th e narrow channels th a t co n n e c t th e mouth o f Hie T ocantins with th e Amazon. I hove no time for d e ta il., and can only say th a t I embraced every
opportunity o f landing whenever th e m o ntana ivas Bent ashore to c a t wood, o r w hen we anchored d uring th e d a y ; b u t this rarely occurred in such
spota „ s I myself would have sele c ted, n o r w ere m y h a s ty excursions always productive. T h e Canal do Tagipurh, which separates the g re a t island
o f Mnrajh from th e mainland, contains n umerous water-plants, b n t scarcely any were in flower. I g o t only a superb Poatedma, or perhaps B c k l m
'with very la rge flowers, and leaves almost exactly orbicular The floating masse, o f P a a to f™ , common in the bays o f th is channel, had generally
infla ted .petioles; b u t I h ave'seen te re te a n d inflated petioles arising from, th e same root, and th e inflation seems merely assumed to suit th e na tant
habit I n all the se species a n d in all th e very p re tty ones gathe red in la te s n e a r Santarem, I observe th e flb re s 'o f th e root to be capped by a sort o f
cnlyptrn, such as I believe y o u 'h a v e yourself «m a rk e d i t some individuals o f th e tribe. I made o ut th e existence o f a t least one real fP H to on th e
s flowers and f tu i t A nothe r willow-like: tre e I could only ge t in leaf.
« i J t e w o f o u r v essel consisted' almost entirely o f Tapuyn Indians, with whom I had frequent conversations respecting th e p lan t, o f th e environs
§ f Santarem. Amongst others th e y to ld me o f a w onderful water flower called, in L n n „ m d , • Oapr,1 b u t in P o rtu g u e s e ,‘- f t™ ,' from th e similarity
o f its le a f in shape a n d o f this .country. T h ey added tha t th e le a f was purple underneath, and th e re fcmished with
numerous spines. T o what could this description .refer b u t th e ' ria to:/« ? My conclusion to this éí&ct was strengthened when I d riv e d a t Santarem.
T h e ie everybody h a d e cu th e ■ P ara»,’ and some w ondered th a t I could, p ly them with e ag e r inquiries respecting a p lan t w hich h ad been known by some
o f them for forty years and h ad never b e e n supposed scarce. Our countryman, Captain Hlslop, o n e o f lth e oldest settlers in Santarem, had, however,
d1 th e p lan t to h e th e Pialo™, from an account o f Schomburgk's disenvery o f it in Guinea, w hich lie h ad re ad in some periodical. As soon as
I conveniently could I planned an exeumion to one o f its habitats, a la k e in th e Him Grande d e Santarem, th e largest island o f th e Archipelago, formed
b y th e ju nc tion o f th e Amacon and Tapnyoz. In th is ex p ed itio n I was materially a ided b y Mr. Jeffreys, another countryman, who n ot only lent me Ins
galiota, b u t k indly accompanied me. ^
ti W e sta rted early, an d took th re e hours, pulling with six o a r s , r e a c h th e opposite shore. W e disembarked a t a Sitio, th e nearest point to the
lake, whithe r we were now to pro c e ed o ve rland, b u t we w ere to ld th a t the intervening campo ¡had n ot y e t been fixed (an usual process m th e dry
season),-and th a t it was clad to the depth o f ix feet with, ran k gras and rushes, so as to he q u ite impassable. W e were advised to land a t another
Sitio a ISM» further down, where we should find a p a th leading,through th e w oods t o a n Iga ripé , communicating with th e lake. Following th is course,
* a t f a , 1 1 , reached th e Ig a rip é , and wen, a t once agreeably imrprised b y seeing th e P ie t.™ growing b y Ule opposite shore o f th e Ig a n p é «self.
