74 ABOUT ORCHIDS. 
arrival at Savanilla he has to wait days in that 
sweltering atmosphere for the Royal Mail steamer. 
And when it comes in, his troubles do not cease, 
for the stowage of the precious cargo is vastly im- 
portant. On deck it will almost certainly be 
injured by salt water. In the hold it will ferment. 
Amidships it is apt to be baked by the engine fire. 
Whilst writing I learn that Mr. Sander has lost 
two hundred and sixty-seven cases by this latter 
mishap, asis supposed. So utterly hopeless is their 
condition, that he will not go to the expense of 
overhauling them ; they lie at Southampton, and 
to anybody who will take them away all parties 
concerned will be grateful. The expense of making 
this shipment a reader may judge from the hints 
given. The Royal Mail Company’s charge for 
freight from) Manzanilla is 7507. I could give an 
incident of the same class yet more startling with 
reference to Phalcenopsis. It is propertoadd that 
the most enterprising of Assurance Companies do 
not yet see their way to accept any kind of risks 
in the orchid trade ; importers must bear all the 
burden. To me it seems surprising that the plants 
can be sold so cheap, all things considered. Many 
persons think and hope that prices will fall, and 
that may probably happen with regard to some 
genera. But the shrewdest of those very shrewd 
