V I C T O R I A REGI A .
I T S D I S C O V E R Y .
T T is now fifty y e a rs, as far as our researches enable u s to ascertain, since this truly royal p lan t was first detected. T h e honour o f its original discovery
is d ue to ,-Hænke, unde r circumstances recorded as follows b y M. A . D ’O rbigny: “ W h en I was travelling,” says this la tte r gentleman, “ in
Central America, in thg. country o f th e wild Guarayos, who are a tribe o f • Guaranis* or Caribs, I made acquaintance with F a the r L a Cueva, a
Spanish missionary, a good and well-informed man, M o v e d for his patriarchal virtues, and who had long and earnestly devoted himself to the
conversion o f th e 'natives. T h e traveller who, after spending a ye a r among Indians, meets with a fellow-creature capable o f understanding and
exchanging sentiments with, him, cam easily appreciate th e d e light an d eagerness with which I. conversed with this venerable old man,, th irty years
o f whose life h a d b e en passed among savages. I n one o f our interviews h e h appened to mention the: famous botanist Hænke, who had been sent
b y th e Spanish government in th e y e#X®© | to investigate th e vegetable-productions, o f P e ru , and th e f ru it.o f whose labours has be en unfortunately
lost to science. F a th e r L a Cueva and Hæ n k e were to ge the r in a pirogue upo n th e Rio Mamoré, one o f th e g re a t tributaries o f th e Amazon River,
wlÉn th e y discovered in th e marshes, b y th e side, o f th e stream, a flower which was so surpassingly beautiful and extraordinary, th a t Hænke, in
a transport o f va d m i® n , fe ll o n h is kne e s and expressed*aioqd his sense o f th e powe r a n i magnificence o f th e Creator in his works. T hey h alted,
an d \§yen encamped purpose ly n e a r th e ip o t, and q uitted i t w ith m uch reluctance.’
This fa c t was n o t made, public till ne a rly forty years afterwards, in th e Jo n a h » des Sciences Naturelles, N. Ser.; and it is n o t a little remarkable
th a t such a tru ly striking plant, now known to abound in th e still q u ie t nooks, or Igaripés* o f most o f th e rivers in Tropical America, east o f th e Andes,
(in short, i t seems to ho ld th e same p lace É those regions th a t th e .W fd te Water-Lily', Nympluea alb’d, dpés in ^ p p e , ) should n ot appear to have
a ttra c ted .th e a ttention o f ordinary travellers, nO one among them having, so. far as we arc. aware, noticed i t in a manner which would render it
recognisable b y th e re a d e r; and y e t i t is without any exception, i f we tak e i t as a w h o te^ le av e s, p ow e rs, size, colour, and graceful position in the
water, especially w hen viewed wi%"the usual accompaniments o f Tropical American aquatic s c e n e ry > --f è most b eautiful p lan t y e t known to Europeans.
W e re we to follow our own inclinations, we shoulli commence our Mstoricaili notice o f th e Victoria Water-Lily, together with a description of
th e impression made b y i t on th e beholder, with t h e |v e l y n arrative o f Olir valued friend Sir R o b è jt Schomburgk, now H e r Britannic Majesty’s Consul
in H ayti, without whose drawings and descriptions, and observations, an d th e strenuous endeavours com m en c e# by him to encourage th e introduction
o f th è living p la n t to English gardens, we should still have be en very mugh in th e da rk about it, and i t w ould probably have be en to this day classed
among th e Planta: minus nota. B ut, jn justic e to th e distinguished-scientific travellers and? botanists who h ad previously noticed it, we shall continue
our relation in chronological order, so fai' as th e publication o f dates w ill enable u s to do it.
W e have already shown th a t H æ n k e is th e first naturalist and .the first traveller w ho has spoken o f th e Gigantic Wtter-Lily. From an expression
employed-by M. D’Orbigny,t i t would appe aGtha t, following D ’Orbigny, th e nex t w ho h a d th e privilege o f beholding this p lan t w as M. Bonpland; for
he (M. D ’Orbigny) says, when recording his own discovery of-it, “ I afterwards he a rd from an intinmte friend o f M. Bonpland, th e companion and
fellow-labourer o f th e famous Humboldt, th a t M. Bonpland having accidentally explored, eight years previous to m y visit, (o f course n ot in company
with Humboldt, for ft w as long after the ir u n ited ¡travels,) a place ne a r th e little river called JRiochuelo, he saw from a distance this superb plant, and
h a d w ell nigh pre c ipita ted h im s e lf off th e raft into th e river, in his desire tò secure specimens; and th a t M. Bonpland could speak o f little else for
a whole month.”— I t h appens singularly enough, th a t w hile th is sh e e t is in th e pre ss I have th e pleasure to, receive from R obert Gore, Esq., H.B.M.
Chargé d ’Affaires a t Monte Video, a communication from th e |e n e ra b le Bonpland himself, d a ted Monte Video, A ugust 2 8th, 1850. The following is
th e extract.—“ Victoria Regia. Mays de l ’Eau.— In th e ye a r 1820 I found, ne a r th e tow n 'ô f Corrientes, and n ot fa r from th e forks o f th e P a ran à and the
river Paraguay, a magnificent aquatic plant, known to th e natives b y th e name o f Mays de l’J g u à ; I described it, and placed-it in th e genus Nymphéa.
“ After leaving Pa raguay, I again tu rn ed m y a ttention to th e Mays de l’Eau : I have, observed i t in many o f th e rivers which jo in th e Parana, and m
th e Chaco, w hich I visited frequently, I found this vegetable growing'very abundantly, overspreading th e lakes with g r e e n ; and more recently I have
seen this new species o f Nymphéa (which I described fo r th e f c s t time in 1820) in th e river Mirivan. This small stream, which rises from the -g re a t lake
Ybera ne a r th e P aranà, traverses th e p ^ v in c e o f Corrientes; and mingles its waters with those o f th e Uruguay. From those numerous localities the
* An Igarips is explained by Mr. Edwards, the anther ,of the spirited little book entitled Voyage lo the II says it is derived from Ygara, a canoe, and p i a way, applied by the Indians to all streams which wffl admit
Hiver Amazon, published in London, 1847, to mean a Tide-strcam, extending into the woods. the passage of a canoe.
Mr. Spruce (see Km Garden Miscellany, v. 2, p. 299, note) prints the word Igarapf, or Yyardpé, and || . f Annale, des Sciences Naturelles, 2 * Series, v. 3, p. 53;