COOL ORCHIDS. 73 
down rules for each detail of this process. The 
sticks, for example, are one inch in diameter, fitting 
into boxes two feet three inches wide, two feet 
deep, neither more nor less, Then the long file of 
mules sets out for Bogota, perhaps ten days’ march, 
each animal carrying two boxes—a burden ridicu- 
lously light, but on such tracks it is dimension 
which has to be considered. On arrival at Bogota, 
the cases are unpacked and examined for the last 
time, restowed, and consigned to the muleteers 
again. In six days they reach Honda, on the 
Magdalena River, where, until lately, they were 
embarked on rafts for a voyage of fourteen days to 
Savanilla. At the present time, an American 
company has established a service of flat-bottomed 
steamers which cover the distance in seven days, 
thus reducing the risks of the journey by one-half. 
But they are still terrible. Not a breath of wind 
stirs the air at that season, for the collector cannot 
choose his time. The boxes are piled on deck; 
even the pitiless sunshine is not so deadly as the 
stewing heat below. He has a store of blankets 
to cover them, on which he laysa thatch of palm- 
leaves, and all day long he souses the pile with 
water; but too well the poor fellow knows that 
mischief is busy down below. Another anxiety 
possesses him too. It may very well be that on 
