218 SOME NOTES ON THE VICTORIA REGIA. 



" It was on the ist of January this year (1837), while contend- 

 ing with the difficulties Nature imposed in different forms to our 

 progress up the river Berbice (in Brit. Guiana), that we arrived at 

 a point where the river expanded and formed a currentless basin. 

 Some object on the southern extremity of this basin attracted my 

 attention. It was impossible to form any idea what it could be, 

 and animating the crew to increase the rate of their paddling we 

 were shortly afterwards opposite the object which had raised my 

 curiosity — a vegetable wonder : All calamities were forgotten ; 

 I felt as a botanist, and felt myself rewarded. A gigantic leaf, 

 from five to six feet in diameter, salver-shaped, with a broad brim, 

 a bright green above, and a vivid crimson below, rested upon the 

 water. Quite in character with the wonderful bay was the luxu- 

 riant flower, consisting of many hundred petals, passing, in alter- 

 nate tints, from pure white to rose and pink. The smooth water 

 was covered with the blossoms, and as I rowed from one to the 

 other I always observed something to admire." 



Some drawings were sent home by Mr. Schomburgh. He con- 

 sidered the plant a species of NymphcEa^ and was desirous that it 

 should be distinguished by the name of The Queen — a wish with 

 which her Majesty has been graciously pleased to comply. 



He adds that the flower is much injured by a beetle {Trichius 

 sp. ?), which destroys completely the inner part of the disc. We 

 have counted sometimes twenty to thirty in one flower. Specimens 

 are deposited in the cabinets of the British Museum. 



So much for the account in a local publication ; but it is now 

 stated that the first traveller who discovered this plant was Hsenke 

 in 1 801 ; but M. D'Orbigny was the first to send specimens to 

 Paris in 1828. They were, however, neglected or overlooked. In 

 a work published some few years after this time, M. D'Orbigny 

 mentions having discovered the plant in the river Parana in British 

 Guiana. It was known, he says, to the natives by the name of 

 Irupe, in allusion to the shape of the leaves, which resembles that 

 of the broad dishes used in the country. The Spaniards called 

 the plant Water-maize, as they collect the seeds and eat them when 

 roasted. In 1832 a German traveller found it in some tributaries 

 of the Amazon ; but it was not until the late Sir Robert Schom- 

 burgh discovered it in the river Berbice in 1837, as you have 



