IV

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

foolscap sheets was abstracted. It was not for many months
that the theft was discovered, and then very little of the
MSS. could be recovered.

It thus happens that in the cases of some of the most
interesting species, of which I had worked up all the notes
into a connected whole, nothing, or, as in the caseof^tr^ya
subrufa, only a single isolated note, appears in the text. It
is to he greatly regretted, for my work was imperfect enough
as it was; and this 'Selection from the Eecords/that my
Philistine'servant saw fit to permit himself, has rendered it
a great deal more imperfect still; but neither Mr. Gates nor
myself can be justly blamed for this.

In conclusion, I have only to say that if this compilation
should find favour in any man's sight he must thank
Mr. Gates for it, since not only has he undergone the labour
of arranging my materials and seeing the whole work through
the press—not only has he, I believe, added himself consider-
ably to those materials—but it is solely owing to him that
the work appears at all, as I know no one else to whom I
could have entrusted the arduous and, I fear, thankless duty
that he has so generously undertaken.

ALLAN HUME.

Botkney Castle, Simla,
October 19th, 1889.