I am not aware that a
single insect has ever been collected there, and cannot find it given as
the locality of any insects in my catalogues or descriptions. In about a
week I go for a month collecting there, and then return to prepare for a
voyage to New Guinea. I think I shall stay in this place two or three
years, as it is the centre of a most interesting and almost unknown
region. Every house here was destroyed in 1840 by an earthquake during
an eruption of the volcano....
What great political events have passed since we left England together!
And the most eventful for England, and perhaps the most glorious, is the
present mutiny in India, which has proved British courage and pluck as
much as did the famed battles of Balaclava and Inker-man. I believe that
both India and England will gain in the end by the fearful ordeal. When
do you mean returning for good? If you go to the Andes you will, I
think, be disappointed, at least in the number of species, especially of
Coleoptera. My experience here is that the low grounds are much the most
productive, though the mountains generally produce a few striking and
brilliant species.
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