While I ate, three men, two women, and four children watched every motion, and never took eyes off me until I had finished.
On our way back in the heat of the day, I had the good fortune to capture three specimens of a fine Ornithoptera, the largest, the most perfect, and the most beautiful of butterflies.

I trembled with excitement as I took the first out of my net and found it to be in perfect condition.

The ground colour of this superb insect was a rich shining bronzy black, the lower wings delicately grained with white, and bordered by a row of large spots of the most brilliant satiny yellow.
The body was marked with shaded spots of white, yellow, and fiery orange, while the head and thorax were intense black.

On the under-side the lower wings were satiny white, with the marginal spots half black and half yellow.

I gazed upon my prize with extreme interest, as I at first thought it was quite a new species.