ON THE AMAZON AND RIO NEGRO. : d 
mannias), one of them with a violet flower far larger than I have 
seen in any other species of the tribe: four Gentianee, of which two 
are Lysianthi, the one a small species with a bright blue flower, exactly 
resembling Campanula rotundifolia, the other a tall plant with green 
flowers ; the other two species are minute things allied to Schübleria : 
three or four Xyridee : two Asclepiadee : two minute Rubiacee with 
yellow flowers, species of Perama, one of them P. hirsuta (gathered . 
also at Santarem): three Po/ygale, in one of which.I recognize P. sub- 
tilis, H.B.K., and several others. 
I gathered also all I could on the banks of the Orinoco, including 
the Palma Jagua, whose beauties are so highly and so justly eulogized 
by Humboldt in his * Aspects of Nature.’ It is an undescribed Mazi- 
miliana, amd I brought away with me specimens and notes on the 
living plant which will enable me to describe it. There were two 
splendid trees of it in the mouth of the Casiquiare. I had one of 
them eut down, and a frond and a spadix embarked in the piragoa, 
where I could examine them at my ease and also continue my voyage. 
The frond measured thirty-four feet long, and was composed of 426 
pinne. The spadix bore about a thousand fruits, and was a load for 
two men. Several spadices are matured simultaneously; These sta- 
tisties will alone suffice to give you an idea of the magnificent aspect 
of the Palma Jagua, which is one of the chief ornaments of the upper 
Casiquiare and Orinoco. 
About half-way up the Casiquiare, where the water begins to be un- 
— mistakeably white, the rocks by the river-side and the overhanging 
inundated branches of trees begin to be clad with a Moss having 
exactly the aspect of Cinclidotus fontinaloides. It is so abundant on 
the upper Casiquiare and Orinoco that I think I could in an hour 
have laden a small boat with it. This Moss you were the first to de- —— : 
scribe, under the name of Grimmia fontinaloides, from Humboldt’s spe- 
cimens gathered on the Alto Orinoco. If it be pleasant to discover ——— = 
an undescribed species, the pleasure is at least equal (and it is free - 
from any selfish admixture) when after the long lapse of years one — s : 
gathers again a plant in the spot where it was originally discovered — 
by another. I can fancy Dr. Hooker's gratification at gathering again —— 
the Mosses discovered by Menzies in New Zealand. 
One of the most notable things in the Pacimoni was a tree which 
was conspicuous from afar by certain white cones thickly scattered 
