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BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 101 
passed. That Orchidee should abound more here than any- 
where else, is to be expected, and accordingly one sees them 
at every step. In the lower lands, they chiefly cling to the 
trees, many of which seem entirely covered by them. In 
more elevated situations, they also grow on the ground, 
while a few inhabit the water, and these last seemed of very 
uncommon occurrence. Others, and most grand ones they 
are, will thrive in savannahs, sterile to such a degree, that it 
is hard to conceive what they feed upon. While this splendid 
family stands unrivalled for beauty of colour, deliciousness of 
scent, and singularity of form, it is, however, far exceeded in 
number by the Leguminose. Some of these adorn with 
their humble and minute, but lovely blossoms, those great 
plains of our colony which would otherwise fatigue the be- 
holder's eye by their uniform monotony ; the larger species, 
which are more numerous, vie with our trees; while others, 
again, exceed every production of this country, for height 
and grandeur, and overtop all the rival denizens of the forest. 
Palms are very numerous; among them some climb and 
then disappear between the brushwood, and several of this 
distinguished family, called by the great Linncus, Princes of 
the Vegetable Kingdom, lurk under the shade of shrubs, 
perhaps not six feet high. Others, again, lift their magni- 
ficent crowns aloft; but a striking peculiarity of this tribe 
consists in many of the species being apparently limited to 
à very small tract of land and seen nowhere else. 
There is an extreme variety of Ferns, both herbaceous and 
arborescent. Among the smaller species, I noticed some, 
whose size, when full grown, did not exceed half an inch.* 
Aquatic Plants appear to be rare. 
But I will no longer occupy your, doubtless, valuable time 
by my poor attempts at describing what I have seen. You 
must be pleased to accept my heartfelt confession, that never 
did I feel so sorry at not being a botanist, as when I beheld 
SO many interesting objects which I am at a loss to convey 
any idea of in words, and which might fill a book. Nothing ` 
* The one to which Dr. Hostmann here alludes, is the rare Gymno- 
gramme pumila, Spreng. Sup. 
