with two small snags near their bifurcation, so as to resemble the horns of a stag.
They are black, with the tips pale, while the body and legs are yellowish brown,
and the eyes (when alive) violet and green. The next species (Elaphomia
wallacei) is of a dark brown colour, banded and spotted with yellow. The horns
are about one-third the length of the insect, broad, flat, and of an elongated
triangular foam. They are of a beautiful pink colour, edged with black, and with
a pale central stripe. The front part of the head is also pink, and the eyes violet
pink, with a green stripe across them, giving the insect a very elegant and
singular appearance. The third species (Elaphomia alcicornis, the elk-horned
deer-fly) is a little smaller than the two already described, but resembling in
colour Elaphomia wallacei. The horns are very remarkable, being suddenly
dilated into a flat plate, strongly toothed round the outer margin, and strikingly
resembling the horns of the elk, after which it has been named. They are of a
yellowish colour, margined with brown, and tipped with black on the three upper
teeth. The fourth species (Elaphomia brevicornis, the short-horned deer-fly)
differs considerably from the rest. It is stouter in form, of a nearly black colour,
with a yellow ring at the base of the abdomen; the wings have dusky stripes, and
the head is compressed and dilated laterally, with very small flat horns; which
are black with a pale centre, and look exactly like the rudiment of the horns of
the two preceding species. None of the females have any trace of the horns, and
Mr. Saunders places in the same genus a species which has no horns in either sex
(Elaphomia polita). It is of a shining black colour, and resembles Elaphomia
cervicornis in form, size, and general appearance. The figures above given
represent these insects of their natural size and in characteristic attitudes.
The natives seldom brought me anything. They are poor creatures, and, rarely
shoot a bird, pig, or kangaroo, or even the sluggish opossum-like Cuscus. The
tree-kangaroos are found here, but must be very scarce, as my hunters, although
out daily in the forest, never once saw them. Cockatoos, lories, and parroquets
were really the only common birds. Even pigeons were scarce, and in little
variety, although we occasionally got the fine crown pigeon, which was always
welcome as an addition to our scantily furnished larder.
Just before the steamer arrived I had wounded my ankle by clambering among
the trunks and branches of fallen trees (which formed my best hunting grounds
for insects), and, as usual with foot wounds in this climate, it turned into an
obstinate ulcer, keeping me in the house for several days. When it healed up it
was followed by an internal inflammation of the foot, which by the doctor's
advice I poulticed incessantly for four or five days, bringing out a severe
inflamed swelling on the tendon above the heel. This had to be leeched, and