Note 102 — Chapter XIV

Captain Cook mentions, that at Thirsty Sound, on the coast of New South Wales, he found an incredible number of butterflies; so that, for the space of three or four acres, the air was so crowded with them, that millions were to be seen in every direction, at the same time that every branch and twig was covered with others that were not upon the wing: and Captain King observes, (Survey of the Coasts of Australia, vol. i. p. 195,) “Here, (Cape Cleveland,) as well as at every other place that we had landed upon within the tropic, the air is ‘crowded’ with a species of butterfly, a great many of which were taken. It is, doubtless, the same species as that which Captain Cook remarks as so plentiful in Thirsty Sound. The numbers seen by us were indeed incredible; the stem of every grass tree, (Xanthorrhœa,) which plant grows abundantly upon the hills, was covered with them; and on their taking wing, the air appeared, as it were, in perfect motion. It is a new species; and is described, by my friend Mr. W. S. Macleay, under the name of Euploea hamata.”