Camps Bay, stopping on the way to collect on the slopes of the Lion's Head, above Sea Point. While waiting for the carriage trans, ent. soc. lond. 1907. — part ii. (sept.)
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