This was the more gratifying as the o a f was already far advnnend, an d th e montario, Which we found in th e Ig a n p é , could Convey only two persons at
a time, while o n r p a r ty consisted o f six, so th a t tw f f . n M « * » lake. W e « n o time in crossing to th e other side, where I
s ent a man to tlie „» to r ridgn o f t l i e m a s s o f p lants,, while M r K in g and I waded into th e water to cu t the. leaves and flowers, which h e towed round to
U.ebm dir vere now warned b y the people n o t to venturo among .the plants, as the ir prickles are said to b e venomous, b n t I g o t both my
hands and fe e t considemhly p rick ed without experiencing ony ill effects. W e w ere fortuna te in' finding the p lan t in good flower, b n t all th e people at
Santarem. w h o ],ad scon the p lan t asserted th a t th e foliage is m u d , larger in winter. Captain Hlslop assures me h e h ad seen many leaves twelve feet
across whereas flic lam e st we saw measured little more th an four fe e t across, and they were p a ck ed as close as ,they c p uB lie. t M
« B u t I can B 8 — th e w e t season, th e ir size m u st ho considemhly increased, for whereas the p lan t is now growing in less than two
feet- o f wa te r th e Iga rip é ü — i i h winter to -th g , topmost hanks, or a trie a s t .fifteen feet-deeper than, a t present, whfle its breadth wdl a l » be
oreatly amunented; so th a t tile p etioles o f th e W t lengthenhlg, doubtless, w ith the-rise o f th e waters, will b rin g th e foliage to a much g reater surface,
' whereon th e y w ill have mom to dilate to above double th e size th ey now exhibit. I c an n o t doubt o f th e fact, having th e testimony o f many competent
o b s e rv e s I b u t I hope to confirm it one d ay b y personal, examination I en d o s e a noto from D r Campos, th e .fair, d e D ererto a t Santarem, aflndmg
to -th e immense s rz e f c e l i l e s attain Tins gentleman i a pe tson o f rem s ik ab l. acquirements, for » .r em o te a p a rt o f th e world, he reads Enghsb
and F rench perfectly, and, as y o n see, h e writes th e former language q uite intelligibly. . . . .
■■ T h e a spect pre sented b y th e in. its native wafers is so novel and. extraordinary th a t I am a t a loss to w hat to l i e n ,t. T h e snmhtude >
n o t a poetical one, b n t assuredly th e impression the p lant gave me, when viewed from th e b an k above, was th a t o f a n umber .of green tea-trays floating,
with h e re an d -th e re » b o u q u e t p rotruding between th em , b „ , when m o r e closely surveyed, the leaves ex c ited th e utmost adumation, from th e n
immensity and p e rfe c t symmetry. A leaf, turned u p , suggests some strange fabrtc o f cast-iron, ju s t ta k e n fiom th e firrn.ee, I t s rud d y colour, and the
enormous filis with which, i t is strengthened, ¡n cn a s in g th e similarity. I subjoin a few observations w hich I made on th e sp o t
“ I could d e te c t no p rostra te h u n k , as in th e o th e r Nymphaacete. T h e m o t is central, th e thickness o f a man's leg, pene tra ting de ep into th e mud,
and emitting fascicles o f whitish ra d ic le s , abont twenty-five, from below th e base o f each petiole, as thick as a finger, an d two fe e . or more long.
The radicles are imperforate, and gtve o ut, he re a n d t h e » a few a te n d e r -« .!» ,, T h e J e t f i . orb icu h n rttn t emarginate, and has fe e tnargm sn d d e d y
tu rn ed i a , nearly I B B M M W i r e s em p - H a S p a n ish .som b « 6 „ T h e stamens are numerous, and m argmed wtfe r e d , beneath
le a f is crimson, with minute yellow spots, and i t is everywhere o n ,fe e ribs and H fe e ir interstioes, pube sc ent with mmute, palhd, jointed, inflexed hans.
P e n ó le slightly eccentric, fe a rin g two or thre e wide perforations ne a r fe e centre, and wife several others w hich become »m u te r as they approach
th e circumference. T h e peduncles are similarly perforated. ,
.‘ Sepáis usually four, sometimes five, n e a rly equal, a nd sometimes four la rge r and w o interposed an d opposite smaller o n e s ; a t firs, green externally,
to lig h t lake red, and finally to purplish red, exa c tly th e colour o f o ne o f onr oldest double red ro se s . T hp process o f bleaching^commences wi
edges o f th e oute r petals, and in decay th e whole flower tu rn s rapidly a dull yellow. Anthers, from th e earliest stage, a b rig t a e r . e o
th e stigma are, when young, o f a beautiful p u rp le on the ir anterior ed g e and u p p e r portion, th e lower p a rt b e ing vermilion, afterwar t ey torn y